‘Not too shabby then?’ he laughed.
‘It’s amazing!’ she trilled.
There was a slight pause. Perry hoped his daughter wasn’t about to take a real shine to London. The last thing he wanted was Emma spending more time there than at Samphire Bay. As if reading his mind, Emma continued.
‘But I miss my beautiful Art Deco house.’
‘Oh, it’syourhouse now, is it?’ teased Perry with a grin.
‘Well, no, butI’mthe one cleaning it,’ she replied tartly, making Perry chuckle again.
Then, a thought occurred to Emma.
‘Dad, you will be living at Bunty’s, won’t you, when you get married?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ said Perry, guessing what was coming next.
‘But what about Fisher’s Cottage?’
Perry had already decided on this. Technically, it belonged to him, but it had been Emma’s home before he had married Val. So, in his mind, it was Emma’s house.
‘That depends on what you want to do with it,’ he answered. ‘As far as I’m concerned, Fisher’s Cottage is your home.’
‘But—’
‘No buts, Emma,’ cut in Perry firmly, ‘it’s your house. You may decide to sell or rent it out. Give it some thought,’ he wisely finished.
‘Oh, right,’ Emma chewed her lip in thought, not expecting this scenario.
‘So, what have you got planned today?’ asked Perry.
‘I’m waiting for Felix to come back from his meeting, then we’re going out for dinner tonight.’
‘Very nice,’ smiled Perry, enjoying her enthusiasm. If his girl was happy – then so was he.
Later that evening Felix and Emma were led to their table at a top restaurant tucked discreetly away down a side street in Knightsbridge. Felix had waited to tell Emma all the details about the meeting, despite her asking how it had gone.
‘We’ll talk about it later,’ he’d said, wanting to set the scene nicely over a candle-lit dinner. Once they’d chosen from the menu Felix ordered a bottle of the best champagne, feeling the occasion warranted it. After it was poured, Felix raised his glass. ‘I’d like to propose a toast,’ he announced.
‘Oh yes?’ Emma smiled, wondering where this was leading.
‘To your singing career,’ he cheered.
Emma frowned, not expecting that. ‘Err… right,’ she said. Then added, ‘What career exactly?’ Surely, he hardly thought performing the odd gig with the band constituted a singing career?
‘The one, I hope, you’re about to embark on,’ he declared with a wide smile. He then proceeded to tell Emma all about the meeting and how he’d planned to introduce her to the music director.
Emma sat, jaw dropped and eyes wide.
‘You mean… I could be the one singing the theme song toLady Scarlett Investigates?’ she spluttered.
‘Yep.’ Felix nodded, working hard to contain his grin.
‘OMG,’ she gasped. A terrifying thought struck. ‘But what if he doesn’t like my voice?’
‘Of course he’ll like it,’ snorted Felix. ‘You have the voice of an angel.’ He gave a sexy grin and quietly uttered, ‘And the body of a goddess.’
Emma giggled and raised a provocative eyebrow.
