Read Online Summer Seaside Wedding by Abigail Gordon - Free Book Online Page A

he didn’t have to sell her the idea. She was already sold on it. Sun,sea and sand were her life’s blood. If at the same time as working at the practice she could put her abilities regarding those things to good use, why not?
    The only problem was it being weekend tomorrow. It would be Monday before Leo could speak to anyone, and Saturday and Sunday loomed ahead as empty days.
    ‘Why don’t you come down here to have a word with Ronnie over the weekend?’ Leo said, picking up on her thoughts. ‘It would give you the chance to get to know him and find out what would be required of you in the evenings if the authorities are interested in employing you as a temporary lifeguard. He’s a likeable guy.’
    ‘Yes, I suppose I could do that,’ she agreed.
    It was almost as if he could read her mind. Though did he read it as far as realising that his eagerness to keep her occupied was beginning to show, was it another taste of the unwanted feeling that was bitter in her mouth?
    If so, he ought to tell her. It was to be expected that Leo was living a full and happy life before she’d come on the scene, so it was to his credit that he was putting it on hold because he felt responsible for her. But she didn’t want it to be like that, just as much as she felt he didn’t. She’d coped on her own for as long as she could remember, except for the short time that Antoine had been part of her life.
    ‘Shall we go?’ she asked flatly, as if the moon’s light on sea and shore and the rugged cliffs behind them wasn’t enough.
    ‘Why the sudden drop in spirits?’ Leo asked, as ifhe didn’t know. ‘Shall we forget the idea of the beach patrol, Amelie? It was only a thought.’
    ‘No, of course not!’ she protested. ‘It was kind of you to suggest it. I will come down here tomorrow and introduce myself to Ronnie.’ Then it happened again, the words were out before she could stop them. ‘What plans have you made for the weekend?’
    Fortunately a cloud passed over the moon at that moment and he didn’t observe her mortification at the intrusion into his life once again. Taken aback for a second by the directness of the question, he replied, ‘Tennis tomorrow morning with my friend Naomi, a trip to town in the afternoon, and in the evening out for a meal with friends, maybe moving on to a nightclub later.
    ‘On Sundays I do what chores have to be done, go to the pub for an hour late morning, and maybe drive into the countryside in the afternoon for a Devonshire clotted-cream tea.’
    ‘What is that?’ she asked curiously.
    ‘Fresh scones, thick clotted cream that the county is renowned for and strawberry conserve or jam.’
    ‘It sounds delightful.’
    ‘It is,’ he replied, and thought it would be so easy to suggest he call for her on Sunday and take her with him if she would like that, yet he wasn’t going to. He had to ease off with the woman beside him, otherwise his well-planned bachelor life, stereotyped as it sometimes was, might fall apart if he veered off in a new direction, and that would cause some raised eyebrows amongst those he worked with at the practice.
    He knew that Harry thought he was crazy, living the carefree life that he’d always led, but the senior partner was in love and had Phoebe and her child who loved him in return. Soon she would give birth to another little one that would be theirs entirely and his joy would know no bounds.
    If he was in a situation like the other man’s, he would approach life from a different angle, but he wasn’t, and neither was he likely to be while mixing with the ‘in crowd’.
    The life he’d lived ever since losing Delphine was a defence against ever experiencing that sort of pain and heartbreak again. Even now, with the years having gone by, he still couldn’t talk about it, so Harry could only judge him from outward appearances.
    He got to his feet and said, ‘I suppose we had better make tracks or Naomi will be calling for me in the morning and I