Chapter Twenty-Nine
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
With enormous relief, Lily spotted the plane heading out of clouds towards the sunshine at St Mary’s Airport.
Boy, she needed some light to focus on after the gloom of the previous evening. Had she been right to end the relationship with Sam before it had even begun? Or should they just have slept together and been satisfied with that?
She’d had little rest, turning the words she’d said to him over and over, wondering endlessly if she’d made the right decision to push him away. Surely it would have been worse for both of them to have started a relationship that might end in failure?
Even if they could overcome the physical distance between them – and solve all the practicalities – Sam sounded as if he was still grieving for Rhiannon and clinging on to the past. Lily might simply be a distraction for him – a brief moment of solace.
After finally finding someone she felt a deep connection with, why did it have to be a man who lived in another world and whose heart was still in the possession of another woman? It had felt kinder to use their differences in lifestyle and commitments as an excuse for a clean break.
The plane came into view, seemingly metres above the cliff at the end of the runway, wings wobbling. Before she had time to think nervously about its precious cargo, it had dropped onto the tarmac and braked hard.
A minute later, the steps unfolded and étienne and the girls were climbing down them. They spotted Lily immediately. Once they were off the runway, the twins broke away, pigtails flying in the breeze.
‘Auntieeee Lileeeeeee!’
They ran into the terminal and launched themselves on her.
‘Hello, you two! It’s so wonderful to see you.’ Lily felt emotion clog her throat. Her spirits soared. She’d always have Tania and Amelie, her beloved nieces. Nothing could ever change that.
Amelie, keen to be on the move as usual, danced around her while Tania gripped her hand like a vice.
étienne arrived, face wreathed in smiles. ‘I think it’s safe to say they’re pleased to see you. Thank God we’re here. I don’t think any of us has had much sleep since I told them we were coming for a visit.’
‘Is this Stark?’ Amelie said. ‘Where’s your cottage? Where’s the café?’
A small voice beside her murmured, ‘And the playground?’
‘They’ve been on Google Earth,’ étienne said with a grimace. ‘A lot.’
‘Clever girls. The playground’s on Bryher, darling.’ Lily squeezed Tania’s hand and addressed them both: ‘I promise we’ll visit it tomorrow.’
She was rewarded with little skips from the pair of them.
Finally, étienne got a look in, kissing Lily’s cheek. ‘I hardly recognised you.’
‘Oh, you’re just saying that.’
‘No, it’s true. You’ve stepped out into the sun. What magic has this place worked on you in two weeks?’
‘It’s not magic. Only the sunshine, some fresh air and – er – exercise. You’re a doctor, you know how it works.’
‘It’s more than that. Girls, there are our cases. Shall we collect them?’
While the girls retrieved purple and yellow wheelies from the shortest conveyor belt in the history of the world, étienne smiled. ‘This airport is like the little ones in French Polynesia. Look, there are even agapanthus and proteas.’
‘It is beautiful and everything is bijou,’ Lily said, when he’d picked his case from the belt. The girls skipped out of the terminal to a pick-up area where passengers were being shepherded onto waiting minibuses.
‘Do we get to go in a bus?’ Amelie asked, hyper enough to jump on the first vehicle wherever it might end up.
‘No,’ Lily said. ‘We’re waiting for Rory. He keeps a Land Rover on St Mary’s and he’ll take us to the quay where Sam’s boat is waiting to take us to Stark.’
‘Land Rovers? Boats to Stark?’ étienne looked delighted. ‘I can barely believe it. You know, flying over the islands, I really thought I might be back in Mo’orea … the turquoise sea, the white beaches, and now the flowers and the boats ferrying us to tiny paradises.’
Lily patted his back. ‘You wait until you feel the temperature of the water, then you’ll know you’re not in the South Pacific. Let’s go. Rory’s just arrived.’
The journey to Stark was suitably exciting. The Land Rover trundled around country lanes into Hugh Town with its shops and galleries, and finally onto the cobbled quay.
Everyone thanked Rory and he let them out.
‘That car smells funny,’ Tania whispered to Lily while étienne was unloading their bags, with Amelie helping.
‘It’s fish, sweetheart. Rory is a fisherman.’
‘I don’t like fish. Daddy says it’s very good for us but I only like fish fingers and he says they’re not proper fish.’ Tania slipped her hand into Lily’s again. ‘Will we have to eat fish on the island?’
‘Not if you don’t want to,’ said Lily. ‘I promise.’
‘Hi there!’ Sam called from below. While they were unloading, the Hydra had come alongside the quay.
‘That’s our boat? Nice,’ said étienne.
