Page 77 of Tricks & Treats at The Cosy Cornish Bakery

‘You better had, or I’ll put the piskies on to you.’

‘Understood.’ Josh sipped his cocoa. ‘Whatever they are. Actually, although I am here just for your body, of course–’

‘Of course.’

‘I’m really after your house.’

Ginger twisted sharply, spilling some of her cocoa. ‘Sorry. What?’

‘This is what we need to talk about.’

‘I’m all ears. Why do you need my house?’

‘It needs a new roof, right?’

Ginger nodded, wondering where this was going.

Josh drew in a deep breath. ‘I’ve a proposition.’

‘Go on.’

‘My production company – that is, me – would like to fund The Sanctuary’s new roof.’

Once more Ginger’s mouth dropped open. ‘Why?’

‘Don’t look so startled. It’s not quite that philanthropic. I’d like The Sanctuary to be the base for the production team when they begin filming here in Wheal Kitty Cove in the summer. That’s if we can get the timings right.’

‘What? You’ll be filming in the village?’ Ginger asked.

Josh nodded. ‘This is the television project I want to get going. It was the Scare Night that gave me the idea. My writing pal Finn, remember I mentioned him earlier? He’s just begun working on a script. Sort of Poldark meets Outlander, with added vampire pirates.’

‘No zombies?’

He took her hand and kissed it. ‘No zombies, I promise. Speaking of which, I’ve got a whole load of merch in the car. It’s for your young friends. I remember you said they were big Captain Titan fans.’

Ginger gulped. ‘You lovely, lovely man.’ She kissed him hard.

Josh kissed her back, surprised. ‘You’re very welcome, but I don’t know what I did. I just grabbed a load of stuff on my way out of the studios. Hope it’s okay.’

‘It’ll be perfect. Now, tell me more about this Poldark-Outlander-vampire pirates mash-up.’

‘It’s based on a book by Romilly Raven. She used to write crime and–’

‘Is now writing romance!’ Ginger finished. ‘She stayed here. She’s fabulous.’

‘So you worked your Cornish magic on Romilly, too?’ Josh kissed the corner of Ginger’s mouth. ‘I might have known. Genius woman!’

‘Who me, or Romilly?’ Ginger flirted.

He laughed tenderly. ‘Both. But mostly you.’

‘Right answer.’

‘The script’ll need work as Finn is a serious history bod, more of an academic really, but I reckon he’ll come on board. The last convo I had with him was how fed up of LA he was. He kept falling out with folk on projects. Refused to compromise on the historical detail. He’d been writing Georgian and the execs wanted Bridgerton.’

‘Nothing wrong with Bridgerton,’ Ginger said stoutly.

‘Nothing at all, but Finn’s a bit of a stickler for historical accuracy.’