Epilogue
Three months later
‘Oh my God. You are not frigging going to believe this!’ Morven burst through the door of Lily’s new office, waving her phone in the air.
Fortunately, Lily had just finished a Zoom meeting with her new client Cockahoop – otherwise Morven would have played a starring role.
‘You’re in the news again!’ she declared, standing behind the laptop and blocking Lily’s view of Cromwell’s Castle.
Lily let out a resigned breath. ‘Oh, God, what have I done this time?’
Morven was unwilling to surrender her phone for a nanosecond. ‘I’ve sent you the link.’
Lily pushed aside her brownie plate and returned to her laptop screen. She had needed a base on Scilly and had found the perfect spot: a room above a net loft next to the café.
The neglected space had been used by Elspeth for storing junk but was now a bright and cosy office with an upgraded WiFi package and Lily’s own dedicated landline. It might not have a view over the London skyline, but the vista over the sparkling channel to Tresco more than made up for that.
Morven moved, hovering behind Lily’s shoulder while she opened the page of a Cornish newspaper site. The headline read: SCILLY LOVES LILY? Under it were several grainy shots of her and Sam on Tean Porth. She was in a bikini and he was in board shorts. One showed her emerging from the sea, pulling a face; another showed Sam lifting her into the air above a wave. Lily groaned. The worst was a shot of them locked in a passionate embrace.
‘Ewww,’ Morven said, holding her phone away from her in case she might be infected by a deadly disease. ‘That’s disgusting.’
‘Thanks,’ Lily muttered, more worried about the gurning expression captured on her face when she’d run out of the sea. ‘How do they get these shots? And why? Who really cares?’
‘It’s clickbait,’ Morven said. ‘It makes people look at the gross ads.’
Lily sighed, scrolling past banners for revolting diets, miracle cures for wrinkles and fake pictures of celebs looking like wizened goblins. The online world was as hideous as ever.
‘You’re on a few other sites too,’ Morven declared with relish.
‘I don’t think I can take any more,’ Lily sighed. Sam was on Stark, looking after a full house of visitors with the help of the chef and housekeeper. Lily was going over to stay with him in the flat that evening.
‘I guess Sam has no idea about this?’ she said to Morven.
‘No way. He doesn’t look online unless he’s searching for something specific for work. Shall I get on the radio and tell him?’ Morven’s voice lifted hopefully as she scented a chance to ramp up the drama.
‘No! No, don’t bother him. He’ll have his hands full with the guests. I’ll break it to him later when I go over. Thanks for letting me know.’
Morven grinned. ‘You’re welcome!’
She skipped down the stairs that led to the courtyard between the café and her annexe. It was a challenge for Lily, shuttling between the islands and London, but gradually she was working towards a balance of spending one week in London and three on the islands.
Whether that was sustainable in the long term was an unknown, but Sam couldn’t leave Stark just yet.
As the season drew towards its close, the cottages were almost fully booked for the two Crafty Scilly weeks with local makers – helped by a special guest appearance from Lily herself. With classes in watercolour and creative writing already scheduled, and wellness breaks planned for the following spring, there would be enough to tempt new visitors and keep old ones returning.
Lily was also going to speak at The Natural Balance, a four-day break where corporate executives could come to de-stress, enjoy nature, lean in to being ‘unplugged’ and learn about new techniques for promoting work–life balance – for their employees as well as themselves.
Together, their efforts were enough to have guaranteed bookings in place for the quieter times of year. Over the bleakest part of the winter, when transport to the isles became more difficult, Sam was going to take an extended break in London with Lily. That was only a month away and she couldn’t wait.
No one ever said it was going to be easy, but Lily loved a challenge and her reward was to be blissfully happy in a way she’d never thought possible.
Sam had called Rhiannon and said he wasn’t going to visit her, but they’d had a brief conversation and he’d told Lily that she seemed happy and had accepted a promotion to another hospital in Australia. Lily would never know what she had really wanted by sending the letter but she was happy that Rhiannon, like Lily and Sam, had a fresh start to look forward to.
With a sigh, she closed down the latest gossip site and started a Zoom with Richie.
His face appeared and instead of being greeted with his trademark grin, he seemed twitchy, fiddling with his pen and looking anxious.
‘Is everything OK?’ she asked.
‘Yes. Yes … I have some news.’
‘Oh?’ A horrible thought struck her. ‘Don’t say you’ve been offered another job?’
