Little Kiosk By The Sea Read Free Page A

to Owen.
    Back down on the quay an hour later, she waited as the
Queen of the River
, with Peter at the helm, gently draw up alongside the pontoon.
    Owen followed the last of the passengers up the pontoon gangway, leaving Peter and the other crew member to take the boat out to its mooring in the middle of the river.
    ‘You got time for a quick drink?’ he asked. ‘Something we need to talk about.’
    ‘Sounds serious,’ Sabine said, her heart sinking. The beginning of the summer was not a good time for Owen to need to talk. ‘Why not talk here?’
    Owen shrugged. ‘Rather sit in the pub in comfort. Besides, this way I get to enjoy your company for longer.’
    ‘Have to be a quick one, Johnnie’s coming for supper.’
    ‘Won’t take long what I’ve got to say,’ Owen said. ‘Ready?’
    Ten minutes later, with a glass of chardonnay in front of her and a pint of beer in Owen’s hand, Sabine looked at him. ‘Well, what’s this all about, Owen?’
    ‘Will you marry me, Sabine?’
    She shook her head. ‘Sorry.’
    ‘In that case, it’s just two things. Peter and Hutchinson River Trips is the first.’
    Sabine took a sip of her wine and waited. Was he regretting offering Peter a job and wanted out?
    ‘I’ve been talking to the solicitor about Peter inheriting the business.’
    It took a few seconds for his words to sink in.
    ‘You want Peter to have the business? You’re not ill, are you? You don’t look ill but…’
    ‘No I’m not ill,’ Owen said.
    ‘Thank god for that.’
    ‘I just want to get things sorted and Peter’s like the son I’ve never had to me.’
    ‘Does Peter know about this?’
    ‘Not yet. I wanted to make sure you didn’t have any objections. Accuse me of forcing him to stay put before he’s seen the world.’
    ‘He’s a real home bird,’ Sabine said. ‘I can’t see him ever leaving for a life somewhere else. Besides, he loves his life on the river. But what about your dad’s relatives? Surely there’s a cousin or two out Stokenham way who have a claim to the family business?’
    Owen shook his head. ‘No. So what do you think? Good thing or not?’
    ‘I think it’s an incredibly generous action on your part, Owen,’ Sabine said. ‘But I hope he doesn’t get to inherit too soon.’
    ‘So do I, darling, so do I.’ Owen laughed before taking a swig of his beer. ‘Right, I’ll get on to Trevor Bagshawe to do the necessary. Once that’s done, we’ll tell Peter, OK?’
    Sabine nodded. ‘You said there were two things – what’s the second?’
    ‘I’ve been talking to your Johnnie about all the places he’s been. The sights he’s seen. I’ve decided I’ve missed a lot so…’
    ‘You’re going to become a yacht deliverer?’
    ‘No, of course not. At the end of the season I’m off touring Europe for six months.’ Owen looked at her, a serious look on his face.
    ‘Want to come with me? No strings. Just two old friends having an adventure together before it’s too late.’

CHAPTER TWO
    HARRIET
    Harriet drew up outside The Captain’s Berth with a sigh of relief. She’d made it. The longest drive she’d done on her own for years was finished. All four hours of it.
    To say she’d been nervous when she set off this morning on her marathon journey was an understatement. She’d been close to tears and to forgetting the whole idea. She didn’t have to put herself through the ordeal. She could wait for Frank to return from his unexpected meeting and travel down together like they’d planned. It was only by giving herself a severe talking-to, telling herself to stop being pathetic, that she was a grown woman for goodness sake, that she managed to get in the car. The first thirty miles had tested her willpower to keep going, but once she’d negotiated the traffic-filled motorway junction lanes outside Bristol, she relaxed. Familiar, long-forgotten landmarks began to mark the passage of miles and as she drove down the final miles to the Higher Ferry she