Stranger at the beach house

Stranger
at the Beach house

Copyright ©2013 L. J. Dee

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form, or by any means electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission from the publisher in writing. This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places and incidents are the product of the author’s
imagination, any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events or
locales is entirely incidental.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter
1

I dragged the last case into the
porch and left it with the others, closing the front door and taking a deep
breath before I entered the lounge. I half expected to see her, sat in the
chair by the fire like she always was. Nothing in the room had altered, except
me. Everything in my life had changed since I last stood here and it was hard
to stomach.

The air was musty, dank and
stale. I opened the patio doors to let the sharp sea breeze blow in through the
room, lifting the heaviness and my spirits with it. It was time to move on, to
reboot and rebuild. The old house was offering me a new start and I was
determined to take it.

I grabbed Alice’s blanket from
its fireside resting place and made my way through the open patio, down the
wooden steps and onto the beach. It was the first time I’d truly felt peace in
months. Sitting on the damp sand, I gazed out as the grey clouds cast a shadow
over the cold North Sea and pulled the old blanket tightly around my shoulders,
gripping the fraying edges to protect me from the crisp chill wind that raced
across vast emptiness. It still smelled of her, a faint mix of lavender and
salt air.

I loved this time of year, the
quiet solitude broken only by the crashing waves on the shore and the
occasional high pitched cry of the gulls overhead. It was such a contrast to
the summer months, when the wind carried the shrieks and laughter of families
far down the beach, the air tinged with the sweet smell of candy floss and hot
dogs. Even from here you could hear the beats of the music, the promenade alive
and buzzing with activity. Now the holidaymakers had long packed up their cases
and gone, and the town was quiet again.

 
I hadn’t been able to come back to the house
at first and had returned to London, the city I’d called home for the last
twelve years. Lizzie had insisted I stayed with her until I found my feet. Too
much had happened. I’d watched my whole life unravel before me, powerless to
prevent it, sitting on the sidelines as if I were just an observer. I could
have coped with the hurt and each event as it happened, even when every bad
piece of news merged into the next like a falling set of dominoes, but the
death of Alice had crushed me.
Alice, my only family and my
best friend.

 
The grief was overwhelming and for days I’d
just stayed in my room. Eventually, being a part of the routine and normality
of someone else’s family life meant that I was forced to face each morning, to
eat, to talk, to help with baby
Alfie
and slowly and
gradually my oldest friend had coaxed me back.

Lizzie and Dave had taken care of
the things I couldn’t face. Before we returned from the funeral, she’d
collected my things from Daniel’s apartment and put them in the spare room
ready for me. The finality of that gesture had been a blow at the time, but she
knew I wouldn’t have been able to face him myself and she was right. The break
up had been awkward and uncomfortable, not least for Lizzie who worked with
him.

We’d met at one of their swanky
functions, a night out to cheer me up when the news of looming redundancies had
first broken. It had worked. Despite her misgivings and protests, I‘d been keen
to meet her gorgeous, cool and very single boss and reluctantly she’d made the
introduction. He’d spent the entire evening at my side, confident, charming,
witty, smart and incredibly handsome.
 
I
had fallen on that very first night, hard.

From then it had been a whirlwind
and Lizzie understood the attraction, having seen it with Daniel many, many
times. She knew the dangers and she warned me to slow down. My head knew her
advice was sound but my heart wouldn’t head the warning, and even if it had I
think my body would have betrayed me. Saying ‘no’ to Daniel just wasn’t an option.
When he put his mind to something, that man could be very persuasive.

I pulled myself back quickly from
my thoughts. Remembering his words, his touch and the way he could make me feel
like the most special person alive had haunted me for too long. Without
warning, images of the times we shared would pierce my thoughts every night as
I struggled to sleep. Everything in the city had triggered hard memories and
thinking about it now could only reopen a chapter of hurt I had tried so hard
to close.

Pressing my nose to the blanket,
I breathed the comforting aroma and replayed instead the conversations Lizzie
and I had shared about him recently which were much more cathartic. He was now
non- affectionately known as ‘
that
Daniel’ and the words ‘cheating lowlife bastard’ were never far behind.

