Spring Beginnings
A new charming three part series for fans of sweet romance!Is this the start of something wonderful?Millie’s working all hours to make her seaside café a success, so when a rival multi-national café chain opens its latest branch just around the corner, stealing away her customers, it means WAR!Millie’s remaining loyal customers step up – and a new arrival in town, the gorgeous, enigmatic Jed Henville, is also keen on helping Millie solve her business crisis. But it’s only after Jed sweeps her off her feet that Millie suddenly realises how little she knows about him…What readers are saying about Millie Vanilla…‘Pretty perfect’ – Swiss Bookworm‘What a fabulous start to a series!’ – Annie’s Book Corner‘From the very beginning, it stole my heart…A very promising start to an already cosy read, roll on part two!’ – The Writing Garnet
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Spring Beginnings
Millie Vanillaâs Cupcake Café, Book One
GEORGIA HILL
A division of HarperCollinsPublishers
HarperImpulse an imprint of
HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HarperImpulse 2017
Copyright © Georgia Hill 2017
Cover images © Shutterstock.com
Cover design by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
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is available from the British Library
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the authorâs imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Ebook Edition © February 2017 ISBN: 9780008211066
Version 2016-11-17
Table of Contents
To the people and town of Lyme Regis, Dorset. Thank you for the fabulous holidays.
Millie wiped the table and then straightened to enjoy the view. Millie Vanillaâs Cupcake Café must have one of the best in Berecombe. Situated halfway along the flat promenade leading to the harbour, its wide windows looked straight out onto the seas of Lyme Bay. And what a view! Now, in early January, a chill bit into the wind and the light was crystal clear, making the azure blue of sea and sky deeper and rain-washed. One or two gulls wheeled about in the light breeze, chattering to the skies. Even though sheâd lived in the little flat above the café all her life, Millie would never tire of how beautiful her home town was.
She carried the tray, full of empty plates and mugs, back to the kitchen and began washing up. Some people might say she was mad to stay open in the winter. All the other cafés and restaurants in this part of town were firmly shut up until March. Even the chip shop only opened on weekend nights.
But Millie loved this time of year. Yes, it was dark in the mornings, but the winter winds whipped up the sea into towering waves and she fed off the energy from a good storm. There was nothing more exhilarating than a walk along the promenade watching the waves tear into the beach and being deafened by the roar. She frothed the washing-up water in the sink with enthusiasm. Yes, there were only a few people about but sheâd pick up a bit of trade from the literary festival later in the month. Besides, there were always one or two weekenders wanting a good foamy latte. There were all her regulars too. Biddy, with Elvis the poodle, would be along in an hour and Zoe and her friends would pop in for hot chocolate; fresh off the school bus and wanting a place to gossip in until it was time to go home. During the low season, Millie relished the luxury of having lots of time to talk to her customers.
âAnd besides, Trevor,â Millie called through the kitchen door to the cockapoo snoring in his basket by the radiator, âWhat else would we be doing? I canât knit and daytime telly bores me rigid.â The dog, worn out from his run on the beach, didnât grace her with an answer.
The familiar jingle-jangle of the bell on the door alerted her to a customer. Wiping her hands on her apron â hand sewn by Biddy and turquoise-blue and pink to match the decor â Millie grabbed her pen and order pad.
There was a stranger sitting at the best table, next to the middle window. A man and alone. It was unusual. Not many men came into the café in the afternoons. She had a few who popped in for breakfast, but men werenât usually, in her experience, afternoon-tea-and-cake type of people.
âHello there,â she said, pinning on a welcoming smile, âWhat can I get you?â
The man lifted his face from the menu and gazed at her. He had dark eyes and blond hair. A striking combination. He was about her own age and very, very attractive.
âGood afternoon.â
Cultivated voice. Expensive-sounding, to match his heavy overcoat. Millie glimpsed a snowy white shirt underneath, with a red tie and charcoal-grey striped suit. Definitely not her usual sort of customer. Perhaps heâd got lost on his way to the Lord of the Manor Hotel? It was far more exclusive and upmarket than Millie Vanillaâs.
