Chapter 50
TARA
On Easter Sunday, a week after Carly’s hen do, Jed said he had somewhere special to take me.
‘It isn’t far and you don’t need to get changed,’ he said, pre-empting my questions.
He drove us to Sea Cliff above South Bay and past the hotel where I’d stayed on my very first night in Whitsborough Bay before taking a side road and parking about halfway down.
‘I’ve never been down here before,’ I said as we exited the car and I looked around me.
On our left was a beautiful old building – possibly a small hotel or a manor house – which had evidently been left empty for quite some time judging by the ivy creeping across the windows and how overgrown the front garden was.
Jed took my hand and led me through a squeaky wrought-iron gate into the grounds.
‘Are we trespassing again?’ I asked him, thinking about the time we’d nipped into the grounds of Whispering Winds before Mum and Dad had put their offer in.
He grinned at me. ‘I promise you this view is also worth it.’
We skirted round the back of the building and I stopped, smiling widely. ‘The view is worth it.’ There were several shrubs and bushes in the unkempt back garden but a large gap between them perfectly framed Whitsborough Bay Lighthouse. ‘It’s stunning. How did you find this place?’
‘I wanted to create a collection inspired by the lighthouse but I wanted more than the obvious views and I wondered if there might be vantage points along the coast that I hadn’t considered. I stumbled on this one by accident and found it inspiring.’
I’d already seen Jed’s lighthouse collection and each piece was fabulous but I couldn’t recall seeing one from this angle.
‘You decided not to draw this view?’ I asked.
‘I did draw it but not for the collection. I went for something different without any animals – a triple piece more in the style of the drawings I did of you in Castle Street and by the Bay Pavilion. Would you like an exclusive reveal?’
‘Definitely.’
I expected him to take out his phone but, instead, he led me to an easel set up with a cloth over it.
I’d been too busy looking at the view to even notice it.
Jed partially pulled back the cloth to reveal the first image.
It showed a woman on a clifftop looking at the distant lighthouse and, as I peered closer, my heart began racing.
‘Is that me?’ It was the exact scene I’d described to him of seeing the lighthouse on my first evening in Whitsborough Bay and realising I’d come to the right place.
He didn’t answer me. Instead he pulled the cloth further along, revealing the second image.
This one was of the lighthouse from a different angle – the angle we were at now, in fact – and there was a man proposing to a woman on it.
My heart leapt and I turned to find Jed smiling at me before dipping down onto one knee.
‘Tara Porter, you are the most incredible, inspiring, courageous woman I’ve ever met and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I promise to always see you, to remind you of your magic when you’ve forgotten it’s there, and to follow your lead in helping others. Will you marry me?’
‘Yes!’ I cried, rushing up to him and showering him with kisses. ‘Absolutely yes!’
He rose to his feet and removed a ring from his pocket.
‘This is not your official engagement ring. It’s just a cheap costume ring because I want you to choose your own.
I was going to get one but then I realised I didn’t know what your last ring looked like and I didn’t want this moment to be marred by a bad ring choice. ’
I put my hand out so he could slip the silver-plated ring onto it then drew him into a deep, passionate kiss.
‘It means the world to me that you thought about that,’ I said when we pulled apart, a little breathless. ‘Thank you.’ I gazed down at my costume ring. ‘This is pretty. You have good taste.’
‘Of course I do! I chose you.’
I smiled at him but my eyes were drawn to the easel behind him. ‘What goes in the third frame?’
‘I’m glad you asked me that.’ He removed the sheet completely but the third frame was empty.
‘As you’ve already worked out, the first two drawings are of key moments bringing us together – when you first arrived in Whitsborough Bay and when I proposed just now.
Both of them involve the lighthouse and I want the third frame to be another key lighthouse moment for us – the next stage of our future together – but, because it’s the future, it’s unwritten.
I’ve had this idea that I think you might like. ’
Jed removed a third piece of artwork from behind the other two and placed it on the end of the easel.
‘It’s just an idea,’ he emphasised. ‘As I said, the future’s unwritten and it’s got to be something that’s right for both of us.’
I studied the new image – a large building overlooking the lighthouse – and I turned to look behind me. It was the same building – tidied up but definitely recognisable. I looked back at the easel and then at Jed.
‘Have you bought this place?’
He shook his head. ‘I’d never make a major decision like that without you but it is for sale and I think that, with a lot of work, it could be exactly what we need it to be.’
‘A family home?’ I asked, still not quite following.
‘Yes, and so much more. I was walking Doris along here the other day in search of a different view of the lighthouse but I wasn’t really concentrating on the view because my mind was on overdrive.
I was going over the discussions we’ve been having about how we can help other teens in need.
I was thinking about The Friendship Pod and how well that was going but the niggle you had about drinks.
I was also thinking about how it was time I let my parents have their home back but how your flat wouldn’t work because there are too many of us.
I stopped and took a deep breath, trying to close some of the tabs in my mind and, when I looked up, I was standing outside this hotel.
I jokingly said to Doris, a big place like that’d solve everything.
As soon as I said it, I realised it would so I made some enquiries and… ’
He reached into his pocket and took out a key.
‘I’ve got this on loan so I thought I’d give you a tour and see what you think about the potential of this place as part business, part home, part refuge for teens in need of apprenticeships, a place to run art courses, a home for The Friendship Pod or whatever combination of those we want it to be.
Obviously there’d be lots of practicalities to consider, especially around the teens part, but it could work. ’
Excitement emanated from Jed and I could feel it bubbling inside of me too and I’d only seen the outside so far.
‘Let’s get inside,’ I said, smiling at him.
The interior wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d anticipated. There were a few damp patches here and there but nothing that scared me. It was bright and spacious with beautiful old fireplaces and period features.
‘So what do you think of Lighthouse Retreat?’ Jed asked when we returned to the entrance foyer.
‘That’s its name?’
‘It is. We could change it, of course, but I thought you’d like it as it is.’
‘I do. It’s a perfect name and a perfect building – or at least it could be.
As you say, there’s a lot to think about but we could definitely make this work.
It’s packed with character and I can see it feeling like our home but I can also see it being a lighthouse for those in need.
’ I slipped my arm round his waist. ‘What was that you were saying recently about our lives finally calming down?’
Jed laughed. ‘Calm’s overrated. Bring on the chaos, I say. As long as I’ve got my fiancée by my side, I can deal with anything.’