A Home On Bramble Hill: A feel-good, romantic comedy to make you smile. Holly Martin

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СКАЧАТЬ landscaping and gardening business. He didn’t need the money, The Darkness had set him up for the rest of his life, but he certainly wanted something to keep him occupied.

      When he had posted leaflets through the doors of the surrounding villages, hoping to get a few jobs, he had been inundated with responses. It seemed having your garden tended to by a world famous movie star was very popular indeed. He had been kept busy for over three years, doing a different house every day. He loved it, working outdoors and with his hands. As his popularity slowly faded so did the demand, but he still had a large handful of clients who he saw on a regular basis. That was enough for him, just as long as he wasn’t stuck in the house every day. Well Billy made sure he went out at least once a day for long walks over the hills; the gardening gave him something to do when he got back. Too much time doing nothing allowed too much time for thinking and brooding. Since Pippa had left eighteen months before, he had brooded far too much.

      He grabbed a bottle of water, shoved his baseball cap on his head and was just about to turn the radio off and head out when he heard the words ‘The Dark Shadow’ on a news bulletin. He had followed the career of The Dark Shadow avidly since he first appeared on the scene two years before. This man was clever, very clever. He didn’t seem to do it for the money but for the adulation and reputation he gained. Finn had to admire him for it – for his obvious skill but also for the continued secrecy, for never getting caught. He smiled as he listened to the story, but his smile quickly fell off as the newscaster continued. Menton Hall, in the next village of Chalk Rise, had been robbed. Diamonds had been taken from a safe and from a jewellery box, most notably a diamond necklace shaped like a dragon. It seemed the thief had entered through the loft window of all places, as all other doors and windows were alarmed. No one had seen him come and go and there was no other evidence at all, other than the loft door being left open. There was no damage and nothing else had been taken. Police were appealing to anyone who might have seen anything suspicious in the immediate area.

      Finn stroked Billy absently. His neighbour dressed in black, wearing a scarf round her head and covering her number plates was very suspicious indeed. Was Joy the diamond thief?

      He had strict rules about not getting involved in people’s affairs, and phoning the police to turn in his neighbour was definitely getting involved. Maybe her going out dressed in black was merely a coincidence. Maybe he should talk to her to see what she knew. Maybe he should keep his head down and get on with his gardening.

      He grabbed his keys and headed out.

      *

      Casey was listening to the news as well as he drove round to Bramble Hill. The Dark Shadow appearing in Chalk Rise, now that was very interesting. He had been down to Menton Hall that morning as soon as he’d heard. The grounds were filled with local and national journalists, much to the annoyance of the police. It was merely a coincidence, he thought with a smile, that Joy and that chainsaw had moved into the neighbouring village just a few days before. And, by her own admission, she worked at night and she was repeatedly vague about what she did. He smiled; he was damned sure he was going to find out just how much of a coincidence it was. Though if he was right, it did seem that Bramble Hill had another celebrity in its midst – a celebrity who was just as reluctant as Finn was to bask in the limelight.

      *

      After putting fresh food down for Darcy and making a fuss of her, Joy stepped out into the hall meaning to have a shower and tackle some of the unpacking she had been putting off.

      Sitting on her door mat was another pile of dog poo, but she’d had the foresight to put newspaper down the night before just in case of another attack. She scooped the newspaper up around the poo and opened the front door to throw it in the bin outside. She wasn’t looking where she was going and as she stepped outside she toppled straight over something large on her doorstep. With a shriek she landed headfirst in the nearest bush, the parcel of poo flying out of her hands.

      She wiggled around trying to gain enough leverage with her hands to right herself, but the branches were in the way and there was too much of her in the bush to flip herself up.

      Suddenly strong hands were around her calves, and with the ease of great strength she was pulled free of the bush and righted back on her feet. She pushed her hair out of her eyes and came face to face with Finn again. Well sort of face to face since he was almost two foot taller than she was. He seemed determined to always be present in her most ungraceful moments.

      ‘Thanks.’ She was annoyed that she had to thank him.

      ‘You should look where you’re going.’

      She looked back to the doorstep to see what had tripped her up – there was a bucket of soapy water but that hadn’t been it, it had been something much bigger than that. She glanced back at Finn, who had a scrubbing brush tucked into his pocket and was covered in soapy water.

      ‘You tripped me up, it was you wasn’t it? What were you doing on my doorstep?’

      He flushed. ‘I was … There was dog shit on your doorstep, I was trying to clear it up.’

      She stared at him. ‘Why?’

      He shrugged, snatched the bucket up and headed back into his own house. She stared after him. Was that Finn’s attempt at being nice?

      Just then Casey pulled up outside in a purple Ford Focus, not the neat little convertible he had taken off in the day before with Arielle.

      He saw Joy, and shielding his face, he quickly made for Zach’s front door.

      She smirked as he peered through his fingers at her. ‘Casey Fallowfield, you have some explaining to do.’

      He sighed theatrically. ‘Damn it, how did you know it was me?’

      She indicated that he should go into her house. ‘I think me and you need to have a little chat.’

      He slunk past her like a naughty schoolboy. ‘If this is stage two in the unburdening of our gruesome secrets, you can start off by telling me what you were doing last night?’

      She followed him through to the lounge, so news of it had hit the headlines already. ‘I watched Romeo and Juliet on the TV and was tucked up in bed with a hot chocolate and a fat dog for company by ten.’

      Casey pulled out a very official looking notepad. ‘And do you have an alibi, a witness that will testify to this?’

      She sighed, pulling affectionately on Darcy’s ears as the dog sat down on Casey’s feet to be stroked. ‘If only Darcy could speak, she would confirm my story.’ She watched him make a hasty note in his notebook. She leaned round him to see what he had written and he snapped it shut before she’d seen it, though she was pretty sure Casey had just drawn a quick doodle of a flower. ‘What are you, the local constabulary?’

      ‘Actually yes.’

      She stared at him, his eyes were so honest. ‘Really?’

      He fished his wallet out of his pocket and showed her his ID. ‘Detective Inspector Fallowfield, CID.’

      ‘You’re kidding?’

      He smiled and shook his head. ‘As I said before, people interest me, but taking an interest is actually part of my job.’

      ‘That’s so cool, bet you’ve seen some interesting cases.’

      ‘Yes, they’ve been СКАЧАТЬ