Isaac watched Bella sleeping in the bed next to him. After they had made love on the beach as the sun rose above the waves, they’d come back to the hotel where they’d made love again before Bella fell asleep. He simply could not get enough of her.

The sun had well and truly risen in the sky now, a burning ball of gold in a cloudless blanket of periwinkle blue. He would have to wake Bella up soon but right now he was content to watch her.

He was in trouble.

He was in love with her, he knew that. He wasn’t sure at what point it had turned into love for him or if he really had been in love from the very beginning. It filled every inch of him, his heart felt too big for his chest. He had never felt like this before and he wanted to shout it from the rooftops. But he couldn’t. She would run a mile if he suddenly declared his feelings for her after a week. She would probably still run a mile if he told her he loved her after a year. She was scared of love and for good reason. Although her aunt, uncle and Rome and Eden had showed her love, she had also had really bad examples of love too. For both her parents to abandon her, it showed her how fickle love could be, how ultimately the people that were supposed to love you more than anything in the world could let you down.

The frustrating thing was that he was pretty sure she had the same feelings for him. He could see it in her eyes, especially when they made love. But she was trying to deny it to herself too.

By labelling it love there was so much more to lose.

So what could he do?

It was too early. Maybe a few months down the line, when she was more settled with their relationship, he could tell her then. And in the meantime he would just continue to show her with his actions. Why risk ruining something that was perfect with one little word?

He glanced across at the clock and groaned. As much as he wanted to lie here next to her all day, he knew she would be mad at him if he didn’t wake her.

He trailed a gentle finger down her cheek and her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him before breaking into a huge beautiful smile.

‘You’ll be late for work if you don’t get up soon and I know your boss will get mad if you are.’

She giggled and rolled on top of him. ‘He’s a bit of a pushover actually. Let’s just say I have him exactly where I want him.’

He held her against him. ‘Is that right? I might have to tell him he needs to be a lot stricter.’

‘I don’t think he has it in him.’

She glanced at the clock and groaned. ‘I really do need to go. I have to walk Alfie before work.’

‘I’ll walk him for you, I have to walk Rocket anyway. Alfie can keep her out of mischief.’

‘He’ll be good at that; he has a calming influence over her. Come and have a shower with me.’

‘If I have a shower with you, you’re never getting out of here on time.’

She nodded. ‘That’s true. You are a bad influence on me.’

She climbed out of bed and he watched the wonderful sight of her wandering naked across the bedroom and into the bathroom. He heard the shower starting and resisted the overwhelming temptation to join her. A few minutes later she returned, drying herself down.

‘Are you not going to work today?’ she said as she got dressed.

‘I have some deliveries being made here, clothes and other things I need, and there’s a man from the insurance company coming over later this morning. So I’ll be in later. I’ll probably work some more on your egg hunt game. What are your plans for tonight?’

‘I’m having dinner with my aunt and uncle actually, every Friday night we always have dinner together.’

‘Whereabouts do they live?’

‘Up on Baker’s Rise.’

She hesitated for a moment and he wondered whether she was going to invite him but she didn’t say anything else. It was too soon for meeting families, he knew that. Well, it was too soon for her. He could be patient.

‘I thought I would meet up with Dougie actually. I have a proposition for him and it’s been too long since we hung out properly. But you could come by after.’

‘I’d like that and I’ll keep my clothes on this time.’

He laughed. ‘Only while Dougie is here, after that you can wander round naked for the rest of the night.’

‘Ha. OK, I’ll look forward to that.’

She leaned over to kiss him and he held her to him, lingering over it that moment too long.

She pulled back. ‘Behave Mr Scott, save it for tonight.’

He nodded and watched her walk out. The door closed behind her.

‘I love you, Bella Roussel.’

He smiled to himself at his little secret, hoping it could stay secret for a while yet.

* * *

Bella had just got off the phone to a local radio station when Elsie knocked on the open door and walked in, looking very worried.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘It’s Mr Scott. I was down in reception talking to Mary and he walked in and I could just tell he was furious. I’ve never seen him like that before and then I heard him shouting at someone. He never shouts. He likes things done and he expects efficiency but he never shouts at anyone. Poor love is obviously still stressed out about the fire at his house. I thought perhaps you might want to know that he was upset.’

