Page 114 of The Sunrise Sisterhood

‘But I’ve hardly had any time to talk to you.’ He strode across the kitchen, wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. ‘Morning, Liz.’

Liz felt her face redden. ‘Morning, Jesse. Can I get you a cup of tea?’

He thanked her, said yes and began playing with Skye’s hair. ‘I missed you when I woke up.’

Skye twisted away from him. ‘I don’t think Liz needs to see that in the morning.’

Liz found it impossible not to stare at Jesse. He was an Adonis. She couldn’t remember ever seeing such a beautiful man in Clemency House before. Bronzed, muscled, broad, with a smattering of golden hair on his chest. He was the epitome of youth and masculinity.

The work phone beeped with a text message; Skye scooped it up, putting space between her and her fiancé.

‘Oh, that’s a shame.’ Skye scanned the screen and handed the phone to Liz. ‘A cancellation. The booking for that big family party.’

‘Working already,’ said Jesse, spooning sugar into his tea. ‘Maybe you could miss yoga today, especially as you’ve got your father’s lunch coming up later?’

‘I’d rather not,’ Skye replied quietly.

‘Yoga is a great idea,’ Liz said, sensing the tension shooting back and forwards between them like laser beams. ‘You’ve already done so much prep, Skye, you deserve an hour or so to yourself.’

‘OK.’ Jesse conceded defeat. ‘But how about I meet you afterwards for breakfast? We can talk, and I get to see some more of this beautiful place.’

Skye sat down to pull on her trainers. ‘So sorry, Jesse. I’ve already made plans for breakfast with a friend. I’ll be back as soon as I can.’

‘Really? Can’t you cancel it?’ Jesse looked terribly disappointed and Liz’s heart went out to him.

She gave Skye a beseeching look to take pity on him. She’d only made the arrangement with Marta yesterday and that was before her boyfriend arrived; surely things were different now.

‘I won’t be long,’ Skye muttered, not meeting Liz’s gaze.

He exhaled, clearly frustrated. ‘I know you’re avoiding me.’

Skye’s eyes shone with tears. ‘Jesse, don’t make me do this now.’ She touched his cheek. ‘I’ll be back soon. I promise, we can talk then.’

Jesse sighed as he watched her leave and then, without another word, took his tea back upstairs.

Liz felt awkward for the pair of them. It just went to show that you never could tell. Only a few days ago she’d thought that Skye had such an uncomplicated life. How wrong she had been.

She settled down to compose a reply to the message which had just come in. It had been one of Viv’s clients – a buffet lunch for twenty at a glass-fronted holiday house in East Portlemouth – and then turned her attention to the accounts.

For the next twenty minutes, she tried to put Skye and Jesse out of her mind and focused on the business. Mike was bound to ask for an update on the loan repayment later and she wanted to have the facts at her fingertips. Bookings had been incredible over the last month and there were plenty more in the diary. But while they’d made a profit, they were quite a way off her twenty-thousand-pound target.

Liz closed the laptop again and sighed. She’d paid herself virtually nothing and Mike had covered Skye’s pay as promised, but even so, they were going to need a few more big jobs in the next few weeks.

She thought about Viv. Was it worth doing a flyer to her holiday guests? she wondered. Offering them something special, a discount on a repeat booking perhaps?

She was still mulling it over when her phone rang. Her heart gave a start when she saw Mike’s name flash up.

‘Mr Marriott,’ she drawled, ‘are you ready to be wowed by the culinary expertise of The Seaside Gourmet Girls today?’

‘Hey,’ said Mike.

‘Is for horses,’ she teased, rolling her eyes. ‘Hey’ coming from a man in his sixties sounded faintly ridiculous.

‘What? You’re losing your marbles, old girl,’ he chuckled. ‘Just ringing to check everything’s on course for today. It’s a biggie for me, this one, Liz. Don’t let me down.’

‘When have I ever let you down?’ she replied.

‘All right, no need to be so touchy, I don’t want you having a hot flush.’