Chapter 27
In spite of his best efforts to persuade her, Frankie had refused Ed’s offer to help her into the wetsuit and had shut Harry and Kat’s bathroom door firmly in his face.
By the time he’d managed to get into his and pulled a pair of jogging bottoms and an old hoodie on over it, she’d emerged from the bathroom.
Her cheeks were flushed from the exertion and he thought she’d never looked prettier.
She’d put her T-shirt and top on, but was holding the jeans she’d been wearing in one hand.
‘There’s no way I can get these back on over the top. ’
‘I’m sure Kat will have something you can borrow. Why don’t you give her a call?’
They were saved from having to do that as Harry let himself into the flat at just that moment.
‘God, it’s been mad all day. We’ve finally run out of food and I’ve had to leave Kat supervising the clean down so I can come and get changed.
’ He raised his eyes in surprise when he spotted Frankie’s neoprene-covered legs. ‘What’s this, then?’
‘Aidan Reilly tried to embarrass Frankie earlier in the café but she turned the tables on him and made him and his pals sponsor her to do the splash.’
‘Well, good for you! Give me a couple of minutes to change and we can head down to the beach together.’
‘I was going to call Kat and see if she had some leggings or something I could borrow,’ Frankie said. ‘But I won’t bother her if she’s busy.’
‘I’ll find you something,’ Harry assured her then looked over at Ed. ‘There are loads of beach towels in the airing cupboard in your bedroom. Can you grab some?’
Five minutes later and the three of them were on their way.
Harry had found a pair of navy yoga pants that he assured them Kat wore only for lounging about at the weekends and Frankie would be fine to borrow.
The crowds had thinned out on Harbour Road as many of the stalls were either closed or getting ready to shut up shop.
The splash-for-cash was the last programmed event for the day as Rick and the other organisers wanted to get everyone away before it got dark.
There were a few people lining the wall along the seafront, but not perhaps as many as Ed had expected.
He’d hoped people would turn out and support them, but he supposed it didn’t matter that much as long as the collection buckets had got filled.
As they reached the top of the steps leading down to the beach it became clear where everyone was.
Rick had planted a couple of the tall bright-green flags he used in the summer to advertise his water-sports hire company to mark out their starting area.
A huge horseshoe-shaped crowd had formed around them, several people deep.
More people had chosen vantage points just above the water line.
‘It looks like half the village has stuck around to watch us make fools of ourselves,’ he said to Harry.
‘At least half,’ his twin agreed.
Ed took Frankie’s hand and kept her close to him as Harry moved ahead to make a space through the crowd.
It took them a couple of minutes to break through as so many people wanted to wish them luck but they finally made it to where Liam, Rick and Matt were already waiting in the semicircle of empty sand, towels and waterproof robes resting at their feet.
‘Whose stupid idea was this?’ Rick joked as they dropped their own towels and robes on the pile.
‘Definitely not mine!’ Matt grumbled as he raised his eyes to the heavens. ‘At least it’s not raining, I suppose.’
‘Or snowing,’ Liam added with a grin as he swung his arms out and back around himself in an effort to keep warm.
‘Does it snow here often?’ Frankie asked Ed as they began to unzip their coats and add them to the pile.
She was looking a little pale and Ed wondered if she was having second thoughts. It was too late for her to back out now without losing face so he decided not to ask how she was feeling and stick to the topic. ‘Most years we’re more likely to get rain than snow at Christmas, unfortunately.’
‘I saw a forecast that said there was a chance this year,’ Liam said as he began stripping off his outer layers.
‘They always say that and it never comes to anything,’ Rick replied with a shake of his head. ‘Those few times we’ve had anything like real snow here it’s usually end of January or early February.’ He removed his jumper and T-shirt, leaving himself in just his wetsuit. ‘Right, are we all ready?’
‘As ready as I’m going to be,’ Matt said. ‘Come on, let’s get on with it before we all freeze to bloody death.’
Frankie was visibly shivering next to him and Ed swept up his thick, waterproof robe and slung it around her shoulders. ‘Hang onto that until Rick gives us the go-ahead.’ She tugged it around herself and gave him a grateful smile.
There was a ripple in the crowd next to them and they all turned as a familiar voice called out, ‘Come on, now, let us through.’ As the harbour master, their father was used to issuing commands and people parted before him as obediently as the waves before Moses.
He was wearing his full dress uniform, carrying Anya’s daughter, Freya, on his shoulders.
She was wearing Jago’s cap, and holding it with two hands to stop it falling down over her eyes.
The rest of the family followed in their wake, Ma and Pa included.