Bella was already on her feet. She didn’t stop to find out why Elsie thought it was appropriate that she was told or hang around to explain to her why she was going to see him. Elsie clearly already knew that something was going on between them.

‘Thanks, Elsie.’

Bella left the office and quickly caught the lift up to his office. He’d arrived but he hadn’t told her he was here. Did he not want to see her?

The doors pinged open and she walked straight past Melissa who was still sitting at Claudia’s desk without even stopping to explain.

‘He’s in a bad mood,’ Melissa called after her. ‘He said he didn’t want to be disturbed by anyone. Not even Claudia.’

Bella ignored her and let herself into his office.

He was standing at the window looking out at the sea when she walked in and whirled around furiously at being disturbed. He stalled when he saw it was her and then looked back out the window again.

‘Bella, I’d really like to be alone right now.’

She could tell he was trying to keep calm with her but his tone suggested he was livid. She hesitated for a moment and then walked up to him, wrapping her arms around him and leaning her head on his back. She placed a kiss between his shoulders.

‘Are you OK?’

She could feel how tense he was. This was a man that was a million miles from being OK.

‘No, I’m not. Not at all.’ Isaac disentangled himself from her arms and she got the sense he wanted to be away from her. He went to sit on the sofa with his head in his hands.

‘What’s happened?’

‘The insurance company have said it’s very unlikely they’ll be paying out for the fire. They want to do a proper investigation but they seem to think it was started deliberately.’

‘That’s ridiculous.’ She sat down next to him, sliding her arm round his shoulders.

‘I’ve lost everything. I poured so much money into that house and now I have no way of getting any of it back.’

‘How can they even think you would set fire to your own house? There has to be something we can do.’

‘I don’t know. They are still looking into it but the insurance man wasn’t hopeful. Christ. One candle, that’s all it took. One stupid candle I lit to impress you and because of it I’ve lost everything.’

Bella let her arm slide from his shoulders. Was it her imagination or was there a note of accusation in his voice? Did he blame her?

‘I’m sorry,’ she said, quietly.

He stared at her in confusion. ‘Why are you sorry?’

‘You think it was my fault.’

His eyes widened and then he stood up. ‘Of course I don’t bloody think it’s your fault. How could it possibly be your fault?’

Bella stood up too. ‘Well if I wasn’t coming round to your house for dinner then none of this would have happened. If I hadn’t marched into your office demanding that you sleep with me then you’d still have your home.’

He groaned in frustration and stormed away from her.

She stared at him, feeling a void between them for the first time. ‘Maybe I should go.’

‘Maybe you should. All I want to do is scream and shout right now and I certainly don’t want to do that with you.’

‘I’m sorry, I’m not making you feel any better, am I?’

He sighed.

‘I’ll make it up to you tonight.’

He shook his head. ‘Let’s leave tonight. In fact, maybe we can try this again in a few weeks’ time. When things have calmed down a bit for me. You have the fair to organise and I’m away in London all of next week. This is just a bad time to start something.’

She felt like he’d just slapped her. He was breaking up with her. She felt sick. But then she’d never expected this to last forever. He’d made it very clear he didn’t want a relationship and now he’d slept with her why would he stick around?

‘OK,’ she said, ensuring the pain she felt didn’t come across in her voice. ‘I understand if you don’t want this any more.’

Bella walked to the door, willing herself not to cry. She opened the door hoping he would call her back but he didn’t and she closed the door behind her.

She ignored Melissa’s smug face as she jabbed the button for the lift. It felt so wrong to leave it like this after the connection they had shared. But if he didn’t want her around then what could she do? She paused. But they had shared an incredible connection. It wasn’t just sex, she knew that. The lift doors opened and she cursed her own tenacity as she stormed back towards his office. Before she could even open the door, it was flung open and Isaac stopped in his hasty exit when he saw her just outside. He grabbed her hand and pulled her in, closing the door hard behind her.

‘OK?’ he said. ‘After what we shared, you just want to walk away like that?’

‘Look, if you want to end things between us because this was just sex and lust and chemistry for you and now you’ve had your fill you want to walk away, if you want to end things because you have no interest in having a relationship, then fine. I’m certainly not going to beg you to stay. But if you are ending it because you’re worried you’re going to hurt me, because you need to scream and shout and you don’t want to scare me away then it’s absolutely not OK. I’m here for the good times and the bad. And I know there isn’t anything I can do to help you with the house, but I’m here to hold your hand or to hold you if that’s what you need. If you need space then I can give you that too, but I’m not walking away from you just because you’re going through a really crap time right now.’

