Sealed With a Kiss by Rachael Lucas

thought, taking a sip and surveying him surreptitiously. Or maybe it was just a conditioned response to the landed gentry, which was a weird thought.
Let’s face it, a hundred years ago she’d probably have been working as a chambermaid, not being served coffee by the owner of the big house. But he did seem remarkably human for someone
whose relatives probably hung out with the royal family.
    He walked round to her side of the bar and sat down, taking a drink.
    ‘So, you’re a barista, as well as lord of all you survey?’
    ‘I spent most of my time in here as a teenager,’ he looked down into his cup. ‘It was pretty miserable at home when we moved here from Oxfordshire.’
    ‘Your mum.’ The words were out before Kate could stop them. Without thinking, she put her hand on his arm. ‘I’m sorry.’
    He looked up at her, a strange expression on his face.
    ‘Thank you.’ His voice held a note of surprise, as if he hadn’t expected sympathy.
    ‘My dad died in an accident when I was ten. He argued with Mum, and stormed out of the house in a temper one morning.’ Kate found herself filling the space with explanations.
‘He was hit by a car while crossing the road and was killed instantly.’
    ‘So you know.’ He reached forward, fiddling with the wooden coffee stirrers, snapping several into pieces, creating tiny, bonfire-like heaps.
    ‘I do.’ Kate’s voice, after a long silence, was flat. She suddenly felt a wave of homesickness for a life that hadn’t existed for fifteen years.
    Roderick smiled at her – a sad smile of shared loss and understanding.
    He scooped up the shredded coffee stirrers into his hand. ‘I’m sure Bruno only taught me how to make coffee because it kept me out of his hair. I spent most of the time being picked
on at school for being posh. This was my escape.’
    Roderick pushed back his chair, gathering their now-empty cups. He wiped down the surface, practised hands banging the coffee out of the filter, clearing up all evidence of their visit. Kate
looked on. He was completely absorbed in what he was doing, happy in his work. His final act was to chalk a note for Bruno on the blackboard behind the bar: ‘Hope the best team
won.’
    They climbed out of the car at Selkie Bay. In the distance Kate could see that the shingle beach was studded all over with rocks. Pulling on his coat, Roderick passed her a
spare pair of gloves.
    ‘It’ll be freezing down there, and we might be a while.’
    They climbed over rocks freckled with lichen, and down onto the rough sand. The tide was out, and seagulls were swooping down, searching for leftover morsels. As they walked across the beach,
Kate realized that most of the rocks were moving. She turned to Roderick with a quizzical expression.
    ‘A pod of seals hauled up here a couple of weeks ago. I thought you’d like to see the pups.’
    ‘Oh! I saw some on the shore below Duntarvie House, the first morning I woke up here. They’re so beautiful, aren’t they?’
    ‘I’m glad you like them.’ Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out some binoculars. ‘We can’t get too close,’ he explained. ‘They can give you a nasty
bite if they’re upset, and at this time of the year they’re pupping and going into moult.’
    ‘I had no idea that seals moulted.’
    ‘They do. Makes them really grumpy. It makes me laugh, watching them snap at each other.’ Roderick was scanning the beach, searching. ‘When I wasn’t getting under
Bruno’s feet, I was up here, watching the seals. Look!’
    He passed the binoculars to Kate, putting his hands on her shoulders and turning her round gently until she was facing east.
    ‘There’s a cow with an unusual white splash on her back, can you see?’
    ‘A cow? On the beach?’
    ‘A female seal is known as a cow. A male is a bull, and the youngsters are pups.’ There was laughter in his voice. ‘Look, can you see where those gulls are landing?’
    ‘I see her – she’s rolling,’ Kate