Eve Devon - The Little Clock House on the Green

‘You should probably start looking at other properties,’ she said, her tone consoling.

‘But I like this one.’

‘I’m quite sure that there are other fabulous properties all over the country.’

‘And I wish you luck in finding one,’ he said, grinning.

Her eyes narrowed. ‘You know, it occurs to me we haven’t bumped into each other before today. Exactly how long have you lived in Whispers Wood?’

His grin slipped a little. ‘Technically, I guess it would be fair to say I don’t actually live here.’

‘Really? Well, good luck. I hope you know how to deal with disappointment.’

‘Disappointment’s not something I’ve really had to get used to in life,’ Daniel lied as the last year flashed before him in ego-smashing 4-D detail. ‘Disappointment’ didn’t even begin to cover this last year… and yet he’d come out the other side eventually, hadn’t he? And now he felt the fight lift him. ‘So, I certainly hope you won’t be too upset with me when I buy this place.’

‘You’re really that sure that you will?’

‘You’re really that sure that you will?’ he countered.

Again, that super-sexy smile transformed her face, making her button-brown eyes sparkle with delight.

‘I guess this is “Game-On”?’

‘I guess it is,’ she said. She moved towards the front doors, almost as if she knew he wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to watch those hypnotic hips swaying as she walked out on him.

When she turned and found him staring she gave him a cheeky smile. ‘Oh, in case I forgot to say it already, welcome to Whispers Wood.’

Daniel tipped his head in a thank you, his eyes glued to her as she turned and walked out of The Clock House. He stared after her for a couple of seconds after the door shut and then, with a shake of his head and a huge smile on his face, he got out his phone and punched in the number on the front of the For Sale sign. He hadn’t felt this upbeat and optimistic about things in ages. When he got through to the independent estate agents he was told that if he wanted to discuss terms they would be happy to make an appointment for him with the owner.

It was a little strange, but he actually liked the idea of taking a business meeting for the first time in a year. At least this one would be about new beginnings instead of wrapping things up.

He was about to leave the room when he saw something glinting on the floor, where he and Kate had tumbled to the ground.

Walking over, he picked up the necklace, and intrigued, opened the locket dangling from the chain.

On one side was a watch. The screen had a huge crack running right through the centre of it and he was only just able to work out that the time had stopped at 1:23pm.

Well, damn.

He felt awful that he’d obviously broken her watch as he’d fallen on top of her.

He frowned as his gaze fell on the photo on the opposite side of the watch.

It was a photo of a man and little girl, arms wrapped around each other and staring up at the camera laughing.

Well, double damn.

He could have sworn there’d been some chemistry between him and Kate. But thinking about it, she hadn’t said anything overly flirty at all. All the smiling had been about buying this property.

God, his instincts really were shot to hell.

‘Exactly how long are you going to leave it before you tell Kate why you put the idea into her head with all those postcards?’

‘Mum, please.’ Juliet fished out the teabag from her Cath Kidston ‘Garden Birds’ mug and stuck the teaspoon into the hedgehog mug with slightly too much vigour. As the teabag split, she swore softly under her breath, poured the whole lot down the kitchen sink and stuck the kettle back on to boil. ‘I appreciate your concern, but I have to do this in my own way, and in my own time.’

‘You wait much longer and you’re going to lose that offer from the bank.’

‘So then I’ll go and get another one,’ she said, moving to open the fridge for the milk and staring inside at the contents, kind of hoping her eyes would light upon a jar labelled ‘patience’.

She loved her mum, she really did. They had a wonderful relationship, especially considering they worked together every day. But some days… The days where her mum was usually right… They were sometimes the hardest.

Juliet was super-aware that time was running out on the loan offer she had from the bank and she wasn’t exactly confident she’d be able to get another if this one expired, but now that Kate was actually home? Well, it felt only fair to give her at least a couple of seconds to adjust to being back.

Setting down a fresh mug of tea in front of her mum, she joined her at the small kitchen table. ‘Kate and I are going to talk tonight. I promise.’

‘Good stuff. And I’m sorry. I know you’re not the sort to intentionally keep secrets, so I know you’ll get around to telling her.’

Juliet’s mouthful of tea hit her windpipe at completely the wrong angle and splurted back out of her mouth. As she tried to drag in air, Cheryl jumped up to grab a couple of pieces of kitchen roll for her.

Head down, unable to look her mother in the eye, she took the proffered kitchen roll and set about mopping up. When her mum remained silent as she sat back down again, Juliet wondered if maybe she did know her daughter’s dirtiest secret, but out of motherly love, chose to keep quiet.

‘I’m trying to think about everyone,’ her mum said as Juliet took another careful sip of tea, grateful when it went down the right way. ‘I don’t like keeping this from Sheila. It should come from Kate, anyway, even with everything they need to work through and, well – I don’t want you getting caught in the middle and getting hurt.’

‘I know.’ Juliet laid a hand over her mum’s and squeezed it gently before returning it to her mug. ‘But I really think Kate wouldn’t have come back to stay if she hadn’t thought carefully about what that would mean. I know she’s impulsive but she’s never ridden roughshod over people’s feelings.’

‘True,’ Cheryl agreed and then added almost to herself, ‘if anything, everyone has tended to ride roughshod over hers. Or ignore them entirely.’ There was a small sigh and then Juliet felt her mum studying her carefully. ‘You really think Old Man Isaac is going to go for all of this?’

‘Of course,’ Juliet answered, determined to keep the faith. ‘It’s a brilliant idea and who else is going to buy the place?’

At the sound of the front door slamming, Juliet looked automatically at the kitchen door, where Kate appeared. From her breathing and the glow about her, she looked as if she’d run all the way back from The Clock House.

‘Okay,’ Kate asked them, ‘so who on earth is the guy who arrived in the village, like, three seconds ago?’

Juliet looked at her mum, who looked at Kate and said with a mystified expression, ‘You’re going to have to be more specific.’

‘Mr Tall Dark and Handsome,’ Kate said, staring at both of them. When neither Juliet nor her mum said anything, she added, ‘Mr I’m All Done Working-Out So Now I’m Just Chilling Until Marvel Films Call.’

‘Do you know who she’s talking about?’ Juliet asked, turning to her mum and getting more interested by the second at the look in Kate’s eyes.

‘Nope. Don’t know of any superhero lookalikes around here,’ chimed in Cheryl.

‘That’s it?’ Kate pouted, her face getting redder. ‘What’s happened to this place? A complete stranger waltzes in and none of you thinks to start up the phone-tree? Nobody finds out where he’s staying, assembles the SWAT team, goes in and applies the thumb-screws and switches on the spotlight so that they can watch him sweat as he slowly divulges every credential to his name?’ She stared in askance at both of them and then, in true Kate fashion, a look of determination came into her eyes. ‘Well, somebody has to take responsibility here. Auntie Cheryl, I want you to phone Trudie and find out what she knows. If it’s nothing, I want you to get straight on the phone to Crispin Harlow.’