The Sunflower Cottage Breakfast Club (24 page)

‘I wish you weren't leaving,' Lucy admitted. ‘I've loved having you around the last few weeks. My best friends, Elle and George, lived round here till recently, but they've moved back to London now. I've missed having someone to hang out with and talk to. Don't get me wrong – the book club members are great but they all have their own lives to get on with. Do you
really
have to go back to Scotland?'

I nodded sadly and felt my heart sink in my chest. ‘Sorry, but I do. I'll never forget you, though. I won't forget anyone I've met here.'

My thoughts immediately turned to Noah and how awful things had turned between us. I knew he wanted me to stay, and that he loved me, but I still couldn't find the courage within myself to take a leap.

‘Even Noah?' Lucy looked at me as though she'd just read my thoughts.

‘Even Noah.'

‘How are things with you two now? Have you spoken to him recently?'

My insides twisted and my heart sank even further to my shoes. The last thing I wanted to do was rake over my situation with him but, knowing Lucy, I probably had no choice.

‘Nope. He comes round to help with Rose, but he always leaves pretty quickly. It's like he doesn't want anything to do with me anymore. I talked to Rose and, apparently, he told her he's in love with me and wants me to stay. He asked me to and called me a coward when I said I was going back to Glasgow. I'd
love
to stay, Lucy, but I can't. People like me don't do crazy things like moving hundreds of miles away after knowing someone for three weeks!'

‘Sometimes they do,' she said with a smile. ‘Did Rose tell you about how she—'

‘Gave up her job to run Sunflower Cottage? Yeah, she did,' I replied. ‘And that's amazing, but I couldn't do it myself. I'm just not brave enough.'

‘Why don't you talk to him about it?' Lucy suggested. ‘You could maybe work something out?'

I grimaced and tried not to laugh. ‘Yeah, I'm sure
that
conversation will go down well! I'd have to catch him first anyway; Usain Bolt isn't even in the picture when he's trying to get away from me!'

Lucy's gaze wandered to a spot over my shoulder. ‘Oh, I think it might be easier than you think.'

‘Eh?' I frowned. ‘What do you mean?'

I turned around and followed her gaze to where Noah and Dixie were standing on the pier. My heart leapt into my mouth and I shot up from the bench.

‘Oh shit!' I muttered. ‘What should I do? Should I go over?'

Lucy shrugged helplessly and pulled a confused face. ‘Now's as good a time to talk to him as any, isn't it? Just don't do what I usually do and burst into song.'

Great
, I thought,
really helpful advice!
I took a deep breath, sucked my tummy in and began to walk over. My already frayed nerves were stretched to breaking point as I clambered around in my head for the right thing to say. As Noah drew nearer, my search for the perfect words became ever more frantic until…

‘Nice shoes!'

What. The. Fuck.
Nice one, Emily!

Noah turned to look at me with a frown then looked down at his shoes.

‘Um, thanks, I suppose. Not sure my battered old Converses could be called “nice” but cheers anyway.'

An awkward silence ensued, broken only by Dixie's excited barking. She jumped up and down to get my attention and I felt her claws briefly scratch against my bare leg.

‘Hello, you! I've missed you!' I stooped down low to stroke her soft fur and she licked my face.

I cooed over her and told her how beautiful she was until she went to chase after a leaf blowing along the promenade. That left Noah and I leaning on the ornate balustrade that separated us from the beach, looking out to sea and not talking to each other.

‘I've missed you too,' I said, hoping to break the ice between us. ‘I've missed you a lot, actually.'

I heard him heave a sigh and he dropped his gaze to his feet. ‘I've been around to help with Rose. It's not like I've disappeared off the face of the earth.'

The sharp crispness I'd heard in his voice before was back. He'd reverted back to the Noah I'd met three weeks ago: closed off, guarded and totally unwilling to connect with me or anyone else.

‘No, I know, but… Look, Noah, can you just drop the moody act, please? I want to talk to you about what happened with us.'

He pushed himself off the balustrade and looked around to see that Dixie was still within his line of sight. She'd caught the leaf and was holding it under her paws while also trying to eat it.

