Life Begins at the Cornish Cottage (Sandpiper Shores #2)

Chapter 1

Two years ago I lost two things. One was my husband. The other was myself. I must be really careless because as if that wasn’t enough, while out for lunch one day with my friends, I also lost my dignity.

Time stood still and a chill ran down my spine when I came out of the ladies’ toilets of The Fisherman’s Haunt and saw who Michelle and Jo were talking to.

Someone that without a shadow of a doubt I would have recognised anywhere despite it being donkeys’ years since I saw him last. His stature hadn’t changed one bit.

Those broad shoulders and muscular forearms, his tall, athletic frame upright and formal.

Sometimes a particular memory of a person who was so deeply embedded in your head never goes away.

Of all the days in the year, why did he have to pick this particular one to visit the same restaurant as me?

His head turned in my direction and he pointed towards the toilets.

Oh, my! Surely he wasn’t coming this way.

This couldn’t be happening. My heart started to pump like mad and I furtively ducked behind the nearest pillar to try to work out my next course of action.

As I glanced round, I noticed that the doors to the kitchen were right behind me and might possibly be my only escape route.

I risked the chance and peeked out from behind the pillar and took another look.

He was still talking to Jo and Michelle and I could hear them both giggling, far higher pitched than normal.

Bloody traitors. Give them a good-looking man, and they were putty in his hands.

Jo spotted me, caught my eye and waved me over, raising her voice.

‘Emma. Are you OK?’

I darted even further behind the pillar, commando-style.

My back flat against the wall, I realised that I had two choices.

I could either put on my big-girl pants, take a deep breath, be brave and go out there and face the music, pretending I was totally holding it together.

Or I could push open the kitchen doors and make an excuse as to why I was there, hoping that they had a back entrance I could leave through.

Then I could text the girls to let them know I’d had to leave suddenly, hoping that I’d had a lucky escape without him knowing anything about it.

After all, these escapades work in the films so I couldn’t imagine why this wasn’t a perfectly viable option.

While I dithered about my decision, I heard footsteps coming my way from the main restaurant floor.

I panicked. As I burst through the kitchen door, which to my horror was one of those swing-both-ways doors, there was an almighty crash and I walked directly into the path of a poor unsuspecting waiter who was reversing through.

I’m sure that the pained yowl he made could have been heard from outer space.

The two plates that he’d been carrying in his hands, along with the one that had been balancing on his arm, dropped and smashed on the floor.

I apologised profusely to the poor lad, who looked like he was going to burst into tears.

As I completely lost my balance, I felt myself heading south and promptly hit the deck too.

We both watched in slow-motion alarm as roast beef, upside-down Yorkshire puddings, roast potatoes, carrots and parsnips landed half on me and half on him and bright green garden peas were jet-propelled across the floor.

Dark brown gravy was dribbling down my white linen trousers and his startled little teenage face glared at me, I wasn’t sure whether in surprise, disgust or just plain horror.

‘Woah! What the hell is going on here and more’s the point, what the hell are you doing in my kitchen?

Back to work, everyone. Show’s over.’ A tall, imposing man in chef’s whites stood over me.

‘Did you not see the sign on the wall which said staff only?’ This must have been the head chef whose authoritative voice was getting louder the nearer he got to me.

I looked over my shoulder quickly towards the door which, thank heavens, had closed behind us both and gave a rather loud sigh at the same time as the teenager piped up.

‘Clearly not. She’s a flipping mad woman. A proper mentalist!’

‘That’s enough, Harvey. Go and get a dustpan and brush and the mop and bucket from the store cupboard and we’ll plate some more food up.’

I shook out my normally perfectly coiffured hair.

As I reached up to smooth it down, I realised that I’d just wiped the mashed potato which I didn’t realise was on my hand through it.

Was the day able to get any worse? I took a deep breath as I realised that I needed to style it out and offered my hand to the chef.

‘Hello… Do you think you could help me up, please?’ I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. This would probably have been quite hilarious had it been happening to someone else.

The corner of his mouth twitched as he reached down and pulled me up to standing.

‘Are you hurt?’ he asked.

‘Only my pride! I’m honestly so very sorry,’ I replied.

