Ottercombe Bay – Part Three: Raising the Bar

Ottercombe Bay – Part Three: Raising the Bar
Bella Osborne

Escape to the Devon coast, with Part Three 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 Three

BELLA OSBORNE

Copyright (#u9c528202-0d93-5c63-b527-fdafc447ee0c)

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 HarperCollins Publishers 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 © April 2018 ISBN: 9780008258139

Version 2018-02-19

Dedication (#u9c528202-0d93-5c63-b527-fdafc447ee0c)

For my mum – thank you.

Table of Contents

Cover (#u7ebe2de1-f38d-59f1-a73e-596faf2f20a7)

Title Page (#u5642d42c-77cc-5dff-95c0-2bb38ebff85b)

Copyright (#u3e5d0aaa-22d8-58e6-9e7e-93f3f94a2b5c)

Dedication (#u1dceca76-5a6d-5408-8bc0-ee7615e3ab14)

Chapter One (#uc47ff2d6-12cf-5113-8f20-ec6181a83356)

Chapter Two (#u79dfbbc1-dbb2-55e2-94e1-d1287c7f832d)

Chapter Three (#litres_trial_promo)

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)

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 (#u9c528202-0d93-5c63-b527-fdafc447ee0c)

It could have been the wave dousing her already sodden state, but something made Daisy look up from her perilous position. She was clinging to an ice-cold rock now almost submerged in the sea. She had no idea how long she’d been stranded there. Salt water stung her eyes making it difficult to focus. She blinked rapidly. Daisy wasn’t sure what she was expecting to see, but the sight of Max manoeuvring the inshore lifeboat close to the mouth of the cave was a surprise, and a huge relief. She was safe.

‘Daisy! Stay where you are. Are you hurt?’ His voice was soothing and reassuring. Daisy couldn’t speak for the chattering of her teeth, so she shook her head and cold wet strands of hair lashed at her chilled face stinging her cheeks.

Max handed control of the boat to Jason whilst another man radioed an update. Max leapt from the boat onto the rock in one confident movement. Before she could think how to clamber from the water Max was already lifting her into his arms. She was quickly deposited into the boat and wrapped in foil like an oven-ready turkey. She’d had better days, and somehow she would have to explain to Aunt Coral that Bug was lost at sea. Max jumped back into the boat making it rock turbulently, which broke her train of thought. He gave her a look that her chilled brain struggled to interpret but she guessed it was somewhere between pity and annoyance. Daisy felt the need to explain.

She discovered that forming words with cold lips was extremely difficult. ‘Bug ran off.’

‘Bug came home without you. I was speaking to Coral when the coastguard call came through.’ Max turned away and increased the might of the boat’s engines. Daisy curled up into a tighter ball. Another point to Bug, she thought. The boat skimmed across the water hopping rhythmically over the waves making only a slight spray. The inshore coped effortlessly with the bad weather; if it hadn’t been October and she hadn’t been frozen to the core, she may almost have enjoyed it. Max squinted over his shoulder at her and she averted her eyes.

‘You okay?’ asked Jason. Daisy didn’t want to talk, she just wanted to be warm again. She nodded and pulled the foil blanket tighter around herself. ‘We’ll soon have you warm, Daisy. You’re doing really well.’