‘What’s that?’ Rory asked, as she opened it.
Juliet blinked at the figure on the paper in front of her, and the scrawled note from her sister. ‘It’s . . . all the money we made at the festival. Miranda wants us to use it set up the Lighthouse restaurant.’
‘Really? Wow.’ Rory kissed her. ‘So. Are you ready?’
‘For what?’
‘The future.’
A smile spread across Juliet’s face. ‘You know what? I think I am.’
And even Lucy hummed her agreement.
MESSAGES
Tom (to Leo): Boss, if you get a notice about a speeding ticket on the M4, just know that the tunes were pumping and the road was clear and I’m very, very sorry.
Juliet (to the ’Rents group): Um, some guy just showed up here with a parrot in a cage and said it was for me. This is your idea of a joke, right?
Josie: We just thought the new baby would like a pet!
Juliet: He or she already has a llama!!!
Miranda (to Owain): You’re still in Rome tonight, right? Meet me at the Colosseum and I’ll take you for pizza. I can stay a couple of days, then I’m off to Venice. Fancy a trip on the canals between gigs?
Leo (to Christabel): So, I’m looking at buying a city bike for cycling to work. Don’t suppose you could recommend a good bike shop in London . . . ?
ONE YEAR LATER
MIRANDA
As she stepped off the ferry, Miranda took a deep lungful of sea air, and smiled. Down by the harbour, she could hear Albert Tuna singing to himself as he cleaned his boat. The candy-coloured houses lined the edge of Long Beach like always, and there was a scent of ice cream and chips in the air. Puffy white clouds bobbed overhead, as the waves lapped gently against the shore.
Ferry passengers pushed past her, all keen to get onto Seashell Island, ready for the Lighthouse Festival tomorrow night. Miranda didn’t know what Juliet had planned exactly, but the excited chatter from festival goers on the boat over suggested great things. Plus she knew from Juliet’s messages that the B&B had been booked solid all summer – as had most of the island’s holiday cottages, apparently. Nigel and Gwen had needed to hire another two staff members to cope with the demand, and were still run off their feet. ‘Which is good,’ Juliet had said when she called, ‘Since Paul hasn’t been home once since he left. Takes their mind off it.’
Juliet, now a staple of the island community, always had all the gossip.
And Miranda had been home – for a couple of days at Christmas, and then in the early spring when baby Noah was born. But coming back to the island in summer . . . that was seeing Seashell Island as it was meant to be.
‘Good to be home?’ Owain asked, moving to stand behind her, as the final passengers disembarked and pushed past them.
‘Always.’ She turned to kiss him, happy to take their time. ‘It’s hard to believe that it’s over a year ago that I was chasing Lucy across that beach, though. So much has happened since then.’
‘And you’ve been to many places,’ Owain replied. ‘But right now, I think there are some people waiting for you.’ He nudged her around to face the far end of the jetty, and her smile widened as she saw what he was talking about.
There, waiting by the harbour wall, was her family. Josie and Iestyn, waving madly, both wearing sombreros they must have picked up on their latest trip to Mexico. Juliet and Rory, the latter holding a squirming Noah, both looking tired but happy. Leo and – ooh, that was a surprise – Christabel too, not standing too close but clearly together, with Abby and Mia in front of them waving as well. And even Leo’s long-suffering assistant Tom had made the journey back for the festival. He, Miranda was amused to note, was holding the end of the lead attached to the harness that someone had managed to fasten around Lucy’s body.
For a second, Miranda just took in the view, content to see them all together again, and all happy. Then, as Owain took her hand, she stepped forward to greet them all, her heart overflowing. She wondered how long it would take one of them to notice the sparkling engagement ring on her left finger . . .
They wouldn’t stay more than a week, Miranda knew, before it was time to move on again – Owain had recording planned this autumn, so she’d be running her VA business from his cottage in North Wales for a while, until the gigs started up again. The best thing about having a job she could do from anywhere, she’d found, was all the places she got to travel while doing it.
