Chapter Three
“Strangers in the Night”
‘Are you okay?’
Ellie started, then dragged her hungry gaze away from this older, more rugged Will. A petite young woman with red-gold hair, accompanied by a pretty child, had paused beside the sofa. They looked vaguely familiar.
‘You’ve gone horrid pale.’
‘Yes. Sorry.’ Ellie pulled herself together. ‘I’ve seen you at the school, I think?’
The woman nodded, her chin-length curls bobbing. ‘Phoenix, or Phee to most. Verity Blue,’ she indicated the little girl. ‘Started there this year after we moved back to the cove from Meva.’ She had a warm, West Country burr to her voice and a friendly smile.
Ellie shook the proffered hand. ‘Ellie. I’m here to help my cousin out for bit.’
‘Nicki? I thought I’d seen you with her boys. Poor Hamish. He’ll be missing being out at sea. Well, if you’re sure you’re okay, we’d best get on.’
Phoenix said goodbye, ushering her daughter out of the door, and Ellie’s anxious gaze shot back towards the harbour.
There was no longer any sign of Will or Alex, thankfully, and her heart resumed its normal pace.
He’ll doubtless be gone again soon. Just keep a low profile. Don’t go out. Stay in your room. Don’t even get out of bed.
‘Idiot,’ Ellie silently admonished, as she cautiously sipped the hot chocolate. Why did it taste like ashes?
She put it aside. Time to get back to Little Cott. Thank goodness her stay in the cove would be brief!
Nicki had been somewhat subdued when they arrived home, explaining that Hamish had little to no feeling in his legs at present.
Alarm gripped Ellie as she hugged her cousin. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘It’s okay.’ Nicki attempted a more positive tone. ‘We had been warned it was a possible side effect, but you just don’t expect it to happen.’
‘How long do they think it will last?’
Nicki shrugged as she dropped her bag onto the kitchen table. ‘They said it’s likely to fade over the next twenty-four hours or so.’ She cast a wary glance towards the sitting room, where the boys could be heard arguing over the remote. ‘I haven’t mentioned it to Liam and Jason.’
Ellie made a cup of tea while Nicki attended to another message from Hamish. It put her ridiculous feelings over the sudden sighting of Will into perspective – after all, she wasn’t twenty-one any more – and she determined to get over herself and concentrate on making some reels for her business.
‘Bummer,’ she muttered, as she took out her own phone. ‘Dead again.’ The charging lead was in her room at Anna’s; she’d have to borrow Nicki’s.
‘Great.’ Nicki tossed her phone onto the table and grabbed her mug.
‘What’s up?’
‘I need to swap my shift in the morning. The surgeon wants to speak to us both. Hamish says he’s been told there’s nothing to worry about. How can that be right?’
‘They must know what they’re talking about. Come on. You need something to do. I know of an exciting pile of washing just waiting for us to get our hands on it.’
‘You’re right,’ Nicki said, heading to the back porch, which doubled as a utility room.
‘At least the op is over. He’s going to be so frustrated waiting to be fit enough to take the boat out again, but at least we’ll have a goal.
’ A flicker of disquiet touched Nicki’s features as she sorted clothes from the washing basket.
Ellie sent her a sympathetic look. ‘And you’ll have his company again.’
‘True. He’ll be home again and here for the boys around school hours. And he’ll need to get moving.’
Ellie tugged more towels from the tumble drier, enjoying the wafts of fabric softener as she flipped them over to fold.
‘Sounds like you’ll have the whip out.’
Nicki chuckled. ‘Not sure he’ll be up to that any time soon.’
Laughter burst from Ellie. ‘And remind me, when do Anna and Oliver leave for the States?’
‘Less than a month now, I think. Anna’s godmother to Lauren’s little girl, Mia. Aside from the wedding, she can’t wait to get out there to see her.’
When they returned to the kitchen, Nicki plugged in the iron while Ellie opened the fridge.
‘It’s getting late. Do you want to forego a takeaway? There’s some of that quiche left. We could make up a salad, and there’s oven chips for the boys.’
Nicki draped an ironed school shirt over a chair and picked up another.
Then, she slumped onto a stool. ‘I’m so fed up.
Since Hamish’s back started playing up, I only ever go out now to work.
No more sitting round Anna’s table with the locals, no socialising.
We used to have some fun girly lunches, me, Anna, Kate – she lives at Harbourwatch – and sometimes Anna’s brother’s girlfriend, Gemma, too… ’
Ellie sent her a sympathetic look as she closed the fridge door, torn over what to suggest. Was she being mean, wanting to hide away?
Surely Will, if he was even still in the cove, would be staying up at the posh hotel or with the Tremaynes, like he did all those years ago?
She didn’t even know if the yacht was his or Alex’s.
He was a hugely successful actor. Didn’t they buy into those sorts of trappings?
