Winter at West Sands Guest House: A debut feel-good heart-warming romance perfect for 2018

‘Please don’t be alarmed. I only open May to September. All my guests are highly respectable, usually out all day, and tucked up nice and early so you’ll hardly know they’re here. They won’t disturb you.’

Appearing reassured with this information he gave a small, forced smile. ‘Well, thank you. It was beginning to feel pretty miserable in here.’

‘These properties don’t take care of themselves. I can give you the name of a local heating engineer if you like – probably best to give the system an overhaul.’

‘Um, sure,’ he muttered.

‘So what brings you to St Andrews?’ Eva asked following him back through the hall towards the front door.

‘I’m starting work at the university.’

Eva nodded, not surprised. Lots of people coming to St Andrews had some connection to the university. In the summer much of her business came from families attending graduations and Eva was happy to play a small part in these special occasions

‘It’s a good university and has a great reputation. My friend’s son has just started studying engineering there,’ she spoke chattily. ‘So, um, what will you be doing there?’

He ran a hand over his shadowed jaw, hesitated for a moment as if reluctant to divulge any information. ‘Teaching physics,’ he replied simply.

Eva had no idea what the average physicist looked like these days but was surprised. Certainly there was a serious, almost brooding quality about him but for some reason teaching physics seemed at odds with his appearance. But perhaps it explained his reticence. Maybe he was one of those genius types who found it difficult to communicate with people unless they had some super high IQ.

Eva closed her mouth, which she realized was hanging open, and gave herself a shake. ‘Well, I’m sure you’ll enjoy living in St Andrews. It’s a friendly community and being at the university you’ll soon meet lots of people.’ Although Eva got the impression Ben Matthews wasn’t going to be actively seeking new friends.

Meeting visitors from all over the world, Eva reckoned she had become a pretty good judge of character. Some wanted to chat; others preferred keeping to themselves. She knew some people were easy to please while others found fault in everything. And now she sensed Ben Matthews was being guarded.

For someone who had just moved in, the place didn’t show many signs of a life on the move. Everything pointed to him being on his own, which seemed strange for such a big house. She mulled that over in her head: the fact he appeared to be single. Did it matter to her? If she was honest she’d been hoping a family might move in, maybe with children close to Jamie’s age. Perhaps he had a wife, a partner or family still to join him.

‘Once you get settled perhaps you and er … well perhaps you’d like to come round for dinner?’

He had reached the front door now, placed his hand on the handle, and she saw him bristle. ‘I doubt I’ll have time. I’m going to be pretty busy.’

‘So, um is it just you? I mean, there’s no one else?’ She cringed inwardly at how nosy she just sounded but couldn’t help herself.

‘No, it’s just me,’ he replied tersely, opening the door.

‘Right, of course,’ Eva said weakly, stepping outside. She suddenly remembered something and turned. ‘I still have a set of keys for this house. The people who lived here before you – we had a set of each other’s keys for emergencies.’ If she hoped he might say to keep the arrangement in place – after all it was a sensible neighbourly thing to do – then she was to be disappointed.

‘Just put them through the letterbox next time you’re passing.’ His tone suggested he was finding this conversation tedious now, making Eva feel as if she was being dismissed.

‘Of course.’

‘Thanks again,’ he said closing the front door behind her. Eva hurried back to her own house with the rain still falling, feeling suddenly miserable. What had she been thinking? That she could turn up and be welcomed with open arms? She was trying to be friendly but now had a horrible feeling he would just think her pushy and prying. Stupidly she thought she could re-create what she had with the MacKenzies. But of course, he was a stranger. And not a particularly friendly one by the looks of it.

Chapter Two (#ulink_a95cbe08-b809-541b-9348-fc8523812a5c)

Ben hadn’t worn a suit since his last day working in the city and wasn’t enjoying wearing one now. It reminded him too much of the life he wanted to forget. Sometimes he wondered how he had endured it for five years. A job he hated but that earned him a shedload of money, a luxury apartment overlooking the Thames that he was hardly ever in, and people he socialized with but wouldn’t count as real friends.

