Falling for You at Kelsea Sands (Skelsea Cross #2)

Chapter 1

‘Do we really have to go home?’

Jenna smiled and ruffled her daughter Ada’s hair. ‘I’m afraid we do. We’ll get home just in time for supper, then it’s bath and bed for you two.’

Ada pursed her lips, and her twin sister, Hallie, hugged the little Jack Russell she was holding even tighter, as if daring anyone to take him away from her. They both looked thoroughly mutinous, which made Jenna’s mum, Alison, laugh out loud.

‘Look at their faces! It’s all right, girls. You’ll be able to visit often, especially when the summer holidays start.’

Hallie reluctantly put down the dog, and gave an exaggerated sigh. ‘But there’s still a week before we break up, Grandma. That’s ages.’

Jenna rolled her eyes. Oh, for the days when a week seemed a long time! It was funny because her dad had always told her that the older you got, the faster time seemed to pass. She’d thought he was having her on. How could that possibly be true? She still didn’t know how, but he’d been right.

As her mum’s partner, Mac, put his arm around Alison’s shoulders, Jenna felt a sudden pang of grief for her dad.

Not that she minded Mac. She liked him a lot, and it was clear that he was making her mum very happy, which Jenna would always be grateful for.

It was just… She wished her dad could have been alive to spend his golden years with the wife he’d adored. It didn’t seem fair.

Then again, life seldom was.

At that thought, her stomach churned and she felt the familiar mix of nausea and despair.

‘Right,’ she said, forcing herself to sound cheerful. ‘Time to go. Say goodbye and get in the car, girls.’

Grumbling, the twins patted the dog and promised him they’d be back soon. They cuddled their grandma and kissed her goodbye, then gave Mac a shy wave, still not entirely sure how they should react to this newcomer in their lives.

Mac smiled and waved back as they clambered into their car seats. They sat patiently while Jenna fastened them in and checked they were secure. At least they seemed to have accepted it was really time to go home.

Satisfied that they were safe, Jenna stepped back and turned to her mum and Mac.

‘Thanks so much for having us,’ she said. ‘It’s been a great day.’

‘We’ve really enjoyed it,’ Mac assured her. ‘And the twins seem to love being around the animals, which is good.’

‘They adore them,’ Jenna said. ‘If you knew how many drawings of those cows and ponies there are at our house, you’d be amazed.

As for this little fella…’ She bent down and patted the head of the little Jack Russell, who went by the grand name of Robert Carne, although he was almost always called Carne unless he’d been particularly naughty.

‘Well, he’s the star of the show as far as they’re concerned.

Don’t be surprised if he disappears one day after we’ve visited.

I’m just amazed they haven’t tried to hide him under the car seat or something. ’

Mac laughed and she gave him a light hug, which he returned in kind.

She embraced her mum tightly. ‘Thanks, Mum. Give my love to Rosie and everyone, won’t you?’

‘I will. Your gran and grandad will be sorry they missed you, but it’s not often they get invited to afternoon tea at a country house and you know your grandad wouldn’t turn down the offer of food – especially when it’s your Uncle Christopher who’s paying.’

Jenna laughed. ‘No, definitely not! You’ll pass my birthday card to Aunt Elaine, won’t you? Tell her I’m sorry it’s a bit late in the day.’

‘Of course, no worries.’ There was a short pause, then, ‘You are all right, Jenna? Everything’s okay?’

Jenna wondered how her mum always seemed to pick up on her mood, even when she’d done her level best to be as bright and chatty as possible all day.

‘Why wouldn’t it be?’ she asked lightly. ‘Everything’s fine, Mum. Stop worrying. We’ll be down to see you again soon. If you don’t mind?’

‘Of course we don’t mind,’ her mum said immediately.

‘You’re always welcome,’ Mac told her firmly. ‘Any time you like.’

Jenna smiled and nodded, then got into the car. It was time to go before she gave herself away and started blubbing. They were too kind. She couldn’t cope with kindness right now.

She was grateful that the twins distracted her mum and Mac by calling and waving as the car rolled out of the driveway of Watersmeet, Mac’s lovely home on the banks of the Humber.

What with their din, Robert Carne’s frantic yapping, and the calls of goodbye from the two figures standing at the gate, Jenna managed to quieten the noise in her own head and calm her thoughts once again.

They drove along the road that ran alongside the river, passing The North Star pub and several little bungalows, including her gran and grandad’s home, Sanderlings.

Noticing how quiet it had suddenly got, Jenna glanced in the rear-view mirror.

