Winter at West Sands Guest House: A debut feel-good heart-warming romance perfect for 2018
Straightening up she found herself face to face with him. Or face to chest actually – he really was tall. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his nearness making her conscious she hadn’t given her appearance a moment’s thought before she came round. She raised her gaze to meet his and thought she detected the tiniest flicker of amusement in his eyes.
‘So is fixing boilers a hobby of yours?’ he asked.
‘I run a guest house next door. I’ve had to learn to deal with leaky taps, blocked sinks –’
‘Guest house?’ The frown made another appearance. As a businesswoman, Eva knew it was vital to be on good terms with her neighbours and was keen to reassure him.
‘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.
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