Dare She Date the Dreamy Doc?

She was running—wounded—looking for a place to hide and recover.

And the cottage was the perfect place for her. Whether her teenager daughter would survive the isolation was another matter.

Chapter Three

IT WAS the prettiest house she’d ever seen—one of four fishermen’s cottages facing the sea, their front gardens leading straight down to a sandy beach.

The iron gate was rusty and creaked as she pushed it open, but Jenna felt a sudden feeling of calm and contentment. No more endless traffic jams and road rage. No more rush hour. No more litter on the streets and graffiti on the walls.

Just open space, fresh air, and the sound of the sea.

It was perfect.

Lexi gave a whimper of horror. ‘This is it? It’s the smallest house I’ve ever seen.’

Jenna felt the tension return to her stomach. ‘Small, yes, but it’s ours.’As long as she kept the job. The house came with the job. They had a home again. And it would be cheap to run.

Lexi was gaping at the tiny cottage. ‘A whole summer here?’

‘Yes.’

‘You can’t swing a cat.’

‘We don’t have a cat.’ But they might have a dog. She’d been thinking about it ever since Ryan McKinley had mentioned the idea.

Lexi closed her eyes. ‘Just kill me now,’ she muttered, and Jenna searched for something to say that would cheer her up.

‘Don’t you think this is better than London?’

‘Tell me that isn’t a serious question—’

Jenna sighed. They’d come this far. They had to keep moving forward.

She walked up the path to the front door, her eyes scanning the pretty garden. She noticed a few weeds and her hands itched. It would be fun, she mused, to have a proper garden.

Lexi stared desperately at the house and then at the beach. ‘Where’s the nearest shop?’

‘Walk straight down the road and you reach the harbour. If it’s low tide you can walk along the beach.’ Ryan strode up the path behind them, carrying both suitcases. He deposited them on the ground, gently removed the key from Jenna’s hand and opened the door of the cottage.

‘Sorry—I was miles away.’ Jenna gave a smile of apology. ‘It’s so long since I had a garden. Our house in London just had a courtyard. I’m not used to so much outdoor space.’ Enchanted, she stooped and touched some of the pretty pink flowers that clustered by the door. ‘Armeria maritima.’

Ryan raised his eyebrows, apparently amused. ‘You’re quoting the Latin names of plants at me?’

‘My mother was a botanist. I grew up hearing Latin names. Some of them stuck.’ She touched the flower with the tip of her finger. ‘Sea pinks. They grow well in this climate, by the coast.’

Lexi rolled her eyes. ‘Gosh, Mum, gripping stuff.’

Jenna flushed and stood up. ‘Sorry. It’s just so wonderful to have a garden.’ Despite the knot in her stomach she felt better, and she was in no hurry to go indoors. Instead she breathed in the sea air and watched the plants waving in the breeze. The grass needed cutting, and there were weeds in the borders, but somehow that just added to the charm. She imagined herself lying on a rug on a warm Sunday morning, listening to the gulls and reading the paper.

When had she ever done that? Sundays were normally so busy, what with making a traditional Sunday roast for Clive and his mother, and then being expected to produce tea for the cricket club…

Aware that Ryan was watching her, Jenna flushed. She felt as though he could read her every thought, and that was disturbing because some of the thoughts she’d been having about him were definitely best kept private. ‘When Evanna told me that the job came with a house, I never imagined it would be anywhere as perfect as this. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to leave here. Who owns it?’

‘Kyla—Logan’s sister. Her husband, Ethan, was offered a job in the States. They’ll be back at some point.’

But not soon. Please don’t let it be soon.

A warm feeling spread through her, and for the first time since she’d left London Jenna felt a flicker of hope. Excitement. As if this might be the right decision after all.

She felt as if she belonged. She felt at home.

It’s—so peaceful.’ A gull shrieked above her and she laughed as she caught Ryan’s eye. ‘Well, not peaceful, perhaps, but the noises are different. Good noises. No car horns and revving engines. And everything is slow. I’m looking forward to just being still.’ Realising that she probably sounded ridiculous, Jenna shrugged awkwardly. ‘In London everything moves so fast. You get swept along with it so that sometimes you can’t even take a breath—I hate the pace of it.’

‘That’s because you’re so old, Mum.’ Lexi fiddled with her phone. ‘London was exciting. And our house was lovely.’

‘London was noisy and smelly and our house was far too big for the two of us.’ It was what she’d told herself when she’d realised that their house had been sold and she and Lexi no longer had a home. It was the only way she had coped.

Pushing away that thought, Jenna stepped into the hallway of the cottage. They had a home now, and she loved it. Light reflected off the polished wooden floor, and through an open door she could see a bright, cheerful kitchen. ‘We lived right next to an underground station and every three minutes the house shook.’

‘Yeah, it was so cool.’ Lexi tossed her hair away from her face, her eyes still on her mobile phone. ‘I was never more than ten minutes from the shops.’

But Jenna wasn’t thinking about shopping. It seemed far away. And so did Clive and the whole sordid mess she’d left behind. ‘This place is wonderful. We can have our breakfast outside on that little table.’ She turned to look at the pretty garden, eyes slightly misty, imagination running free. ‘Lexi, you can go for a swim, or a run on the beach.’

How could this be a mistake?

Maybe she hadn’t done the wrong thing. They could be happy here—she felt it.

Lexi shot her a look of incredulous disbelief and checked her mobile phone. ‘No signal again. How do people function around here?’

‘You can usually get a signal if you walk up the hill towards the castle.’ Ryan lifted their suitcases into the hallway and Lexi gave an exaggerated sigh.

‘Fine. If the only place I can use my phone is at the top of a hill then I’m going to have to walk up it!’ Making a frustrated sound in her throat, she stalked away.

Jenna opened her mouth to say be careful and then closed it again, leaving the words unspoken. She knew from experience that too much maternal anxiety was counterproductive.

But the guilt was back, eating away at her like acid, corroding her insides. She might have fallen in love with the cottage, but she knew this wasn’t what Lexi wanted.

‘It must be hard, letting them grow up.’ Ryan was standing in the doorway, his thumbs hooked into the pockets of his trousers, a speculative look in his blue eyes as he watched her.

‘You have no idea.’ Keeping her tone light, Jenna walked past him into the garden, her gaze on Lexi as her daughter sauntered across the road and started up the hill. A dozen nightmare scenarios sped through her overactive maternal brain. To control them, she used black humour. Say it aloud and it might not happen. ‘Are there any scary, dangerous individuals at large on Glenmore at the moment?’

‘Well, you’ve already met Mrs Parker—they don’t come much scarier or more dangerous than her. She’s wanted in five counties.’ His arm brushed against hers and Jenna felt her whole body tingle.

She stepped away from him, keeping her distance as she would from an electric fence. ‘I was thinking more of axe-wielding murderers and rapists.’

‘We had dozens of those last summer, but Mrs Parker saw them off. It’s hard to commit a crime in a community that knows what you’re planning to eat for supper.’

As Lexi’s figure grew smaller, and then vanished from sight, Jenna felt a moment of panic. Catching his eye, she gave an embarrassed laugh. ‘Yes, I know—I’m overreacting. It’s hard to forget this isn’t London. You must think I’m crazy. I think I’m crazy!’