Page 14 of The Cosy Seaside Chocolate Shop

‘They sound ideal. Thank you.’

Emma looked up to acknowledge the man who was still standing there waiting. Oh my, his eyes were so very like Luke’s – that same blue-grey. She found her hands were trembling as she wrapped the box with ribbon.

‘That’ll be eight pounds and twenty pence, please.’

The lady paid, saying, ‘Thank you, I’m sure my husband will love them,’ as she took the paper bag with the gift in.

As the space between her and the man who had just walked in cleared, Emma felt her heart banging in her chest. Luke’s brother – it just had to be. It hit her suddenly, it was the only explanation. The last time she had seen him was at the funeral.

‘Nathan? Is that really you?’

‘Yeah – well I prefer to be called Nate, nowadays, but yeah, it’s me. And, how cool is this?’ he said looking around The Chocolate Shop and then settling his gaze on her. ‘Hi, Em. Good to see ya.’

Emma noted a slight Australian drawl to his accent. Well, he had been away a long while.

‘So, how are you?’ She was coming out from behind the counter towards him. ‘You look … wow, you look different … you look good. All grown-up somehow.’ She stopped herself, realising she was beginning to sound like some maiden aunt.

‘Well, I am twenty-six!’ he laughed.

‘Of course.’ The same age Luke had been when he died … But wow, his little brother was here and all grown-up. Emma clapped her hands together. This was just wonderful. But God, he did look so like Luke. Her heart didn’t know quite what to make of that yet.

He opened his arms wide to greet her and they shared a big hug.

‘Wow, long time no see.’ Emma could scarcely hide the emotion in her voice. Yes, the last time she had seen him was at Luke’s funeral, eight years ago now, when he was just eighteen.

‘I know … and hey, you don’t look so bad yourself, Em. You’ve not changed a bit, honest.’ He took a step back to take a proper look at her. ‘And this place, it’s brilliant. Your own business and everything. Mum and Dad told me all about it, of course.’

‘Yep. Welcome to The Chocolate Shop by the Sea. It’s been a long haul, to be honest, but yeah, it’s good here … And you, how’s life for you? Is this a passing trip? What are your plans?’

‘Well, that’s the million-dollar question.’ He gave a cheeky smile, as though planning wasn’t really his thing.

‘Hang on, shall I make us a coffee while it’s quiet here? Have you got time? It’d be great to catch up.’ There was only one customer in just now, who seemed to be happy reading their newspaper with a pot of tea and a chocolate brownie to hand.

‘Yeah, why not. That’d be great.’

‘Right, well take a seat and I’ll be back with some coffee in a minute.’

‘Do you do a flat white?’

‘Ah, I’m afraid not, no machine for that as yet, though it’s on my wish list. We’re still on cafetières for the moment.’

‘That’s fine, no worries.’ And he sat down, gazing out of the window. ‘Sweet spot here.’

‘Yes, it’s a great village. I’ll just be two ticks.’

Emma dashed off to make their drinks, realising she had a huge smile on her face. Mind you, once in the kitchen she felt a bit giddy and had to pause and hold on to the work surface for a second or two. Just seeing him walk into the shop like that, Luke’s brother, being near him … it brought back so many memories. Nathan’s hair was a bit longer, and the clothes far more casual than Luke would have chosen, but whoa, a quick glance and he could easily pass for Luke. And that made the hole in her heart she’d been trying so hard to heal, tear open a little more.

She told herself to get a grip and got on with making the coffee.

A few minutes later they were settled in the window seat together chatting about old times, about Luke, and the years kind of melted away. Yet they were both so aware that they were in such a different place than they would ever have imagined back then.

‘God, I think I must always have been the annoying kid brother when you two got together. Hey Em, remember that time when our parents were away overnight and you and Luke were at our house? I was being a stroppy teenager and didn’t want to go off to my room and I was on the PlayStation in the lounge for hours – no doubt getting in the way of your cosy night in. Then Luke got mad and got me in a headlock and something cricked badly. We ended up in A&E and he was terrified he’d really done something wrong.’

‘Hah, yes. And I was left there at your house to keep an eye on the dog, and your parents rang to check everything was okay. It was past ten o’clock and I had to pretend you’d both gone off to sleep for an early night … as if.’

‘Yeah, they did an X-ray to check, then let us home. No real damage, it was just a bit cricked. Mum and Dad still don’t know about that one.’

‘Brothers, hey?’ said Emma.