Autumn Dreams at Mermaids Point, page 25
For her.
Reaching up, Nerissa tangled her fingers in the soaking-wet hair at the nape of his neck and tugged his head down towards hers. ‘You’ve got me,’ she whispered against his lips. ‘Always.’
Acknowledgments
Welcome back to Mermaids Point!
I am absolutely over the moon with the wonderful response from so many readers about this new series. I love all the messages and comments I get about my books. It really makes my day when someone takes the time out of theirs to let me know they’ve enjoyed something I have written. I do this for you as much as I do it for myself.
A special mention to Dr Euan Lawson from The British Journal of General Practice (@BJGPJournal) for being kind enough to answer a random tweet and guiding me through how GP partnerships work so I could make sure Dr Tom made it to Mermaids Point in the first place. Not much always makes it onto the page, but it’s impossible to write about something without at least a basic understanding of the process, and Euan made that incredibly easy. Thank you.
I don’t have enough words to thank my wonderful editor, Sarah Ritherdon. I am so lucky to have you in my corner xx
Thanks to Jade Craddock (Copy Editor) and David Boxell (Proof Reader) for their hard work and eagle eyes. It takes a team.
To Amanda, Nia, Claire and the rest of the Boldwood team who are the ones who make sure this book finds its way into your hands (or on your e-reader, or into your ears via your favourite audio app!) – thank you.
#TeamBoldwood! I’ve said it before, but they really are the most supportive group of fellow authors I could hope for. Thanks for all the shares, the fabulous Facebook live events and generally being lovely. Watching you all shine is (almost) as much fun as when my own books do well.
My Party People who are the very best friends anyone could ask for – Jules Wake, Bella Osborne, Rachel Griffiths, Phillipa Ashley. I love you all xx
To my writing group – the Ass-kicking Word Wranglers – thank you for keeping me company, for sprinting with me, and commiserating with me and for getting successfully from the first page to the last in another book. I couldn’t do it without you xx
Huge love goes to Rachel Burton, who always talks me down when I’m ready to quit this mad thing we do xx
To my fellow Criminal Minds addicts – Lynsey James and Cressida McLaughlin. Thank you for making me laugh and for the inspirational GIFS! xx
More from Sarah Bennett
We hope you enjoyed reading Autumn Dreams at Mermaids Point. If you did, please leave a review.
* * *
If you’d like to gift a copy, this book is also available as a paperback, digital audio download and audiobook CD.
* * *
Sign up to Sarah Bennett’s mailing list here for news, competitions and updates on future books.
* * *
Summer Kisses at Mermaids Point, another warm, escapist, feel-good story from Sarah Bennett, is available now.
* * *
Or read on for an exclusive extract of Christmas Surprises at Mermaids Point…
1
Nerissa
A gust of wind swept in over the sea, sending the wild waves into an even bigger churning mass of foam as they raced into shore. Up over the narrow stretch of sand they surged, thundering over the pebbles and rocks that made up much of the beach at Mermaids Point. The blast of cold air battered against the shops lining the street overlooking the beach. Shutters rattled, and the wind’s chilly fingers stole through air bricks and any tiny gap around the window frames, reminding the residents huddled inside that the full force of winter had settled its icy grip over the Point. The gust struck a lone figure hurrying along the footpath, trying to steal her hat from her head and making her grab for both it and the ends of the thick scarf she’d tied round her neck in a fruitless effort to keep warm. So much for a White Christmas, Nerissa Morgan thought, recalling the joy of the forecaster on breakfast TV as she’d shared image after image sent in by viewers of picture postcard snowscapes. Unlike the residents of the Point, most of the country had woken to a pristine blanket of white, and crisp blue skies, perfect for wintery walks and building snowmen in the back garden. Poor Max. The only thing her partner’s teenage son was going to find at the bottom of their garden was a muddy quagmire. It was probably one of the last years when doing silly things like building snowmen still held appeal. He was already showing signs of shifting from the sweet, open boy who chased around with Toby, their golden retriever, into a hormone-fuelled teen.
