by: Jill Mansell
Genre: Contemporary Women’s Fiction
Release Date: July 5, 2022
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Amber, Lachlan and Raffaele met as teenagers in the Cornish seaside home of kind-hearted foster parents. Years on, the bond between them is unbreakable
But Amber has a secret. She's in love with Lachlan. She can't tell him, because that would never work - he's definitely not the settling-down type. Surely it's better to keep him as a friend than to risk losing him for good?
Raffaele has his own dilemma. He had the dream girlfriend in Vee, until it all went horribly wrong . . . and he still can't understand why. Is Vee hiding something from him?
Now their widowed foster dad Teddy has found new love. Younger, charming and beautiful, Olga seems perfect. But is she? Or will she break Teddy's fragile heart?
Against a backdrop of sparkling seas and sunny skies, the unexpected is always just around the corner. Welcome to Lanrock!
“Remember how much you love it when it turns out you knew best after all?” he’d said happily. “Well, you were right.”
“I’m always right.” The relief was enormous. “You should know that by now.”
“The food’s incredible, everyone’s so friendly, and there’s nothing better in the world than sitting up on deck with a cocktail watching the sun go down over the sea.”
“Oh my God, you’re drinking cocktails now?” Teddy had been a pint-of-cider man his whole life.
“I know, can you believe it? They’re amazing! They have umbrellas in them, and they don’t even taste alcoholic. But they definitely are.”
She laughed. “Which one’s your favorite?”
“Well, here on the ship, it’s called Fun on the Beach, although in real life, it has a naughtier name than that. I won’t tell you what it is.”
Amber’s heart gave a squeeze of love for the kindest man she’d ever known; she might be twenty-nine years old, but Teddy still wanted to cocoon her from hearing about a cocktail called Sex on the Beach.
“And you won’t believe this,” he went on, “but out of all the people in our group, only a couple of us have never cruised before. The rest of them are mad for it, do it as often as they can. And now I can see why!”
“That’s brilliant,” she told him. “So d’you think you might book another one?”
“There’s a travel agency right here on the ship,” Teddy said. “I definitely will.”
That phone call had taken place a fortnight ago. The group of friends he’d made on board was still going strong, and the photos he’d been sending her showed him growing steadily browner and—if it was possible—even happier as the days went by.
“Tell me,” Amber prompted now.
Lachlan was busy scrolling on his phone. “Hang on, signal’s dodgy…”
“Hello? This is me,” she chided. “That’s the excuse you give girls when they want to know why you haven’t called them.”
“Just be patient. OK, got it now.” He raised his head, looked at her. “Remember when you were at school and had a massive crush on Lee Cope, and you were always levering him into conversations?”
“What?”
“Like, if someone said their favorite color was green, you’d say your favorite color was purple and guess what, purple was Lee’s favorite too?”
“I didn’t say that!” Amber was indignant. Lee had been her fantasy boyfriend in tenth grade. What was more, his favorite color had been black.
“OK, I’m just paraphrasing, but you were obsessed with him and couldn’t stop talking about him. Like, all the time.”
Belatedly, she did the math. “Hang on. You weren’t even there. You’d left by then.”
“I know, but I heard all about it from Raffaele. He said it was hilarious. They used to lay bets on how many times you’d casually mention his name.”
Of course it had been Raffaele; the pair of them had loved to tease her.
“Fine,” said Amber. “But you still haven’t told me why you’ve got me over here now.”
“Take a look at this.” Lachlan passed her his phone. Talk about a massive letdown. She glanced at the photo of Teddy and his group of new friends on the cruise ship, around twenty of them gathered out on the top deck at sunset, beaming as they raised their glasses for the camera.
“I’ve already seen it. He sent me this one last week.”
“I called him this morning while they were docked in Mykonos. We had a good chat. Obviously, he’s still loving it.”
“And?”
“And in the first five minutes, he casually mentioned someone three times.”
“Oh!” Finally the penny dropped. Now this was more interesting. She expanded the photo. “And it’s one of these women? Which one? Tell me, tell me!”
“What makes you think it’s a woman?” said Lachlan.
Amber’s head jerked up. “What?”
“Joking. Ha, your face.”
She returned her attention to the happy group on the screen, checking out each of the likely candidates in turn until she came to a smiley one in a peach dress and matching pashmina. She had plump cheeks, a sweet smile, and neatly styled short brown hair.
“Got it.” She tilted the screen to show Lachlan. “She even looks a bit like May. Oh, this is good news. She looks perfect!” For the last year or so, they’d been attempting to gently persuade Teddy to at least consider the idea of moving on, but he couldn’t have been less interested. May had been the great love of his life, he’d explained; what would she say if she knew he was dating another woman?
And when Amber had said, “But she’d want you to be happy again,” Teddy had shaken his head, dismissing the idea out of hand.
“I’m fine as I am, love. If I can’t have May back, I’m not bothered about being happy again.”
But now, fingers crossed, there was a chance that it could be happening anyway. The thought of love creeping up on Teddy and catching him by surprise made the backs of Amber’s eyes prickle with emotion, because if anyone deserved to be happy, it was him.
She didn’t cry, of course. That would give Lachlan too much of an opportunity to make fun of her.
“She does look perfect, doesn’t she?” he said. “Just right for Ted. Except it’s not her.”
