Sarah Bennett - Christmas at Butterfly Cove - A delightfully feel-good festive romance!

He’d taken her to his favourite place—the beautiful garden created in the magnificent ruins of St Dunstan’s in the East—and when he’d dropped to one knee in the shadowed corner beneath an elegant stone arch wrapped in vines, the only word on her lips had been yes. Drunk on champagne, love and the euphoria of becoming Mrs Luke Spenser, she’d believed herself satisfied with the path her life had taken.

Then the email with a plane ticket and an eight-hour deadline had arrived.

Chapter Four

Having moped around his flat for a couple of days, it had been on the tip of Luke’s tongue to refuse Kiki’s invitation when she called him about Aaron’s ‘surprise’ party. She’d confessed the adults all knew Charlie had let the cat out of the bag, but the children were so excited about the prospect, they’d agreed to keep up the pretence. Much as he might have liked to see the growing bonds in his brother’s new family, he hadn’t wanted his presence to be a wet blanket.

Poised to decline, his words froze on his lips when Kiki said quietly, ‘He misses you, Luke. We all miss you. Please come.’

Once he’d agreed to attend the party, there was no getting around the fact he would be coming face to face with Nee again. Aaron had been right; they needed to resolve things between them. For the sake of both their families. He had two choices – forgive her, or let her go for good. Leaving him had been a mistake; she’d said as much during their brief, anguished exchange at the wedding. He’d already admitted to himself he still wanted her, had spent the last twelve months waiting for a call, an email, anything from her and then let his bloody pride get in the way. If she thought it was a mistake, that meant she wanted to try again, didn’t it? God, he hoped so.

Feeling lighter and more hopeful than he had in weeks, not even the rain lashing the small platform at Orcombe Sands station could dampen his mood. Hunching down into his thick jacket to try and avoid letting the rain inside his collar, Luke shouldered his bag and splashed across the small gravel car park towards a familiar blue hatchback. Tugging open the back door to throw in his bag, he stopped short as a mournful howl greeted him from the small plastic crate on the seat. He ducked his head into the car and met Kiki’s worried brown eyes as she stared at him over her shoulder. ‘Who’s your friend?’

‘This is Tigger. He’s Aaron’s birthday present from the children.’

A tiny, pink-tipped nose poked out through the bars in the front of the crate, and Luke forgot the rain soaking his back as he started to laugh. ‘You’ve bought him a dog?’

Kiki shook her head, a look of despair on her face. ‘Don’t. Just don’t. I can’t believe I let the kids talk me into it.’ She cringed as another heart-wrenching noise split the air. ‘He’s been like that since I picked him up half an hour ago. I was supposed to collect him tomorrow, but the shelter’s short-staffed so they asked if I could do it this afternoon because Saturday is always their busiest viewing day.’

‘Poor fella, he’s probably scared.’ Luke dumped his bag on the far side of the back seat, then unhooked the catch securing the crate closed. Reaching inside, he scooped out the tiny brindle puppy and the soft, blue blanket he was huddled in. Unzipping his coat, he tucked the dog inside then jumped into the front passenger seat. A pink tongue peeked out to lick the underside of his chin as he secured the seatbelt around himself, and Luke was instantly smitten. He tried to lift the puppy out to get a better look at him, but it squirmed in closer to his body, so he decided to leave it where it was. At least the howling had stopped.

Kiki blinked at him. ‘Are you some kind of dog-whisperer?’

He shoved the damp curls off his forehead and gave her a wink. ‘Just irresistible,’ he said, making her laugh. ‘So, what’s the plan for tomorrow?’

She peered through the rain-soaked windscreen as though seeking out some blue sky. ‘I’m opening the tearoom as usual, but closing early after lunch to get everything set up. If the weather stays like this, I won’t get many customers, but there’s usually a few of the guests who wander in for a bite to eat. Mia is winding down the guest house for the winter, so she’s only got one couple staying, but the studios have a few guests. Leo’s back down for a few days, so he’s coming to the party too.’

Luke grinned. ‘I bet he’ll love that.’ The artist was both a client and friend of his brother, and had taken something of a shine to Kiki when he’d first stayed at the studios for their grand opening weekend.

Kiki’s tut didn’t cover the slight colour rising in her cheeks. ‘Behave yourself.’ Flicking the wipers onto their highest setting, she negotiated her way across the car park, avoiding the biggest puddles under which potholes lurked.

‘No chance.’ He settled back into his seat with a smirk; winding Aaron up was his duty and teasing him about Leo fancying Kiki would be too good an opportunity to pass up.

The car bumped over the curb as they exited the car park, causing the puppy to whimper and squirm inside his jacket. Lowering the zip, Luke adjusted the blanket until the little dog rested across his lap. Black button eyes blinked up at him and a pair of typical French bulldog bat ears twitched. ‘Oh God, he’s adorable.’

Kiki flicked a glance across at him when she paused at the crossroads leading to Honeysuckle Cottage, the chocolate-box home she shared with Aaron. ‘I know. The children were smitten the moment they laid eyes on him. Charlie cried when she realised we couldn’t bring him home immediately.’ She turned left into the lane, sticking to the centre of the quiet road to avoid more deep puddles. ‘Thank goodness we passed the inspection from the shelter, or I’d have had a mutiny on my hands.’

They pulled into the short driveway and Kiki parked as close to the front door as possible. Even the miserable weather couldn’t dim the beauty of the place. Luke lifted the puppy up to show him the pretty white cottage with a thatched roof. ‘Hey, fella. What do you think of your new home?’ Tigger yipped, a funny little high-pitched sound, and a trickle of warmth slid down Luke’s wrist and into the sleeve of his coat. ‘Gee, thanks,’ he said as the tang of dog pee filled the air.

‘Oh dear, I’m so sorry.’ Kiki’s apology might have been more convincing if she hadn’t been laughing quite so hard. Luke tucked the uncontrite dog back into the blanket and, shielding him with one half of his coat, ducked out into the rain. Kiki dashed out to join him, but her key had barely scraped against the lock before the front door swung open to reveal two giggling, very excited children.

‘Did you get him?’ Matty barely spared Luke a glance as he fixed his sparkling eyes on his mother. Luke grinned and pulled aside the edge of his jacket to show the wriggling bundle.

‘Yes. Shh, not so loud or you’ll spoil the surprise.’ Kiki pressed her finger to her lips and tried to herd the children further into the hall so she could close the door against the driving rain.

‘Surprise?’ Inevitably, the commotion had drawn Aaron from his study. Hands in the front pockets of his jeans, he stared in bemusement at the impromptu party before him. ‘I guess you guys really missed Luke, huh?’

Caught red-handed, it was too late for Luke to tuck the puppy out of sight. The dog began to squirm in earnest and worried about dropping him, he sank to his knees and placed the blanket on the red-tiled floor. The puppy yapped and wriggled free of the soft material, his tiny claws skittering on the tile as he took a couple of cautious steps forward. Charlie made a grab for the pup, but Kiki held her back, whispering to the little girl to be gentle.