Beth laughed. ‘Don’t start that big brother rubbish, again. If you’re going to be sticking your nose in, I’ll sell the place to the next person who walks in the door!’ The sweet smile she gave him took any sting out of the words, and Sam laughed as he held his hands up in mock surrender.
‘All right, all right, I’ll leave you to it.’ He crossed back towards the door, and she followed on his heels. Once outside, he turned to face her. ‘Come next door for your lunch, yeah? Mum will be chuffed to see you, and I’m going to talk her into making some steak and kidney puddings for lunch.’
She pulled a face. ‘God, I hate kidney. I’ll pass.’
The fine bones on her face stood out too prominently for his liking. A few homecooked meals certainly wouldn’t go astray and he knew his mum would make a fuss over Beth. ‘I’ll get her to make one with mushrooms instead of kidney, that suit you?’
Beth shook her head with a rueful smile. ‘You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you?’
Sam grinned. ‘If you don’t say yes, I’ll set Libby on you.’
It was her turn to hold her hands up. ‘Lord, no! She’s going to be furious as it is because I didn’t tell her I was coming back to the bay. Didn’t even know myself until I was slinging stuff into a suitcase and booking a ticket last night.’ She leaned out the door of the shop, casting a furtive glance up the prom as though expecting to see her friend marching towards them. ‘I’d better give her a ring.’
‘I’ll leave you to it.’ He fished out his keys and took the handful of steps to the entrance to the pub. When he glanced over his shoulder, she was leaning against the frame of the door, arms folded across her chest. The canopy above cast her face in shadow, leaving her expression unreadable.
A quick check of his watch told him he’d better get a move on if he wanted to get everything ready before they opened up for the day. He jogged up the stairs to where the family’s private rooms covered the upper two floors of the building. ‘Mum?’ he called. ‘Are you busy?’
Annie Barnes poked her head out from the kitchen. Unlike the rest of them, she had ruler-straight hair which just brushed the tops of her shoulders. Years spent on the go running the place had kept her figure trim, though the late nights had etched dark rings beneath her brown eyes. ‘Hello, love, what can I do for you?’ She must have seen something in his expression because she stepped out onto the landing to face him. ‘What have you been up to now?’
Sam hooked an arm around her shoulder and pressed a kiss to her temple. ‘Drumming up a bit of business, that’s all. I’m just going to jump in the shower.’ The bell rang and they both glanced down the stairs. ‘That’ll be Billy. I thought we could add a special to the menu today.’
Annie raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh, you did, did you?’
He pressed another kiss to her head. ‘You know how much everyone loves your steak and kidney puddings.’
‘Bloody hell. I was going to put my feet up and catch up on my soaps.’ Sam laughed. His mum hardly ever watched the telly, and he doubted she’d seen an episode of Eastenders since Eliza had moved out. She rolled her eyes at him, but there was a twinkle in her eyes. ‘Okay, but you’re on prep so I’d better see you in the kitchen in five minutes at the latest.’
‘You’ve got it boss.’ He flicked her a little salute as he backed down the hall towards the bedroom. ‘Oh, and make one of them steak and mushroom. Beth’s back and I’ve promised her lunch.’ He shut the bathroom door against the sudden barrage of questions. Once he’d had his shower, he’d give his sister a call and let her know about the offer to buy the emporium. Beth had a lot of big decisions to make, she’d need her friends to talk to.
Beth was back, and maybe it was up to him, Libby and Eliza to give her reasons to stay.
Beth had barely put the phone down before the bell over the front door was rattling and she found herself swept up in a peacock-coloured embrace. ‘You’re here, you’re only bloody well here. Oh, God bless Eleanor!’
Libby’s arms dropped away as she bent over to clutch her knees, panting for breath. ‘Man, I need to get some exercise.’
‘You should join Sam on his morning run.’
Her friend glanced up through the bright strands of her fringe. ‘You’ve been here, what, twelve hours, and you already know what Sam does in the morning?’ With her elfin features and an evil grin, Libby looked like a demonic pixie. Beth gave her a shove, sending her into a staggering laugh.
‘Shut up! He stopped in a few minutes ago, I guess he must’ve seen the light on. Don’t you ever get your mind out of the gutter?’
Libby shook her head. ‘Nope. When there’s so little action to be had around here, my dirty thoughts are all I have to keep me warm at night.’
Beth couldn’t help but laugh. ‘God, Libs, you’re incorrigible. And besides this is Sam we’re talking about.’ She gave a shudder. Sam Barnes was like a brother to her, thinking about him like…well, like that didn’t feel right. There’d been that embarrassing night when she’d thrown herself at him, but that had been the vodka and the moonlight. He’d thankfully forgotten all about it and they’d gone back to their comfortable, familiar friendship.
‘Ah, yes. Sam with his broad shoulders, those beautiful curls just begging a woman to sink her fingers into and a bum so tight you could bounce a coin off it. We definitely shouldn’t be thinking about a gorgeous, eligible bachelor like Sam.’ Libby rolled her eyes.
An image of Sam in his jogging clothes from earlier came unbidden into Beth’s mind. His hair had twisted all over the place, tossed by the wind and just a little damp around his face. The zipped-up hoodie he’d been wearing had covered his upper body, but his long shorts had displayed a pair of fine, muscled thighs and lean calves dusted in light hair. His blue eyes had sparkled with mirth when they’d laughed together, like the sea at the height of summer… She shook her head. ‘I’m going to hell,’ she groaned.
Libby slung an arm around her neck and winked at her. ‘Well at least you’ve already sampled the goods so you know he’s a good kisser.’
Beth clamped her hands over her ears. ‘La, la, la, la, I can’t hear you.’ They collapsed into giggles. Oh goodness, it felt good to laugh. When was the last time she’d let loose like this? Been comfortable enough to tease and be teased? She couldn’t recall. When was the last time she’d been around people she could trust? Other than the funeral, it had to be when she was still with Charlie. Not that he’d proven himself to be trustworthy in the end. Anything but, in fact. A tight knot formed beneath her breastbone, leaving her almost breathless.
Libby paused mid-laugh. ‘Hey, who burst your balloon?’
Beth bit her lip hard against the sting at the back of her eyes. ‘It’s nothing, really.’ If she kept on telling herself that, maybe one of these days it might be true. ‘Anyway, Ms Stone, I’m going to put the kettle on and we’re going to put our feet up and have a chat.’ She caught the mischievous glint in her friend’s eye. ‘But not about Sam and his skills as a kisser! That was a one-time aberration.’
‘Pffft! You’re no fun. You know I only get vicarious thrills these days.’ It was said in good humour, but there was an edge to Libby’s voice that unsettled Beth. She didn’t like the idea of Libby being lonely.
Beth made herself busy—flipping on the kettle and opening the cupboard to hunt up a couple of mugs. Her hand hovered over the bone-china floral cup Eleanor had always used, sucking in a deep breath at a stab of fresh loss and pain. It had been like that since she’d let herself in the back door of the building the previous evening. She’d crept around the flat