Cressida McLaughlin - The Once in a Blue Moon Guesthouse - The perfect feelgood romance

‘Thank you,’ Dorothy said, squinting as she turned her face up to the sun. ‘The weather seems to have welcomed our arrival.’

‘This is the first properly warm start we’ve had in a while,’ Robin said. ‘It feels like summer is almost here.’

‘It always feels closer by the sea, somehow,’ Dorothy said. ‘Probably because summer memories are beaches, sandcastles and ice creams. Down here you get a bigger summer quota than in big cities.’

‘I don’t know,’ Robin said, picking up an empty juice glass, ‘there’s something lovely about sitting outside a city pub and soaking in the atmosphere and the heat from the tarmac after a long day at work.’ As she said the words, she contemplated whether she still felt that way. She’d loved doing that with Neve and other friends in London, but had it ever come close to being by the sea?

Dorothy was looking at her closely, her pale eyes unblinking. ‘It’s not the same though, is it?’

Robin shook her head. ‘No, you’re right, it’s not. I should be promoting Campion Bay, not sending everyone scurrying back home.’

‘Nobody wants to leave once they come here,’ Paige said, wiping down the Barkers’ table. ‘Campion Bay ticks all the boxes.’ Robin stared at her for a moment, searching for signs of sarcasm, but couldn’t find any. She’d wanted nothing more than to escape when she was Paige’s age, not because she hated the seaside town, but because she felt there was so much more to explore. Maybe Paige was made from the same mould as Tim, finding everything she wanted in the quaint Dorset town, seeing no need to look further afield for her future.

‘Birmingham has its moments,’ Neil chipped in as Robin wove through the tables, ‘but it doesn’t have the views.’

‘A sea view is pretty unbeatable,’ Robin admitted. ‘It’s never the same, from one day to the next. Can I get either of you anything else?’

Neil shook his head. ‘I’m going to have to think hard about lunch at this rate. I couldn’t eat another mouthful. It was delicious, thank you.’

‘It’ll keep our energy up round the wildlife park,’ Catriona added.

‘Oh, you’ll love it.’ Robin’s thoughts drifted back to the times she’d been there growing up, with her parents and then friends. ‘It’s got a great petting zoo.’

‘And monkeys,’ Paige added. ‘Though don’t take your car through that bit, or you’ll lose a wing mirror.’

‘I’m heading straight for the penguins,’ Catriona said.

‘Too smelly for me, even if they are cute.’ Neil wrinkled his nose and Catriona gave him a playful slap on the arm.

Robin left them to their excitement, and was stacking plates in the dishwasher as she heard the front door close. She peered down the corridor and saw Will walking towards her, wearing knee-length black shorts and a faded blue T-shirt. He had a red towel looped around his shoulders and Darcy at his feet, which were only half in a pair of battered trainers, his heels pushing them out of shape at the back. ‘Hi,’ he said, giving her a quick smile. ‘Am I too late for breakfast?’

‘Not at all.’ Robin saw that his hair was, again, damp. ‘Been for a swim?’

He nodded. ‘The water’s freezing, but it’s the best way to wake up. And Darcy loves it.’

Robin laughed. ‘You take your dog swimming with you?’

Will shrugged. ‘I couldn’t go without her. There aren’t any restrictions, are there? I didn’t see any.’

Robin shook her head. ‘No, not yet. Campion Bay is dog friendly, but you won’t be able to take her on the main beach from June. You’ve still got a month, though.’

‘That’s good to know, thank you.’ Will looked down at Darcy, who was standing obediently beside him. Robin couldn’t help but smile. They seemed so out of place next to each other, as if Darcy had adopted Will without him having any say in the matter. She could imagine the little dog following him around until he got bored with trying to shoo her away. ‘So, I’ll just …’ He pointed upwards and Robin nodded, trying not to laugh. She heard him tread lightly up the stairs, the patter of Darcy’s paws following closely behind.

As Robin went back to her work, she wondered if she’d ever get the chance to see Will with dry hair. Then she wondered why she was even thinking about it.

By the time Will and Darcy came down to breakfast, the other guests had left to start their days, exploring Campion Bay and beyond. Robin had let Paige go home, and was tidying up the last of the crockery.

‘Where do I go?’ Will asked, peering into the kitchen. ‘Can Darcy come into the breakfast room, or should I take her back upstairs?’

‘Out here.’ Robin dried her hands on a tea towel and led him into the garden. ‘And of course Darcy can come – it’s just me now. Take your pick of the tables and see what you fancy off the menu. Tea or coffee to start?’

‘Coffee, please.’ Will sat at the table closest to the kitchen door. He was still wearing the faded blue T-shirt, but the shorts had been replaced by dark jeans that emphasized his long legs, and the trainers exchanged for tan Wrangler boots.

‘Does Darcy have dry or wet food?’

He looked slightly surprised. ‘Dry. But I’ve fed her already, upstairs. I didn’t realize you actually catered for dogs, I thought you just agreed to have her because I didn’t give you a choice.’

‘I could easily have said no to both of you.’ Robin said it with a smile, and Will narrowed his eyes as she disappeared inside.

‘Coffee coming right up!’

She cooked her last breakfast for the day: scrambled eggs, Cumberland sausages, grilled tomatoes, local smoked bacon and homemade hash browns, and took a photo of it for the guesthouse Instagram feed before she gave it to Will. She left him to eat and cleaned and wiped down the kitchen, then went outside to offer him more coffee. His plate was clean and he was intent on his phone, Darcy lying a few feet away in a wide patch of sun, her head resting on her paws. Robin noticed with amusement that Eclipse was sitting beyond the French doors looking out at the dog, and that Darcy’s large brown eyes were trained on the kitten, her tail wagging gently.

‘More coffee would be great.’ Will put his iPhone in his pocket. ‘I’ve got a long day ahead of me.’

‘What are you doing down here? If you don’t mind me asking,’ Robin added hastily.

‘I’ve come to clear out Tabitha’s house,’ he said with a sigh, glancing up at the building next door and squinting slightly. His hair had dried in the suntrap of Honeysuckle and Robin saw she had been right; it was a toffee-brown colour with a few natural blond highlights.

‘You’ve got to clear out the whole place on your own?’ She took a step closer to the table.

He shrugged and turned to look at her. ‘There’s nobody else to do it.’

‘What will you do with it once you’re done?’

‘Sell it, I suppose. I haven’t thought that far ahead.’

Robin’s stomach clenched as she thought of Mrs Harris’s scorn at the prospect of a modern development on Goldcrest Road. Even if her assumptions of a shopping centre were way off, this was likely to be the easiest negotiation Tim had ever done.