Ottercombe Bay – Part Four: Shaken and Stirred

Ottercombe Bay – Part Four: Shaken and Stirred
Bella Osborne

Escape to the Devon coast, with Part Four of a brand-new four-part serial from the author of  Willow Cottage. Daisy Wickens has returned to Ottercombe Bay, the picturesque Devon town where her mother died when she was a girl. She plans to leave as soon as her great uncle’s funeral is over, but Great Uncle Reg had other ideas. He’s left Daisy a significant inheritance – an old building in a state of disrepair, which could offer exciting possibilities, but to get it she must stay in Ottercombe Bay for twelve whole months.With the help of a cast of quirky locals, a few gin cocktails and a black pug with plenty of attitude, Daisy might just turn this into something special. But can she ever hope to be happy among the ghosts of her past?Authors and readers love Bella Osborne’s gorgeous novels:‘I really enjoy Bella Osborne’s books’ – Katie Fforde‘An absolutely glorious read full of laugh out loud moments and beautifully observed characters who spring to life on the page’ Phillipa Ashley‘A warm and engaging story with relatable characters who will worm their way into your heart. A great read!’ – Talli Roland‘Loved it! Believable characters, a sweetly told, lovely story… a great read’ – Jane Lovering‘Romance, comedy, and mystery abound in this delightful British novel’ – I Read That Book!‘A great read, with some really special moments… so beautiful and romantic’ – Annie’s Book Corner‘A well-written and charming tale.’ – Paris Baker’s Book Nook‘I wasn't expecting a debut novel to be this good’ – The Bookish & The Romantic'Makes me feel like I should be reading it while wearing a tea dress, drinking posh coffee from a china cup and eating Victoria sandwich cake with a dainty little fork. It's charming, adorable, amusing and all those sorts of words' – Escape Into Words'This book is perfect chick lit' – Gidget Girls Reading

Part Four

BELLA OSBORNE

Copyright (#u63ad332a-4b95-5da1-931b-9a0bb47699ba)

Published by Avon an imprint of

HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street,

London, SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk)

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2018

Copyright © Bella Osborne 2018

Cover illustration © Kim Leo

Cover design © Head Design 2018

Bella Osborne asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008258153

Ebook Edition © June 2018 ISBN: 9780008258146

Version 2018-03-23

Dedication (#u63ad332a-4b95-5da1-931b-9a0bb47699ba)

For my mum – thank you.

Table of Contents

Cover (#u20788d7b-62c6-5f09-8cce-3787ea696fc6)

Title Page (#u26145ef2-562d-53ac-b8a0-97fed59f2889)

Copyright (#u5e60d9a4-e189-5d3e-aef4-bf53c6b1ad63)

Dedication (#u05dbd7ad-da9b-5a7c-93e9-f2c3a6ac1b40)

Chapter One (#u65822d97-362b-5e41-ba49-182a622cba07)

Chapter Two (#ua310a490-0b65-567c-b71d-e6380ba7dc01)

Chapter Three (#u84b07204-b5ba-5c45-b25a-8df23e6797af)

Chapter Four (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)

Acknowledgements (#litres_trial_promo)

Keep Reading … (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Author (#litres_trial_promo)

Also by Bella Osborne (#litres_trial_promo)

About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)

Chapter One (#u63ad332a-4b95-5da1-931b-9a0bb47699ba)

Daisy was standing on the cliff top watching the small boat carry Guillaume further out to sea. The wind cut through her coat making her shudder. She had a bad feeling about this. What should she do?

She took a deep breath. Guillaume had been a slippery character in the past but he’d never been in any serious trouble. There were a few cash and carry fiddles, but she had no reason whatsoever to suspect he was up to no good now. Daisy felt a little better for this thought process. Perhaps she just needed to go and have a large glass of wine and forget about it. Yes, that was exactly what she would do. Another gust of night air gave her the nudge she needed to go home. It was times like this she missed her old motorbike.

She had a long chat to the man in the fish and chip shop whilst he explained the secret to his excellent fish and chips, and she did a good impression of someone rapt by the deep-frying process whilst her brain continued to mull over the situation with Guillaume. If it was some big romantic gesture then what on earth could it be that required a small motorised boat to be out on a choppy sea?

Walking home her phone beeped. For a moment she hoped it was a text from Guillaume saying he was back, but it was just a silly game demanding attention. But next to the game app was the Find My Phone app and it was calling to her. She had Guillaume’s phone set-up; well, assuming he still had the same phone and it still worked. She slowed her pace, clicked the app and hoped it would show he was in Weymouth. A small dot started to flash. The small dot was way offshore and it wasn’t moving.

The wind was getting up now and she knew the impact that would have on the sea. Whatever her guess as to why Guillaume had taken the boat out, the fact remained he was now way offshore in a tiny boat in the dark with little sailing skills and a possible storm brewing. Daisy fumbled with her phone as her brain fumbled with her dilemma. Eventually she called Jason and proceeded to offload all her concerns in one long diatribe.