Eyeing Nicki’s forlorn expression as she stared at the crumpled shirt in her hands, Ellie’s heart won out. Her cousin’s wellbeing was far more important. She’d worry about her bank balance another time. Besides, she’d be home soon and able to resume business as usual.
‘How about we head down to The Lugger? My treat.’
Brightening, Nicki dropped the shirt back into the ironing basket. ‘Are you sure? We’re so strapped for cash right now, and the cinema wasn’t cheap. They do love eating at the pub.’ She glanced at the clock. ‘I’ll call Seb and ask him to hold a table for us.’
A half-hour later, they settled into a high-backed booth opposite the bar of the inn, Jason and Liam both focused on the devices propped on the table in front of them, and Ellie and Nicki nursing a glass of wine each.
Once the food order was placed, Ellie settled back into the corner of the booth, her gaze uneasily scanning faces, relieved to recognise none of them.
‘Cheers.’ Nicki held up her glass and Ellie clinked hers against it, but as she raised it to her lips, the door opened and Alex Tremayne entered, accompanied by a tall, stunning woman with long black hair, and behind them, another man sporting a hat, low over his eyes.
Yet Ellie would know the set of those shoulders, that jawline, anywhere…
She almost dropped her glass, grabbing the stem to steady it, then ducking her head as the group made their way to the bar.
Scooting to the far corner of the booth, she became aware of Nicki’s concern.
‘What’s the matter? You look like you’ve just been slapped in the face.’
Ellie put a hand to her cheek.
‘I’m serious,’ Nicki said quietly, casting a quick look at Jason and Liam, who remained oblivious, sipping Dr Pepper through paper straws and continuing to stare at their respective screens. ‘You’re red as can be!’
‘It’s nothing,’ Ellie lied. She all but trembled at the thought of facing Will.
Why, though? He let you down in the end, not the other way round…
Perhaps if she left now, while their attention was focused on ordering drinks…
‘Ellie?’ Nicki tugged at her sleeve. ‘It’s clearly something . Do you feel ill?’
She could hear the trepidation in her cousin’s voice. The last thing she needed was for her support to keel over.
‘I’m fine. Honestly.’ Ellie’s gaze was inadvertently drawn to where the group stood.
Nicki peered over, then looked back at Ellie, her brow furrowed.
‘That’s Alex Tremayne. Currently running the estate.’
Ellie cleared her throat. ‘Yes. I remember him. Weren’t he and Bella an item back then?’
Nicki looked a little uncomfortable. ‘As I recall, he tried to be an item with everyone. Not that I was around much after I met Hamish.’
Warmth permeated Ellie’s skin, intensifying as images flew through her traitorous mind of long evenings with Will, either in his room at Tremayne Manor, sitting on a secluded beach watching the sunset, or cuddled together in her tiny bed in the van.
At the time, she’d been thankful for Nicki’s absence.
Nicki was listening to something Liam had asked, and Ellie drew in a shallow breath, picking up her glass and welcoming the distraction as Gavin – who ran the pub with his husband, Seb – arrived with the boys’ burgers, followed by a young girl with Nicki’s lasagne and Ellie’s fish pie.
‘Alex could be here for any number of reasons,’ Nicki continued, conversationally.
‘The manor is his now, although his parents still live there. And Claudia,’ she nodded towards the out-of-sight bar, ‘is an old family friend. The other chap might be her latest. She gets through them like wet wipes. They’re a monied set, but Alex is never here long.
’ She leaned forward to peer over. ‘They’ve gone into the snug.
Probably don’t want to hang out with the plebs. ’
Relieved, Ellie stared at her plate while Nicki passed ketchup to Liam and put far less salt than he demanded on Jason’s chips. Her appetite had fizzled out, as had her hopes for not seeing Will again. Perhaps if they ate quickly, they could all leave before he emerged from their private sanctuary?
Nicki took a photo of her lasagne and glass of wine and started typing a WhatsApp to Hamish. Ellie picked up her fork and speared some cheesy-topped mash, but she stiffened as a figure passed by the booth.
Will still had the hat pulled down low as he selected a newspaper from the rack, then he turned to pass their table and all but froze, raising his head to reveal the glimmer of dark eyes as his stunned gaze met Ellie’s.
For a second, the moment endured, before Will’s features assumed a blank expression and he ducked his head, striding out of sight, followed by the sound of a door closing with a snap.
‘Oh my God!’ Nicki put a hand to her mouth as she swallowed a mouthful of lasagne. ‘That was him, wasn’t it? That chap you hung out with. Alex’s mate. Went on to star in some big stuff – not my sort of watch. What was his name?’ She narrowed her eyes. ‘Bill something?’
‘Will,’ Ellie whispered.
‘That’s it!’ Nicki shook her head. ‘Well, Alex Tremayne never struck me as someone who people hung around for long. This Will must either be thick-skinned or thick-brained.’
Ellie was struggling to breathe evenly. The look on Will’s face had said all it needed to. He knew her face, recalled exactly who she was.
And he clearly had no desire to be reacquainted.