He gave a small smile before kissing her on the forehead, then dipped his head to look into her eyes.

‘I wasn’t breaking up with you. I just didn’t want to upset you or hurt you because I’m so stressed out.’

She reached up to stroke his face. ‘I can’t imagine what you’re going through and now this rubbish from the insurance company on top of losing your home. I wish I could take your pain away.’

He touched his lips against hers, kissing her so softly and gently that it completely disarmed her. She slid her arms round his neck as he gathered her against him. He pulled back slightly, leaning his forehead against hers. ‘You already are.’

He stepped away but still held her in his hands. ‘I think I’m going to go back to the hotel – I’m no good to anyone here and at least I can distract myself with your game for a few hours. Will you come round after you’ve had dinner with your family tonight?’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes, of course.’

She smiled. ‘OK.’

He grinned. ‘OK?’

And she knew that he was asking if they were OK. She nodded and he kissed her on the forehead again.

‘Now get back to work.’

She laughed and moved back towards the door, but he stopped her. ‘Unless you want a quickie on the sofa.’

She laughed again. ‘Tonight, I promise.’

He let her go with a smile and she walked out of the office.

* * *

Bella stood up and stretched. It had been a long day but Elsie and Roger had proved their weight in gold as they busily helped to organise the fair for the following weekend. And now that Bella knew The Great British Egg Chase was underway, they had to prepare the press releases and promotion for that too so it would be ready before Easter weekend in two weeks. There was no point creating a brilliant game if no one knew about it. She had got in contact with Cadbury’s who had agreed to donate real chocolate eggs as prizes and she had started running Facebook ads to tell people the game was coming. That was always fun, creating a visual that would appeal to lots of different people. She had never run a national event before so she had a much wider audience to reach in a much shorter amount of time. Local radio stations were proving beyond helpful too, but she always found it easier and more productive if she actually spoke to someone – emails could get lost or forgotten but phone calls had to be dealt with there and then. But this task was a bit beyond calling the three or four stations in the immediate area of the event, she had to contact them all, and there were many many local radio stations. Thankfully Roger’s gentle nature and Elsie’s no-nonsense attitude were a good mix for getting it done, but even with their help she had been on the phone all day.

But without Isaac being there she had no distractions, though just thinking about him was enough to make her mind wander. She was completely smitten by him and she had been unable to stop smiling all day.

The sun was on its downward journey across the sky and although it wouldn’t set for hours yet, the sky was already turning a candyfloss pink over the sea.

‘We’re off now, dear,’ Roger said from the doorway of her office.

Bella turned away from the view to see Elsie hovering near him too.

‘Thanks for your help today, I really couldn’t do this without you both,’ Bella said as she leaned over and turned her computer off.

‘No problem,’ Elsie said as she was doing up the buttons on her red coat but Bella got the feeling that she wanted to say something else. ‘Do you have any nice plans for the weekend?’

Bella smiled at the way she asked. Elsie was clearly hoping that Bella would confirm that something was going on between her and Isaac, though Bella running to help Isaac earlier had probably been confirmation enough.

‘I’m having dinner with my aunt and uncle tonight; I’m not sure what else I’ll be doing.’

Bella guessed that her weekend would actually involve lots of sex, as she and Isaac could barely keep their hands off each other, but although Elsie probably knew about her and Isaac, Bella certainly wasn’t going to share those details.

‘We just want to say… we’re happy for you,’ Roger blurted out, clearly not striving for the discreetness that Elsie was going for.

Bella considered denying it but there was no point in lying. Everyone would know soon enough; they had hardly been discreet outside of work. They had hardly been discreet at work either.

She nodded and smiled. ‘Thank you. Do you two have any nice plans?’

‘I’m taking Elsie to that posh restaurant overlooking the harbour,’ Roger said.

Bella couldn’t help the smile from erupting on her face. They were dating. They were so mismatched and not at all two people Bella could ever see together but maybe those differences would be the thing that would make them work. She certainly could never see Elsie going geocaching with Roger but she couldn’t exactly see him making cakes for the WI either so maybe it didn’t matter.

