Classic Bestsellers from Josephine Cox: Bumper Collection. Josephine Cox

dared to think. He really was a very nice man – and rather a lonely one too. There was no doubt that he genuinely wanted her to accept this invitation.

      ‘Thank you,’ she beamed. ‘I’d love to come, but just for a little while or Mam will be worried.’

      ‘Is Johnny not with you?’

      Amy explained about his new job as Maureen’s assistant and Luke laughed as he led her to the car. This time Amy sat in the front seat next to him.

      The journey, under winter sun, seemed to her shorter than before, and soon they were jolting up the final lane to the cabin. The little house in the woods really was exactly like something from a fairy tale, Amy thought, especially with the veranda.

      ‘Come in, come in. I’ll make us some tea as you’ve missed your elevenses.’ Luke unlocked the door and swung it wide to let her go before him.

      He lit the log fire, and they both went to collect water for the kettle.

      By the brook he pointed out a mistle thrush, the weight of red berries on a dark-leaved holly bush, and the patch that, in just two months, he’d expect to be covered in the first snowdrops. He knew how to share his enthusiasm for the countryside and for this particular place, and told a couple of stories about his childhood holidays here that made Amy laugh. By the time they had drunk their tea, Amy was thoroughly relaxed.

      They put on their coats again and went to sit on the veranda steps to see if Velvet would visit. Just when Amy, but not Luke, had almost given up hope, she appeared tentatively and walked slowly towards them. Amy saw how the little deer trusted Luke, and she was enchanted by it.

      So this is the real Luke Hammond, she thought, watching as Luke hand-fed the deer. This is the man with a good head for business, who employs so many people in Blackburn – Dad, Jack and Roy included – and who has such a troubled life at home.

      How could she have thought there was anything odd in having the hideaway and anything other than a wish to be more a part of this other life in his reluctance to reveal who he really was?

      Velvet trotted away and Luke turned and smiled at Amy. It was a smile that lit his whole face and she could see that he was truly happy.

      ‘That was beautiful,’ she said, recalling how the deer had fed so trustingly from his hand.

      ‘Beautiful,’ he agreed, but it was her he was looking at.

      A moment passed between them and then Amy looked away. ‘I have to go now,’ she said.

      ‘Amy … not yet, please?’

      Something in the tremor of his voice, or it could have been the lonely look in his eyes, made her hesitate. Before she knew it he had wrapped his arms around her and the warmth of his body was pressing against her. At first his kiss was hesitant; then, when she did not reject him, his arms tightened about her and his lips were more demanding.

      Reaching up, she wound her arms round his neck, giving herself, wanting more than she should, but when the want grew to a desperate need she pushed him back.

      ‘No!’

      ‘Amy –’

      ‘No, Luke, we mustn’t … I can’t. Please, you know it’s wrong.’

      ‘No, Amy, it’s not wrong. Don’t you see –’

      ‘You’re married!’ She raised her voice and stepped away as he made to hold her again. Though her voice had broken on the words she knew she had to go on and say what she felt. ‘You’re a dear, kind man. I’ve had a lovely time today, but now I have to go home.’

      ‘But, Amy,’ he took a step towards her and took her hands in his, ‘here’s where you belong. Here, with me.’

      ‘Luke, you know that can never be,’ she said softly. ‘You know …’

      Dejected, he swallowed and cleared his throat.

      ‘Yes, yes, of course. I’m sorry. It was stupid of me even to think …’ He looked away, out to the woods. After a minute or two in which they both stood in silence, he turned back to Amy. ‘Come on, let’s get you back. Your friend Daisy will have missed you this morning, and I don’t want you getting into trouble with your mam either.’ He smiled a brave smile and hand in hand they walked back inside the cabin to make the fire safe before leaving.

      It was, Amy thought that night, lying in bed and reliving every moment, like the most wonderful dream – right up to the moment when she pulled away from the kiss.

      And a dream was what it must remain, she had told Luke gently as he’d driven her back to Blackburn. She would not go to the cottage again.

      She snuggled down in her bed, straightening her thoughts and her resolve. He was Luke Hammond, wealthy businessman, married to a wife who wasn’t well. She was Amy Atkinson who worked in a corner shop. She must never again behave as if he wasn’t married.

      Oh, but the kiss had been so tender, so loving …

      Amy chided herself, don’t you start thinking of kissing Luke Hammond any more. It can lead nowhere except to unhappiness.

      Dim November ran into December and, to everyone’s relief, the weather took a turn for the better. ‘It’s like a summer’s day out there.’ Ted Fogarty was crooked as an old bent tree and twice as gnarled. ‘If I were thirty year younger, I’d be tekking you out on a picnic.’ He winked at Amy, who laughed at his cheek.

      ‘If you were thirty years younger, I wouldn’t even be born,’ she said.

      ‘All right then,’ he conceded, ‘fifteen years.’

      ‘That’s no good neither,’ Amy teased, ‘because fifteen years ago, I’d be about ten, and you’d be had up for child-snatching.’

      The old fella laughed out loud. ‘I can see there’s no winning with yer, so I’ll be off.’ With that he departed the shop, leaving Amy and Marie chuckling. ‘I bet he were a randy old devil in his time,’ Marie remarked.

      ‘Nice, though,’ Amy said dreamily. ‘I can imagine he were a real gentleman. I bet he treated his women like china dolls.’

      ‘Mebbe, but it wouldn’t do for me,’ Marie answered thoughtfully. ‘I never did like a man who was afraid to be himself when he had a woman on his arm.’ She straightened her shoulders and prepared herself for the next customer, who by now was approaching the door. ‘I like to know that what I’m getting is the genuine article, warts and all.’

      She giggled like a schoolgirl. ‘I remember the very night when I decided your father were the one for me.’ A wave of nostalgia brought a little smile to her homely face. ‘We’d been to the pictures and were strolling home eating fish and chips. There’d been a terrible downpour and the streets were riddled with puddles. A horse and cart went by and splashed your father from head to toe. Before I could stop him, he were running up the street, shaking his fist at the driver and using language I’d never heard afore in my life. By! It was enough to mek your hair curl.’

      Amy was confused. ‘And how did that make you decide to wed him?’

      ‘I knew straight off,’ Marie declared indignantly. ‘I mean, I wouldn’t have liked it, if he’d just carried on eating his fish and chips as though nothing had happened, dripping wet and silently fuming yet saying nothing, just ’cos I were there.’

      Stretching herself to full height, she went on. ‘He were angry and he let it be known. After he’d stopped the cart and given the driver a piece of his mind, he came back to me and apologised for the language. I forgave him there and then, took him home and lent him a set of my father’s clothes. From that day on we never looked back. Y’see, lass, I knew what I were getting with your father, and I liked the fire in him.’

      Amy understood. Honesty and trust were vital to a relationship. Luke’s handsome face leaped into Amy’s mind, as it had done many times in the month since she’d