Secrets and Sunsets in Azure Bay Read online

  Secrets and Sunsets in Azure Bay

  By Laura Briggs

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright 2022 Laura Briggs

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com to purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Cover Image: “Cornish Coast”. Original art, “Lighthouse on coast of sea, structure of lighthouse on shore.,” by Mspoint and “Spring Ribbon,” by Zandiepants. Used with permission. http://www.dreamstime.com/

  Dear Reader,

  As an event planner, wife, and mother in a charming Cornish village, Julianne Rose is a woman who wears many hats—but of all the ‘hats’ she’s donned in her newest series of adventures, one of my favorites is that of amateur archaeologist while planning the nuptials of Percy the infamous earl. Fans of that novel relished its atmosphere of excitement for a dig involving relics akin to those of Camelot, as well as, the story’s—ultimately bittersweet—romance for the earl and his then-fiancee, Doctor Elaine Pierce-Bishop.

  Of course, I couldn’t resist bringing the colorful Percy and his former love back for one more adventure. But this time it’s less about the ancient warrior queen’s tomb they’re excavating, and more about a personal quest for Percy and his friends. One that involves past secrets, a family legacy, and a trail of clues that has Julianne playing investigator much as she did in the autumn story Cornish Gold at Summer’s End (and owes part of its inspiration to the 1990 made-for-television move Caroline?, as it happens).

  As usual, Julianne has other plates to juggle too, including the matter of Save the Date’s secretary-in-training, who readers might remember as the timid young Paula in my novella An American in Cornwall. If Paula’s going to become a permanent part of their staff, she’ll need more than a little support and understanding... but we all know that Julianne’s at her best when she’s helping others. That includes offering a shoulder to cry on for comedienne Kimmie, who finds herself at a crossroads when it comes to her feelings for Cliffs House’s attractive chef. If you’ve been waiting for their romance to sink or swim since they first met in book two of the series, well—this is the big moment. All I can say is, expect a dramatic conclusion when they finally come face to face again.

  So brew a cuppa of your favorite tea if you want, and settle in for an idyllic Cornish spring filled with romance, mystery, and the promise of things to come.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Secrets and Sunsets in Azure Bay

  by

  Laura Briggs

  Chapter One

  Pregnancy gives me cravings for chocolate, cheese and sour cream flavored crisps, and pizza puffs, all of which is bad for my waistline — the principal spoiler of it, however, is having a beach ball underneath my shirts. All of which have been gradually supplanted by loose, blousy peasant ones and stretchy maternity tops ordered online, since my maternity wear from days past vanished two church charity sales ago.

  My newest shirt, in a shade of deep, velvety red, looked better on the catalog model than on me. I could blame my reddish chestnut hair which had a certain 'sun-bleached ginger' look to its highlights after a brief and sunny spring weekend in France with Matt, which broke a few freckles out in my complexion as well, beneath my slight tan.

  I shrugged the blouse's supposedly-flattering ruches into new lines around my midriff, tucked its ruffled collar a little more modestly, and imagined it paired with the black business skirt I had let out to impossible widths using a garment extension kit from one of those home shopping programs. Covering the zipper gap had been pure trial and error, but I managed it in the end .... with fond ideas that I could shed the baby pounds in the future and put it back to its normal self, which always drew a few chuckles from my ironic side.

  Matt claimed I looked great. I knew he was saying it to be his usual supportive self. Neither of us had expected our change of circumstances — a dramatic double dip into the pool of parenthood with nappy changes and awkward pre-adolescent pangs hitting simultaneously.

  A phone call with our foster son Joel's social worker was scheduled for this afternoon, so I didn't have time to keep trying on trial outfits for the upcoming wedding that Kitty and I were planning for our latest client. The theme is borderline safari — maybe I should go with camouflage. Something that would blend my swelling belly with the marquee walls and conceal my swollen ankles as part of the lawn's grass. I could wear my own tent, basically.

  I was pulling back on my regular Saturday morning attire, a pink butterfly t-shirt and billowy cotton shrug, when I heard the sound of a knock on the door. Darn. Now was not a good time for visitors, since I was about to leave for the shop to look for some large wooden serving troughs that Kitty claimed were somewhere in the back room. Matt had taken the kids to the memorial garden, to decorate Old Bill's house with window clings of spring flowers, for the upcoming school field trip to the teaching gardens.

  "Coming!" I shouted, tossing the red blouse into my bedroom, and shutting the door to hide the messy unmade bed and the clothes I was meaning to launder tonight. The visitor wasn't at the kitchen door, but had come up the front walkway. Expecting a deliveryman, I opened it to find an earl instead. Lord Percival William Allenby, ninth Earl of Harbury instead — or, as I knew him Percy the adventurer. Former lord of the manor turned globetrotting humanitarian, and local eccentric nobleman famed for racing pony traps and keeping pigs in the garden, among other exciting events in his past.