It was time to move on, to be
strong for Alice and where better than the place I felt closest to her. She had
spent her life nurturing me, giving me courage through her kindness and wisdom
and I owed it to her memory to try.

 
Suddenly and without warning I was jolted into
the present, knocked backwards and pinned to the ground by such a force that I
didn’t understand what was happening. I was frozen to the spot, panicked, off
guard and crushed into the ground by the panting weight that held my shoulders,
licking my face and hair. Realisation gradually dawned that my unlikely
assailant was Alice’s dog, my dog, and he was hell bent on licking his prodigal
owner into submission. Relief flooded through me as I tried to push off the
dead weight of an over excited Labrador.

“Dart,” the low voice carried up
the beach and within seconds a pair of sand muffled footsteps stopped beside
me, a firm hand grasping mine and pulling me from my canine imprisonment. Dart
jumped restlessly and excitedly between us, sending sand flying
everywhere.
 

“Jesus,” I gasped, trying to
regain my balance and steady my erratic breathing and the strong hand held firm
as we rose together. My blonde hair, damp from the sea mist and a dozen dog
licks was plastered across my face obscuring my view. I swept a hand quickly
over my eyes and cheeks in an effort to regain my sight and dignity and my
breath caught. Gazing back at me were the most dazzling blue eyes on the face
of a beautiful man who was clearly trying to suppress a very large smile.

The crinkles around his eyes
betrayed his polite mask of concern and suddenly aware that I was still in his
grip, an involuntary shiver shot down my spine. ‘Damn it’ I thought, realising
that I’d held his gaze for a little too long, I must look like hell.

Lowering my eyes and ruffling my
hair through my fingers in an effort to rid it of sand, I noticed the hard
brown boots and torn faded denim and dared myself to look up again and check I
hadn’t imagined it. He got as far as “from the welcome you got, you must
be...”, before the suppressed smile widened to a gleaming grin and impossibly
infectious laughter.

 
Despite everything I couldn’t help but giggle.
“Rose,” he finished, as my eyes widened with shock. “I’m sorry,” he said
quickly, releasing the hand he had used to steady me. “I didn’t mean to laugh
but it looks like he’s happy to see you,” he smiled as I just continued to
stare at him mutely. The grin spread to those amazing blue eyes, framed with
long black lashes and I smiled back.

“Here,” he said, crouching down
to retrieve the blanket from the sand and stood to wrap it around my shoulders.
“I’m Sam,” he whispered as he held my gaze, “let’s get you up to the house”.
Keeping his arm around me he guided me back across the stretch of sand and up
the small wooden stairs, past Alice’s house and towards Joe’s place next door.
I felt disorientated, trying to place the stranger who seemed to know me and
stopped suddenly, confused at the over familiar gesture as my head kicked into
gear.

My brain rushed through the
possibilities, someone from the village, an old school friend? No, this was not
a face you could ever forget.
 
I’d lived
in London for so long that my weirdo radar was permanently in the ‘on’
position, but it hadn’t kicked in with this man. Just as I was about to duck
the grasp of the stranger he hollered loudly, “Look who I’ve found,” breaking
my train of thought as he ushered me gently towards the large wooden patio. Who
the hell
was
he?

Seconds later, an unruly mop of
blond hair on a very familiar face appeared at the glass doors. He was sporting
a huge grin and I immediately relaxed. “Harry,” I gasped, as he prized me from
Sam’s arm and spun me around in the biggest bear hug I have ever had. He pulled
back and took my face in his hands, smiling broadly.

 
“It’s so good to see you, Rose, I was
beginning to wonder if you’d ever come back,” he smiled. It was my childhood
friend and it had been a long time for both of us. “God girl, you’ve looked
better,” he laughed affectionately, beckoning me into the house.
 

“Come on, let’s get you a drink,”
Harry laughed and I was suddenly aware of the six foot something man still at
my side and gazed up, returning his smile with a small shrug and followed Harry
into the house. Dart bounded between us all like it was the most natural thing
in the world. I was still a bit dazed.

“Come, sit,” he motioned to the
couch and I sank myself into the soft leather, curling my feet underneath me.
Shivering from cold and shock, I pulled the blanket tightly around me again.
Taking in the surroundings I felt even further out of place. I was wet,
dishevelled, half covered in sand and wrapped in a worn crocheted blanket.
Quite the contrast to the pristine, modern and beautiful space I now occupied.
The house had changed beyond recognition.

