Chapter 49
Sebastian stared at the baby in his arms. ‘My only regret is that we’ll only have him with us while Briony goes on her trip, and when she returns, she’ll move here with her own little family.’
Lorna sighed. ‘I feel the same way too.’
‘We could plan to go on a cruise together, in the autumn – if that would make you feel better.’
Lorna shook her head.
‘Briony told me you’d always wanted to go on one.’
‘Not anymore.’
‘What changed your mind?’ As soon as he’d uttered those words, his eyes darted Andrew’s way, and his lips formed into a great big oh. ‘Sorry, that was a stupid question.’
‘Not at all.’ Her eyes drifted to Andrew too. ‘He’s not the reason I changed my mind about the cruise.’
‘Briony said you wanted an adventure.’
Lorna looked at Sky, and then at Sebastian. ‘I think my adventure is just beginning.’
Sebastian grinned.
She drew close, staring down at the baby in his arms. ‘I’ve got everything I’ll ever want right here, on this beach, with you. It’s just …’
‘You don’t want to leave The Beach House either – do you?’
‘Don’t you dare say anything to Briony.’
He smiled. ‘Cross my heart.’
‘I’m not going to repeat Blythe’s mistakes. The transfer of the deeds into her name is already in hand.’
‘Yes, I know. You’re using my father’s solicitors to do the transfer, aren’t you?’
‘Yes. Ironic, isn’t it, considering—’
‘We won’t talk about that, if you don’t mind.’
‘No, we won’t. All is forgiven.’ She paused. ‘It’s just that this place … I’ve got some wonderful memories here, of you and me, when we were young.’
‘That summer to remember?’
‘Yes, when we were last together.’
‘I know. Here, take Sky for a moment, will you?’
‘You won’t get him back in a hurry,’ she joked, carefully holding the baby’s head as she cradled him in the crook of her arm.
‘I have something for you.’ Sebastian bent down and whispered something in Willow’s ear.
Willow grinned and ran into The Beach House. She returned and stood in front of Lorna with something behind her back.
‘What have you got there, sweetheart?’
Luna ran up the beach towards Willow and stood sniffing what was in her hand. Willow made a big show of taking it out from behind her back. ‘Surprise!’
‘Hey – I recognise that!’ Lorna looked at Sebastian in surprise. ‘You kept it all these years?’
‘Oh yes.’
‘I kept mine too.’
‘I found I couldn’t bear to look at it, though,’ said Sebastian. ‘I’m afraid it just reminded me of a life that might have been – a life with you. So I put it away. Willow found it.’
‘Yes, Briony found mine when she was around Willow’s age, but I still couldn’t bring myself to part with it.’
‘Me neither.’
Lorna had to reluctantly hand Sky back to Sebastian. She took the shell box.
‘Look inside,’ Sebastian prompted.
Lorna opened the shell box. She looked over and caught Briony smiling. She had a feeling there was a little conspiracy going on.
Lorna looked inside the box and got out the wolf necklace. ‘Hey, this used to be in my box!’ She glanced at Sebastian. That’s when she noticed there was a pendant on a chain hanging around his neck. It must have been tucked out of sight in his shirt.
He said, ‘Troy had mine. I asked for it back.’
Lorna put it on.
‘What’s this?’ She’d found something else in the shell box. ‘It doesn’t look like the key to The Beach House that I gave you.’
‘It isn’t. It’s the key to our future together.’
‘Huh?’
‘I finally had some money off dad. He’s passed the business to Troy, but insisted on giving me a lump sum in shares, which I cashed in. I decided this time I could not refuse.’
Lorna smiled. She knew what that money meant. ‘No more deep-sat diving? I heard all about it from Willow.’
‘No more deep-sat diving. I’m staying right here, with you and Willow. And my daughter, son and grandchild.’
‘We’ll have to get a place – you and me, once Troy and Briony move into The Beach House for good.’
‘Yes.’
‘It will have to be close. I need to see Sky every single day.’
‘Me too.’ Sebastian grinned. ‘I’ve got that covered.’
Lorna narrowed her eyes. ‘What do you mean, you’ve got that covered? What are you up to?’
He pointed. ‘Up the beach there. That wouldn’t be a bad spot, would it?’
‘For what – a house?’ Lorna brightened. ‘Not at all. Then we’d be practically next-door neighbours.’ She frowned. ‘But someone’s already building a white clapboard beach house in the perfect spot.’
‘Yep.’
He held up an identical key.
She looked at the keys, then at the clapboard house. ‘No way! It’s ours?’
‘Oh yes. We’ll make lots of memories there. There’ll be lots of summers, just like this one, to remember.’
Lorna looked at Sebastian. ‘Hold that thought – I’ll be right back.’
Briony was talking to Angel and Freddie before they stepped into the outbuilding, ready for their honeymoon, when her mum came marching towards her and took her hand. ‘Come on.’
Briony looked at her quizzically. ‘Where are we going?’
‘Not far.’
On the way, she collected Blythe too. ‘Where are we going?’ she asked as they helped her out of the deckchair.
‘You’ll see.’
Briony shrugged at her grandmother. She had no idea what it was all about either.
The three of them walked, hand in hand, Blythe in the centre, Lorna and Briony either side, down to the water’s edge. Behind them, the summer sun was setting.
They stood together, staring out to sea. ‘It’s a beautiful sunset,’ commented Briony enjoying the cloudless sky ablaze in red and pink hues as the sun set behind the house. ‘Almost as amazing as the sunrises here.’