  Shocked, I found myself struck speechless at the moment a greeting was in order. Wasn't he supposed to be in South America, helping reclaim some forest land in Ecuador? This, after working on some sort of cattle ranch in Argentina for awhile, or maybe I was mixing up the order of events. Those were the kind of offhand remarks, and random stories, that peppered the letters and postcards he sent to Will and Amanda, which was the only clue to his wanderings after his wedding plans fell through.

  "Percy? This is ... wow, I'm amazed to see you," I said, after my tongue unlatched itself.

  He laughed, heartily. "It was evident in your face when you opened the door, my dear, so you needn't have told me." He held up a battered hiker's sack. "I come bearing gifts. A few playthings for your bairns, if they're about."

  "They're not — but, please, come in," I said, opening the door fully. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid that everybody else is out. I had no idea you were coming, Amanda didn't mention that you were visiting Cornwall again."

  "She didn't know," he said. "It's a surprise. Actually, I'm on my way to pop 'round to the old family homestead, when I decided to stop here in passing and give my regards to my newest old friends."

  No fair warning for his family — poor Amanda. I tried not to smile. "I'm flattered," I answered, sincerely. "Let me make you a cup of coffee or tea."

  "A good cup of English tea would be welcome," he said. "No end of Brazilian roast beans this past year, but
I had my last decent cup of Darjeeling whilst at the camp of a few lads on their way to the oil rigs. In exchange for them helping dig a few holes for trees." He chuckled.

  He hadn't changed a bit. As I brewed the cup of tea, I took the opportunity to study him — same weathered skin and cloud of hair permanently windswept, and same shabby clothes that were a cross between the wardrobe of the Doctor and Indiana Jones. For a man closer to eighty than sixty, he looked particularly robust, as if the climate of South American jungles had reenergized him.

  "Many thanks," he said, taking a long draught. He studied me with the same critical glance, and a smile. "I'll have to congratulate your Matthew when I see him next — a fine and beautiful woman not only staying with him, but bringing another child into the world with his name, on top of all else that she does."

  I laughed. "This baby wasn't exactly Matt's idea, or mine," I said. "Since we last saw you, we've expanded the household a little more than just this soon-to-be nestling. We have a foster son as well. A local boy who needed a family to look after him."

  "A lucky man," asserted Percy again. "And what have you been doing with your time, lovely lass? Mandy writes, but she's so swept up in the facts and so many of them that I forget half of what she tells me. I know your business is doing smashing and that Matthew is holding his own in a garden competition."

  "More to the point, what are you doing with yours?" I said. "My life is boring by comparison, believe me. Last Will mentioned you, you were planning to visit Bolivia."

  "Ah, my friend the biologist. He decided to take a brief holiday to visit family in Columbia, so I changed my plans. First I intended to veer off to look for an old professor colleague who's been mucking about in the Peruvian jungles on the trail of the Mayans, but then I decided it was high time to meet my new great-grandson."

  "They'll be thrilled to see you," I said, knowing it was probably mostly true. "So will half the village."

  "Will they?" He laughed heartily again. "I haven't come to brew any home spirits, nor to concoct my infamous pudding for the Daffodil Festival," he said. "I expect they'll be disappointed in me this time."

  "Never," I said, shaking my head. Percy was not a man who could enter the village and remain quietly in its background, even for an event as casual as making the acquaintance of a grandbaby. That much I would stake my professional reputation on, after spending that unexpected summer in his company. He had something up his sleeve, he simply wasn't admitting it to me.

  He took another generous swallow of tea, then checked the time on my kitchen clock. "I must go," he said. "Will shall be back for lunch by now from looking after the farm, so the family will be gathered. Perfect moment for popping in."

  "Is it?" I said, amused.

  "Who doesn't enjoy a relative bearing surprise gifts as compensation for being suddenly welcomed into the bosom of his family again?" winked Percy.

  "I think they call that the balm in the wound," I kidded, as he collected his battered hat and rucksack from the kitchen floor.

  "With Mandy? She's the milk of human kindness," he answered, tsking. "She'll be delighted."

  Last time Percy visited, he had disrupted his family's lives by arriving before dawn with heavy luggage, too much energy, and an invitation extended already to a group of his friends to visit. Soon to be followed shortly by the announcement he was marrying again after more than twenty years as a widower. I knew Lady Amanda would not use 'delightful' to describe her feelings when she answered the door that time, even if she did admit that Percy had a certain way of charming people into forgiving him. He brought fun and a sense of adventure to others, even if it was the unexpected kind.

  Percy had left some unique little wooden toys from an Ecuadorian craftsman for my kids, the kind of thing I knew they would love for five minutes, then I would relegate to a display spot in their bedrooms. He had brought four — he hadn't forgotten all of the details in Amanda's letters and cards.

  I put them on the mantel for now, then set off for my shop. Save the Date was open on Saturday mornings by appointment, and occasionally for walk-in business, but this week Kitty was taking a breather after working on the flowers for the latest wedding we were planning, spending a morning at home with Nathan and Tige — Rose, that is, as the baby's grandmother reminded me tersely to refer to said grandchild every time we met.

