The Broken Hearts Book Club (8 page)

‘Was that the gorgeous barman from the other night I just saw walking away from here?’ she asked with a cheeky grin.

I nodded. ‘Yeah, he came to return George’s leather jacket. Good job too, else he’d have had kittens when he noticed it was missing!’

Without knowing it, I’d returned my gaze to the corner of the street, as if I expected Jake to double back, sweep me into his arms and… I stopped that train of thought before it went much further. It was wrong on so many levels.

‘Waiting for someone?’ Elle asked with a wink.

I shook my head and made some kind of weird spluttering noise. ‘Don’t be silly! Now let’s get inside and get some bacon rolls to go with those doughnuts.’

When we went into the living room, George was staring at his phone with disappointed look on his face. Mum called for someone to come and help with the breakfast, so Elle went to join her in the kitchen.

‘You OK?’ I asked, plonking myself down next to him and nudging him.

He nodded and let out a huge sigh. ‘Yeah, just found out I didn’t get the part in
The Lion King
I auditioned for. Oh well, onwards and upwards eh?’

I linked my arm through his and rested my head on his shoulder. ‘I’m sorry you didn’t get it. It’s their loss, you’re an amazing dancer. Anyway Mister, I want a word with you! You seemed to be getting pretty close to a certain Miss Nicholls last night. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to remember you two having a snog outside the house at gone midnight.’

‘Oh you saw that?’ he said flushing bright red.

‘Couldn’t bloody fail to!’ I nudged him in the ribs. ‘So what are your intentions, young man?’

He shook his head and shrugged. ‘Elle’s beautiful and fun and nice, but I shouldn’t have kissed her. I mean, I’m heading back to London soon–’ he trailed off.

‘What’s up?’ I said, swatting his arm playfully.

‘Listen, I was wondering if you’d made any decisions on staying here for a bit? Cos if you were, I was thinking of hanging around as well. Just for a couple of months. I don’t have any shows coming up and I’ll get a job pulling pints or something. That’s what I do when it’s quiet anyway; so I can see about getting some shifts at The Purple Partridge. I’ll pay rent or split the bills; the lease is up on the flat next month and I’ve got enough money. Do you think that’ll be OK?’

‘Well, to tell you the truth, since I went to that book club meeting I’ve been thinking I might stick around for a while. It’d be great to have you here too; my mum and dad will be made up that you’re staying. They loved you when they met you last Christmas.’

‘Breakfast’s ready!’ Elle came through from the kitchen and leaned on the door frame.

George smiled, ‘Let’s go and get these amazing bacon rolls then shall we? Here’s hoping they cure this hangover!’ I couldn’t help noticing that his face visibly brightened when his eyes met Elle’s.

He skulked off in search of food before any awkward questions could be asked.

‘What was that all about?’ Elle hooked her thumb over her shoulder.

‘Oh nothing, he’s thinking of sticking round here for a bit longer than he’d planned, that’s all.’ I paused for a second. ‘And so am I, as it goes.’

The last part caught her attention and she snapped her head round to look at me.

‘Really? I thought after everything that happened here, you’d be dying to get back to London.’ She realised she’d used the word “dying” and muttered ‘sorry’.

‘Me too,’ I admitted, ‘but then I went to a Broken Hearts Book Club meeting. Well, I kind of dropped in on one actually and it was amazing Elle; all those people using books to get past the hard times in their lives. In her will, Nana Lily said she wanted me to be leader of the club for three months minimum and I’m thinking of giving it a go. If I don’t like it, I can pass the baton on to someone else, but if I do then great.’

Elle still didn’t look convinced and fixed me with a shady look. ‘What about this amazing job in events you’ve got back in London? Why would you want to leave that to come up here and run a book club?’

I craned my neck to check that my parents weren’t within earshot then lowered my voice to a low hiss. ‘About that… I might’ve exaggerated a tiny little bit.’

‘How much?’

‘OK a lot; I got the sack from that job just before I came up here.’

Elle’s cornflower eyes widened in surprise. Even when she was shocked, she still managed to look like a china doll. If she wasn’t my oldest friend, I thought, I’d hate her.