Issy, Chloe, Anya and Kat made a beeline straight for Frankie, taking her to one side and talking in low whispers.
Ed watched as her shoulders relaxed and each of them took turns in hugging her, pleased they’d been able to bolster her confidence when he’d not been able to find the right words.
Their dad swung Freya down and into the safe embrace of Ma, who placed her hands on the little girl’s shoulders so she could keep her close.
Uncle Ryan stomped over and began stripping off his clothes.
‘Dad? What are you doing?’ Matt asked him as Ryan kicked off his shoes and unbuttoned his trousers.
‘I can’t have the rest of you showing me up, now, can I? Especially not him.’ He paused to jerk a thumb in the direction of his brother, Jago. ‘He’d never let me hear the bloody end of it.’
Jago clapped a hand on Ryan’s shoulder and let loose his big, booming laugh.
‘Come on, little brother, let’s show these kids how it’s done.
’ He turned to the crowd. ‘Are you ready?’ A cheer went up, but Jago shook his head.
‘I said are you ready?’ The cheer was louder this time. ‘Count us down from ten!’
‘Nine!’ the crowd chanted.
Frankie’s head shot up and she locked eyes with Ed.
‘Eight!’
He held his hand out and she hurried over to join him.
‘Seven!’
Chloe, Anya and Kat moved closer to the waterline and turned to face them, phones raised to catch the moment.
‘Ready?’ Ed squeezed Frankie’s hand, trying to ignore the butterflies starting in his own stomach.
‘Six!’
Frankie nodded and shrugged off the waterproof robe.
‘Five!’
They stepped forward and joined the ragged line the others had formed across the sand.
‘Four!’
‘This is bloody stupid,’ Matt ground out, but it didn’t stop him from taking a big step forward.
‘Three!’
They edged closer to the water’s edge. A wave lapped at Ed’s toes and it was all he could do not to shriek at how cold it was.
‘Two!’
‘No turning back now, lads!’ Jago called out, then let out another booming laugh as if he was having the time of his life. Knowing their dad, he probably was.
‘One!’
Frankie yanked her hand free of Ed’s and with a banshee’s scream she ran through the shallows then plunged head first into the nearest wave.
Whoops and hollers from his madcap family echoed around as one after the other they plunged into the freezing waves.
Ignoring the cold, Ed only had eyes for the spot where Frankie had vanished beneath the water.
He was waist-deep and wading fast when she popped up out of the sea and tossed her head back, sending her hair flying back over her shoulders in a wave of salty spray.
She held her arms wide and screamed again, the sound one of pure exhilaration and joy.
‘I did it! I did it!’ she yelled as Ed reached her.
‘You bloody well did!’ He was grinning so hard, his cheeks were aching, but it was impossible not to watch her.
Around them, the others shouted and laughed as they dived into the waves then rose again to splash each other.
A massive handful of water caught Ed full in the face and he sputtered as he tried to wipe his stinging eyes.
When he could see properly, the culprit was his father, who was grinning fit to burst. ‘Why’s your hair still dry?
’ Jago demanded. ‘Get yourself under, lad, or it doesn’t count. ’
‘Dip! Dip! Dip!’ his brothers chanted, clapping their hands as they formed a circle around him.
Knowing he had no choice, Ed clamped his finger and thumb over his nose, sucked in a deep breath and kicked his legs out so he sank under the waves.
The second his bottom touched the seabed he pushed himself back up, emerging from the water with a roar.
‘Satisfied?’ he demanded and the others laughed and clapped.
Frankie was doing her best to smile, but her teeth were already beginning to chatter.
‘Let’s get the hell out of here!’ He leaned forward and scooped her up into his arms, turned and began wading back to the shore.
Her arms closed around his neck and she clung on until he’d got them back onto the beach, the others staggering out alongside him.
Applause and cheers greeted them. Moments later they were engulfed as the rest of the family hurried over to wrap them in towels and waterproof robes.
Ed dried off as quickly as he could, pleased to see that Chloe was helping Frankie towel off and pull on her clothes.
The crowd that had gathered was already starting to drift away, and by the time everyone was dressed to the point they could scramble off the beach, they’d cleared enough that there wasn’t even a queue to get up the steps.
Frankie was bundled in Ed’s waterproof robe, some of the colour returned to her cheeks, and by the time they got back up to the main road, she insisted she was warm enough for them to head straight back to the cottage.
Slipping into a hot bath with her was infinitely preferable to queuing behind Harry for the shower, so they left the others after a round of hugs and a promise to collect Frankie’s things from his room in the morning.