Page 47 of Coming Home to Sturcombe Bay
“I did some clay pigeon shooting once.”
“You’ve got a head start then.”
They both had several goes on the shooting range, teasing each other for missing, applauding good hits. Then they spent some time in the casino, Annabel cheerfully losing a hundred pounds on the roulette wheel.
“Ah, well.” She shrugged as they strolled down through the gardens to the lake. “It’s all in a good cause.” The moonlight was glimmering silver on the water. “Oh, it’s so beautiful. And look — swans.”
She turned to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, lifting her face to his. She was clearly expecting him to kiss her.
So he did.
It was a perfect romantic setting, here by the moonlit lake, a soft evening breeze rustling the leaves of a weeping willow on the bank. Her perfume seemed to surround him, faintly exotic, faintly sensual, and her slender body was curved against his. It felt good, but . . . where was the spark?
The first time he had kissed Natalie, the first time he had kissed Cassie, he had felt as if a Catherine Wheel was going off in his gut. But while Annabel was undoubtedly more beautiful than either of them, something was missing.
Maybe he was expecting too much, too soon. Maybe he was making too much of his memories. Maybe he was overthinking it. Maybe he should try to just relax and enjoy kissing a beautiful woman. Maybe the sparks would come.
She was smiling a little wistfully when he lifted his head. “I wish I didn’t have to go to Milan tomorrow.”
“Oh . . . That is a shame.” He should feel disappointed. Give it time. “When will you be back?”
“Not for a while. I’ll be going straight on to South Africa, then it’s Fiji for a magazine shoot.”
He smiled. “You certainly get around.”
“I’ll be back around the end of September.” She tipped her head coquettishly on one side. “Perhaps we could meet up again then?”
“That would be good.”
She glanced back over her shoulder. “It looks like the party’s winding up. Maybe we should go and say goodnight.”
“Okay.” He kissed her again, then taking her hand, they walked back to the house.
* * *
After the fug in the pub, it was good to get out in the cool fresh air again. As they strolled up the hill, Cassie breathed in the sweet fragrance of the rosemary bushes that clung to the side of the cliff below them.
Opposite the house she paused and leaned on the cliff wall, gazing out over the bay. The moon was a thin sliver like the imprint of a thumb nail, but the stars were making up for it in brightness.
Far out towards the dark horizon pinpoints of light showed a ship sailing down towards the open ocean. Once she would have followed the path of that ship in her mind, wondering where itmight be going — fabulous places, exotic places, with plants and animals she had only seen on television.
Now… A small sigh escaped her lips. “Ah . . . This really is the most beautiful place in the world.”
“It is.” Paul leaned on the wall beside her. “Have you decided yet what you’re going to do?”
She took a pause, then shook her head. “Not yet. I’ll definitely stay for Tom’s wedding. After that . . .” She shrugged her slim shoulders. “Who knows?”
A soft breeze was ruffling her hair. She closed her eyes, listening to the soft swoosh of the waves unrolling themselves lazily over the sand.
“You know Nanna left her house to the three of us?”
“To us?” She opened her eyes and glanced at him, surprised. “Why us? Why not Mum and Dad?”
“They discussed it a few years ago. They felt they didn’t need it, and we were all coming to the age when we might benefit more.”
“Oh . . .”
“We have to decide between us what to do about it. Lisa doesn’t want it.”