The three women watched the sky turn a beautiful shade of pink.
Lorna broke the silence. ‘I’m loving this summer, Mum, with you and Frank, Troy, Briony, Sebastian and the baby.’
Blythe turned around and glanced at The Beach House. ‘It’s felt like old times, when your grandparents were alive, Lorna, and the house was full of people and laughter, and they used to have parties on the beach. Do you remember?’
Lorna nodded. ‘Of course I remember.’
Briony noticed her grandmother frown for a moment. She asked her, ‘You still have fond memories of those times, even now you know your parents were responsible for keeping you and Frank apart?’
‘I do. Yes. I realise that they thought they were doing right by me, keeping us apart, and encouraging me to ‘marry well,’ as they put it.’
There was a pause. Lorna turned to her mum. ‘Where did you get that funny-looking dog, Luna? I’ve been meaning to ask.’
‘Is that what you brought me down to the water’s edge for, to ask that question?’
‘No, of course not. I just wanted a moment with my mum and daughter, just the three of us together, to savour this beautiful sunset.’ She paused. ‘But I’d still like to know about the dog.’
Briony laughed. She wanted to know too. Ever since she’d discovered her grandmother had a wolfdog, she had been wondering the same thing. Emily had asked Blythe once, but she’d been evasive, even though she did have all the paperwork, so the breeder was legitimate.
Briony glanced at her mum. ‘Luna is a wolfdog.’
‘Yes, I know. And I know something else – it’s not exactly the sort of thing I imagine you go to a breeder to buy. Not like Wilbur.’
Briony looked about her, but she guessed where Wilbur was, back on his favourite sofa in The Beach House. He’d settled well into the attic room in Oxford over the past few months, getting on with the change of scenery, but his heart, like Briony’s, belonged in Suffolk.
Out of the corner of her eye, Briony saw Luna heading towards them. Luna stood in front of them at the water’s edge, looking out to sea.
Blythe turned to her daughter, reaching up to touch the wolf necklace around Lorna’s neck. ‘You’re wearing it again.’
Briony looked at the necklace too. She smiled. Sebastian had given her the shell box with the necklace, that Briony had given to him to pass on to her mum, and the keys to their new home. They were going to be neighbours.
‘Has it got something to do with this necklace – you getting a wolfdog puppy?’
‘No, not at all. That’s just a coincidence.’
‘Oh, okay.’
Blythe stared at her dog and sighed. ‘You know, it was the silliest thing. Your father always worried I was lonely at The Beach House, living here on my own.’
Briony glanced at her mum, who also knew that after the divorce, her parents had remained friends – or co-conspirators, as Lorna had light-heartedly called them – with Edwin keeping Blythe updated about her daughter and granddaughter in exchange for her keeping his secret; unnecessary as his secrecy had turned out to be.
Blythe continued, ‘Over the years, he hoped I’d meet someone, like he’d met Albert. So, when I didn’t, eventually he did the stupidest thing and bought me a puppy, sending it over from America, with the paperwork and everything.’
Lorna and Briony gaped at her. ‘Grandad sent you a wolfdog puppy, from America?’
Blythe rolled her eyes. ‘Of course he hadn’t actually seen the puppies. He’d chatted to a guy on the phone who had just the thing, apparently.’
‘A wolfdog puppy?’
‘No, a Welsh corgi puppy.’
Briony exchanged a glance with her mum. She had to ask, ‘How on earth did he get that so wrong?’
‘The young man’s American accent, I imagine. Apparently, he spoke really fast.’
‘Oh, my goodness! Only Dad could make a mistake like that.’ Lorna cupped her hand over her mouth.
Briony looked at her mum and could tell she was trying to stifle a laugh.
‘So, he had the puppy shipped unseen to me, and of course I fell in love with her instantly.’
Briony and Lorna burst out laughing. Lorna said, ‘Dad can be so silly sometimes. At least his heart was in the right place.’
Blythe turned serious. ‘Not always. Lorna. Can you really put the past behind you, and forgive the mistakes your father and I made? I just worry, now you’re back for good, that you’ll start to have resentments about what might have been if … if …’
Briony looked at her mum and held her breath. Although her mum and grandmother were no longer estranged, her grandmother did have a point – all those years her mum and Sebastian could have been together, those lost years, were because of them.
Lorna put an arm around her mum’s shoulders. ‘Of course I can. This isn’t about the past anymore. This is about the future.’
They both turned to look at Briony.
Briony grinned, guessing they were talking about her and her baby. She held her grandmother’s hand.
Lorna turned to her mum. ‘Well, I guess we’d better head back to The Beach House. The wedding reception will be starting any minute, once the happy couple have changed.’
‘You mean the beach party,’ Briony corrected her. She looked down the beach, in the direction of the car park, and saw people carrying lanterns, making their way along the beach. They were all her friends – the people from the local community nearby, and in Aldeburgh and Cobblers Yard; people whom, with Freddie and Angel’s agreement, she’d invited to a beach party. She’d also promised them all that the party wouldn’t be cut short this time.
Briony’s attention was drawn to the newly renovated guesthouse just as Freddie and Angel stepped outside. She waved before turning her attention back to her grandmother and mum. They weren’t looking Freddie and Angel’s way. She knew who had caught their attention – Sebastian, who was holding the newest member of their blended family.
Blythe still had hold of Briony’s hand. She took Lorna’s hand in the other and said, ‘We’re making new memories, the three of us.’ She held their hands tight.
They each shared her sentiments when she said, ‘This has truly been a summer to remember.’