The Cosy Seaside Chocolate Shop: The perfect heartwarming summer escape from the Kindle bestselling author. Caroline Roberts

the last bit of tidying here.’

      ‘You sure?’ Holly checked; she’d quite gladly help for a while longer.

      ‘I’m fine, honest. Go get your glad rags on, young lady, and enjoy your evening. Tomorrow’s a day off for me too. Yee-es.’ Em was more than ready for it, the run-up to Easter being particularly hectic. It was one of the few Sundays of the year when she closed.

      The perfect antidote to a hectic day in the shop was a walk along the beach. After her staff had gone home, Emma nipped upstairs, took off her work apron, and found the lead for Alfie, her much-loved springer spaniel. He leapt out of his bed in her upstairs kitchen and was soon bouncing around her ankles.

      ‘Come on then, boy. Time for the beach.’

      He knew the routine off by heart and didn’t need asking twice; he bounded off down the stairs then sat waiting, tail wagging eagerly, by the back door. They left by the courtyard, a lovely stone-flagged area to the rear of the shop, turned out through the side alley to join the main village street of quaint stone cottages, and headed down the hill to the harbour, past the grocer’s store and the new arts-and-crafts shop. It was breezy but mild, and a few fishing boats bobbed alongside the harbour wall; two of the traditional cobles had been brought up to the shoreline and rested amongst lobster pots, colourful buoys and thick-corded ropes. Emma said ‘hello’ to a group of tourists she passed, and gave a wave to Danny, her friend from the pub. The Fisherman’s Arms was set on top of the slope that rose gently to the right of the harbour and Danny happened to be out in the front car park, chatting to some guests.

      Within five minutes she and Alfie were walking along the sandy track through the dunes, coming out upon a golden sweep of crescent-curved beach. Emma let Alfie off the lead and he ran joyfully down to the water’s edge, where rolling waves foamed in from the pewter-grey North Sea. It was beautiful there and strolling along the soft sands calmed her instantly. The hush of the waves, the breeze on her face, Alfie in his element – Warkton-by-the-Sea, with its beach, harbour, village of stone cottages and warm local hearts – this was home. This was her happy place – at last.

      She walked the length of the bay to where the rock pools gathered before the low cliffs. The evening was beginning to creep in, the sky gently fading to a peachy-grey before night came. She’d get back; she needed to get ready to see Max anyhow. It wasn’t only Holly who had a date night to look forward to. Emma’s boyfriend would be with her in an hour or so. Wow, she could still hardly believe all that had happened in the past year. She never imagined she could fall in love again – after the pains of the past she could hardly bear to think about – yet here she was – they were – still in the early, tentative, but oh-so-sweet-and-sexy days of their relationship. Another love.

       2

      Emma woke the next morning to find Max asleep beside her. It was rather wonderful, but it still took a little getting used to. He’d arrived a little later than expected last night, so they had had a chilled-out evening in the flat above the shop, catching up on their week apart over a supper of chicken and salad.

      The morning light glowed on his face, which was framed by short, mid-brown hair. She studied the dark lashes on his closed lids, the shallow lines on his forehead, deeper laughter lines around his eyes that she knew were hazel-green, the sensual curve of his lip, the cropped beard. It was a handsome face, a little lived-in and rather gorgeous. Watching him made her melt and then spin inside. It was hard to pin down these new emotions. She had been self-contained for so many years; a case of necessity. And day by day she felt her heart unravelling just a little more. It felt beautiful … and somewhat scary.

      She reached to gently touch his shoulder which was bare above the covers. He was well-built, the muscles defined. There was the small scar where he had injured it just before Christmas. He still had to be careful, the dislocation to his shoulder making it likely that it might happen again. She loved him for his scars, his hurts, as well as his bloody sexy body. And hey, there were worse things to get used to than waking up to a strong, caring guy who looked a bit like Gerard Butler.

      His eyes blinked open. ‘Morning, beautiful.’ His just-awake smile was warm in his voice.

      ‘Hello, gorgeous.’ Their morning greeting had become their ‘thing’ as they welcomed another day. It started off as a cheesy joke but had stuck and it never failed to make her smile. ‘Oh, hang on,’ she added, ‘Happy Easter.’

      ‘Happy Easter, Em. Now then, I haven’t got you a chocolate egg – thought you might be all chocolated-out by now. But I did get you this …’ He got out of bed, totally starkers, and wandered across to the chair where he had placed his clothes and overnight bag. She loved that he was happy in his own skin, uninhibited. He lifted out a small gift from his luggage. ‘For you.’

      He climbed back into bed, as she opened the gift bag to reveal a very cute soft toy rabbit.

      ‘Well, you seem to be the one doing all the Easter-egg making and delivering around here, so I thought your very own Easter Bunny might be quite fitting.’

      ‘Aw, how sweet. He’s really lovely.’ The toy was gorgeous, all soft beige fur, with a white fluffy bib area and a yellow-spotted bow tie. ‘Thanks.’

      With that, she leaned down to find her gift for him where she’d hidden it under the bed. ‘And this … is not your average Easter egg, by the way.’

      ‘Oh, I can’t wait.’ Max opened the medium-sized cardboard box, unwrapping layers of tissue paper to find a set of chocolate tools: spanner, hammer, nuts and bolts, and a screwdriver with screws.

      ‘Hah, this is brilliant!’

      ‘All edible,’ Emma announced. She had seen the moulds online and knew that was just the thing for Max, who owned his own building company. It had taken a while to get the silver-metallic finish just right, but she was pleased with the end result.

      ‘Wow, I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s so cool. I’m gonna have to show the lads at work. Thank you.’ He beamed at her. ‘I love it.’

      ‘You’re welcome.’

      He leant across to give her the most tender kiss – an embrace that promised so much more.

      ‘We have no rush this morning,’ she hinted. ‘I’m not opening the shop today.’ After three weeks of manic build-up, creating chocolate eggs of all shapes and sizes, filled chocolate bonnets, moulded Easter chicks and bunnies, she was more than ready for a day off – a rare treat. Running your own business meant long hours, and busy days.

      ‘Hmmn, no rush at all then. So, I’m going to make love to you very, very slowly indeed.’

      Em felt her whole body tingle just at the thought of it.

      ‘And … I might even find a use for that chocolate spanner,’ he added jokingly, with such a wickedly naughty grin on his face, that the pair of them dissolved into laughter.

      Making love in the morning left you with a warm glow for the rest of the day. There had been no rush for Emma and Max to be out early, but there were two special chocolate Easter eggs she had yet to deliver to her twin nieces who lived nearby. They arrived late morning at her brother James’s house, which was in a small hamlet in the countryside outside the market town of Alnwick, a twenty-minute drive away through pretty country lanes.

      After the annual Easter egg trail in the back garden for the girls, which had now become a bit of a tradition (and who better to bring the most delicious chocolate eggs than Auntie Emma?), they were chatting in the family kitchen over tea and simnel cake, with Easter ‘nests’ the girls had made themselves with lots of chocolate, cereal and mini eggs.

      ‘Uncle Max, do you like my chick?’ Lucy asked.

      Emma had lovingly crafted two large and very cute chocolate Easter chicks, which had been the grand finale of the trail. They even had bow ties on – one red and spotty, the other yellow-striped.