loved to swim; and if life at the village practice was as demanding as the job she’d just left, it might be her only chance at that early hour.
So far she hadn’t met the senior partner but there was plenty of time for that. She’d met Leo, that was enough to be going on with, and for the rest of the weekend she wasn’t going to butt into his life again.
The shops were to her liking. They reminded her of those in the French village where she’d lived as a child. Amongst them was a grocer’s selling butter straight from the tub, a fishmonger’s with the morning’s fresh catch on display, and a combined village store and post office where people were good-humouredly passing the time of day without seeming to be in any hurry.
There was the feeling of life lived at a slower pace, she thought as she set off in the direction of the cliffs and the road that ran along the top of them. As she breathed in the fresh sea air and felt the sun on her face Amelie knew she’d done the right thing in accepting Ethan’s suggestion that she come to Bluebell Cove and she was here today of all days.
She could see the sea in the distance as she walked along. The tide had gone out and there were more people down on the sand now than there had been earlier. She was in love with the place already, she thought wonderingly. What must it be like to live here all the time?
When she looked over her shoulder she was surprised to see how far she’d walked. The village was almost out of sight and having no wish to make her arrival in Bluebell Cove brought to the notice of others by getting lost, she began to retrace her steps.
Eventually she came to tennis courts that had been empty when she’d passed earlier but were now occupied by an attractive blonde with long legs. Partnering her, resplendent in tennis shorts and a short-sleeved white shirt, was the man she’d been hoping to avoid for the rest of the weekend.
Fortunately he was serving with his back to her and with a few fast steps she was past before he’d had the chance to see her.
She was smiling as she neared the edge of the village. It made sense that a man like him would want someone as attractive as himself to have around him, she was thinking when suddenly the church bells began to ring out and as she drew nearer the reason was revealed.
A June bride, resplendent in a beautiful white dress and train, was being helped out of a wedding car that had stopped at the lychgate of the church, and Amelie felt as if a cloud had covered the sun.
So much for upbeat thinking and keeping occupied on this particular day. Who was she kidding? The hurt hadn’t gone away. She’d learned to live with it, but it was still there.
Turning away blindly, she hurried past the shops until she came to a café and seated herself at a table farthest from the window.
CHAPTER TWO
THE tennis had been good, his companion pleasant to be with, and as the two of them walked along the main street of the village, seeking refreshment after the exercise, Leo was aware that the bells were ringing at the church and a wedding was taking place.
Not an unusual event on a Saturday in June, by any means, but it was attracting a lot of attention, as weddings always did, and when his tennis partner wanted to linger outside the church they separated, him to the café farther along the street and her to join those who were waiting for the bride and her groom to appear.
The place was almost empty when he got there, even cream teas were being overshadowed by what was happening at the church, but there was one customer sitting at a table at the back, staring into space, and he forced a smile.
Hot and sticky, he just wanted to relax but she was here again, the young French doctor looking so forlorn he just had to go across and say hello.
‘So how’s it going?’ he asked easily, towering above her with racket in hand.
‘Fine,’ she said with a pale smile.
‘You must be the only one not watching what is going on at the church. I thought that most women love a wedding.’
He was making conversation and knew it, out of his depth because she looked so glum, and he was dumbstruck when she said tonelessly, ‘Not those who have been betrayed. Today should have been my wedding day too. I should have been a bride, but as you can see it has not happened.’
‘Oh!’ he exclaimed, and lowered himself onto the chair beside her. ‘I am so sorry. I would never have brought up the subject of marriage if I’d known. It is not surprising that you aren’t amongst the observers and well-wishers. Do you want to talk about it?’
She shook her head. ‘No, I don’t, Dr Fenchurch. I was managing to get through the day reasonably well until I saw the wedding and came in here to get away from it.’ The pale smile was back. ‘But I’m all right now.’ Steering the conversation into less upsetting channels, she said, ‘What has happened to your tennis partner?’
‘Naomi? She’s outside the church with everyone else, but we were about to separate in any case. We only meet once weekly for tennis. So why don’t you let me take you back to the house before the bridal couple appear?’
‘But you came in here for some refreshment,’ she protested.
‘I’ll have a bite when I’ve seen you safely away from all of this,’ he replied. ‘If we take the long way round we’ll miss the church. But, Amelie, I have to warn you there will be other weddings. June is the most popular month in the year so…’
‘I’m not going to have a panic attack every time I see one,’ she told him.
‘It was because it was today of all days that it upset me so much, and I’m butting into your weekend again, aren’t I? I am so sorry.’
‘Don’t be. You are alone in a strange place and I am happy to help in any way I can,’ he assured her, and was surprised how much he meant it. ‘So let’s go, shall we?’ And with a smile for the girl behind the counter as Amelie paid for what she’d had, he shepherded her outside and they set off in the opposite direction from the wedding.
Harry had rung him after breakfast, wanting to know if the previous night’s arrangements had gone smoothly, and he’d been able to tell him that they had.
‘So what’s she like?’ he’d wanted to know, and Leo had described her briefly.
‘Something in your tone tells me that Amelie is not another chic Francine Lomax,’ the senior partner had said laughingly.
Leo hadn’t taken him up on that comment. Instead, he’d told him, ‘She was down in the cove swimming at some godless hour this morning after seeming to be completely exhausted last night.’
‘How do you know that?’
‘I saw her go past with a towel over her arm and realised I hadn’t told her about the rip tides, so went after her to be on the safe side.’
‘And where is she now?’
‘I don’t know, but if her rapture on seeing Bluebell Cove is anything to go by, she’ll be out seeing the sights.’
‘We’ll be calling round soon,’ Harry had informed him, ‘and if she isn’t there we can stop by again later.’