‘No! Oh God, no, I’ll never leave you.’ He let out a breath and a smile crept onto his face. ‘Let’s just say, you’re going to need a hat, bab.’
‘What?’ Lily processed the meaning of his words. ‘No! You’re getting married? Oh, I am so happy for you.’
Lily’s eyes stung with unshed tears. Richie was glowing with happiness.
‘I’ve wanted to ask him for ages but I was scared of him saying no. When I got the promotion, it gave me the push I needed. So I popped the question after we’d been to a Harry Styles concert and the gorgeous man said yes!’
‘Of course he said yes. He’s lucky to have you.’ Lily sighed with happiness. ‘I wish I could give you a hug through the screen.’ She held out her hands.
Richie held out his and blew her an air kiss. ‘You can when you get back.’
‘What does your nanna have to say about it all?’
‘I had to make sure my mum was there in case she had a funny turn. She was speechless and, believe me, that’s not a family trait!’
Lily arched an eyebrow. ‘You don’t say?’
He grinned. ‘We’re so happy – I want everyone to be happy. Oh, I keep going around the office with a huge smile on my face. Now I’ve told you, I can share it with everyone else.’
After a few more minutes hearing about the proposal, Lily ended the Zoom. She was meeting up later with Penny and a number of the makers and artists from the craft fair who’d expressed an interest in being part of the Lily Loves Scilly collection that she wanted to sell from her website.
Cockahoop were also very interested in stocking it but Lily knew the key was to take things slowly, make sure everyone was happy with the set-up. She didn’t want anyone to feel they were compromising their independence and individuality.
She got up, deciding that after Richie’s momentous news, she needed a coffee – and possibly some cake – to help her recover before she went back to work.
In the sunshine, a few customers were sitting at the tables enjoying their food, when Morven emerged with a tray to clear away.
Lily was about to go into the café when Morven shrieked and the tray fell onto the terrace with a clatter that made one man spill his cappuccino over his lap.
‘Dad!’
Morven ran towards a pony-tailed man who was wheeling a suitcase down the path from the quay. Even if Lily hadn’t known who Nathan Teague was, she’d instantly have guessed he was related to Sam.
‘Hello, sweetheart.’ Nate folded her in his arms.
Elspeth walked onto the terrace, her hands dusty with flour. ‘Nathan! It’s so good to see you! Come inside.’
Morven broke away from Nate, still holding his hand. ‘This is my dad!’ she announced to Lily. ‘You were in London when he came back before so you have to come and meet him now.’
‘Pleased to meet you,’ Lily said, deeply touched that Morven was so keen for them to meet. Sam had told her that when Nate had come home as promised, earlier in the summer, he’d finally reached a decision.
‘Hi there. You’re the famous Lily,’ he said, giving her a warm handshake.
‘Dad’s back for good this time,’ Morven said.
After Nate’s previous visit, he’d gone back to LA, given his notice and packed up his life there. Grady wasn’t part of the plan any longer, much to everyone’s relief. He’d told his daughter – and Sam – that it wasn’t working out with his girlfriend and never would because anyone who wasn’t willing to accept the most important person in his life wasn’t for him.
This had raised him several notches in Lily’s estimation and must have delighted Morven.
Nate put his arm around his daughter. ‘I am and I’ve got a lot to catch up on. Morven’s told me about your offer of a bursary, Lily?’
‘Yes, and I’m so happy she’s accepted it and that she’s applying to Falmouth.’
‘It’s very generous of you,’ he said, still with his arm around Morven. ‘Isn’t it?’
‘Yes,’ Morven said, shyly.
‘She’s so talented,’ Elspeth said proudly.
‘And she’ll be the pioneer for what I hope will be an annual Lily Loves student bursary,’ Lily added. ‘A real trailblazer.’
‘I always knew it!’ Elspeth declared and Nate smiled at Lily.
Morven’s cheeks went suspiciously pink. ‘Shall we go inside, Dad?’ she said, a little desperately.
‘I’ll see you in a while.’ Lily was keen for the three of them to have a private catch-up. She watched them all walk into the café and decided to leave her coffee. It was the second time that morning that she’d had to bite back tears. But that was OK. It was OK to be human, to feel happiness – the whole spectrum of emotions.
She’d finally heeded the message that she should be kinder to herself by not always trying to be perfect.
