Penny stared at him in horror. Was it worse that Penny had lost her baby or that Henry had a baby somewhere that he wasn’t allowed to see? ‘What happened to your baby?’

Just then Bernard leapt up from his position at the window and started barking furiously at something unseen outside.

Henry quickly moved to the front door as if he was ready to take on the world. She giggled at his over-protectiveness as he flung the door open and Bernard ran out into the night.

‘It’s just rabbits, Bernard hates them.’

She followed Henry to the door as he stood on the doorstep with his fists clenched, scanning the darkness for any threat. Bernard was sniffing round the rabbit holes, clawing at the grass with his big paws, with the obvious hope that one day one of the rabbits would run straight out the hole and into his mouth.

Clearly seeing that there was no one waiting outside ready to kill them, Henry turned back and banged into her, nearly sending her flying. His hands shot out and grabbed her arms. She looked up at him, silhouetted against the night sky, tiny flakes of snow fluttering around him like icing sugar, his sweet, spicy scent washing over her as he was standing so close. She had bared her soul to this man tonight and, for the first time in a very long time, she wanted nothing more than to reach up and kiss him. Weirdly enough he looked like he wanted the same thing, as his eyes darkened with desire and then scanned down to her lips. What the hell? He was married. It was bad enough that she was having inappropriate thoughts about a married man; it was absolutely not OK for him to be having those same thoughts about her.

She took a definite step back. ‘Well, it’s getting late and I have to be up early tomorrow so maybe you should go.’

He stared down at her with confusion and she knew she had been sending some very mixed messages that night.

‘Yes, of course. I’ll let you get to bed,’ he said, softly.

‘And I look forward to meeting Daisy tomorrow,’ Penny said, waiting for the guilt to cross his face at the mention of his wife. But there was no remorse there at all. He just nodded, walked through her kitchen and out the back door, not giving her a single backward glance.

She breathed in the cool night air, determined to clear her mind, then called Bernard in. He ran in, shook wet snowflakes all over her and then launched himself at the sofa where they had been sitting just moments before. She sighed and went into the kitchen.

How unfair was it that the first man in years that she’d had any kind of feelings for was beautiful, intriguing, intelligent, worked with his hands, kind and … married?

She was better off alone – that had been her mantra for the last eight years and she was sticking to it.

She jolted at a sudden noise from next door and she watched as the bookshelf was pushed away from the connecting door. He’d done that for her and she wanted to hug him and shake him in equal measure. He was married and it seemed he needed reminding of that even more than she did.

Daisy would be back tomorrow; hopefully that would stop any of that chemistry that was sparking between them.

Henry turned the downstairs light off and wandered upstairs to bed. There was something so attractive about Penny. Even wearing that oversized hoodie over black leggings and her hair pulled up in a messy ponytail, she looked adorable. She was fascinating too, he could have chatted to her all night. But she didn’t seem to know what she wanted. Flirting with him one moment and completely back-pedalling the next. He didn’t need another complicated woman in his life, Daisy was his entire world. But as he lay down in bed, it was Penny’s smile and those intense green gold eyes that he thought of before he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Three

Henry strode along the steep, narrow winding lanes with his niece Bea on his hip. She was too little to keep up with his long-legged stride so it was easier to carry her. She didn’t seem to mind.

He passed cute little cottages that were jutting out onto the cobbled streets, their front doors opening right out onto the road. The homes were a higgledy-piggledy mess – there was no order, they just seemed to have one house piled almost on top of the next one. They were all brightly coloured, but none were the same style as the previous one he had passed; some were tiny bungalows whereas some were large three-storey houses. But it just sort of worked.

He stepped into a coffee shop and looked up at the board to see what was on offer. He had to smile when the limited choices ran to cappuccino, espresso and a few herbal teas. This was definitely not Starbucks.

‘Jesus, who is that fine piece of ass?’ said a voice behind him in a staged whisper.

‘Jade, keep your voice down. I’m sure he can hear you.’

‘But look at him, we never get men like that in White Cliff Bay.’

‘That’s Henry Travis, Anna Kent’s brother, and that’s his niece. He’s moved into Penny’s annexe.’

Henry winced that they were talking about him so openly, like he was a piece of meat.

There was a loud bark of a laugh from a third woman. ‘I bet Penny thinks all her Christmases have come at once.’

‘He’s not going to go out with Penny,’ Jade said. ‘A man like that only goes out with beautiful women. Besides, she wouldn’t have the first clue what to do with him. She wouldn’t know how to please him.’

‘And you would?’

‘Oh yes. I could make him cry with joy.’

‘You’re so full of yourself.’

‘Shut up, Beth, do you want to have a go?’

‘I could do better than you.’

‘Want to have a bet? A hundred pounds to whoever can get him into bed first.’

Henry stared at the counter, incredulously as he waited for his turn in the queue. How old were these girls, twelve? He glanced briefly in their direction, three bleached blondes with long manicured nails and completely overdressed for a coffee shop on a Saturday morning. Their type did nothing for him.

‘Deal,’ said one, holding out her hand for the other to shake.

‘Well, as I saw him first, I get the first go,’ Jade said, standing up. Henry quickly looked away.

He heard the click-clack of heels over the tiled floor as she came towards him.

‘Excuse me, you must be Henry Travis. I’m Jade Ambleside.’ She held out a manicured hand for him to shake, which he ignored.

‘Sorry, I’ve sort of got my hands full,’ he gestured with his head towards Bea.

‘Well, aren’t you the cutest thing ever?’ Jade said in a singsong voice. ‘What’s your name?’

Bea stared at her with unblinking eyes. She wouldn’t speak to Jade. She didn’t speak to anyone outside her home. It was a worry for Anna that Bea would chat non-stop inside the house to her family but as soon as she left the home she wouldn’t say a word.

‘Her name’s Bea, she’s very shy.’

‘Oh, you don’t have to be shy with me, sweetheart,’ Jade sang, trying to pull a cutesy face. Bea just stared at her as if she was stupid. ‘I love children so much, I love playing with them and talking to them, kids love me.’

Henry doubted that statement to be true. He looked to the front of the queue where the same person who had been at the front when he came in was still happily chatting to the owner of the coffee shop.

‘Henry, I think we should get together some time, for a date?’ Jade said, thrusting her chest towards him.

‘Like a play date; do you have children too?’ Henry said, deliberately misunderstanding her. ‘Anna would love to take Bea to a play date with you, there’s a kids’ indoor play area on the far side of town – it’s very noisy, very sweaty, but the kids love it. I’ll tell Anna you’d be interested in going. Well, I must go, I’m in a bit of a rush. I’ll get Anna to give you a call.’