The windows of her niece’s café cast a warm, welcoming glow into the unrelenting gloom of the afternoon. Nerissa quickened her pace as another gust of wind sent a shock of icy raindrops into the small gap between the brim of her hat and the top of her scarf, stinging her cheek like a slap. She reached for the handle to the café and nearly stumbled as Laurie tugged it open from the other side. ‘Come in! Oh, you poor thing, give me your coat and I’ll hang it up. Linda said you were coming so I’ve been keeping an eye out for you.’ At mention of her friend, Nerissa looked around until she spotted Linda and gave her a quick wave before allowing her niece to help her out of her wet outer layers.
The friendly chatter from this young woman, Nerissa couldn’t have adored more if she were her own child, did as much to warm her as the toasty heat of the café’s interior. Smiles of welcome greeted her from the handful of occupied tables, further cheering her mood. Barbara, Kitty and a couple of other members of the local knitting circle were gathered round a pair of tables which had been pushed together, needles flying as fast as their tongues as they nattered over the latest gossip. Jake, Laurie’s other half and Linda’s son, was hunched over his laptop at one of the little round tables by the window, head bouncing to whatever tune was pouring from the white earbuds into his ears as his fingers flew across the keyboard. ‘Someone’s busy,’ Nerissa observed with a nod towards him as she surrendered her sodden coat and accepted a kiss on the cheek from her niece.
‘Oh, don’t get me started,’ Laurie said in a voice full of exasperated affection. ‘He’s obsessed with an idea for a book, and I can’t tear him away from that flipping laptop. I’ve told him if I see so much as a hint of it on Christmas Day I’m going to toss the bloody thing over the end of the Point.’
‘Don’t mention Christmas.’ Nerissa pulled a face as she held up her hands to ward off mention of the day she was beginning to dread.
‘Is everything all right?’ Laurie placed an arm round her shoulder. ‘I thought things were going well with Tom and the kids.’
Even with all the current stress, the mere mention of the ready-made family she had somehow found herself in the middle of filled Nerissa with a joy so all-encompassing, she struggled to contain it. Her old boss had retired at the end of the summer, and his replacement had taken over not only the doctor’s surgery, but her heart as well. ‘Oh, they are,’ she reassured Laurie with a quick hug. ‘I’m just so horribly unprepared for it all.’ She hesitated, then gave Laurie a rueful smile. ‘It’s the first big celebration since Tom and I got together, and I want it to be perfect.’
‘It’ll be fine,’ Laurie said with the kind of assurance Nerissa wished she could believe. ‘They all adore you. Anyone with eyes can see how much both Emily and Max have settled into life here at the Point, and that’s down to you as much as their father.’
‘I hope you’re right.’ Nerissa shook her head at the creeping self-doubt and straightened her spine. ‘I know you are. It’s finding the right balance that’s got me a bit worried, that’s all. I want to honour the traditions they had when Anna was around, without anyone thinking I’m trying to replace her.’ Tom’s wife had died of cancer three years ago, and though the children were coming to terms with their loss, Nerissa still found herself tiptoeing across the high wire bridging the past with the future they were building together.
Luckily, Tom was the perfect safety net, ready to catch her when she inevitably stumbled as she had the previous weekend when she’d hung up the stockings she’d found in a box of decorations Tom had brought from his old home in London. They had looked hand decorated, the front of each one featuring a different festive character with a name stitched beneath them. A smiling Father Christmas for Tom, a cheery snowman for Anna, a red-cheeked elf for Emily and a nutcracker soldier for Max. She’d hung the other ones on the mantelpiece, setting Anna’s carefully to one side so she and Tom could talk to the children about whether they wanted to hang it or not. Only they’d got caught up with an emergency in the surgery and the kids had arrived home from school and college respectively and seen the gap on the mantel before Nerissa could explain. There’d been a lot of slamming doors from Emily, and a smattering of tears from Max. Nerissa had felt like crying herself as she’d listened to Tom’s careful negotiation with his daughter through her bedroom door. When he’d finally collapsed beside her in the king-size bed they now shared in his room, she’d wished, not for the first time, for the peace and safety of her little flat on the upper floor of the building that housed both the surgery and the family’s living quarters. Life would be so much simpler if she’d kept her feelings to herself on the beach that fateful night when they’d feared something terrible had happened to Max. It was only ever a fleeting thought, a cowardly moment when the risk of what they were trying to build together felt too big. She loved Tom and the children with her whole heart and if things didn’t work out, she didn’t think she’d survive it. Pushing the horrid doubts away, she gave Laurie one more quick hug. ‘Make us a pot of tea will you, darling?’
