Second Chance Summer, page 28
Sam threw himself into the grind of clearing the site with renewed vigour, trying to ease his aching heart with aching muscles.
After an hour, Aaron stopped working and glared at him. ‘Sam, for God’s sake. Why don’t you slow down a bit?’
‘I want to get the site fully cleared up by tonight,’ he replied. ‘Don’t want to be starting on it again in the morning. It might rain tomorrow anyway, and I want my own bed tonight and to spend a bit of time at home with Morven.’
‘You must be tracking a different forecast but whatever,’ Aaron said, tossing broken tiles into the barrow with a clatter.
Sam was ready to drop by the time they’d made numerous trips with the rubbish down to the Hydra at the quay and then unloaded it on Bryher in the early-evening sunlight. It had been a hard day and the back of his neck felt gritty. He really needed his own bed – a concept he immediately regretted when he thought of Lily in it.
‘You look done for. Tell me you’re not going back. Take a break.’
‘I’m staying at Hell Bay House tonight. Elspeth has been keeping an eye on Morven while I’ve been working and I think they’ll both go mad if I don’t come home.’ Morven had actually been a big help, adding some of her creations to the existing cottages and bringing over more artwork, pots and textiles from her arty friends. Lily had also suggested a few items from local makers, which he’d had delivered to Bryher.
‘Is Nate coming back soon?’ Aaron asked.
‘Three weeks’ time. He’s booked the flight and showed Morven the online ticket so she believes him.’
‘Do you think he’ll stay?’
‘I don’t know.’ Sam sighed. ‘They’re now talking every few days so that’s a big step forward. I can’t decide for them. It’s their futures.’
Aaron nodded. ‘You can tell me it’s none of my business, but what about your future? Are you and Lily going to see each other again?’
Sam had exchanged a few messages with her. Though short, each had taken a stupid amount of time to compose. He’d been so careful to get the tone right – light and cheerful – because he was afraid of letting her know how much he missed her and how much he longed for them to be together, however impossible that seemed.
‘Have you even heard from her?’ Aaron said.
‘Yeah. She said she’s coming back to help me officially launch the retreat in a few weeks.’
‘Aha! So that’s why you’ve been working all hours.’
Sam rolled his eyes. ‘I need the revenue. I’ve taken bookings.’
‘Sure you do.’ Aaron eyed him shrewdly. ‘Do you think she will come back? She’s a busy woman.’
‘Maybe. I don’t know. I want to see her again, I won’t deny I like her.’
Aaron snorted. ‘“Like”. Oh, mate, listen to yourself. You were so busy trying not to look at her that night in the pub, it was painful.’
‘Was it that obvious?’
‘Only to someone who knows you very well. Fathoming you out can be almost impossible.’
‘I almost don’t want her to come back because it would never work between us. We’re a million miles apart and I don’t just mean the physical distance, though that’s a problem too. You know what it’s like living here, expecting someone to fit in. Our lives are so different. I’d rather not prolong the agony. Better to get it over with before it’s begun.’
‘Strikes me it’s gone way past the beginning between you two.’ Aaron sighed and slapped Sam on the back. ‘I’m not enjoying watching you torment yourself.’
‘I’m not enjoying it, either!’ he said morosely.
‘I can’t tell you what to do. Same as you can’t solve Nate’s problems. Sorry, I’m a shit mate, aren’t I?’ Aaron grinned.
Sam had to smile. ‘I wouldn’t say that.’
‘We can talk about it if you like – over a pint tomorrow night, maybe. I’d have said tonight but we’re having a barbecue. My sister-in-law and the kids are staying. Seven of us in a two-bed bungalow. Should be fun.’
‘Enjoy yourself.’
He pulled a face. ‘I’ll try!’
Aaron jumped into his red RIB and Sam untied for him.
Aaron’s hand was on the throttle. ‘Oh, and radical idea, but you could call Lily. On the actual telephone thingy that lets you speak to people.’
‘Ha ha!’ Sam said as Aaron gave a salute and fired the engine to motor the short distance over the channel to Tresco.