‘Bad day?’ He took a tea towel from the work surface to his left and handed it to me. He looked younger than I originally thought he was now I was closer to him.

‘Thank you.’ I wiped at the rich gravy that was seeping into my trousers, making it look even worse and like I’d had a bout of diarrhoea. ‘You wouldn’t believe me if I tried to explain.’

‘Suppose you want to get let out the fire escape then? I presume this was an escape plan. Bad date, maybe?’ He grinned.

‘Something like that. Can I help you clear up first? Pay for the damage? I really am sorry.’ I reached down for my bag and realised that I’d left it at the dining table. A deflated sigh left my body and a tear rolled down my face.

‘Don’t worry about it, my love. Let’s just call it training.

Poor lad has only just started today and his nerves were in tatters anyway, so it’s always good to get something thrown at him this early.

He might think twice before walking through the wrong side of the door now.

Good practice, really. So maybe I should be thanking you. ’

I looked towards the restaurant area as another member of staff came through into the kitchen. He was very intuitive, for a man.

‘Is your bag in there?’ He nodded towards the door.

‘Yeah, with my friends.’

‘Want to go and get it?’

Frantically I shook my head. ‘Christ, no! I can’t go back out there.’

‘Want me to get it for you?’ he asked.

‘I couldn’t ask you to do that.’

‘You didn’t. I offered.’ This man might just have been my guardian angel.

‘You’re very kind. I’m not sure if this had happened in reverse that I’d have been so… well, you know… understanding.’

‘You have a nice face. Besides, my mum always taught me that you have no idea of what is going on in someone’s mind, so you should always be nice. Kindness costs nothing. Now tell me where your friends are sitting. Do you want me to give them a message?’

‘They’re sat at the table in the bay window that looks over the sea. Could you tell them that I’m going to go home, please? Oh, and I’m Emma, by the way. Emma Montgomery.’ I reached out my hand again and this time he shook it.

‘Martin. One sec, Emma.’ He headed out the door. The left door, not the right one. He winked at Harvey, who was now cleaning up the mess. The poor lad. I felt so guilty at what I’d put him through.

A minute later the opposite door swung open and Martin walked back through swinging my pale blue Michael Kors handbag and handed it to me.

‘I told them you weren’t feeling well and were having a sit down in here before going home. Offered them their meals for free and they’re just having a pudding.’

‘Oh, wow! Will you not get into trouble with the owner?’

‘Ah, well, I’m married to the co-owner, and I’m the other one so I think we’ll be OK. Do you want a minute while you gather yourself?’

I nodded. ‘Yes, please, if that’s OK. Was there anyone with them? A man, maybe?’

‘There was. Grey-haired; beardy; sporty type. Sun-tanned too. Good-looking, I suppose, if you like that sort of thing. Tom, I think I heard them call him. He was sitting at their table.’ I couldn’t work out whether his face was about to break into a grin, or whether he just had a naturally smiley face.

But the thing that was puzzling me more than anything was why on earth was Tom Sullivan sitting at the same table as my friends?

At least I’d done the right thing by disappearing into the kitchen even if it didn’t work out quite as well as I’d planned. He would still have been there when I came out of the loo and I really wasn’t ready to face him.

‘Is there anything I can do to thank you, Martin?’ I felt like I owed this man something for his kindness.

‘You can put us a great review on Tripadvisor if you like. That’s worth its weight in gold to be honest. And a review on social media too if you have time. We’re new in the area and need all the help that we can get.’

‘I can definitely do that and I can tell everyone how fabulous you are. The meal was divine, by the way. Thank you, Martin. I won’t forget how kind you’ve been.’

He mock-bowed to me. ‘You’re welcome, Emma. Door at the back takes you out to the car park. Take care now and do come back and eat with us again soon.’

As I walked towards the rear of the kitchen, I slipped a folded twenty-pound note into Harvey’s hand and he stared at me in amazement as I apologised again and left the building.

Martin walked back to the kitchen counter and shouted over, laughing, ‘Emma! I hope the nasty man you were hiding from never finds you.’

I hoped the same thing very much. I couldn’t actually believe that after all this time, he had ended up in Sandpiper Shore.