Roger nodded at her as if he could see what she was thinking. ‘I’ve been asking her to go courting for a while now but she has always refused. She didn’t want people to talk at work but life’s too short to worry about what people will think, isn’t it dear?’

Bella smiled. ‘Yes, it really is.’

She watched them go and smiled when she saw Roger take Elsie’s hand as they got to the lift.

She grabbed her jacket and with a last wistful glance down the coast at Blueberry Bay, remembering the events of the night before, she walked out. Without Alfie to consider, she decided to make her way straight round to Lucy and Finn’s. Rome and Eden probably wouldn’t be there yet but it would be nice to catch up with her aunt and uncle.

She walked down the main street, past the little chocolate shops and gorgeous little craft shops, waving and saying hello to people as she went. She walked up the hill where the shops disappeared and the little white cottages started to appear.

She turned into Baker’s Rise and her phone suddenly vibrated in her bag. She pulled it out and was surprised to see another egg had been added up by the post-box ahead of her.

When she had seen the map of the eggs the previous night, there definitely hadn’t been one in Baker’s Rise then. She smiled as she remembered telling Isaac earlier that day that’s where her aunt and uncle lived. He must have added an egg just for her.

This one was made from ice so she scrolled through the tools looking for an ice pick or something similar, but then she saw the box of matches. She selected that and when she clicked on the ice she was able to light a small fire underneath the egg but instead of a star popping out, a little scroll came out the top. She clicked on that and was surprised to see a message.

Her heart exploded with joy. This man was going to ruin her but she couldn’t help the smile from spreading on her face.

She slipped the phone back in her bag and walked up the path to her aunt’s house.

Lucy answered the door and immediately enveloped Bella in a big hug. Bella smiled with love for her aunt.

‘Come on in, I want to hear all about your first week in your new job and this nice boy Isaac that I hear you’re seeing.’

Bella laughed. Nothing got past her aunt. She knew Rome and Eden would be loyal enough to her not to mention that she was seeing Isaac so Lucy must have found out some other way but Hope Island being so small, nothing stayed secret for long.

A few minutes later Bella was sitting at the kitchen table with a slice of chocolate cake in front of her and a huge mug of tea. She waved at Finn as he emerged from his greenhouse with a tray of little flower pots. He smiled at her and placed them down on the ground and started removing the little seedlings from inside and planting them in the soil.

Lucy sat down opposite her, clearly waiting to hear all the details.

‘Work has been fun, very busy but a lot of fun. I’m sure you’ve heard we’re bringing the fair back to the island which is taking quite a lot of work to organise in such a short amount of time. I just hope people will come; it’s been a long time since we had the fair, people might not care about it any more. They might care even less once they know I’m involved.’

‘People will come. I’ve heard many people talking about how excited they are about the fair. Even if they weren’t excited they would still come. Don’t underestimate the loyalty of the islanders or how much everyone here loves you. No one here thinks you had anything to do with the embezzlement and they’ll do anything they can to help you. You know that.’

Bella wasn’t so sure. People didn’t forgive and forget easily and although she hadn’t been snubbed in restaurants or shops as she had been on St Mary’s, she still felt that some people were giving her the side eye when she was walking down the streets.

She took a bite of her cake. ‘We are also bringing a new game out which people will play on their phones. They can search for Easter eggs and win prizes.’ Bella skated over the specifics of the game as she knew the technology would be lost on her aunt. She’d only just got a smartphone and had no idea how to use it. Her uncle Finn would have more of a clue about the game and how it utilised the GPS and maps inbuilt into the phone but there was no point in blinding her aunt Lucy with how it worked. She also hoped that talking about work would be enough to distract Lucy from talking about Isaac.

‘That sounds great, Bella, you are so creative when it comes to fundraising ideas. And I understand you’re dating the boss.’

Bella focussed on the cake, though she couldn’t help smiling at the thought of Isaac. ‘Umm. Yes, we’ve just started seeing each other.’

What would Lucy think about that? It wasn’t a good idea to mix business and pleasure, anyone would tell you that. It’d be bad enough if they were colleagues but him being her boss could make things difficult if it ended between them. That thought was like a punch to the gut; it had only been a few days and she couldn’t imagine not being with him any more.