‘I’ll give him a hand,’ Lily said.
Leaving the twins with their father, she skipped down the steps onto the pontoon and helped Sam tie up.
Seeing him amidst her family was a shock. Normally she had no problem introducing people to each other. She’d done it at scores of meetings and conferences but this was different. Once again, she had the sense of her life not being quite real.
étienne was a strikingly handsome man, yet she had only ever had brotherly feelings towards him.
Whereas Sam, tall, rugged and impossibly gorgeous, sent her stomach into a full gymnastics routine. That could be down to nervousness, of course. Would they get on? Would bringing her family here reinforce the fact that she didn’t belong? Would étienne realise how she felt about Sam?
Suddenly, étienne and he were talking about boats and she hadn’t even introduced them properly.
‘Great boat. Looks like it has some oomph?’
‘Yeah, I need it round here.’ Sam’s reply held more than a touch of pride.
‘I had a fast RIB on Mo’orea. Ashore, a wrecked old Deux Chevaux van. No one cares about the car. It’s your boat that counts there.’ étienne sighed. ‘I miss that in London.’
Sam laughed. ‘Wait until you see the wreck I keep for chugging around Bryher.’
Lily was momentarily superfluous to requirements and loved it. If she’d been worried that Sam might retreat into his shell because of their discussion the previous evening, there’d been no need. Of course she’d been wrong, she thought with a jolt. Sam would never let his personal feelings stop him from welcoming her family. Problem was, she liked him all the more for that.
‘Come on, let’s get on board,’ she said, gathering the twins to her. ‘Be really careful climbing on. I’ll help you.’
Twenty bone-shaking, ear-shattering minutes later, during which time Sam had allowed étienne to briefly take the wheel while the girls had screeched in excitement and terror, they were slipping through the rocks towards Stark jetty.
‘You never let me do that,’ Lily accused Sam while they were tying up.
‘You never asked. You can once we’re in the open water. I was keeping a close eye on étienne.’
‘I’ll hold you to that,’ she said, before realising she might not have the chance.
étienne had helped the girls off the boat and they skipped ahead up the path.
He hung back. ‘So, this is the magical island,’ he said. ‘Where the ancient ghosts still wander.’
‘Where have you read that?’
‘I can Google too, in my occasional coffee breaks,’ he said. ‘It does have an atmosphere … like Raiatea.’
‘It’s not the centre of civilisation and culture,’ Lily said, referencing the island where étienne had been born. ‘Don’t get too excited.’
‘That’s okay. I’m mainly hoping to get some sleep,’ he said, nodding at the girls who were bouncing around outside the reception hub. ‘Though I don’t think I’ve got a cat in hell’s chance.’
As it turned out, étienne was wrong. After dinner, Sam and Lily took him and the girls for a little wander towards the highest point of the island. It was a warm evening, although the horizon was flecked with hundreds of clouds that looked like a sea monster’s scales, according to Tania.
‘They’re cirrocumulus clouds,’ Sam explained.
The girls tried to get their tongues around the word for half a minute then dissolved into giggles.
‘Will they rain on us?’ Amelie asked.
‘No. They’re not heading in our direction – and anyway, they usually don’t mean rain.’
‘Good. I don’t want rain for the craft fair,’ Lily said.
‘I think it will stay fine,’ Sam said.
Amelie yawned. ‘I’m tired, Daddy. Can I go to bed early?’
étienne let out a gasp.
‘I’m not tired at all, ’ Tania declared but tugged at Lily’s hand. ‘Will you read us a story, Auntie Lily?’
‘About the ghosts ,’ étienne mouthed to Lily, causing Sam to suppress laughter.
Lily shot étienne a glare. ‘Come on, let’s go back to your cottage and get ready for bed. Then I’ll read to you.’
‘I’ll join you in a moment. Sam said he’d show me the pest house.’
‘What’s the pest house?’ Tania chimed in.
‘It’s where he keeps his concrete mixer,’ étienne said while Sam smiled wryly.
Lily shook her head at the fib but was relieved. None of them wanted to be embroiled in tales of death and disease right before bedtime.
‘Come on, then. Let’s go home.’
It was funny, she thought, how ‘home’ became a movable feast when you were on holiday. A tent, a caravan, a cottage on a remote islet. Did Sam think of the flat on Stark as his home – or Hell Bay House? She immediately answered her own question. Almost certainly Hell Bay House.
Her thoughts drifted back to the previous evening: Rhiannon had decided Sam would never be happy anywhere else, that he could never change.
Yet Lily herself had changed …
The twins soon claimed her full attention. Herding them into pyjamas, persuading them not to eat all the chocolates in the hamper at once or trampoline on the bed, was a major feat.