“Wow, Harry, I can’t believe what
you’ve done with the old place, it looks incredible,” I gasped.

 
It was more suited to a sophisticated urban
apartment than the quaint, slightly old fashioned seafront home I had always
known. “I can’t take the credit for it for it I’m afraid,” he nodded towards
Sam, throwing him a beer.

“It’s incredible,” I repeated,
slightly dumbfounded and looking towards
Harry’s
friend, taking the opportunity to really soak him in.

He was a six foot three hard
muscular wall of unabashed male with the most mesmerising eyes, strong nose and
dark, formidable five o’ clock shadow shading his jaw. Jesus. I breathed
deeply, forcing myself to look away, turning to Harry who had evidently noticed
my reaction and was raising his eyebrows with a wry smile as I flushed.
 
I could imagine that his friend had this
effect on most women he encountered.

“What do you want to drink, Rose,
you look freezing?” he asked, inspecting the cherry wood cabinet and holding up
a bottle of brandy. I nodded. Not my favourite tipple but it was just what I
needed.
 
Sam busied himself creating a
fire in the traditional hearth, the only original feature left in the room as
Harry bounced onto the soft leather beside me.

“So you took the place over
then?” I asked, surprised. Joe’s great nephew lived in London like me. He had
often spent his school holidays out at the beach house which is how we’d become
friends, but I couldn’t imagine him settling here. He was just too sociable to
be confined by the restraints of an isolated place in a small town.

 
“Sort of,” he smiled, looking over at Sam.
“It’s a bit complicated”.

“I’m intrigued,” I probed, “I
just can’t imagine you living out here, there’s not enough nightlife for a start,
Harry,” I smiled.

“She knows you well,” Sam
laughed, looking up from the fire, his blue eyes twinkling as I stared at
him.
 

“It’s Sam’s place now, Rose,”
Harry clarified as I turned to look at him and I was stunned. This
was
news. “Joe wouldn’t sell up to just
anybody when he went into the nursing home, he was too worried about Alice. You
know how it is out here, particularly in winter. You can go days or weeks
without seeing another soul. He wanted to make sure she had someone she could
count on, someone who’d look after her with him gone. Sam was looking for a
place that was remote and away from London. I knew he’d do right by Alice so I
suggested it. He moved in a few months ago and when Alice gave Joe her final
seal of approval, he bought the place officially”.

I was moved by Joe’s concern and
thought for Alice, but confused that she hadn’t told me about Sam. I thought we
shared everything but she had gone through this alone. She
had
mentioned something about a new neighbour on my last visit,
but I was sure she said it was temporary. Had I been so wrapped up in my own
life that I hadn’t listened? Guilt overwhelmed me and my voice was small and
cracked. “Did you know Alice well, Sam?” I asked, suddenly trying to stave off
the tears that were threatening.

He strolled over and crouched on
the floor directly in front of me. “Yes, Rose. I spent a lot of time with her
in the weeks before...” his voice trailed off and he gazed down momentarily.
“She didn’t want to tell you about all this because she didn’t want you to
worry. She was so proud of what you were doing in London and was happy with the
arrangement here. She just didn’t want to cause you any undue concern,” he
explained.

 
“Oh,” was all I could manage as the tears
continued to prick at my eyes.

 
Sam’s gaze was etched with kindness and he
continued to study my face softly. “It was a try before you buy arrangement,
Rose. Alice held all the cards,” he smiled, standing and returning to the fire
as Harry put his arm around my shoulders, squeezing hard.

“I just need the bathroom,” I
said, downing the rest of my brandy and following
Harry’s
pointed finger out into the hall. I needed to compose myself and felt that
somehow I’d let Alice down. All this had been going on while I was caught up in
the wreck of my own life. Rinsing some of the remaining sand from my hair and
washing my face, I tried to make myself look and feel a little better.
 
I didn’t want to cry, not again and not here.
I had a head full of questions about Alice, about the house and not least about
Sam. He looked too urbane, too sophisticated,
too
...
well just too gorgeous to be holed up here, a beach house in a small town,
miles from anywhere. I would have to try and get to the bottom of that.