But for now, she was home on Seashell Island for the end-of-summer Lighthouse Festival, with all her family around her.
And there was nowhere she would rather be.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
No book is an island . . .
A huge thank you to everyone who helped make Summer on Seashell Island a reality, most especially:
My parents, Steve and Janet Cannon. If you hadn’t disappeared to Australia for months on end, I’d never have had the idea to write this book. Not to mention all those cruises you keep going on . . .
My brothers, Kip and Mike Cannon. It’s good to know we can just about survive without them being in the country, right? Still, Kip, maybe hide the passports next time you’re at the old homestead?
My husband, Simon, and my kids, Holly and Sam. Without the three of you, Lucifer the Llama would never exist. And I think that would be a shame.
My agent, Gemma Cooper, always.
My editor, Victoria Oundjian, for answering ‘of course!’ when I asked if there could be a llama. And, you know, everything else she did for this book . . .
Everyone at Orion, for all the support and hard work that’s gone into making this book happen, even in difficult times.And, above all, thank you to YOU – my readers. Messages from you, photos of you reading my books, emails and comments and questions – they all make my day, every day. Come find me on social media and stay in touch, please?
Facebook: @SophiePembrokeAuthor
Instagram: @sophie_pembroke
Twitter: @Sophie_Pembroke
CREDITS
We would like to thank everyone at Orion who worked on the publication of Summer on Seashell Island in the UK.
Editorial
Victoria Oundjian
Olivia Barber
Copy editor
Justine Taylor
Proof reader
Kate Shearma
Audio
Paul Stark
Amber Bates
Contracts
Anne Goddard
Paul Bulos
Jake Alderson
Design
Debbie Holmes
Joanna Ridley
Nick May
Helen Ewing
Editorial Management
Charlie Panayiotou
Jane Hughes
Alice Davis
Finance
Jasdip Nandra
Afeera Ahmed
Elizabeth Beaumont
Sue Baker
Marketing
Tanjiah Islam
Production
Ruth Sharvell
Publicity
Kate Moreton
Sales
Jen Wilson
Esther Waters
Victoria Laws
Rachael Hum
Ellie Kyrke-Smith
Frances Doyle
Georgina Cutler
Operations
Jo Jacobs
Sharon Willis
Lisa Pryde
Lucy Brem
If you loved Summer on Seashell Island, don’t miss Sophie Pembroke’s heartwarming winter romance . . .
Welcome to Mistletoe Island,
where dreams can come true . . .
The snow is falling and Fliss’s friends have arrived to celebrate her wedding f
or a week at Holly Cottage. It’s the perfect way to kick off her brand-new life, isn’t it?
Except Ruth wishes she was anywhere other than a remote Scottish island, Caitlin is keeping a secret from her friends, Lara is suddenly facing her ex a decade after turning down his proposal and even the bride has something to hide . . .
But as the friends prepare for a week to remember, will Fliss’s dream wedding go off without a hitch, or will the secrets they’ve been hiding change everything?
Available now in paperback, ebook and audio
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sophie Pembroke was born in Abu Dhabi, but grew up in Wales and now lives in a little Hertfordshire market town with her scientist husband, her incredibly imaginative daughter, and her adventurous, adorable little boy. In Sophie’s world, happy is for ever after, everything stops for tea, and there’s always time for one more page . . .
COPYRIGHT
First published in Great Britain in 2020 by Orion Fiction,
an imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd
Carmelite House, 50 Victoria Embankment,
London EC4Y 0DZ
An Hachette UK company
Copyright © Sophie Pembroke 2020
The moral right of Sophie Pembroke to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
All the characters in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN (eBook) 978 1 4091 8983 1
Typeset by Input Data Services Ltd, Somerset
www.orionbooks.co.uk
Summer on Seashell Island: Escape to an island this summer for the perfect heartwarming romance in 2020 (Riley Wolfe 1) Page 32