‘I’m going to get bacon rolls for us then I want to know
everything
.’ She swirled back towards the kitchen and I knew I was in for a classic Elle Nicholls interrogation, then she threw a smile to me from over her shoulder reminding me of just how much I’d missed her.

After a full breakfast and much needed shower I felt ready to brave the outdoors. So we headed over to the Moonlight Café. George had been put off from coming after we’d told him there’d be large amounts of girl talk involved.

Still suffering from our hangovers we worked our way through a stack of chocolate brownies with Diane throwing suspicious glances our way every few minutes, and I slowly filled Elle in on my wreck of a life.

‘Yours sounded so bloody perfect, I couldn’t say “oh yeah, I’ve just been given the elbow from my dream job!” Not when you were telling us about surfers and snorkelling off the coast of Australia.’

She reached over and put a manicured hand on mine. It was so comforting to have her back in my life after all this time, especially when things were so uncertain. Elle had always known what to do and say.

‘You should’ve just been honest from the start Luce. You should know by now I don’t care about any of that stupid stuff. Sure, I’ve travelled loads of places, but you don’t have to lie just because you’re going through a rough patch. Anyway, from what you said earlier, good things are just around the corner. Especially if you stay and take over the book club.’

Those words made my heart soar; so different from a couple of days ago when they prompted it to sink to my shoes. Meeting the group and sitting in on one of their meetings had had a bigger effect on me than I’d thought.

‘I mean I haven’t fully decided yet,’ I replied with a coy smile, popping another brownie into my mouth. ‘But it’s looking likely.’

‘Good! I’m going to stick around for a bit too, I reckon. No idea how long for though; knowing me, I’ll get itchy feet again before too long. So what’ll be your first act as chairwoman of the Broken Hearts Book Club?’ Elle asked.

Her timing couldn’t have been worse. Diane had come over to clear our plates away and was now looking at me with utter disbelief.

‘You mean you’re actually going to lead the club?!’ she said, her voice tapering off to a hoarse whisper. ‘I’ve never heard anything so ridiculous in my life! You haven’t been here for eight years since you ruined poor Maggie’s life! It’s bad enough that you being here is rubbing salt in her wounds, but what could you possibly know about anything?! You’re practically a child; you couldn’t hope to help us deal with any of our problems!’

I sighed. I’d been expecting something like that from her. ‘I’m thinking about it, yeah. Initially, it’ll just be for the three months Nana Lily mentioned in her will, but after that we’ll see. I know it sounds a bit mad, but I’ll only do it if I feel like I can give it a hundred percent. If I decide to lead the club, you can count on me to do a good job.’

She took the plates and stormed off behind the counter, muttering angrily under her breath as she went. When she thought nobody was looking, she heaved a sad sigh and her face crumpled for a moment. Then, as quickly as she’d stopped, she started up again, serving customers and giving the impression she was perfectly OK.

Elle and I left the Moonlight Café and went out onto Luna Bay high street. It was a charming little cobbled street lined with whitewashed buildings containing, amongst others, a general store, a bakery and a florist. Coloured awnings jutted out onto the street in various ice cream colours, enticing buyers in to sample the delights the shops inside had to offer. I saw some other members of the club, either in their work environments or walking down the street. Jean was in her little shop selling assorted knick-knacks and Cath was popping into Frank’s corner shop. As I watched them go about their daily business, I noticed again how sad and lost they looked. Although they had the book club as a place to talk about their grief, they had nobody to guide them or help them to move on.

Maybe that was where I could come in.

Nana Lily’s inheritance was giving me the chance to make a real difference to people’s lives. Although the members each put up a front for the world, I could tell they were all mired in their own tragedies, crying out for someone to help them.

That person, I decided, was going to be me.

Chapter Seven

My parents were ecstatic.

It was official; I was staying in Luna Bay.

I felt both excited and nervous: the village had been my home for the first eighteen years of my life and I loved it, but nonetheless it was strange knowing I’d be sticking around for longer than I’d planned. However, I was going to be leading a book club for broken hearts and helping the members to be happy again.

What could be better than that?

Of course, it involved coming clean about being sacked from my job in London. To my surprise, my parents took it quite well.

‘You could’ve been marched out the building with an armed escort for all I care,’ my dad said. ‘We’re just glad to have you home!’