‘Of course. I’ll bring it over. I’ve tried a new recipe – cookies and cream gateau. Do you want a slice?’ Laurie’s eyes danced with a look of sheer temptation. ‘Go on, you know you want to.’
It did sound heavenly. ‘A sliver.’ Nerissa held up her finger and thumb an inch apart.
‘You’ll want more than that when you taste it.’ With a grin Laurie headed back towards the counter which dominated the back wall of the café. As she went to pass Jake’s table, his arm snaked out to snare her round her waist and Nerissa couldn’t help but smile as Laurie tumbled into his lap with a shrieking laugh. They were so free and easy together – something she hoped she and Tom would find their way towards in time. Not that she was big on public displays of affection, she would leave that to the younger generation. There were times she still found herself hesitant to reach for him – particularly when the children were present.
Something of the melancholy of the moment must’ve shown on her face because Linda was out of her chair and crossing to meet her. Holding out her hands in welcome, her eyes crinkled with concern as she asked, ‘Is everything all right?’
Nerissa smiled as she took Linda’s hands and gave them a squeeze before taking a seat at the table her friend had chosen tucked against the back wall. ‘Everything’s fine. I was just watching love’s young dream over there.’
‘Makes you sick, doesn’t it?’ Linda’s voice brimmed with love as she glanced across the room at her son who was trying to hold a not-struggling-very-hard-to-get-away, laughing Laurie in place on his knee. They’d been estranged for a number of years, but mother and son were slowly finding their way to a relationship that suited them both. She watched them for another moment before turning her attention back to Nerissa. ‘Speaking of love, how’s the delectable Dr Tom?’
Nerissa laughed. ‘He’s gorgeous, and perfect in every way.’
‘But…’ There was an astuteness to the appraising way Linda raised one brow.
‘I’m feeling a little overwhelmed,’ Nerissa confessed. ‘We just never seem to have any time to ourselves.’ She shook her head. ‘God, I sound terrible, don’t I?’
‘Not at all.’ Reaching across the table, Linda patted her arm. ‘You went from nought to sixty in the blink of an eye. Anyone can see the two of you are meant to be, but you still missed out on a lot of the normal courtship steps.’
It was true. Their first kiss on the beach had progressed straight to Tom’s bed the moment the children were settled, neither he nor Nerissa able to stem the tidal wave of pent-up feelings they’d been hiding from each other for too long. After that first night it had seemed silly to go back to sleeping in separate beds, especially as the kids had been unphased by it. Besides, the bedroom was the only place they got to be alone together, despite the fact they lived and worked under the same roof. ‘I’m missing a bit of the romance, I guess,’ she mused as Laurie approached the table with a pot of tea, two huge slices of mouth-watering cake, and a fresh cup of coffee for Linda. They paused for a moment to thank Laurie and give the cake the moment of silent appreciation it deserved before they sank their forks in. As the combination of cream, rich fudgy chocolate and crisp biscuit base melted on her tongue, Nerissa felt her eyes roll back in her head. ‘My God.’
‘Oh, wow. That’s better than sex,’ Linda exclaimed as she dug her fork back into the cake for a second bite.
‘Not quite, but close,’ Nerissa found herself saying before clapping a hand over her mouth.
‘Ha! Tell me more.’ Linda waved her fork at Nerissa in an encouraging gesture.
‘My lips are sealed.’ Nerissa took another bite of her cake and sighed. It really was delicious. If there was enough left, she would get Laurie to box up three slices for Tom and the children to enjoy after dinner. A peace offering, not that one was needed, but still it would be nice to treat them all. ‘Don’t get me wrong,’ she said to Linda, returning to their original topic of conversation. ‘I’ve never been happier, and I wouldn’t change things for the world…’
Linda made a sympathetic noise. ‘It can’t be easy juggling everything with the surgery and at home, and still finding time to focus on just the two of you.’