‘Can we have Rainbow Fairies , please?’ Tania asked when they’d finally brushed their teeth.
Amelie produced her own book. ‘I want Unicorn Academy .’
‘Tell you what. Why don’t we have a bit of each?’
Lily was reading from the unicorn book when étienne joined them and by then the twins were half-asleep. She wondered what he and Sam had talked about: boats, probably, or power tools … or plague and leprosy.
He took the book. ‘I can take over now.’
‘We want Auntie Lily …’ Amelie said sleepily.
Tania emitted a little snore.
‘I think it’s time to sleep,’ he said softly. ‘I’ll finish this story and let Auntie Lily get her beauty sleep.’
‘Why does she need a beauty sleep?’ Amelie said.
‘It’s just a saying. An English saying. Elle est parfaite .’
‘I’m very far from parfaite , as you well know. That was Cara.’
‘No one is perfect, not even your sister,’ étienne said, with a bitterness that took Lily by surprise. He must be missing Cara very badly tonight. He took the book from her. ‘Now, Sam could do with some help clearing up after us.’
Lily scoffed. ‘I can’t believe he would have said anything like that.’
‘I deduced it. Like Sherlock Holmes.’
‘Sure you did. I will go and offer, though.’
‘I may just turn in early. Read a book myself. I’m knackered.’
‘OK. See you tomorrow.’
‘It will come round soon enough with these two in charge.’
When Lily returned to the hub, Sam had already cleared away and loaded the dishwasher. Alone with him again, she wasn’t sure how to approach him. Last night had changed everything.
‘Coffee?’ he said. ‘I can make one for étienne as long as he doesn’t complain that it’s not like the good French stuff.’
‘I think he might have fallen asleep already. I think he’s shattered.’
‘Holding down a job as an A&E consultant and a single parent? No wonder.’
‘They have the nanny to help,’ Lily said, sitting down opposite Sam. ‘But you’re right. It’s tough parenting and having a full-time job. However old the kids are,’ she added. ‘I suspect Morven causes twice the angst the girls do.’
‘Yeah. She does. Did. Hopefully … and I mean this in the best way because I do love her … she will soon be causing Nate the angst, though less of it since she decided to admit she wants to go to Falmouth next year. Thanks for helping her be able to tell us.’
‘I didn’t do anything.’
‘You did. You managed to break down the wall somehow.’
‘I didn’t break anything down. Morven was tired, cold and desperate. I only happened to find her first and be someone outside of the family. To be honest, I’m amazed she didn’t chuck her camping stove at me.’
‘No, you’re wrong. You’re good with people.’
Lily laughed. ‘Tell that to my army of Internet trolls.’
‘You’re doing it again. Deflecting a compliment.’
‘Am I?’ Lily said.
‘And you shouldn’t.’
‘No, I shouldn’t,’ she said. ‘OK. I’m good with some people, most of the time.’ She remembered what étienne had said: No one is perfect, not even your sister , and felt a ripple of unease. It had been an emotional time for her, for Sam, for the family. No wonder everyone was on edge.
‘I think I’ll have an early night. Very early,’ she qualified. ‘I’ve got a big day tomorrow.’
‘You’ll be fine,’ he said firmly, with the confidence of someone who cares about you and can’t imagine why others wouldn’t feel the same. ‘In fact, you’ll be brilliant.’
Lily felt her cheeks glow.
‘Thank you. I must admit, I feel a bit nervous at being on show after all the furore with the TV show and the press coverage of the accident. I wouldn’t admit this to anyone else, but I’ve no idea what the reaction will be. I’m sure some people will think I’m taking over, like Morven did.’
‘We’ll be there, cheering you on. If you can win over Morven, you can work your magic on anyone.’
Even you? she thought, half regretting she hadn’t taken things further after all.
‘What time do you need to be at the community centre?’ he asked, switching to practical matters – fortuitously, Lily decided, as her resolve was in danger of wobbling.
‘It opens at ten but I said I’d arrive at nine-thirty.’
‘We should leave here at nine, then. Is that too early for the twins?’
‘Considering how hyper they are, I doubt it.’
‘Early breakfast and we’ll set off.’
Lily felt a rush of affection for him and was touched at the way he was tying himself in knots to boost her confidence.
‘Sounds good. See you in the morning.’
She walked back to the cottage, with the sun in the background slipping towards a sea of liquid gold. It was an impossibly romantic evening. However, at least tonight she’d had the girls and étienne as the best possible chaperones. Soon, she and Sam would be out of temptation’s way.