Mr Shields was gutted to have been robbed of the chance to earn some juicy commission by selling Rose Cottage, but reluctantly handed the keys over and promised to have all the legal stuff – transfers of deeds and titles, changes to the Land Registry etc. – sorted within a month or so.

‘Remember Miss Harper, if at any time you choose to step down as leader of the Broken Hearts Book Club, the cottage will then be put on the market,’ he warned just as I was leaving. Every conversation I had with him always seemed to have a sting in the tail.

To mark my decision to settle in Luna Bay – for three months at least – Elle, George, my parents and I went to The Purple Partridge.

‘I’d like to propose a toast.’ Dad stood up with his glass of Prosecco. ‘To my lovely daughter Lucy, who’s moving back home after eight years in London. Welcome home darling, it’s great to have you back.’

The others raised their glasses and a collective ‘to Lucy’ echoed round the table. I got more than a little misty-eyed and had to hide some stray tears running down my cheeks.

‘It’s good to be back,’ I choked out. ‘I’ve really missed this place.’

I took a sip of my Prosecco to mask my hoarse voice and hoped nobody noticed. As everyone settled down into a comfortable conversation, Elle nudged me.

‘You’re being watched by a certain gorgeous barman.’

I turned just in time to see Jake jerk his head away and immerse himself with cleaning some pint glasses.

‘Now that you’re sticking around here, I insist you go and flirt your arse off with him right now. If you don’t, I will,’ said Elle.

Out the corner of my eye, I saw George shift uncomfortably in his seat.

‘Every time I talk to him, I end up putting my foot in it or pissing him off in some way. Knowing my luck, I’ll end up singing this time!’

My friend rolled her eyes and practically manhandled me out of my seat, pushing me in the direction of the bar.

‘You’ll thank me for this at your wedding,’ she hissed before sodding off back to the table.

Now I was standing in the middle of the pub for apparently no reason, while Jake looked at me like I was from Mars.

‘Can I help you?’ he asked with a raised eyebrow. He leaned on the bar and frowned at me.

I took some tentative steps forward and ordered some drinks I hadn’t intended to buy.

‘Coming right up.’ He fetched a pint glass from under the bar and pulled a beer pump down with his free hand. ‘So it’s official – you’re sticking around?’

‘Do you always eavesdrop on your customers’ conversations?’ I stuck my tongue out to show I wasn’t serious, but he didn’t see me.

‘Yep, to make up for the fact I have no life.’ He put the expertly pulled pint on the bar and began sorting the other drinks I’d ordered. ‘What made you decide to stay?’

‘Your sparkling wit and conversation obviously,’ I shot back. ‘Nah, I just think it’ll be a good move for me. I’ve lived in London for eight years and it’ll be nice to come back home. I’m going to be doing up my nana’s old cottage, which should be a laugh considering I know nothing about DIY.’

Jake poured some gin into a glass, along with some tonic water and put it beside the pint glass. I noticed the ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

‘If you need any help, just ask. I’m no good with electrics or anything like that, but I can just about hang wallpaper without getting into too much trouble. Don’t forget your charges at the Broken Hearts Book Club as well. You’ll be running around like a blue-arsed fly before you know it!’

I smiled as I watched him dot around the bar, looking for something he wasn’t having any luck finding. He bent over to look on one of the lower shelves and my mouth popped open. There was that pert, squeezable bum I’d seen on my first day back in Luna Bay.

‘You know, for someone who’s so against becoming a member, you don’t half mention the club a lot. I think you should just give it up and join; you know you want to.’

Jake’s head popped up from underneath the bar; he’d found the missing bottle of vodka. Instead of the defeated grin I’d expected to see, he looked even more steadfast than normal.

‘Thanks but no thanks. That’ll be ten quid please.’

I dug my purse out of my bag and handed over some money. ‘So, how’s this place doing? Found your miracle yet?’

‘Sadly not and time’s running out. At this rate, I’ll climb up on this bar and do the Full Monty if I have to.’

The thought made my mouth water, but I tried to remain sophisticated and classy. Well, as much as anyone who’s bellowed out
your sex is on fire
to a pub full of people can.