Heather Bay: The Complete Collection, Volume One

Chapter One

Oliver

“Are you sure you’ll be all right? I can get David to cancel the rest of the trip, and we could fly back tomorrow.

It wouldn’t be too difficult.” My mum’s voice echoed from the hire car’s speakers as I crested another hill of the Yorkshire Moors, winding my way towards the coast and the small town I’d once called home.

Early June sunshine streamed through the windshield, and the bright, cloudless sky stretched out above me.

“No, you’re staying there,” I said, shaking my head and smiling to myself. Only my mum would consider leaving a three-month tour of the Americas to sort out a dusty old cottage and direct builders. “You’ve been looking forward to this trip for ages. You’re not leaving. Seriously, I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? It wouldn’t be hard to get to Washington and get home. I could be there by the end of the weekend.”

“Mum, I love you, but no. Stop. Go and enjoy your adventure and stop worrying. Just remember to bring me some Oreos.”

I desperately needed some peanut butter-chocolate Oreos, and the fact that I couldn’t get them in Asda was something I considered a crime against humanity.

The only time I ever got them was when my American friends took pity on me and sent me a care package.

In return, I’d send them as much Cadbury chocolate as I could fit in a box, so it was a fair exchange.

“It’s my job to worry,” Mum said. “I’m your mum. It’s what I do.”

“I’m twenty-six. I can look after myself,” I said as I made a right-hand turn without even glancing at the map on the car’s digital central display.

I didn’t really need directions this close to my destination, but I was too lazy to turn it off.

“Besides, it’s not going to be that difficult or exciting.

It’s just making sure the builders don’t break anything and keeping everything on track.

You said yourself it was going to take at least six to eight weeks, and you’re not giving up your trip to sit around watching paint dry.

Literally. I promise I’ll keep you posted. I’ll send photos and everything.”

I appreciated her concern, but it was starting to get a little cloying. I guessed it was her grief manifesting as a desperate need to smother me. But I didn’t say that.

It had been six months since my nan had passed away unexpectedly, and ever since, my mum had become hyperaware I was her only child.

She’d only shown up unexpectedly at my house in London once, one Friday night in February, and luckily, I’d been in because I had no social life.

We’d actually had a nice evening of pizza and old movies followed by a weekend visiting all the tourist spots I’d never managed to get to, even after four years of living in the city. But she hadn’t done it again.

I suspected it was partly because of her work and partly because my stepdad, David, was gently enforcing boundaries and reminding her I was a grown adult with a very busy full-time job.

My admiration for David had increased rapidly in the past few months.

“Okay,” she said finally. “If you’re sure.”

“I am. I promise.” I wasn’t convinced this was the last word I’d heard on the subject, but at least Mum had agreed to drop it for now.

“How far away are you?”

“About twenty-five minutes. I’m not too far from Saltergate.

” I crawled around a tight bend and began to wind down another steep descent.

Every time I came back to Yorkshire, I always forgot just how narrow some of the roads were.

It was as if the memory slipped away every time I joined the motorway back to London.

“If I suddenly hang up, it’s because I’ve lost signal, not because I’m bored of talking to you. ”

The mobile signal around here had gotten a lot better over the years, but it wasn’t always good enough to hold a conversation while driving because the signal would drop in and out at random.

Mum laughed, and I smiled to myself. It was nice to hear her happy again. “Don’t worry, I won’t hold it against you. I probably ought to go and get some breakfast soon since we’ve got another day of driving to do.”

“Where are you headed?”

I let Mum tell me about her plans for the next leg of their trip down the East Coast. The past couple of months had been incredibly stressful for her, and she deserved the break, even if she wasn’t convinced of that.

She and David had planned this trip for four years to celebrate her fiftieth birthday, and I’d been worried she’d put it on hold to sit around at home and fret.

Both she and David had used well-earned sabbaticals from work so they could fully enjoy their time away, and I didn’t want them to waste that.

Luckily, David agreed with me, and between us, we’d managed to convince Mum the adventure would be the best thing for her, especially considering how slowly everything had been moving with Nan’s estate.