‘Well,’ she said cheerfully, ‘that was a lovely day, wasn’t it? ’

Two pathetically sad little faces stared back at her.

‘Can we go again next weekend?’ Hallie asked hopefully.

‘Er…’ Jenna bit her lip, not sure how to answer.

The odd thing was, she’d love to say yes.

It was amazing how much calmer she felt in Kelsea Sands, which always seemed like another world to her, even though it was only twenty-eight miles from her doorstep to Watersmeet.

‘We’ll see. We don’t want to impose, do we? ’

‘What does “impose” mean?’ Ada asked.

‘It means – well, I suppose it means take advantage of someone. Just because Grandma and Mac have made us so welcome, it doesn’t mean we should land on their doorstep every five minutes, does it? They’re busy people, after all.’

‘Grandma’s not busy now. She’s given up her job,’ Hallie pointed out.

‘And she doesn’t look after us any more,’ Ada added. She sighed. ‘I miss Grandma. We used to see her every day but now she wants to be with Mac, not us.’

Jenna gave her daughter’s reflection a sharp look. ‘It’s not that at all. Grandma loves you both very much. You know that, don’t you?’

There was a slight hesitation, then they chorused, ‘Yes.’

‘S’pose so,’ added Ada.

‘And you like Mac?’

‘Oh yes, he’s really nice,’ Ada said, and Hallie nodded in agreement.

‘Well then. Grandma does have her own life to live, after all. I’m just glad she’s found someone she wants to live it with, aren’t you? Mac’s a very kind man. And isn’t Watersmeet lovely?’

‘I wish we could live at Watersmeet,’ Ada said wistfully. ‘Just think, we could see Jamie Fraser and Ellen MacKenzie, and Heatherstone and Jacob Armitage, and the Dickensian Ducks and the Bennet Sisters every day.’

‘And Carne!’

‘And Mrs Beddows,’ Ada added.

Jenna gave a wry grin. No mention of her mum and Mac then? No. Just the two Highland cows, the New Forest ponies, the three ducks and the five hens that had won their hearts. Not forgetting the much-adored dog and the enormous cat who was missing in action half the time.

‘It would be lovely to live there,’ Hallie said with a sigh. ‘With Mummy and Grandma and Mac.’

Jenna felt a tug of shock as it struck her that there’d been no mention of Joel.

‘And Daddy,’ Ada prompted her twin sister.

‘Oh yeah,’ Hallie said with a shrug.

The twins turned their attention to the view from the window, whooping with excitement as they passed the little farm on the bend of the lane where alpacas grazed in the field.

It was always the high spot of their journey, and Jenna deliberately chose that particular route home, so they’d get to see them.

She barely noticed their delight this time, though, as she mulled over how distant from their lives Joel had become. An afterthought.

Not so long ago, she’d probably been something of an afterthought with them, too.

She’d spent so much time at work, and even when she was at home, she’d palmed her daughters off on her mum so that she could get on with more work, or make sure she kept on top of keeping her house spotlessly clean and tidy, as Joel liked it.

She’d been so focused on pleasing him and furthering her career that she’d all but lost sight of these two precious girls.

If her mum hadn’t finally rebelled and moved to Kelsea Sands, forcing Jenna to take care of them herself, maybe she’d never have realised what she was missing out on until it was far too late.

At the time she’d bitterly resented her mum for cutting off the childcare. Now she was grateful beyond words. Her mum had made her see the truth. There was far more to life than teaching and housework.

Family. Her children meant everything to her, and she was so glad she’d realised that before it was too late.

She just wished their father saw things the same way.

No matter how many times she’d tried to talk to him about it, Joel didn’t seem to get it. He still hated her mother for stopping the childminding and considered her selfish. He’d even tried to persuade Jenna not to have anything more to do with her own mum.

‘You don’t need her,’ he’d pointed out. ‘And neither do the twins. You’ve got me.’

She glanced at the clock on the dashboard. Nearly seven o’clock. He’d have been home from the conference for almost two hours now. She wondered if he’d fixed himself some dinner or if he was waiting for her to get back and cook for him. Maybe he’d have ordered himself a takeaway.

That’s if he was at home at all.

Her stomach churned again and she gripped the steering wheel just a little tighter.

She might be imagining it. Making a mountain out of a molehill. She’d been wrong before, hadn’t she? At least, she thought she had.

The truth was, she still wasn’t sure. There were some things, she knew, that she’d never be certain of. She could only guess, and in a way that was worse, because her imagination could run riot, and what she saw in her mind’s eye was probably far worse than the reality. At least, she hoped it was.