Sam made sure the Hydra was secure before heading home in the Land Rover. In the distance he imagined he could glimpse Land’s End. He pictured Lily still in her London office – what would she decide to do about the supermarket offer?
She’d probably be working late or heading off to a business meeting at a smart restaurant. One thing he was sure of: she wouldn’t be looking out over the ocean and mooning about him.
He took Aaron’s advice and sneaked out after dinner with Morven and Elspeth to call Lily. There was no way he was using video; he looked too scruffy.
His call had gone straight to her voicemail. ‘Er … it’s me. Sam.’
Shit, she knew that.
‘Just wanted to say that Starfish is finished and Sea Holly is well on schedule … Morven has been helping to style Samphire with her creations and the pieces you suggested from the local makers. Um … hope you’re OK. Speak soon. Bye.’
He ended the call with a groan. Why had he even called to leave such a stupid message?
Better he hadn’t called at all.
He gazed out at Stark, slumbering in the evening sun.
By six a.m. the next morning he was back, checking on his tiling efforts from the day before. Stark was shrouded in a sea fret but a bit of murk wasn’t going to stop him from working. He’d been looking forward to a night in his own bed but he’d spent too much of it thumping the pillow and staring into the darkness.
At least the mist seemed to be clearing. The fine droplets had clung to his skin and soaked through his clothes. He’d soon dry when the fog finally burned off.
He made a coffee and took it down to the ruined cottages at Tean Porth, meaning to make some notes on what might need doing to restore them. Lily had suggested turning them into a private complex that could be rented by family groups or a corporate retreat.
All Sam could think of was the evening they’d skinny dipped in the sea, Lily trembling with cold and exhilaration, the sand on her bottom as she’d fled out of the water. He smiled to himself then heaved a sigh. It wasn’t going to be easy to get any work done if he kept thinking like this.
Walking past the pest house, he sat on a broken granite lintel, paying a silent tribute to his ancestors and thanking them for their legacy. At least the Teagues had no need to forage for limpets now and if he made a success of the retreat, they would have a future.
He’d allowed himself to think that he and Lily might too, but the doubts were creeping up on him. They seemed so far apart, physically, what if she changed her mind and didn’t come back for the launch at all?
After a morning of work, he locked up and headed back to the quay and on to Hell Bay House, to find Morven in the kitchen in the middle of the afternoon.
She was leaning over a pot that smelled a lot better than it looked. She resembled a witch stirring her cauldron and he smiled to himself at the thought, one of the few moments of light-heartedness he’d felt all day.
‘Smells good. What is it?’ he said.
‘Spicy lentil casserole. Damon’s recipe.’
‘OK …’
‘Don’t sound so enthusiastic,’ Morven grumbled.
‘I’m starving. I’d be enthusiastic about anything.’
‘Thanks! I’m making it in advance so we can have it for dinner. It’ll taste better than it sounds.’
‘I’m sure it will,’ he said, amused, then headed upstairs, trying not to think about the night Lily had slept in the room down the hall. So close and yet so far …
When he came downstairs, Morven met him in the hallway. ‘Oh, I forgot. There’s a letter for you.’
‘OK. Probably a bill.’
‘No, it’s not. It’s an actual letter with handwriting on the front. Looks like a card to me.’ Morven shrugged. ‘I need to rescue the jacket potatoes from the oven.’
Sam picked the letter up from the hall table. It wasn’t a bill. It was a card, but it couldn’t possibly be a birthday card because the sender knew exactly when his birthday was. He’d recognise Rhiannon’s writing anywhere.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
Lily slung her rucksack over her shoulders and stepped off the tourist ferry onto the quay at Bryher. A week, she’d been away, almost a whole week – and yet it felt like a year.
Over the weekend she’d managed to book a last-minute flight to Newquay from London City Airport and connected to an afternoon shuttle to Scilly. A car to the harbour, the passenger ferry to Bryher, and now she was here in the sunshine, the blue waters shimmering.