‘Exactly.’ Nerissa gave her friend a grateful smile. ‘Anyway, enough about me, what’s going on with you?’
Linda cast a quick look round then leaned a bit closer. ‘I sold the house.’
‘What?’ Nerissa couldn’t help the outburst, so excited was she about the news. Linda made a shushing motion with her hands as she shot another quick glance to where Jake was sitting. His full attention was once more glued to his screen, and he didn’t so much as look their way. She doubted he’d hear anything over the music from his earbuds, but Nerissa kept her voice hushed anyway as she leaned closer and said: ‘I knew you were thinking about it, but I didn’t realise you’d even been in touch with an estate agent.’
Linda nodded, eyes bright with a mixture of emotions. There were a lot of unhappy memories tied up in the house she’d shared with her late husband, but it must still be tough for her to let it go.
‘I called one at the beginning of November and arranged for them to get the spare key from my next door neighbour. He was very enthusiastic about the place and wanted to put it on the market straight away. He arranged for a cleaner to go and give the place a dust and polish and had it on the website within a week. I was grateful when he suggested the cleaner, because the thought of going back there filled me with dread.’
‘Oh, I wish you’d said something.’ It was Nerissa’s turn to reach out and offer comfort. ‘If you need someone to come with you and clear the place out, you only have to ask.’ She thought about what she’d said, then shook her head. ‘You don’t even have to ask, because I’m not going to let you do it alone. Sylvia will come too.’ Nerissa’s sister-in-law had been instrumental in helping Linda in the aftermath of her husband Nigel’s sudden death. She’d even persuaded Linda to join them in the Point and rent one of the holiday cottages so she didn’t have to be alone as she came to terms with her loss. Nerissa knew Sylvia would be in complete agreement about helping their friend through this difficult step as she transitioned from her old life to one they hoped would see Linda make a permanent home in the Point.
‘There’s no need.’
Nerissa sat back, surprised at the surety in Linda’s tone. ‘You know it’ll be no trouble,’ she offered, worried Linda was putting too much of a brave face on things.
‘I know,’ Linda assured her. ‘It’s a young couple buying their first home so I told the agent they could have their pick of what’s there of the furniture, kitchenware et cetera free of charge. Anything they don’t want is being sorted out by a house clearance company. There’s nothing in that house other than bad memories. I won’t bring the burden of them into my new life.’
‘Well, as long as you’re sure.’ She certainly sounded it. The transformation from the mousy, downtrodden woman Nerissa had first met into the confident, happy one she was delighted to call a friend had been little short of miraculous. It was like she’d been trapped in the tightly wound cocoon of Nigel’s oppressive behaviour. Now she was finally free of him, Linda had metamorphosized into the person she was always meant to be. ‘Have you told Jake?’ She lowered her voice as she mentioned his name.
A flicker of uncertainty crossed Linda’s face as she shook her head. ‘That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about.’ She took a sip of her coffee as though needing to compose her thoughts, and then set it down. ‘It’s not just the house. I completed probate on Nigel’s estate and received a substantial settlement from a life insurance policy he’d taken out when we were first married. I had no idea about it – he kept all that sort of stuff to himself.’
‘Well, it’s not like he didn’t owe you something after all you put up with.’ Though she’d never met the man, Nerissa had formed a very strong opinion about the late Nigel Smith, and there was nothing good about it.
Linda’s mouth stretched into a swift, hard smile. ‘You can say that again.’ Her expression softened. ‘Between that and what the sale of the house fetched, I’m well set up. More than well, really.’ She sent another quick glance towards Jake. ‘I want to give some of it to Jake and Laurie, but I’m not sure how he’ll feel about it.’ Linda picked up the pretty cloth napkin from beside her plate and began pleating it between her fingers. ‘Things are much better between us, and I don’t want to do anything that might rock the boat. I know the two of them are saving like mad for a deposit so they can buy a place of their own and I’d like to help them, you know? Because it’s the first time in Jake’s life that I feel I’m in a position to do so.’
