Summer at the Star and Sixpence Read Online Free PDF Page A

her frazzled thoughts.
Drinking on an empty stomach
was
a bad idea, except that it sometimes made her feel a tiny bit braver. Maybe even brave enough to do what was on her mind, to make the first move. There was
no law that said she had to let Owen take the lead, after all. She’d certainly never have a more romantic setting.
    She took another sip of champagne and looked back at Owen, only to find him still watching her. Without stopping to think, she leaned towards him and pressed her lips against his. For a
heartbeat, neither of them moved, then Owen’s hand tangled in Nessie’s hair and his lips parted. A jolt of electricity surged through her as the kiss deepened; the sound of the
waterfall faded away and all she could think was how right it felt.
    And then it ended. Owen pulled away, a stormy look in his deep brown eyes. ‘Nessie, I . . .’
    He trailed off and a wave of embarrassment and shame flooded over her. She’d done the wrong thing, misread his intentions and now he was trying to find a way to let her down gently.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, taking a deep breath. ‘I shouldn’t have done that.’
    Owen sat back, puffing out a long, frustrated-sounding huff. ‘No, you should. And I don’t want you to think it wasn’t good because it was. It’s just—’ His
gaze skittered away, over the top of the bluebells and back again. ‘Today isn’t the best day, that’s all.’
    Nessie stared at him in confusion. ‘Why?’
    ‘It’s my wedding anniversary,’ he said. ‘Eliza and I would have been married ten years today.’
    Nessie groaned. ‘I’m so sorry. I had no idea.’
    He shook his head and smiled bleakly. ‘Why would you? It’s my fault, I should have said no when Kathryn suggested a walk. But I wanted to show you the bluebells and I thought maybe
it was time to . . . time to make some fresh memories.’
    The world lurched as Nessie’s skin began to crawl. ‘You used to come here with Eliza.’
    Owen sighed and hung his head. ‘She loved the bluebells too.’
    He looked so sad that Nessie wanted to hug him, to reassure him that it was okay. She didn’t dare touch him again, though. Instead, she busied herself with rearranging the plates, giving
him time to recover himself. ‘You know, we should probably eat some of this,’ she said, after a while. ‘Sam and Kathryn will be cross if we don’t.’
    He sat for a moment, staring at the ground. Then he lifted his head and gave her a wry smile. ‘Hell hath no fury like a sister scorned. And they meant well. Their timing was off,
that’s all.’
    Twin spots of heat pricked Nessie’s cheeks and she hid behind filling her plate with food she didn’t want. Her timing had been off, too, catastrophically so. Because the ghost of
Eliza felt like a physical presence between them now, in a way that she never had before. And Nessie wasn’t at all sure how to lay her to rest.

Chapter Four
    Sam stared at her phone on the bedside table.
    It hadn’t rung since yesterday morning, not since she’d answered Will Pargeter’s call and cut him off before he could utter more than a few words. They were etched into her
memory, though, and as much as she tried to forget them, she was worried.
Listen, Sam, we need to talk . . .
    What could he possibly have to say that she might want to hear, she wondered. He was the reason she’d lost her job – lost everything, in fact, while he got to carry on as normal. If
only she could turn back the clock to the night they’d met; go to a different bar, ignore his flirtatious smiles, tell him where to shove his bottle of Bollinger. But then she might not be
here, at the Star and Sixpence. And she wouldn’t have Joss.
    It had been reckless of her to accept the first drink. But she’d recognised his face, although she couldn’t say where from, and he’d been very charming. Her defences had been
deployed elsewhere, at the other man trying to chat her up in the noisy bar and who wouldn’t take no for