‘Emily, why are you even bothering? You're leaving in two days and we'll probably never see each other again. You've made it quite clear you're not going to stay here, I'm not moving to Scotland, and we both know a long-distance relationship won't work. You were right: it's best we leave it now before it becomes even more complicated. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for the other day; it must've sounded like I was trying to pressure you into doing what I wanted. I wasn't; I just thought staying in Luna Bay was what you really wanted.'

It is
, I wanted to say,
I'm just too scared to make the leap and go after what I want.

‘Maybe it wasn't a good idea, us getting involved in the first place. I mean, we were always on borrowed time,' he said with a thoughtful sigh. ‘We should've just stayed away from each other, shouldn't we?'

I felt my hackles rise and my blood began to boil. My initial aim of reconciling with Noah quickly vanished and was replaced with the urge to give him a good telling-off.

‘You knew all of this before now, Noah. You always knew I wasn't going to stay in Luna Bay forever; I was always just going to be here until we closed the sale of Sunflower Cottage. You knew that when you kissed me in my room the day I showed you my mum's letters, but you did it anyway. If me not sticking around forever
really
bothered you that much, you'd have kept your distance. So what, Noah? Did you just want to lead me on, waste my time and let me think there was something between us when there wasn't? Maybe you wanted to get back at me for taking your precious Sunflower Cottage away from you or for nearly running you over. You must really have had a grudge against me to do something like that.'

I knew I was talking utter nonsense – he'd liked me just as much as I'd liked him – but I wanted to even the scoreboard after he'd said we shouldn't have got involved with each other.

‘Don't be so bloody stupid, Emily! Of course I didn't have a grudge against you. I told you before that I'm not good at getting close to people and that the only reason I was mean to you was because I didn't want to lose Sunflower Cottage.'

My heart twisted inside my chest as I looked at the sadness in his eyes. He looked like he was fighting his own emotions; I knew how hard that was.

‘I know that,' I said in a small voice. ‘I'm really sorry I said we should end things, Noah. That was really horrible of me.'

He jogged over to where Dixie was sniffing a suspicious-looking blob and lifted her away from it before she could eat it. He clipped her lead back on and looked at me, his face set in a strange expression.

‘You were right, Emily. We want different things and we're on different paths; I've realised that now. Let's just agree to call it a day here, eh? Before either of us gets hurt.'

I felt as if someone had kicked me in the stomach, knocking all the wind out of me in the process. There was nothing else to do or say. He was pretty set on what he wanted and it was clear I couldn't change his mind.

‘OK… Well, it was nice meeting you and… I… I'll never forget you.'

I choked the words out, then spun on my heel so he couldn't see the pain etched into my face or the tears running down my cheeks.

It was over. Noah and I were no more.

Chapter 24

On my last day in Luna Bay, Jake and Lucy cordially invited me to a barbecue at the Purple Partridge later that afternoon.

‘Call it a farewell party,' said Lucy, wrapping an arm round my shoulders. ‘I'm going to bloody miss you, you know!'

‘Feeling's mutual.' I wiggled round on my bar stool to get comfortable. ‘I don't suppose you know if Noah's coming, do you?'

She nodded. ‘Yeah, I think he said he was. Don't worry; you don't have to speak to him after what happened yesterday. Just come and enjoy yourself before you go home tomorrow.'

‘OK,' I agreed. ‘You're on!'

*

I went back to Sunflower Cottage to get ready for the barbecue. Rose was sitting in the kitchen, her leg sticking outwards and her face contorted in pain.

‘Are you OK?' I asked. ‘Have you taken your painkillers today?'

‘Don't worry, I'm fine. It's just playing up a bit today,' she replied.

I stuck the kettle on and brewed her a cup of tea. ‘If you like, I can skip the barbecue at the Purple Partridge and stay here with you.'

‘Oh no, I'll be fine! You can't miss your final chance to see Jake and Lucy; you'd never forgive yourself.'

I shrugged in defeat. ‘If you're sure.'

‘Noah's going as well, isn't he?' Rose's voice was a little too inquisitive for my liking. Her question sounded very much like a leading one.

