Escape to Darling Cove by Holly Hepburn

Author:Holly Hepburn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2023-01-05T00:00:00+00:00

PART THREE Stormy Seas

Chapter Sixteen Logan

‘So, I hear you’re stepping out with Selina Heron.’

Freda’s gaze was bright and openly mischievous as she studied Logan across the narrow aisle of The Nook. He supposed he shouldn’t be surprised – on an island the size of Ennisfarne, he didn’t imagine there were many secrets – but the statement still irked him. He squashed down the niggle and kept his expression blank. ‘What makes you say that?’ he said, dropping a sourdough loaf into his shopping basket and moving along to study a neighbouring row of jars.

The shopkeeper pursed her lips and squinted thoughtfully at the ceiling. ‘Well, I can’t be totally sure but I think it’s probably got something to do with Selina announcing it in the pub last night.’

He wanted to groan. It hadn’t been that long ago that his love life had been of vital interest to most of the tabloids and while Freda’s curiosity wasn’t in the same league as the lurid headlines, it still made him feel flat. ‘Right.’

‘Of course, she didn’t put it like that,’ Freda went on. ‘What was it she said? Not Netflix and chill – that was Hettie’s suggestion.’

Logan’s hand paused halfway towards the green pesto. He was almost sure she was joking; he couldn’t imagine sixty-something Hettie coming out with such a phrase, even if she did know what it meant.

‘Not friends with benefits, either,’ Freda mused, then snapped her fingers. ‘Seeing each other, that was it. Which seems a ridiculous way to describe it to me. I see you most days and we’re not romantically intertwined.’

Laughter danced in her eyes when Logan looked at her again, perhaps because stepping out was an equally ridiculous euphemism, and it was impossible for him to stay annoyed. It was hardly Freda’s fault if Selina was revealing details of her and Logan’s sole date so far. And the shopkeeper’s playfulness was a little endearing; it suggested she was comfortable enough to tease him, the kind of thing friends did to one another. Teasing and leg-pulling weren’t things that regularly happened to Logan, which wasn’t a surprise given that he rarely settled anywhere long enough to make friends. Or at least he hadn’t until now.

‘I imagine Len would have something to say if we were,’ Logan replied, picturing Freda’s friendly but generally taciturn husband. ‘But it’s too early to put a label on things with Selina. Let’s just say we enjoy each other’s company and leave it at that.’

Freda opened her mouth to reply, but whatever she was about to say was forestalled by the tinkling of the bell over the door and a burst of loud chatter as a group of bobble-hatted tourists clattered into the shop. Instinctively, Logan ducked his head. The arrival of spring and the accompanying warmer weather had brought a sharp increase in visitors to Ennisfarne, meaning the village and roads surrounding it were much busier, especially during the periods when the causeway was covered and tourists were effectively trapped on the island.

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