Free The Bunk Up (The Village People Book 1) by D. H. Sidebottom, Andie M. Long Page B

she wasn’t able to stay with the real love of her life.”
    “Frazer’s dad?”
    Her face clouds over as I mention his name.
    “Ah yes, Frazer. Thinks the world owes him, that one, because of his mother not being around. Doesn’t realise that she felt she had to sacrifice him for everyone else’s sake. His dad was a fabulous bloke. It’s not like he was dragged up.”
    “Was?”
    “Yes, God rest his soul. He passed a few years ago. Had a bad heart. Since then Frazer has kept turning up when he’s not working. Comes here, breaks a few female villagers’ hearts and then leaves. You watch out for him sharing that cottage.”
    “He doesn’t bother me.”
    “So what brings you up here, Daisy?”
    “I’m escaping my own broken heart. I’ve run away here to enjoy some time out and consider my future. Mrs H was lovely, letting me stay at her cottage rent-free.”
    “It’s a lovely village and we need some fresh blood, so please consider staying.”
    “Well, I-”
    “Just give us a chance. That’s all I ask. That stupid old fool up at Beydon Hall owns too much of this village and won’t change his fuddy-duddy ways. Is it bad that we’re all waiting for him to die?”
    I laugh. “What happens to the village then? Does he have a fuddy-duddy son to inherit?”
    “He has no direct heirs, so by all accounts, it’s his nephew who’s due to inherit. We’ve never seen him but we all live in hope that he can help bring the village back to its feet.”
    “It seems to be doing alright.”
    “We get by. The film crew have paid a large sum to film here, apparently, but we’re only benefiting from what they’re spending in the pub. Lord Dimwit’s no doubt sat there counting it.”
    I lift up three books I’ve decided on and hand over a pound coin. “Keep the change.”
    “Thank you. So will we see you tomorrow?”
    “Why not?”
    I want to ask Josie more about Mrs H and her love affair with Frazer’s dad. Maybe I’ll be able to glean more information from Frazer himself or at the meeting tomorrow? In the meantime, I’ve a few hours to kill before my date this evening , so I head to the hardware store and pick up a couple of medium sized tins of white paint and some other equipment for painting. I then wonder how I’m going to carry it up to the cottage, but Jerry who owns the store tells me his son will drop it off in around thirty minutes, so I hurry back with my paperbacks and a sandwich I’ve bought from the bakery for my lunch.
    There’s no sign of Frazer when I get back so I drop my bag in the hallway and begin to take the curtains down from the windows. The first room I’m going to paint is the sitting room. The white paint will refresh it and then I’ll dust everything down and do a tiny bit of rearranging. Nothing too drastic as Mrs H may not like it, but if I add a small bookcase and fill it with a few more books from the village hall it might be somewhere she wants to come and stay more, or maybe she could start renting it out and make a little extra money for her retirement. I realise how little I know about Mrs H, despite her attendance in the Post Office. I bite my lip. I should have been less judgemental and spent time to get to know her. Now I’m living in her cottage, aware that somewhere along the line she came to Beydon and had an extra-marital romance that led to Frazer’s birth. How difficult must it have been to leave her son behind? I think about how proud she is of Nigel and realise that a lot of her enthusiasm could be a desperate need to have succeeded as a parent.
    The sound of an engine startles me from my thoughts and I head out to the hallway to meet the driver of the white van.
    A tall man unfolds himself from the driver’s seat. His lank, long hair hangs part way over his face and he walks with a stoop, reminding me of Lurch from The Addams Family. I want to open the door and say ‘you rang?’
    He opens the back of the van and takes out my newly bought items and then