Summer Seaside Wedding Read Free

not left anyone behind. Both my parents are in the diplomatic service and spend most of their time abroad. I rarely see them.’
    He nodded, ‘I only asked because Ethan’s house is big. If you’d wanted to bring anyone with you, he wouldn’t have minded.’
    ‘I might have done at one time,’ she replied, ‘but not now.’ Silence fell between them once more.
    It was gone midnight when Leo pulled up across the way from the surgery in front of the big detached house that was to be her home for the next six months.
    Amelie had been half-asleep on the last leg of the journey but had woken up when he’d turned onto the coast road and been tuned in when he’d explained that the sea and the beach were below and that a house standing on a headland overlooking them called Four Winds because of its exposed position was occupied by a frail elderly woman who had once been in charge of the medical practice that they were heading for.
    ‘I have lived in many places,’ she told him, ‘and the ones I have liked best were always beside the ocean. So this is a great adventure for me.’
    ‘That’s good, then,’ he commented as he took her cases out of the boot and carried them to the front door of the house. While he was unlocking it he said, ‘Ethan and his family were here just a few weeks ago for Harry and Phoebe’s wedding, so all should be in order.’ And with her close behind, he led the way inside.
    Amelie looked around her, wide eyed at the spacious rooms and attractive, modern furniture, and Leo thought that this place made the apartment above the surgery look like a henhouse, yet did it matter? It was enough for his needs at the present time.
    ‘If you would like to take a look upstairs, you should find that Phoebe has made up one of the beds for you, and there will be fresh food in the cupboards and the refrigerator,’ he explained. ‘If you need anything overthe weekend, you know where to find me, above the surgery.’
    ‘You will see a separate staircase leading to the apartment and there is a buzzer by the door. Now I shall leave you to settle in.’ With a glance at her tired face, he added, ‘Sleep well. Harry and Phoebe will be calling in to introduce themselves some time over the weekend and, as I’ve said, I won’t be far away, so I’ll say goodnight until eight-thirty on Monday morning.’
    ‘Thank you for bringing me here, Dr Fenchurch,’ she said, and he sensed the melancholy in her tone again.
    Yet she was smiling as she went to the door to see him off and nodded obediently when he said, ‘Be sure to lock and bolt the doors after I’ve gone.’
    It was only when she was alone in the strange house that she’d escaped to that she allowed herself to think that with midnight already past, today should have been her wedding day.
    Had Antoine even remembered, she wondered, or was he so engrossed in his new love that he’d shut the past out of his mind? Whatever the answer to that was, she was here in this beautiful English village and was going to make the most of the time by helping the sick and enjoying the change of surroundings, and along with that was hoping to find some kind of permanent healing for her own hurts.
     
    She awoke the next morning to the sound of shrill cries in the distance and when she went to the window Amelie saw gulls circling around the headland.
    There was a clear blue sky and already the sun wasout, warm and tempting overhead, even though it was only six o’clock. So tempting that instead of going back to bed and allowing herself the treat of a lie-in, the urge to explore her new surroundings was strong.
    Within a very short time she’d breakfasted on some of the wholesome-looking food that had been left for her, had had a shower, and was striding along towards the beach in shorts and a cotton top to conceal a bikini, with a towel over her arm.
    It wasn’t just curiosity that was taking her there. It was a day that Amelie intended to fill with everything except