Nate and Morven emerged from the café after a while and rejoined Lily before they all headed to Stark to see Sam. Morven took the helm, guided by Nate, who knew the waters almost as well as his brother.
Sam was waiting at the jetty and Lily spotted several guests were lounging in front of their cottages or wandering along the paths.
‘We’ll have to be quiet, though,’ he said, possibly for Morven’s benefit. ‘The guests are relaxing.’
‘I still can’t believe what you’ve achieved here,’ said Nate. ‘I should have been here.’
‘I didn’t do it on my own. Aaron and the lads were incredible – and Lily, of course.’ Sam winked at her. ‘Morven’s added her own creative touch and has been helping with the changeovers when she can.’
Morven grinned. ‘I’ll be too busy when I’m at uni next year,’ she said.
‘I know I’ve been no use until now, but I’ll be here to lend a hand if I can,’ Nate said. ‘I’ve just negotiated a freelance contract with my old company in Exeter. They’re doing well and with my US experience, I can charge them more. I could invest in the retreat, if you like, but it’s your baby.’
‘It’s still ours jointly,’ Sam said, fair-minded as always.
‘Only in name. You put in all the work, took on all the responsibility, just as you always have. I’ll never be able to repay you for looking after Morven and I want you to reap the rewards from Stark.’
‘We’ll talk about it some more,’ Sam said, looking embarrassed. ‘Another time.’
‘Bro, I don’t want anything from it. I’m doing pretty well myself.’ Nate sounded resolute, so Sam nodded.
After Nate had taken Morven back to Hell Bay, Lily helped Sam with the dinner and bar service.
It was almost midnight by the time they got to bed but Lily wasn’t tired.
Finally, she decided to tell Sam about their appearance on the local news site.
‘Someone must have seen us on the beach yesterday and taken some photos. Look.’
He rolled his eyes. ‘They don’t waste much time. I can’t believe people can be bothered to take so many photos of two ordinary people. Shall we go for a walk and unwind? Today’s been a pretty big one and I don’t feel like sleeping yet.’
‘To Tean Porth?’
‘Great idea.’
They collected blankets and walked down the hill, hand in hand, towards the beach. The full moon made a torch unnecessary and the night was mild and balmy.
They sat on the beach, watching the moon paint a shimmering path over the ocean. Sam’s arm tightened comfortingly around her back. Life could not get much better than this, thought Lily.
‘It’s a good job we found each other,’ he said. ‘If you hadn’t been forced to stay at my half-built retreat, I might have stayed in my miserable hole forever, always regretting what I’d lost instead of embracing happiness again.’
‘Wow.’ Lily stared at him in mock-horror. ‘That sounds dangerously like Sam saying he’s glad he decided to reach out to someone and accept help.’
‘I am glad I did. I’ve learned that – and I hate to use a cliché – we all need to accept help.’ He took her hand. ‘And be brave enough to let someone else into our lives.’
She brushed his lips with hers. ‘I was as much an island as you were, repelling all invaders.’ That drew a smile from him. ‘I didn’t dare hand over control of any tiny part of my life in case it fell apart completely. I’m so glad I came to Stark, however much I hated it at first. It’s scary to think it took nearly dying to change my life.’
She shivered again, but Sam folded her in his arms. ‘Don’t look back. Look forward. And, you know …’ He hesitated, looking so intently at Lily that she felt a delicious thrill run through her from head to toe. ‘If you want to, we could give those gossip sites something really big to write about …’
Now it was Lily’s turn to search his face. ‘What – what do you mean?’
Sam closed his warm hand around hers. ‘We could give them the story they want: the happy ending.’
She held her breath for a moment, hardly daring to believe what he was saying.
But then he started speaking again, making the impossible breathtakingly real by getting down on one knee and gazing up into her face.
‘Lily,’ he said, ‘Will you marry me?’
‘ Marry you?’
‘Well, I don’t see anyone else here,’ he said, finally rising to his feet. ‘What do you think? Is it too soon? Or should we seize this moment?’
For the third time that day, Lily felt tears prickling the back of her eyes and this time she didn’t try to stop them.
‘I think – I think … that is the best idea I’ve ever heard, and I might have to kiss you.’
She closed her eyes and their mouths met in one unforgettable moment when Lily thought she might actually take off into the sky. Still kissing Sam, she opened her eyes briefly and, high in the night sky, she saw a streak of light – a shooting star that might just be Cara telling her it was OK to be happy again.