With her hair under a baseball cap, wearing shorts and a hoodie, she hoped she’d be taken for any other holidaymaker out for a day’s walking. Not a deranged woman embarking on the biggest gamble of her life.
She set off along the path to Hell Bay House, stopping at the top to catch her breath.
The house shimmered in the sunshine, with the bay stretching ahead in front of it. The tide was out as far as she’d ever seen it: the sandbanks lying like stepping stones. If Sam was on Stark, she could almost walk across. Elspeth had told her it was possible once in a blue moon.
A glint of light drew her eye. The Land Rover was parked on the driveway … which meant he was at home.
Her stomach knotted and then tightened.
This was a huge risk. Leaving the business – again – and telling Richie she was off sick with a bug. She’d never done such a thing before and wouldn’t have been impressed if an employee had. Yet these were extraordinary times, so she forgave herself this once.
The rucksack on her back felt comfortingly normal and she set off down the hill on the path that led to the rear of the house. Even with her eyes closed, the scent of honeysuckle drifting on the breeze would have told her she was in the garden. The flowers seemed brighter than ever: crimson geraniums, mauve agapanthus, yellow daisies nodding their heads in the breeze.
Familiar memories and anticipation made her heart beat faster.
She half-expected to see Sam or Morven in the kitchen window as she went straight up to the back door. It was open slightly, which reinforced her idea that someone was in. She might be seconds away from Sam: moments from explaining why she’d left work and travelled here on a mad impulse …
‘Hello!’ she called. ‘Sam?’
There was no answer but the kitchen door was open a sliver, so she pushed it and stepped inside.
‘Sam? It’s Lily,’ she said, walking into the kitchen. Yet while there were coffee mugs on the table by an open cookbook and some mail, there was no answer. She listened hard but heard only the wind rustling the shrubs outside.
Onwards through the kitchen she went, calling: ‘Anyone home? Sam? Morven?’
Still, thick silence, not even the tell-tale creak of a floorboard upstairs.
She poked her head around the sitting-room door but by this point had surmised there was no one in. Someone must have left the kitchen door open so they couldn’t have gone far, but then again, this was Scilly – a place where people did leave doors unlocked.
She shrugged off her backpack and sat on the sofa, calming herself.
What to do now?
She could hardly hunt all over Bryher for Sam. Suddenly she felt incredibly foolish and her bravado dropped off a cliff. Why had she thought it was a good idea simply to head down here unannounced? The sensible thing would be to call him and find out where he was, so she took her phone from her pocket and dialled his number.
It went straight to voicemail. Lily left a message: ‘Hi, Sam. Lily here. Can you call me as soon as you get this, please?’
If he was on Stark he might not answer at all and, whatever else occurred, she wasn’t going to be able to get back to the mainland today. She’d need a place to stay.
How had she not given that a thought until now? If it wasn’t to be Stark or Hell Bay, she’d have to find accommodation – or stay with Elspeth, which would be excruciating if her gamble had failed and it turned out Sam didn’t want her there.
She’d been so bound up in her determination to surprise him that she hadn’t thought through the practicalities.
Thinking on the hoof, she decided the only thing to do would be to head to the Quayside Café and find Elspeth to see if she knew where Sam was.
‘Oh!’
Lily almost jumped off the sofa. A loud bang had come from the kitchen, the sound of a door slamming.
‘Sam?’
She hurried through the hall to find the heavy oak door between it and the kitchen had slammed shut in the wind.
‘Hello?’
The kitchen was empty, the back door wide open and the curtains fluttering. Papers and leaflets were scattered over the tiles so she went to pick them up. There were a couple of utility bills, a leaflet about mini-diggers and a card that had fallen open.
She put the junk mail on the table but kept the card in her fingers. It was too late to unsee it, with its painting of a beautiful bay, the message in neat handwriting and the signature at the bottom.
Dear Sam,
I bet you’re surprised to hear from me after so long and by snail mail too, but I saw this card in a gallery and it reminded me of happier times. Do you remember when we took the Hydra over to Tresco and had a picnic in Apple Tree Bay? How could either of us forget …
Anyway, I’ve taken a month’s leave from work and I’m staying with my parents in Penzance for a few days.