‘I think it’s lovely. You know, me and Finn met in the same way.’

Bella looked up. ‘He was your boss?’

‘No, I was his. We both worked at the bank down the road.’

‘And how was that, was it weird working with each other and dating at the same time? Did people make comments about the two of you dating?’

‘Of course there were comments, but they soon got used to it. But working with him and dating him was wonderful,’ Lucy said, dreamily. ‘When we first started dating, I used to engineer a meeting with him in my office now and again and he would come in and ravish me across my desk. It was so exciting that I ended up making the meeting a daily thing. No one knew. My office was above the main branch and no one came up there. Everyone just took it as the norm that Finn had these daily meetings with me. He was chief cashier, I was branch manager, it was expected that we would have stuff to take care of. No one knew that, every day for ten years, Finn was taking care of much more personal needs.’

Bella stared at her. They’d always had a very open relationship and Bella had talked to her about sex before, but it was hard to imagine her aunt having sex with her uncle across her desk. In fact it was something she didn’t want to imagine.

‘He was new to the island,’ Lucy went on, clearly reminiscing very happily now. ‘One of the branches in St Mary’s closed and if he hadn’t moved to Hope Island he would have been out of a job. He moved here temporarily over forty years ago and never left. He came in all angry about having to move here and… well, it was love at first sight.’

‘Do you really believe in love at first sight, Lucy? Surely you can’t fall in love with someone when you’ve only just met?’

‘His first day, I bought him a cake at lunch time to cheer him up because he looked so fed up about having to move here. He flashed me this wonderful smile and I knew right there and then that I was going to marry that boy. We were engaged after a month and married the following year. When you meet the one, you just know.’

Bella smiled at the simplicity of it. Lucy and Finn were testament that love did work for some people. They had found their forever and never looked back.

‘I see the way you smile about Isaac; you really like him, don’t you?’

Bella nodded. ‘I really do.’

‘Do you think this could be love for you?’

Bella shook her head automatically. ‘I’m not interested in love.’

Lucy looked horrified. ‘Why are you not interested in love?’

‘Because it’s terrifying and scary and horrible.’

Lucy frowned. ‘I try not to think badly of my sister – she gave us you and I’ll always be grateful for that – but what she taught you about love and relationships makes me so angry. Love is not something to be feared. Just because you had a bad experience of it doesn’t mean you should run away from it in the future. Love is wonderful. It’s the best thing that can ever happen to you.’

‘It just lays you open to a whole heap of hurt. If you love someone then you’re just handing them your heart on a plate for them to destroy whenever they want.’

‘Or they could treasure it, look after it, adore it, keep it next to theirs for the rest of their life. What could be better than that? Love is scary, I’ll grant you that. It doesn’t always work out the way we would hope for, but I promise you it’s worth the risk. When you find the one, and they love you back, it’s the best feeling in the world.’

Bella shook her head.

Lucy took her hand. ‘You can’t stop yourself from falling in love. It just happens no matter how inconvenient. It’s how you deal with it that will determine your happiness. How would you feel if things ended with you and Isaac now?’

‘I’d be gutted,’ Bella said, honestly, and immediately knew that was an understatement.

‘And the other boys you dated, Andrew, Daniel, Jeremy and Kane. Did you care when it ended with them?’

Bella shrugged. ‘Probably my pride was hurt more than anything but no, I didn’t care. Doesn’t mean that this thing with Isaac is love. I just care about him more than the others.’

‘Denying that it’s love is not going to stop it hurting if it comes to an end.’

Bella took a big bite of her cake. Lucy didn’t understand. She had never been rejected so spectacularly that her heart was damaged beyond repair. Bella had to protect herself from love because the pain of her parents rejecting her had never gone away. She couldn’t go through that again. She would just enjoy what she had with Isaac now and she wouldn’t let herself fall in love with him, knowing it would eventually come to an end. And it would come to an end. There was something about her that meant she was unlovable. Her parents didn’t love her, none of the men she had dated in the past had ever uttered that word, and Isaac would be no different. Isaac would walk away from her just like everyone else and it would hurt like hell when it happened but if she could keep her heart under lock and key, then maybe she could just about survive it.

