Page 94 of Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe

‘Is he?’ Rose ran a studied eye up and down Alex which almost made him blush. ‘Look at all those muscles! You’re worth almost drowning for.’

Alex laughed. ‘As long as it’s only “almost”,’ he replied.

‘Please forgive my aunt,’ said a dark-haired man coming to stand next to Rose. ‘I hope you’re not easily embarrassed. I’m Sam Harris.’

Alex remembered the name as Faye had told him that Sam was the future Earl of Cranley and had taken over the daily running of the stately home.

‘I’m always on the naughty step,’ said Rose, with a giggle. ‘Now, you must have some champagne, darlings. Not Annie, of course. Did you hear the news? Baby number two is on the way for our future countess.’

‘Oh, congratulations,’ said Hannah, in a delighted tone.

‘Thanks,’ said Sam. ‘We’re delighted to be getting a little brother or sister for Eddie. I hope you’re both able to stay for the evening entertainment. There’ll be live music later.’

‘Toodle-oo, darlings,’ said Rose, blowing Hannah a kiss before Sam took her by the arm and led her away.

‘That Rose! What a character,’ said Alex.

‘Oh, you don’t know the half of it,’ said Hannah, laughing as they settled back onto the ground.

They chatted for a while about the Harris family before Alex became aware that the afternoon was slowly turning into early evening as the sun had begun to sink below the horizon of trees surrounding the estate.

‘So what do you think?’ he asked. ‘Would you like to stay here for the evening or go on somewhere else?’

‘I’d like to stay, if that’s OK,’ she replied.

Alex was pleased, also in no rush to leave the beautiful surroundings and break the magical spell of the date so far.

As dusk arrived, the tree above them as well as many others were suddenly lit up with fairy lights. Tea lights and candles in jam jars were lit everywhere else and the whole setting began to turn even more dreamy under the soft lighting in the semi-darkness.

A makeshift stage had been set up nearby and later on, Arthur, the Earl of Cranley, stood up to announce how much money they had raised for a local stroke charity. A huge cheer went up at the large amount of money, followed by an even louder cheer as Tommy Starr came onto the stage.

Tommy was a global superstar in his own right, a hugely popular singer-songwriter who had taken a step back in recent years when he had got engaged and started a family. He now lived in the old forge in Cranley but had close connections to Willow Tree Hall, apparently.

Tommy sang many of his most popular songs by himself, just him and his guitar, and it gave the whole evening an even more laid-back feel.

It couldn’t have felt more romantic, thought Alex. And then Hannah leant her head on his shoulder and snuggled in closer to him and his heart leapt. He put his arm around her and couldn’t stop himself from kissing her on the lips.

After a long time, she drew her head back slightly to look up at him with a soft smile. ‘This has been the most wonderful first date,’ she murmured.

‘Good,’ he replied.

‘I can’t seem to stop myself from kissing you,’ she told him.

‘Well, don’t think that I’m going to stop you,’ he said, his eyes gleaming.

He wanted to tell how he was falling in love with her. How much she meant to him. And yet, as she brought him closer for another kiss, the words were lost on his lips. Soon, he told himself, before he lost all coherent thought. Soon he would tell her just how much he loved her.

But for now, he was happy to lose himself in her delicious kisses.

51

With the beginning of September heralding the end of the summer season, it had been decided to celebrate the end of the long lighter days with another triathlon.

‘As the first one didn’t pan out quite as expected,’ Ben had said to Alex, with a wink.

Alex found that he was happy to organise it and felt the most relaxed he had ever been before a competition as he held on to his stopwatch by the starting line.

Perhaps because he wasn’t actually competing. He felt a small pang as he watched the competitors lining up but it soon disappeared. He was so much more relaxed away from the circuit of training and competing, he realised.