Page 2 of A Second Chance in Seabury
On the bright side, there should be plenty to do to keep her mind off the past. After all, the house had been left to its own devices for months… and if she was being honest, it had been rather neglected for several years before that.
Far from the perfect home she’d once dreamed of, they’d only visited a couple of times a year at most. The place would need a good clean and a thorough airing, and the gardens would need a serious amount of sorting out. No doubt they’d be in full-on jungle mode by this point.
For a split second, the memory of her Aunty Millie’s bright flowerbeds and neatly trimmed hedges almost brought a smile to her face… but then Hannah remembered all the yelling in the back garden when the final showdown between her and Gareth had spilled outside. It had been so bad that the next-door neighbour had come to check what was going on.
Speaking of apologies, Mr Eaves was going to have to be first on the list!
Mr Eaves had been Aunty Millie’s neighbour for years. He’d moved in as a newlywed, promptly had a kid, and the young family had quickly become friendly with Millie. When Mrs Eaves died, leaving her heartbroken hubby to bring up a toddler on his own, Aunty Millie had often stepped in as babysitter and surrogate grandma.
As far as Hannah was concerned, it felt like Mr Eaves had always been around, and she’d never thought of him as anything other than Aunty Millie’s oddball neighbour. She’d never really had much to do with him until that last visit. Not only had he got caught up in that awful, final fight, but Hannah had yelled at him because of his bees, too.
‘Urgh, those bloody bees!’ she huffed.
They were a pest—a public nuisance. Why he had to keep the damn hives in his garden was anyone’s guess, considering he had a whole bunch more on the King’s Nose! Hannah had neverbeen able to open the windows to enjoy the sea air, because the minute she did, the buzzy little blighters seemed to seek her out like homing missiles. She was sure it wasn’t normal bee behaviour!
Hitting the brakes, Hannah slowed the car to a crawl as she rounded the bend at the bottom of the hill and started to follow the narrow street that ran right through the middle of the town. It didn’t take long before she began to thoroughly regret her choice of route.
A gent in a flat cap did a double-take, then grinned and waved at her.
That had to be Charlie from up at the allotments?
Hannah sank lower in her seat, pretending she hadn’t seen him. Shereallyshould have taken the top road instead of cutting through town. This was basically the perfect way to announce her return… and that was the last thing she needed! She wasn’t here for cheerful chats and rose-tinted reminiscing. All she wanted was to be left in peace, fulfil Aunty Millie’s wishes, and then get rid of the house so that she could finally get on with her life.
‘Whatever that’ll look like,’ she muttered, speeding up a little as she passed the Pebble Street Hotel. A woman on the other side of the road gave Hannah a cheery wave, almost upending the basket she was carrying in the process.
Damnit! Now Doris knew she was back in town, too!
Hannah turned away, once again pretending she hadn’t seen the friendly greeting. She glanced down at North Beach. At the water’s edge, a man wandered along, meandering in and out of the frothy waves. His jeans were rolled up to his knees, and now and then, he stopped to pick something up.
Speak of the devil – that was Mr Eaves!
It might have been a whole year since she’d last set eyes on him, but Hannah hadn’t forgotten what her annoying Seaburyneighbour looked like. He was a scruffy badger of a man. Quiet and a bit… odd. Ah well… at least this meant he wouldn’t be up at the house to witness her return!
Putting her foot down, Hannah dashed to the end of the seafront and then whizzed up the hill out of town as if there was a pack of wolves after her.
It didn’t take long before the house came into view. The sight was so achingly familiar that a sharp pain pierced Hannah’s heart. Was she really going to say goodbye to this place for good in just a few short weeks?
Pulling the car to a standstill at the curb, Hannah blinked rapidly. She wasnotgoing to cry. She was just tired after the journey, that was all. She was making the right choice. It was time to sell up and move on.
But first things first – she had the next two weeks to get through.
Hannah opened the car door and clambered out, wincing at the stiffness in her body. Rubbing her neck, she turned to face the front of the house for the first time… and froze.
‘What on earth?!’
She’d been expecting to come face to face with a year of rampant, unchecked growth from the old laurel hedge. Instead, the glossy green leaves were neatly shaped. The archway over the gate was as perfectly curved as if her aunt had just been busy with her pair of well-oiled shears.
Perhaps the town council had decided they couldn’t put up with the eyesore any longer and had sent someone over to tidy it up. The illusion of neatness would probably end in waist-deep grass and weeds the minute she stepped through that gate!
‘Well, there’s only one way to find out,’ Hannah muttered, hurrying to grab her suitcase. It was time to go inside.
CHAPTER 2
Hannah came to an abrupt halt just inside the garden gate… the gate that had opened smoothly and closed without a sound instead of the honking creak of rusty metal she remembered from her last visit. The thing had clearly been oiled. Regularly and recently.
That wasn’t the only surprise, though. The little front garden was looking lovely.
Leaving her suitcase just inside the gate, Hannah took a couple of tentative steps along the cobblestone path that led to the front door. It was weed-free and had clearly been well-brushed. It wasn’t just the cobbles that had received some serious TLC, though.