‘Oh Finn shouldn’t be planting those white flowers there, they need to be on the other side of the garden, excuse me a moment,’ Lucy said, flying out the door.

She watched Lucy as her arms flew around dramatically and Finn stood up and watched her with a smile of adoration. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead and picked up the tray and walked to the other side of the garden.

She would never have what they had. She was broken, damaged goods and no one could fix her.

There was a knock on the door and, as Lucy was still directing proceedings outside, Bella went to answer it.

Eden was standing on the doorstep looking very sorry for herself. Bella gave her a big hug and led her back to the kitchen.

‘I’m presuming the long face is to do with Dougie being back on the island,’ Bella said, cutting a slice of cake for her sister.

‘He popped in to see me this morning, big grin on his face, giving me a big hug as if we’re best friends.’

‘You are best friends, just because you’re thousands of miles apart doesn’t change that,’ Bella said, glad that Eden was here so Bella could focus on someone else’s problems rather than her own.

‘I know,’ Eden said. ‘I just… Do you have any idea how it feels to like someone and love them and hate them all at the same time?’

Bella stared at Eden. ‘I have no idea what that’s like.’

Eden sighed. ‘He makes me laugh so much and we get on so well and every time he comes over I fall in love with him all over again and every time he goes back I hate him for leaving, because in another life we should have been happily married with fifteen kids by now.’

‘I don’t think anyone can be happily married with fifteen kids.’

‘I would have been,’ Eden said. ‘And when he’s gone I convince myself that I don’t love him, that next time he comes over, we’ll just be friends and I won’t keep looking at him like a lovesick puppy. And I try dating other people, I really have tried but nothing works because, no matter what I do, no matter how long it goes by without me seeing him, I can’t seem to fall out of love with him. It’s been twelve years and he walks into my café and the feelings for him are as strong now as they were when he left.’

Bella reached out and pulled Eden into a hug. She knew Eden had feelings for Dougie but she hadn’t realised that she was so tortured like this every time Dougie came over from the States.

‘I still maintain he has feelings for you too,’ Bella said.

‘If he does, he’s gotten very good at hiding it,’ Eden sniffled.

‘Why else would he keep coming back all the time?’

‘If he had feelings for me he would have moved back here a long time ago.’

‘Just like you could have moved to America to be with him,’ Bella said, diplomatically.

‘And do what, watch him sleep with an endless parade of women? He has given me no indication at all that he has feelings for me. Why would I move away from here without any kind of sign that he feels the same way?’

‘Just like you’ve given him no indications at all that you have feelings for him; why would he move away from the bright lights of New York and come back here unless he knew for sure that you felt the same way?’

Eden stared at her. ‘Whose side are you on?’

‘Yours, always yours. I’m just saying that if you really want to move on, maybe it’s time you tell him how you feel. If he doesn’t feel the same way then at least you’ll know and it might help you move on instead of always wishing and hoping for some kind of lovers’ reunion every time he comes back. And if he knows how much it upsets you every time he comes over, maybe he’ll stop. Something has to give here.’

Eden nodded though Bella knew it would take more than a few words from her to make Eden want to bare all her feelings to Dougie.

Lucy came back through the door and took one look at Eden and then pulled her into a hug.

‘I saw him in town today,’ Lucy said, instinctively knowing why Eden was so sad. ‘I never know whether to hug him or be angry at him.’

‘Always hug him,’ Eden said. ‘I’m angry enough for all of us and he doesn’t deserve that.’

‘I always do,’ Lucy said. ‘And I always tell him it’s time he moved home for good. This time he said that he might be doing just that.’

Eden pulled back from her mum. ‘He said that?’

Lucy nodded.

Eden sat down with a sigh. ‘I have no idea whether to be overjoyed at that prospect or fed up. At least when he’s gone I get some peace from this heartache. The thought of seeing him every day and knowing he’ll never be mine is a truly depressing thought.’

Finn chose that moment to come barrelling through the back door, adorning Eden and Bella with hugs and kisses and breaking the emotional despair with his usual jovial manner.

‘Bella, I want to hear all about your new job,’ Finn said as he sat down and cut himself a huge slice of cake. ‘And this Isaac chap I hear you’re dating.’

Eden brightened at the mention of Isaac. ‘I want to hear all about him too.’

Bella smiled with love for her family. It was going to be a long night.