Nan’s will had left everything simply laid out, but it had still taken nearly five months for the solicitors we’d hired to get everything finalised.

I wasn’t sure if they were just busy or if they were just determined to squeeze as much money out of us as possible.

I knew I sounded cynical, but given how much the firm was charging us, I couldn’t quite let my suspicions go.

There was a moment’s pause after Mum finished speaking before I said, “I still can’t believe she left me the house.”

It was something that had been playing on my mind ever since I’d first read Nan’s will.

I’d been sure it was a joke because I had no idea why Nan would leave me her cliffside cottage.

But as it had become reality over the past few months, my confusion had only solidified.

I hadn’t lived in Heather Bay since I was eighteen, and I’d never talked about moving back.

I didn’t need a house there. Nan would have been much better off leaving it to Mum and David, but she didn’t seem to have even considered that.

“She loved you,” Mum said quietly. “She wanted you to have somewhere that was yours, and she was always worried you’d never be able to afford somewhere in London. Nan didn’t have much, but she had that cottage, and she wanted it to go to someone who deserved it. Someone she loved.”

A lingering note of pain tightened in my chest. I really didn’t deserve the cottage.

It wasn’t like I could live there. If I wanted to keep my job in London, my only options were to sell the cottage or rent it out.

Turning it into a holiday let wasn’t the worst idea in the world, but it still sat uncomfortably in my stomach.

I felt a lingering note of guilt because Nan had entrusted the cottage to me, and now I was just going to pass it off. It was why I’d insisted on doing the place up before I made my final decision. The house deserved to look its best.

“I know,” I said as I made another turn, following the signs towards the coast. “I just… I wish I knew what to do with the place.”

In the distance, I caught a glimpse of a thin strip of deep blue stretched across the horizon. My heart skipped as my longing for the sea returned from its dormant state in the deep crevices of my heart.

“You’ll figure it out.” There was a quiet confidence in Mum’s voice that I didn’t feel. But now wasn’t the time to debate.

Instead, I settled for a non-committal, “Yeah, maybe.”

The strip of sea appeared again, and I knew I’d soon have the bay in my sights.

“I’m nearly there, Mum. I’ll speak to you soon.”

“Okay. I love you, Oliver. And you’ll figure it out. I promise. Drive safe.”

I hung up and took a deep breath. I didn’t know why I was so nervous.

All I had to do was keep out of the way while the house was renovated, make sure nothing went wildly off track, and get my work done.

It wasn’t like I had to actually start ripping the kitchen out or rewiring the whole place.

I just had to make sure I provided plenty of tea and biscuits for the builders and get a stack of books edited.

My boss had agreed to let me work remotely for the summer, and I hoped the change of scenery would give me a mental refresh.

I loved working in publishing, but it could be incredibly stressful at times.

Sometimes I wondered whether the stress was worth it, but I couldn’t imagine doing anything different.

The car rounded another bend, and Heather Bay came into view.

The small town was nestled against a horseshoe bay, it’s picturesque red brick and white plaster buildings highlighted by the bright sunshine. The sparkling sea washed up against the golden sand, and the line of colourful beach huts against the promenade looked freshly painted for the summer.

Beyond the bay were cliffs and rolling dales that gave way to farmland dotted with sheep and crops, and on top of the cliff on the far side of the bay stood the castle.

It wasn’t really a castle, more a stately home built in the style of one, but everyone in town had called it the castle for as long as it had existed.

It loomed over the town like something out of a fairy tale, but the sunshine made it look more like the home of a grand prince than some malevolent monster.

My heart raced as I took it all in, and I felt like I was being pulled in by the tide. It was the same feeling I got every time I came back, and sometimes, I wondered why I’d ever left.

I shook my head to dislodge those thoughts and focused on the road ahead of me. It had been nine years since I’d moved away for university, and I’d left behind more than just my family and my childhood home.

My brain worked on autopilot as I drove into town and headed around the bay towards a line of terraced cottages overlooking the sea.

From the right angle it looked like they were perched on top of one cliff and directly under another as if they were part of the rock itself, but when you got closer, it was easy to see it was just an optical illusion.