He’d got used to the crazy long hours, the cut and thrust of making deals. But during that time he’d never lost his passion for physics, the subject he’d studied at university. The only difference was that instead of using his mathematical skills to figure out how the universe began, he’d used them to predict how markets might react and make huge amounts of money. Well, he wasn’t living the nightmare any more – today was a new beginning.

He fiddled with his shirt collar, feeling surprisingly nervous. He knew working at the university wouldn’t normally require him to wear a suit but he wanted to make a good impression today. A good night’s sleep would have helped but finding the bedding had proved too much and he’d finally given in to exhaustion and fallen asleep on the sofa. After only a few hours sleep he had woken early this morning, his bones aching and his mind racing.

Of course the visit from his new neighbour hadn’t exactly helped. Images of her had kept flitting into his head as he tried to fall asleep. He might be dog-tired and sworn off women for life but he still recognized a beautiful woman when he saw one. With her honey-blonde hair pulled into a ponytail, not a scrap of make-up – unless you counted what looked like a smudge of blue paint on her face – she was stunning.

But this was definitely not the time to start noticing the colour of your neighbour’s hair. She’d just been so friendly, acting all neighbourly, but he hadn’t been in the mood for twenty questions and to be honest, he hadn’t known quite how to handle it. He knew he lived in a small community now and that’s probably what neighbours did – talk to each other, borrow things – or in her case fix heating systems.

Their conversation last night was longer than any he’d had with his old neighbours in London. He’d never known their stories and hadn’t wanted to; a nod in the hallway had sufficed. But he got the uncomfortable feeling it was going to be different with Eva Harris.

Was it just two of them living there? He’d noticed her hands were bare of rings and she’d only mentioned living with her son. If she was on her own running a business and bringing up a son, she’d have her hands full yet she had made time to bring him home-made soup. He’d found the gesture curiously quaint and he was well aware he hadn’t exactly been gracious accepting it but it hadn’t stopped him devouring the lot. It had tasted delicious.

He didn’t know why her visit had irked him so much but he’d felt wrong-footed in some way, her questions reinforcing his isolation. Having to say out loud that he was on his own felt like admitting his dream lay in tatters and that had hurt more than he cared to admit and had been enough to drive his manners away. Next time he saw her he would make a point of thanking her but that didn’t mean he wanted to get involved.

Giving himself a mental shake, he checked his tie in the mirror and headed downstairs. Today the house felt even bigger, his footsteps echoing on the polished wooden floorboards in the hall. He had no doubt it had been a well-loved and lived-in house, but it was crying out for some attention and updating. At least the shower had worked this morning even though it was rickety and had made a slightly alarming noise.

Wandering through to the dining room at the back of the house he could see the potential to make it a beautiful home if you knew how to go about it. He wouldn’t have a clue where to start. Clearly it was too big for him. He’d be rattling about here on his own. A door led him through to the kitchen. Most people would want this as one big space, he imagined as he walked over to the large window overlooking the garden.

‘What the – ?’

In dungarees on her knees at the bottom of his garden was his new neighbour, Eva Harris. She appeared to be chasing a chicken around his back garden. Other chickens were clucking around in her own garden and a small manic dog seemed to be getting in on the action also. Watching for a few moments Ben realized she seemed to be coaxing the chicken from his garden back into her own.

Unlike last night, her hair was loose, tumbling down her back in soft waves. He watched as she made a sudden lunge for the chicken and then hoisted it over the fence back into her own garden. Ben couldn’t help smiling. God, she looked mad. And utterly beautiful. He shook his head and forced himself away from events in the garden, as enticing as they were.

Ben started to get some papers ready for his meeting. Walking back through the hall, an envelope caught his eye lying on the mat by the front door. Opening it, he found a set of keys. Clearly Eva Harris was an early riser and had returned the keys to his house. He tossed them onto the sideboard, ignoring the inexplicable stab of guilt he felt, and went to get ready.

***

‘Come on, Betsy … this way!’ Eva used her best chicken voice but Betsy was choosing to ignore her and instead seemed intent on pecking something interesting on the ground. There were times when Eva questioned her decision to rescue six chickens especially when it came to the weekly cleanout and even more so when they decided to go on walkabouts into other people’s gardens.

