The Little Bookshop at Herring Cove. Kellie Hailes

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СКАЧАТЬ before him – had been to take quiet seaside villages and turn them into tourist hot spots. The rules were simple: first, find a seaside town that might not be worth investing in on the outside. In this case, Herring Cove. Picturesque, with a decent climate in summer, but you had to walk down a hair-raising, heart-thumping track to get to the beach. A track his father’s contractors could transform into an easily negotiable path.

      Second, buy land that had a view of the sea so visitors would wake up immediately feeling like they were on holiday. He’d have preferred to buy land along the clifftop, but the cottages were protected. The land Sophie’s business sat on, along with the two businesses either side of her, was not. And due to the slant of the lane, they had the sea views required. Combined with the fields behind – land that had been secured thanks to a local farmer who was ready to sell up and move to Tenerife – and there would be more than enough room to build the hotel, create a poolside area for those who liked the idea of a beach holiday but preferred to swim in temperature controlled water, with land left over to create a nine-hole golf course.

      Finally? Promote the area as the hottest new seaside destination. Bring in the visitors. Empty buildings would soon fill with businesses featuring boutique offerings. The village would flourish. The Fletcher fortune would grow.

      Job done. Everyone happy.

      Resistance by locals was rare.

      Rare?

      Unheard of. Until now.

      The business beside Sophie’s had been a simple sell. His team had researched Solomon Murphy and knew he’d be an easy sign. He’d run his fishing supplies store forever and was well past the age of retirement. As expected, he’d leapt at the offer. Said he was Tuscany-bound where his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren lived.

      The other business beside Sophie was on the fence. The hair-salon owner was taking some persuading. However, it was clear her building was falling apart and with two small children to take care of, and the floor area not being conducive to a growing family, he couldn’t see her saying no to the upped offer. To the chance of being able to provide a bigger, more modern home.

      Sophie, though?

      How did he get things so wrong? How did he get her so wrong?

      It didn’t help that she was virtually an internet recluse. Information had been scarce. She wasn’t on social media. Her bookshop didn’t even have an online presence. All he’d been able to find were two articles in a local paper. One reporting on the car crash that had taken her parents’ lives when she was five, Sophie only saved as she was buckled into her booster seat at the rear of the car. The other announcing Sophie was taking over the family business after her aunt – who he’d gathered had been her guardian after her parents’ passing – retired and moved away.

      With such a tragic past, he’d assumed Sophie would have jumped at the chance to move on from the bookshop. Instead she’d chosen to remain where she was – doing what was forced upon her because there was no other family to take the bookshop on.

      Was it a sense of honour keeping her there? Some misplaced belief that she owed it to those who’d passed to keep their legacy alive? And, if so, how could he make her see sense? What would it take to get her to sell?

      The staccato ringtone of his mobile broke his train of thought. He glanced down at the screen. His gut contracted on seeing his father’s name. He’d expect to hear everything was signed and sorted. That his son had sorted out what others could not, as he had many times before.

      Despite his heart not always being in the job, Alexander knew he was good at it. People warmed to him, trusted him almost without question, believed he had their best interests at heart.

      Which he did. Which the family business did. When dealing with competitors they showed no mercy, but when it came to buying land that they would one day profit from, the Fletcher Group ensured they were more than fair. It was one of the reasons Alexander was able to commit to the job. That, and he had no choice. The only child of Frank and Veronika Fletcher meant he had no option. He was the future CEO of the Fletcher Group, whether he liked it or not.

      The phone’s ringtone pierced his ears once more. His father wasn’t going to like what he was about to say, but if Alexander didn’t update him now, Frank Fletcher would be down here in a flash, and while he was generous with payouts, his methods of getting people to sell up were nowhere near as kind in their persuasion as Alexander’s.

      Alexander accepted the call and braced himself for the barrage of questions that were sure to follow. ‘Dad, what can I do for you?’

      There was no point exchanging pleasantries. His father was no more likely to ask how Alexander was than he was going to wish him a good evening. Such pleasantries were his mother’s job. His father’s job was to ensure his son was ready to take the reins of the Fletcher Group when the time came.

      ‘Alexander. Are all the contracts signed?’ In the background Alexander could hear the tinkle of ice hitting the bottom of the tumbler. He checked his watch. Just gone six. His father would still be at the office, but it was time for his daily gin and tonic. The one he drank as he went over the day’s dealings, while barking orders at his secretary, who would then stay as late as necessary to get what needed to be done sorted.

      Alexander loosened his tie, hoping doing so would make the constricting piece of material feel less like a noose. No such luck. ‘The farmer, and the fishing supplies fellow signed immediately. The hairdresser still needs some convincing, but I’ll get her over the line.’ He pursed his lips together. This was going to go down like a tonne of lead bricks. ‘We have a hold out.’

      ‘What’s gone wrong?’ Frank’s tone was calm, steely. With a hint of condescension. He knew Alexander’s methods didn’t mirror his own, and he had little time for them, only tolerating them because they brought results.

      ‘Nothing’s gone wrong.’ Alexander gripped the phone and focused on a lone seagull soaring in the sky. What would it be like to be able to do just that? Soar on one’s own. Do whatever one wanted, whenever one wanted to do it? ‘It should have been a shoo-in. I researched her. I know her background. I saw an in.’

      ‘Clearly you saw wrong. You know how we do this. We find their weak point and we use it to our advantage.’

      ‘I know. And I thought I’d found it. I still think I have. I saw a bill flash up on her mobile while I was in there. She’s in debt. Can’t make payments. Where there’s one overdue bill, there will be more.’ Alexander left it there. Frank’s motivation in life was expanding the business in order to make more money, and if he thought Sophie was in financial trouble, that would settle his unease over Alexander not getting her to sign.

      ‘I’m going back to see her tomorrow. I left the offer with her. I can see it piqued her interest.’ Alexander crossed his fingers. Sophie had left the offer on the table. Unopened. A move that had astounded him. How could she not be even the remotest bit curious about what kind of money he was offering? She’d been so resolute in her refusal to sell, he was willing to bet a goodly sum of money that the offer was still on the table, unopened. ‘If she’s in the kind of money trouble I think she’s in, one night should give her enough time to realise how much easier her life would be without companies chasing her for money day-in, day-out.’

      Except the original offer was enough to take care of debts and then some. If she was going to sell she would have by now.

      He pushed the thought out of his head. Sophie would sign on the dotted СКАЧАТЬ