Chapter Fifty-One
Meet me on Porthmellow beach after work.
Tammy had sent her message two hours previously, after spending a restless night struggling with her thoughts. She still hadn’t had a reply from Ruan, although maybe she shouldn’t even expect one. She wouldn’t blame him if he was ignoring her messages.
She perched on a rock at the back of the beach, hugging her knees with her arms while the waves edged closer to her message.
Her emotions had shifted from hopeful to doubtful to nervous and now to despair.
Ruan was rarely without his phone – unless he was kitesurfing. That was a possibility.
Her spirits lifted and then sank again as an extra powerful wave surged up the beach to within metres of her creation.
She’d retreated to the rocks and made herself as inconspicuous as possible, not wanting to talk to anyone about the message or even own it as hers.
It was early evening and a few of the dog walkers were out for a stroll, one of them sniffing at a piece of seaweed in the centre of her design.
She pulled her baseball cap lower and pretended to look at her phone again so that the owner wouldn’t connect the creation with her.
Still no response from Ruan.
Another wave rolled up the beach, its frilly tendrils almost kissing the edge of the design.
Another few minutes and it would be washed away. Ruan wasn’t going to come.
She had to accept that her last rejection had been the final straw.
Tammy rose from her position and walked towards the design. Her efforts had been futile.
Two waves in succession raced up the sands and covered the bottom half of her design. When they retreated, the sand was washed clean. Ten seconds later, another breaker thundered in and erased the rest. Where her message had been, there was now only glistening wet sand and sea foam.
With tears rolling down her cheeks, she turned away, shoved her hands in her pockets and trudged down the beach.
Nothing lasted forever. She should have known that.