“Oh.”
“I know.”
“Why not? She’s so obviously the best match.” Amber snatched the phone back and took another look. “So…it’s the one with the gigantic glasses?”
“Nope.”
“The flowery cardigan?”
“Not even warm.”
“Show me then.”
Lachlan pointed. Amber peered and did a double take, then gave him an accusing look, because it was surely another of his jokes.
Reading her mind, he shook his head. “This time, I’m serious. Her name’s Olga.”
“I’m always right.” The relief was enormous. “You should know that by now.”
“The food’s incredible, everyone’s so friendly, and there’s nothing better in the world than sitting up on deck with a cocktail watching the sun go down over the sea.”
“Oh my God, you’re drinking cocktails now?” Teddy had been a pint-of-cider man his whole life.
“I know, can you believe it? They’re amazing! They have umbrellas in them, and they don’t even taste alcoholic. But they definitely are.”
She laughed. “Which one’s your favorite?”
“Well, here on the ship, it’s called Fun on the Beach, although in real life, it has a naughtier name than that. I won’t tell you what it is.”
Amber’s heart gave a squeeze of love for the kindest man she’d ever known; she might be twenty-nine years old, but Teddy still wanted to cocoon her from hearing about a cocktail called Sex on the Beach.
“And you won’t believe this,” he went on, “but out of all the people in our group, only a couple of us have never cruised before. The rest of them are mad for it, do it as often as they can. And now I can see why!”
“That’s brilliant,” she told him. “So d’you think you might book another one?”
“There’s a travel agency right here on the ship,” Teddy said. “I definitely will.”
That phone call had taken place a fortnight ago. The group of friends he’d made on board was still going strong, and the photos he’d been sending her showed him growing steadily browner and—if it was possible—even happier as the days went by.
“Tell me,” Amber prompted now.
Lachlan was busy scrolling on his phone. “Hang on, signal’s dodgy…”
“Hello? This is me,” she chided. “That’s the excuse you give girls when they want to know why you haven’t called them.”
“Just be patient. OK, got it now.” He raised his head, looked at her. “Remember when you were at school and had a massive crush on Lee Cope, and you were always levering him into conversations?”
“What?”
“Like, if someone said their favorite color was green, you’d say your favorite color was purple and guess what, purple was Lee’s favorite too?”
“I didn’t say that!” Amber was indignant. Lee had been her fantasy boyfriend in tenth grade. What was more, his favorite color had been black.
“OK, I’m just paraphrasing, but you were obsessed with him and couldn’t stop talking about him. Like, all the time.”
Belatedly, she did the math. “Hang on. You weren’t even there. You’d left by then.”
“I know, but I heard all about it from Raffaele. He said it was hilarious. They used to lay bets on how many times you’d casually mention his name.”
Of course it had been Raffaele; the pair of them had loved to tease her.
“Fine,” said Amber. “But you still haven’t told me why you’ve got me over here now.”
“Take a look at this.” Lachlan passed her his phone. Talk about a massive letdown. She glanced at the photo of Teddy and his group of new friends on the cruise ship, around twenty of them gathered out on the top deck at sunset, beaming as they raised their glasses for the camera.
“I’ve already seen it. He sent me this one last week.”
“I called him this morning while they were docked in Mykonos. We had a good chat. Obviously, he’s still loving it.”
“And?”
“And in the first five minutes, he casually mentioned someone three times.”
“Oh!” Finally the penny dropped. Now this was more interesting. She expanded the photo. “And it’s one of these women? Which one? Tell me, tell me!”
“What makes you think it’s a woman?” said Lachlan.
Amber’s head jerked up. “What?”
“Joking. Ha, your face.”
She returned her attention to the happy group on the screen, checking out each of the likely candidates in turn until she came to a smiley one in a peach dress and matching pashmina. She had plump cheeks, a sweet smile, and neatly styled short brown hair.
“Got it.” She tilted the screen to show Lachlan. “She even looks a bit like May. Oh, this is good news. She looks perfect!” For the last year or so, they’d been attempting to gently persuade Teddy to at least consider the idea of moving on, but he couldn’t have been less interested. May had been the great love of his life, he’d explained; what would she say if she knew he was dating another woman?
And when Amber had said, “But she’d want you to be happy again,” Teddy had shaken his head, dismissing the idea out of hand.
“I’m fine as I am, love. If I can’t have May back, I’m not bothered about being happy again.”
But now, fingers crossed, there was a chance that it could be happening anyway. The thought of love creeping up on Teddy and catching him by surprise made the backs of Amber’s eyes prickle with emotion, because if anyone deserved to be happy, it was him.
She didn’t cry, of course. That would give Lachlan too much of an opportunity to make fun of her.
“She does look perfect, doesn’t she?” he said. “Just right for Ted. Except it’s not her.”
“Oh.”
“I know.”
“Why not? She’s so obviously the best match.” Amber snatched the phone back and took another look. “So…it’s the one with the gigantic glasses?”
“Nope.”
“The flowery cardigan?”
“Not even warm.”
“Show me then.”
Lachlan pointed. Amber peered and did a double take, then gave him an accusing look, because it was surely another of his jokes.
Reading her mind, he shook his head. “This time, I’m serious. Her name’s Olga.”
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