I know it’s been a while, and that we haven’t kept in touch, but I keep thinking of that 28 miles of sea between us – such a tiny distance after the 10,000 that have separated us for the past couple of years.
There was so much left unsaid when we parted. I think it would be good for both of us to set things straight, don’t you?
It’s a long shot and short notice but if you’re on the mainland, maybe we can meet up in the next couple of days? I had thought of coming over to Bryher but it seemed a step too far to land on you without a warning after all this time.
Anyway, it would be really lovely to see you again.
Rhiannon x
Lily held the card in her fingertips. It was dated a couple of days previously and had been left on the table before it had blown onto the floor. Sam had made no attempt to hide it. In fact, if it had been blown off the table, had it been up on display? Had he decided, upon reading it, to take Rhiannon up on her offer to meet?
The note sounded very nostalgic, regretful even – was it a veiled plea to rekindle their old relationship? Rhiannon must have regrets if she’d broken her silence to ask to meet him, and Lily knew Sam had been devastated when they’d split up. How could he resist a request like that?
Her stomach turned over.
How stupid she felt for turning up unannounced at his home like this!
Her fingers weren’t quite steady as she replaced the card on the table and hurried out by the front door.
Feeling more dejected by the second, she was about to take the path back to the quay when she spotted two figures heading towards the house from Hell Bay.
She jogged over to meet Morven and Damon carrying fold-up easels and kids’ buckets.
Morven looked her up and down. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’
The typical greeting was momentarily comforting. ‘I was looking for Sam but he’s not at home.’
‘That’s because he’s gone to St Mary’s to get a flight to the mainland.’
Lily’s legs buckled slightly. All her worst fears were confirmed.
‘Did he say why?’ she asked, already knowing and dreading the answer.
Morven shrugged. ‘Nope.’
Lily almost screamed. Only Morven could be so lacking in curiosity.
‘Nothing at all?’
‘He just said he was going to the mainland and to tell Elspeth when I saw her, he’d explain the rest later. He was in a rush. It wasn’t that long ago. He might still be at the airport.’ Morven wrinkled her nose in puzzlement. ‘Anyway, you still haven’t said why you’re here out of the blue. Thought you weren’t coming back until the launch of the retreat?’
‘I took a few days off,’ Lily said, not exactly lying. ‘I was hoping to see Sam but if he’s already at the airport, I’ll have missed him. I’ll never get there in time.’ Despair washed over her.
‘If you got a move on, you might catch him,’ Morven said. ‘And if you’ve come all this way, it must be important?’ She gave Lily a smug smile, clearly wanting to provoke a response.
‘It is. I really wanted to talk to him … but it’s too late.’ In every way, Lily thought.
‘Not if we take you.’ She glanced at the silent Damon. ‘In your brother’s boat.’
Damon finally spoke. ‘It’s got a new outboard. I’ve been dying to try it.’
‘What will your brother say?’
‘Nothing. He’s in Gran Canaria with his girlfriend.’ His eyes gleamed with excitement but Lily was torn.
‘Do you want to go or not?’ Morven said.
No matter how hurtful the news, Lily had to know where she stood with Sam, and now was the time to be honest and not to shrink away from hard truths. It was time to take her courage in her hands.
‘Yes. I do.’
‘Come on, then!’ Morven said and hared off towards the quay.
Lily tried to call Sam as they jogged along but her calls went straight to voicemail. How had she ever thought it was a good idea to get a lift with two mad teenagers in a tiny RIB with an overpowered engine?
She clung to the straps of the boat for dear life as the craft smacked over the swell with Damon at the helm. Morven was laughing and speaking to him, though Lily couldn’t hear a word above the roar of the outboard and the slap of waves against the hull every few seconds. Within minutes she was soaked through, but being wet was the least of her worries. Staying alive was the priority, with Damon whizzing past razor-sharp rock pinnacles. She didn’t dare try to call Sam again.