She should have fixed that gap in the fence ages ago and hadn’t noticed it had got big enough for an escape party. She loved her girls and it was wonderful being able to provide her guests with fresh eggs. But there was no doubt it had been a labour of love and it had been hard work to get them from the sad-looking creatures they once were to the cheeky happy characters they were now.

Spotting her moment, she grabbed Betsy with two hands and lifted her back to the safety of her own garden. Hamish, happy to have Betsy home safely, barked in approval. Eva had very carefully introduced Hamish and the chickens but she needn’t have worried. They were all firm friends now and Eva suspected Hamish had assumed the role of pack leader.

Finding a piece of wood from her shed she dragged it over and managed to prop it up against the gap in the fence, hoping that would secure it until she could fix it properly. She doubted her new neighbour would appreciate a chicken on the loose in his garden; he was more likely to be the type to slab everything over with concrete.

Disappointment had given way to anger when she thought about him now. Eva began vigorously brushing up the dirty pine shavings from the coop, thinking just how rude he had been. She tossed the shavings onto the compost heap at the bottom corner of the garden and with some help from Hamish, rounded up the chickens. Ushering them back into their clean coop Eva left them to settle down and roost in peace.

Early morning was Eva’s favourite time of day and getting up early to deal with guests had never been an issue. She loved being outside in her garden, and was making the most of it before the clocks went back and she would lose light in the morning. She trudged down to the bottom of the garden where she kept a small vegetable patch, enjoying the feel of muddy earth under her feet. It had been hit and miss with the success of her vegetable growing and her latest offering of carrots – slightly shrivelled and sorry-looking – had done nothing to convince Jamie eating vegetables could be a pleasurable experience.

Still, she loved that she had created a little safe haven for the two of them. Sometimes she wished she could lock the outside world out and just keep things the way they were. Ben Matthews’s arrival had rankled her. Almost as if she blamed him – unfairly she knew – for making the MacKenzies leave and change everything.

A light rain was now falling and Eva started to feel chilled so she headed back towards the house with Hamish at her heels. She went in through the back door to the utility room, which had become a dumping ground for shoes, jackets, tools, and old toys. Eva had cleared way to make room for Hamish’s feeding bowls and basket, hoping she could train him to stay in this area and out of the kitchen.

‘Hamish, here boy.’ She pointed to his basket and was delighted when he obediently flopped into it. She gave him a treat and patted his head, thinking just maybe she was getting the hang of this training lark. She pulled off her wellies, slipped out of her dungarees, and washed up before heading upstairs.

In his darkened room Jamie slept soundly. She picked up a few random items of clothing and a Harry Potter book discarded on the floor by the side of his bed. Eva took a moment to watch him sleep, marvelling at the innocence of his sleeping young face. The smallest of smiles played on his lips as if he was in the middle of a lovely dream and Eva felt guilty for waking him.

She wished she had some sort of parental magic wand she could wave over him to keep him safe. He had been just four the day she’d woken him to go to the hospital after Paul’s accident and Eva couldn’t bear that she was about to wake him and bring tragedy into his life. Of course he wouldn’t fully understand but somehow she was going to have to try and explain he would never see Daddy again. She could only hope the love and stability she provided would make up for his loss. Eva had always made sure Jamie knew who Paul was, sharing memories of him so her son knew he’d had a father who loved him very much.

Eva began the ritual of waking him, clicking on the bedside light and opening the curtains just enough to allow a sliver of grey morning light in through the gap. Jamie, not sharing his mother’s love of mornings, rolled over in protest at the sudden intrusion into his slumber. ‘Morning, love,’ she said, giving him a gentle shake. Once she knew he was fully awake and in no danger of falling back to sleep, Eva left him to get dressed.

Returning to the kitchen with hot coffee on her mind, Eva felt the distinct crunch of cereal under her feet. Not necessarily an unusual occurrence but when she followed the trail of crumbs she found Hamish in his basket with his nose buried deep in a box of cereal. Clearly he had jumped up and taken it from the table, probably violating at least half a dozen health and safety regulations, thought Eva grimly.