Much Ado About You(97)

We looked over at their table, pretending to boo at the same time we raised our glasses to them. Maggie blushed in delight as Dex placed the huge hamper in front of them.

“See,” I said, “age and experience matter in a pub quiz. Don’t”—I raised a finger at Lucas, whose eyes were sparkling with some mischievous comment about my age—“even say it.”

Choking on his laughter, he buried his head in Vi’s throat as she grinned at me.

Roane’s arm slipped down my shoulder to my waist, and I felt his fingers slip under my shirt to tickle me lightly. Shivering, I turned into him with a soft smile. “You feeling me up in public?” I murmured.

His dark eyes dropped to my mouth. “When am I not feeling you up in public?”

“True. You’re very handsy. You should stop. I’m a married woman, you know.”

“Oh, I know.” He bent his head toward mine, seconds from stealing a kiss when—

“Evie, how’s the new tenant working out?”

Roane and I moved away from each other as Dex pulled a seat up to our table.

“Good,” I answered. “So far so good.”

Once I’d bought the store from Penny and realized I’d have an empty apartment upstairs when I moved in with Roane, I had a new door put on the rear of the building and closed off the entrance to the bookstore at the back to separate the apartment from the store. I was intending to let it as a holiday apartment, but a guy called Bryan Holmes, some financial dude from London, paid me up front for three months’ rent.

He said he needed a long vacation from London. When I’d met him, I’d thought he was a good-looking guy in his late forties. He was only thirty-eight. The stress of working in the financial hub of the country had led him to a bit of a midlife crisis. He’d decided the cold sea air in a tiny little village would do him good.

“I hardly ever hear him when I’m at the store.” I shrugged. Not that the store kept me busy during the winter months. I only opened it a few days a week, and even then I spent most of my days working on edits for my clients.

It didn’t matter. I trusted that between my rental income from the apartment and the good summer business, I’d make a success of my store.

Even if I didn’t, I thought as I looked around The Anchor at the fairy lights and Christmas decorations twinkling above the heads of my friends, my dog, and my husband, I wasn’t going anywhere. They were all stuck with me for good.

“Did you hear?” Milly appeared at the table, her hands resting on Lucas’s shoulders as she directed her words at me.

“Hear what?”

“The truth has come out about why Erin and Peter Branston separated three months ago. Erin apparently played private eye when her husband started working late. She found him at the Newton Arms with his head between another woman’s legs.”

“Ugh, Mam.” Viola made a face as Lucas’s shoulders shook with laughter. “That’s a sentence a daughter should never hear her mam say.”

“Never mind that.” Caro blushed but her eyes were filled with sympathy. “It’s something a wife should never see her husband do with another woman.”

“Poor Erin,” Dex tutted. “And the kids.”

Erin was the attractive blonde who’d ordered books from me all those months ago. I’d heard about the separation, we all had, but I marveled that it had taken this long for the truth to come out. “So they’re getting a divorce?”

“Aye.” Milly nodded in approval. “She says she’s taking the bastard for everything.”

“So she’s single?”

“Aye, that’s what divorce means, Evie.”

I ignored her sarcasm. “You know, my tenant Bryan is single . . .”

Milly’s eyes lit up.

Roane groaned and shot me a warning look. “Evie . . . don’t even think about it.”





Acknowledgments


While strolling through vacation listings, I came upon a bookshop holiday advertisement. To my delight I discovered there is a book shop in the lowlands of Scotland that offers exactly what Much Ado About Books offers in Evie’s story. This got my imagination firing, and before I knew it, Evie’s adventure in England was playing out in my head, desperate to be told. As for the story’s setting, I have long since hoped to set a book in Northumberland. It’s one of my favorite places in the world and one of the most beautiful counties in England. It was a no-brainer that Much Ado About You should be set there. It was a joy to send Evie there. When I wrote this book, I wrote it with the desire to create the ultimate romantic comfort read, and it was certainly a comfort write! I hope readers felt my love for the characters, the setting, and that it magically transported you all there.

For the most part, writing is a solitary endeavor but publishing most certainly is not. I have to thank my fantastic editor, Kerry Donovan, not only for helping to make me a better writer and storyteller, but for believing in me and in this book. Moreover, thank you to all the team at Berkley for your hard work on Evie and Roane’s story.

The same must be said for my amazing agent, Lauren Abramo. Lauren, thank you for always having my back and for making it possible for readers all over the world to read my stories. I know how lucky I am to have you.

And thank you to my bestie and PA extraordinaire, Ashleen Walker, for handling all the little things and supporting me through everything. There are no words for how much I appreciate and love you.