Although Jenna grew up within commuting distance of London, family holidays had always been in the country or close to the sea. Even when they went abroad, her parents opted for a village setting or somewhere away from built-up touristy areas. Work had kept her parents in Guildford, but their love of the countryside had influenced Jenna from an early age. To be successful as an actor she needed to be close to where auditions and the majority of roles were. Either that or she’d have to be prepared to travel a lot. This opportunity of a long shoot in Cornwall was rare and she couldn’t quite believe she was on her way to a summer that promised so much.
The motorway turned into a fast A-road and the clouds began to thin out revealing glimpses of blue sky and sunshine the further south-west she headed. Work commitments had meant she hadn’t been able to go with her parents when they’d gone down to the cottage for a second time to finish sorting things out. That had been three months ago in early spring. Now, the countryside was bursting with leafy greenness. The landscape changed dramatically during the nearly five-hour journey, from a cityscape to bright yellow fields of rape, grazing sheep and wooded hilly areas. The roads narrowed the further into Cornwall she drove, making Jenna’s heart pound every time she met a car coming the other way.
Jenna slowed when she thought she was close to the turning to Bramble Cottage. The lanes all looked the same, a tunnel of trees casting patchy sunlight through gaps in the branches.
A van pulled out up ahead. She caught the name on the back, ‘Harrison & Son Builders’ and realised it was the builders who would be working on the cottage. She slowed even more, indicated and turned into the narrow driveway that led to the cottage.
The lane desperately needed clearing; brambles and weeds snagged the side of the car as she drove the short distance to the parking area. It seemed smaller than she remembered, but then after all the spring rain followed by the summer sun everything had grown like crazy. She turned off the engine and stepped from the car and on to a bramble snaking out from the undergrowth. It was easy to see how the cottage got its name.
Silence.
It was such an odd sensation, listening to, well, nothing. There wasn’t even a breeze to rustle the leaves. Jenna crunched her way along the path, pulled the keys from her bag, and opened the front door. Her parents had done a good job of emptying the place. Her mum had scrubbed the kitchen too, so although the old-fashioned units remained, it was now at least dust, dirt and cobweb free.
Jenna set her bag on the kitchen table and did a quick tour, opening windows as she went to rid the cottage of the smell of bleach. Her mum had bought a few things for the cottage to replace lots of the old stuff they’d got rid of, so Jenna spent the next hour unloading the car and putting new saucepans, a frying pan, wok, toaster and a kettle away. She made the bed in the main bedroom, put her toothbrush in the bathroom, and slowly turned the place into her home from home.
Chapter Five
The rumble of an engine turning into the driveway set Jenna’s heart racing. She jumped out of bed. It was Saturday morning and she’d planned to lie in knowing that sleeping in would be non-existent once filming started. She assumed it was the builder but she’d also assumed he wouldn’t be back till Monday.
It was as humid in Cornwall as it had been in London, and so she’d slept in a vest top and knickers with the windows wide open. At least some air drifted in and it was fresher than when she’d gone to bed. Sunshine slanted through the window on to the carpet, promising a brighter day. In a sleep-haze she searched the room for something to wear and pulled on the leggings she’d been wearing the day before.
Footsteps crunched along the path below the bedroom window and someone knocked on the door. She dived across the landing and into the bathroom, splashed cold water on her face and rubbed toothpaste across her teeth with her finger.
‘Hello?’ a deep voice called from the kitchen.
Jenna grimaced and spat toothpaste into the sink. Of course the builder had keys and could let himself in. How else was he expected to do any work on the place when she’d be out all day?
‘Hey there!’ she called back. ‘Be down in a second!’ She swept a damp hand through her bed-hair before deciding to tie it back into a messy bun. She pulled a face in the mirror, wrinkling her lightly tanned nose. There was no getting away from the fact that she’d just got out of bed, but at least she looked reasonably fresh-faced.
Unable to find her slip-on trainers, she padded barefoot downstairs. Slowly steel toe-capped boots and tanned muscly legs in shorts came into view.
She stopped on the bottom step and frowned. She’d expected the fifty-something builder her dad had been talking to, not a twenty-something man with tattooed arms, windswept dark-blonde hair, a beard, and smiling eyes.
‘Hey there, I’m Finn. You’re Jenna, right? Dad said you’re going to be staying here while the work’s going on.’
‘Your dad... Oh, right. Yes, of course. So you’re the um “son” in “Harrison & Son”. Sorry, for some reason I was expecting your dad. Actually truthfully, I wasn’t expecting anyone today.’ She motioned to herself and immediately regretted pointing out how under-dressed she was.
Finn’s eyes followed her hands, dropping from her face downwards, then immediately snapping back up to her face. ‘Yeah, sorry if I woke you. We’re squeezing in this job so