‘That's what Lucy told me.' I eyed her with suspicion and she did her best butter-wouldn't-melt expression.

‘In that case, why don't you wear that lovely dress you bought the other week? The one with, what was it, butterflies or flowers?'

‘Butterflies,' I replied. ‘And you do know nothing's going to happen between us, don't you? He's made that perfectly clear.'

‘Never say never.' She winked at me and gave what she thought was a mysterious look that actually made her look constipated. ‘Oh, by the way, I forgot to tell you; I signed the papers to sell Sunflower Cottage to Walter Marshall Hotels.'

She hauled herself up from the living room couch and struggled through to the kitchen, returning moments later with the signed contract.

Holding it in my hands felt surreal for a moment; I even had to check to see if she'd actually signed it.

‘Wow,' I breathed. ‘You're really going through with it.'

She nodded and I noticed tears well up in her eyes. ‘I am. You did as I asked and helped Noah run it, so I'm signing it over as promised. It'll be good to make a fresh start; I've given thirty years of my life to this place and now it's time to do something new.'

‘What do you think you'll do?'

She shrugged. ‘Oh, I don't know; maybe I'll give sky-diving a try or go swimming with sharks! Whatever it is, it'll be something that keeps me busy. After all this time, I'm not sure I know how to be anything else.'

A rogue sob escaped her and I pulled her into a comforting hug. ‘You're leaving Sunflower Cottage in the best hands, I promise. Time for you to have a new adventure.'

‘Yeah, you're right. I'm not sure what my new adventure's going to be yet, but it's quite exciting knowing I've got options. This time next year, I could be on a Caribbean cruise or climbing Everest!' She wiped some tears from her eyes and managed a smile. ‘Anyway, off with you! You've got a barbecue to get ready for. I'll be fine here by myself.'

I did as I was told and headed off upstairs to change into The Dress. I closed my room door behind me and picked up my phone to dial Paul's number.

‘What?' He sounded even more stressed than usual when he finally picked up.

‘Hello to you too! I've got some good news for you; Sunflower Cottage is ours.'

There was a long pause before he said anything. I began to think he'd fainted or had a stroke or something.

‘Paul?'

‘YESSSSSS! I knew you could do it, Emily! Now get your arse back up the road to bonnie Scotland; there's a promotion here with your name on it.'

I hung up the call, waiting for the sense of elation to come. I'd done it. I'd secured Sunflower Cottage and the promotion I'd always wanted. I should've felt on top of the world.

But I didn't. Instead, I felt my heart sink and my insides twist with regret.

*

I managed to get to the pub's barbecue reasonably on time. This was despite my hairdryer choosing to stop working and The Dress going walkabout. I finally found it in a guest's room, wedged in among a pile of towels. I also had to run to the post office to mail the signed contracts back to Glasgow. I made it just before the last post was collected and dropped them in with a finality I wasn't sure I was happy with.

As I stepped onto the Purple Partridge's outside deck, I immediately began scanning the gathered mass to see if I could see Noah. There was so much left unsaid between us and tonight was probably going to be my last chance to say any of it…

‘He's not here yet,' said a voice behind me. I instantly recognised it as Jake's.

‘Who?' I tried my best to sound nonchalant. ‘I wasn't looking for anyone.'

‘Yeah, right! He said he'll be here, but he'll probably be running late. Us Hartleys have never been good timekeepers.'

I could see fear and excitement dance in Jake's eyes. They darted round the crowd, probably looking for Lucy, as his fingers drummed against his thighs.

‘Someone looks excited about something!' I said with a chuckle.

He took a final look round and leaned in close to me. ‘Keep this to yourself, but I'm about to propose to Lucy!'

My mouth dropped open. ‘Oh my God! Jake, that's amazing!'

I was pretty impressed by my ‘surprised' performance. I'd obviously missed my calling in life; I should've gone for a career on the stage.

He let out a throaty, gravelly laugh and sipped his pint of beer. ‘Yeah, she's got no idea about it either. I've had the ring hidden in my sock drawer for a few weeks now. Can't wait to see her face! Just hope something doesn't go horribly wrong.'