Chapter 39
Cherry
Two weeks later
Asoft wind whipped up the sands of Kinshore beach like shortbread dust. From the shoreline, the Butler siblings were tiny figures bobbing on the waves, but the poignancy was more overwhelming than if Cherry had been out there with them.
Goosebumps prickled her arms. She pulled her beanie down over her ears and rubbed the sleeves of her thick knit sweater, wondering if any of the other WAGs were feeling the same surge of emotion.
Of course they were. They were real wives and girlfriends, woven into the family tartan. She was a recent addition to the clan.
And for that reason, she didn’t refer to them as WAGs out loud, only to Sean in private.
It would undermine the privilege she felt standing here on the sand with Bea, Alicia and Carli, watching Amanda and her children scatter the ashes of their beloved husband and dad.
Someday, when she knew them better, maybe they’d laugh about being WAGs together.
Hopefully.
‘The conditions are great,’ Bea, a keen surfer, noted. ‘I’m so pleased they’ve got weather like this on Jimmy’s birthday.’
‘Me too.’ Bea’s words reinforced to Cherry how important it was that this went right for the whole family, not only Sean. ‘I’m sorry I never got to meet Jimmy. Although, Sean has really brought him to life for me.’
‘He was incredible,’ said Alicia, who was busy taking photographs of the scene, to capture in a painting. ‘I see so much of him in Jamie: the hard worker and down-to-earth generosity.’
‘Yeah, Cal has his drive and no-nonsense attitude,’ Bea added.
‘For a long time, Niall thought he was nothing like his dad,’ Carli said, ‘but he has the same driven heart.’
‘And Sean is Jimmy all over.’ Alicia lowered her camera. ‘The energy, the spark, the “never stop moving” vibe. A bit more talkative but the same essence.’
They stared out to sea, Alicia clicking at her camera, as the siblings and Amanda cast their hands out to disperse ashes, silver murmurations floating over the waves.
Cherry’s eyes were on Sean. How was he? Last night, he’d slept fitfully.
At 3 a.m. she’d tucked in close and wrapped her arm around him.
‘Thinking about tomorrow?’ She kissed the soft skin on the nape of his neck.
‘Aye.’ The deep gravel of his voice suggested he’d been drifting in and out of sleep for hours. ‘I just want it to go right, for his birthday – his memory.’
‘It will, Seany. And I’ll be there watching from the beach, thinking of you the whole time.’
He found her hand. ‘You’ve no idea what a difference that makes, Cher. When Dad died, I had no one to hold like this. I felt alone, but I always thought, Don’t complain. Mum has it so much worse.’
‘I’m here now.’ She placed a tender kiss at the top of his spine, softly nuzzled her nose there. ‘Hold me anytime.’
‘Thanks.’ He turned to face her in the dark, pulled her in close and kissed her. And that was it; they made love there and then, Sean’s physical and emotional urgency for her barely reined in. She understood. If she were grieving, she’d have grasped for every moment of him in the same way.
In the morning, you’d never have known anything had been wrong. Cherry made coffee while Sean stared out the lounge window, fingers lazily rubbing the nape of his neck. It was a fine substitute for the lip chewing.
‘Surf looks perfect. You look perfect.’ He took the cup from her. ‘This coffee looks…okay.’
‘You cheeky wee…’ She elbowed him softly.
‘I’m kidding. The coffee is perfect, too. What more could a guy ask for?’
There wasn’t much more either of them could ask for. The privilege they had was understood.
On the sand behind came the soft crunch of footsteps and the puffing of someone in a rush. Cherry spun round to see Summer jogging towards them with her dog.
‘Sorry I’m late. Barley got a thorn in his paw. How’s the surf?’ She scanned the waves, probably for Nate, in the same way that each of them did for their own man. It was sweet and telling that she’d come to support him.
‘It’s going well. They’ve got individual tins of ashes to scatter.’
‘Oh, wow.’ Summer fixed hard on the figures out in the water. ‘What an awesome thing to do.’
‘Are you coming to dinner at Amanda’s tonight?’ Alicia asked.
Summer shrugged. ‘Och, I’m not sure. Nate mentioned it, but it’s a family thing. I’ll give you guys some space.’
They watched as, one by one, the surfers pivoted shoreward and rode into dry land, Sean first with Amanda on the back of his longboard. Cherry walked down to the waterline to meet them, noting how different it was from the last time she’d met him after a surf.
‘How did it go?’ she asked, her sweater getting soaked in seawater as she hugged him extra tight, but the salty kiss he planted on her more than making up for it.
‘Jimmy would laugh his head off at me on the back of that board.’ Amanda swept her hair out of her eyes. ‘But it went well.’ She touched Sean’s shoulder. ‘Thank you, sweetheart.’
‘Aye, no bother, Mum. Dad would have loved it, especially the bit where I got a face full of ashes.’
One by one, the others followed, welcomed back with kisses and hugs. Bea and Cal, Alicia and Jamie, Carli and Niall. Cherry noticed Nate’s face brighten at the sight of Summer, and their hug lasted a beat too long for only friends.
‘You’re next, by the way.’ Sean slipped his hand into hers.
‘What do you mean?’
‘You’re getting on a board. In fact, lessons start tomorrow.’
‘Tomorrow? Sean, it’s nearly winter!’
‘It’s early autumn, woman. And we’ve got to get those bucket list items checked off, one of which was “toughen the fuck up”.’ Playfully, he squeezed her cheek.
‘Oh, and what happens if I say no to surfing lessons?’
‘Then I’m afraid your punishment is sleeping in the other room again.’
‘Aye, right. As if you’d ever let me go back there.’
He grinned. ‘Fair enough. I might be that transparent. I’m actually terrified that if I’m naughty, you might go back there to punish me.’
‘And what about if I’m naughty?’
‘If you’re naughty, Paradise, then your punishment will be doled out in every room of the house and will involve all those things you once promised to my pillow.’
Cherry laughed and leaned into him, so glad to have the real thing to hold. ‘You don’t even know half of what I promised to that pillow.’
As the late afternoon sun gilded the waves behind them, Sean slung his arm around her. ‘That’s exactly what I want to hear. Now, let’s go home and you can tell me all about the other half – and then some.’