  Unlocking the door, I went in search of the aforementioned serving dishes, following Kitty's instructions to look behind the boxes of platters she recently purchased at an estate auction for a song, and some floral wreath wire frames that were part of her decoration work for the church's flowers on the weekend of the daffodil celebration.

  She'd be surprised by the news that Percy was back in town, and I was tempted to call her before the local gossips did, just to have the satisfaction of hearing her arch reply. She understood perfectly what sort of change in the wind Percy's return was bringing, knowing both the gossip of the past from her village upbringing and the inside details of Percy's last impromptu visit. It wouldn't be long — mere hours — before word spread far and wide.

  The wooden dishes turned up in a box marked 'extra baby things,' probably leftover from the first clearout of Tige's nursery after her growth spurt. I found three of them, along with a plastic Yabba Gabba Gang rattle that looked like something from Nathan's buying spree for the nursery.

  Our door thudded, rattling the entry bell like it always did when someone tried the lock. "Coming!" I shouted, knowing they probably couldn't hear me. Dovie must have already seen Percy on his way to Cliffs House. Nobody on the frontlines of local gossip could move more quickly than Ceffylgwyn's local innkeeper.

  I closed up the box and trotted to the front to unlatch the door, lifting the shade first to ascertain whether village visitor or potential customer was on the other side. But it wasn't either, but another unexpected visitor.

  Young, thin, somewhat gawky in figure — frizzy braids and slight freckling. She smiled, worriedly, and rapped on the glass, looking hopeful. Bewildered, I unlocked the door. "Can I help you?" I asked, putting on my professional smile.

  "Hi. Julianne?" A hopeful uptilt to the girl's voice. "Um, I don't know if you remember. Paula? I, uh, met you a few years ago in St. Petroc's — I mean, it was a long time ago, but I thought maybe you would?"

  She looked familiar, but I didn't place her face until I took my next breath. Paula. My friend Aimee's schoolgirl assistant, who had worked for her during that 'summer shop swap' that had her babysitting a little Cornish antique store for an online friend. That was years ago, although the nearly-grown Paula still looked a lot like her cheery bookworm self from those days.

  But what was she doing here?

  _______________________

  Wonders never cease on a Ceffylgwyn Saturday, apparently.

  "I do," I said, after I found my tongue for the second time today. "You worked for Aimee, of course. You were attending the local school, weren't you? Having trouble with a boy, all the usual things. I remember, of course." My smile was friendlier, dropping the professionalism, although I was still a little puzzled. "I don't suppose you're here to make an appointment?"

  "Um, no." She fiddled with the frames of her eyeglasses — still clunky and ill-suited to her face nearly ten years later, amazingly enough. "That is ... I wondered if you might have a job open."

  "A job." I hesitated. Not the answer I expected, either.

  "I'm sure Aimee would give me a good reference. I was very good in the shop, she never had a moment's worry about leaving it if she had to go to lunch or go on a buying trip."

  "I'm sure she would," I said. "It's just ... we don't really have any employees. That is, it's just us planning things."

  "Surely you have an assistant or something?" she suggested.

  "Well ... not anymore," I said, hesitating. I had back then, obviously, but that assistant was now my business partner. "Where are you living now?" I asked. Obviously not St. Petroc, the little village where she'd been a student.
"Did you move here?"

  "No, not exactly. That is, I'm at uni now, doing post grad studies in physics," she said. "Working my way through, actually, like in the films. I'm on scholarship, but the budget is a bit tight ... research books on physics are actually quite expensive ... so I thought I'd try for a job for spring in my spare time."

  "It would make for a longer commute from St. Petroc," I admitted. "So ... why did you think of me? I'm just surprised. I wouldn't have thought you would remember me all that well. I think I only stayed with Aimee for a couple of weeks that summer."

  Paula was looking all around our headquarters, at the chintz and roses of the parlor cushions where we entertained clients, and the artwork decorating the walls of the rustic old florist's shop we had taken over. "I remember you really well," she said. "You were the first person I thought of. Aimee used to talk about you, and how well you'd done since you came here. She told me about your work, all the stories you told. It sounded quite fun and exciting."

  "What about Judith?" I asked. "Surely she offered to help." The woman whose shop Aimee had minded had kept Paula on for awhile after Aimee went back to the States, as I vaguely recalled. "She probably has some friends who could find you work closer to the university."

  "I don't need to be closer to uni, I need to be closer to Penryn, actually," she said.

  "Why is that?"

  "It's where I live," said Paula. "With Mum. When I'm not at school, anyway." She kept gazing at me, and I tried mightily to ignore the pleading in that youthful gaze. "Please, consider letting me try. I thought maybe if you remembered how helpful I was to her, you'd think I could do the same for you. I really do need the work. And I'm such a quick learner, I can learn the basics of looking after your files and your computer programs in no time at all. I make very good coffee — tea — and I have my bike, I can run errands for you."