by Holly Martin
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Epilogue
Stay in touch…
Also by Holly Martin
A letter from Holly
Acknowledgements
For DW
Chapter One
‘A pudding parade?’ Jesse said.
He sounded tired. Skye could imagine her ex-husband lying in bed, with only a sheet to cover his modesty, propped up on a pillow as he spoke to her, his curly, unkempt hair sticking out at all angles, his beard probably in need of a trim. She checked her watch. It was just past seven o’clock in the morning where he was in Canada, was that too early? For someone who worked as much as Jesse did, it probably was. She normally spoke to him late afternoon, early evenings when it was a bit more of a respectable time for him but she’d been working on this project all morning and she’d been excited to talk to him about it.
‘Are you still in bed?’ Skye asked, her mind happily taking her back to the last time she had laid in bed with him.
‘Yeah,’ Jesse said and she could hear the smile in his voice. Was he thinking the same thing?
‘I’m sorry, I should have called you later.’
‘You never have to apologise for calling me, you know that.’
She smiled with love for him.
‘Tell me more about the pudding parade,’ Jesse said. ‘I’m presuming it’s your English version of pudding, which is all desserts – not our Canadian version, which is more custardy than cake.’
‘You’d be right, a pudding parade with different-flavoured custards or mousses would be a bit boring.’
‘I don’t know, there’s strawberry pudding, chocolate, butterscotch, vanilla—’
‘Jesse Hamilton, enough with the puddings. “Dessert parade” doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. Our American and Canadian guests will just have to deal with it. Anyway, I’ve been wanting to do something to help promote Cones at the Cove, some kind of celebration or event or festival to showcase our wonderful desserts and ice creams, but I wasn’t sure what I could do. And then Kendra said…’
‘Your godmother.’
‘Yes, the lady who owns the bakery here, she said that Jewel Island used to have a pudding parade every spring and it was a big event. She doesn’t remember it herself but her mum told her all about it. So I did some research and it is the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever seen. It all started with a rhubarb pie—’
‘Eww god, rhubarb is the devil’s food.’
‘It’s not, rhubarb crumble with homemade custard is one of my favourite childhood puddings. The stuff grows in abundance here on the island and we always used to go out and pick it from the hotel gardens. Anyway, every year, Walter, the previous owner of my café, used to make this huge rhubarb pie, and when I say huge, it needed six men to carry the thing. The pie would be carried around the island on a golden tray, escorted by someone playing the bagpipes, the lord mayor—’
‘Seamus?’
‘Well, he is the mayor now, but I think this was a bit before his time. And there was the town crier and several children dressed up as rhubarb would follow it. There was also a king and queen of the rhubarb pie, children from the local school, who would dress up as royalty and lead the procession and even an escort from the navy. There would be music and other festivities and games to celebrate the procession. Soon it wasn’t just a rhubarb pie parade, other puddings, cakes and desserts were getting in on the act too. The pie would be the big attraction of the parade, but then all the other bakers and cake-makers in the village, even just people who made homemade cakes and desserts, would follow the pie around the island showing off their wonderful creations too.’
‘This sounds very unhygienic,’ Jesse said.
Skye laughed. ‘Oh shush. It became known as the pudding parade and it was a huge draw for the tourists. But when Walter died and the café fell into ruin, there was no one to make the rhubarb pie any more. Without the pie there wasn’t really a parade any more. Other people tried to step in and make the pie but it was never as good and, after a few years where they tried to continue the parade in Walter’s honour, it just faded away. It wasn’t the same without him. It hasn’t been held on the island for over sixty years. And I thought it was time I brought it back. We can do something wonderful with this. We can showcase all of our wild and wacky desserts, encourage people to make their own and we can put Cones at the Cove well and truly on the map.’
‘We?’ Jesse said.
‘Ah Jesse, if I’m going to make the world’s greatest rhubarb pie, I’ll need the world’s greatest pie-maker.’
‘OK,’ Jesse said, and she knew he was smiling. ‘When are you planning on doing this?’
‘It’s always the same day, the third Saturday in April.’
There was silence from Jesse for a moment. ‘That’s just over two weeks away.’
‘Yes, that’s right.’
‘You want to put on a big event with two weeks’ worth of planning?’
‘We’ve done it before.’
He groaned. ‘OK, fine, but I’ll have to bring Bea. Is that OK?’
‘Oh Jesse, you know how much I love her, of course she can come. She’ll be a great help.’
‘Right. We’ll be there tomorrow.’
They said their goodbyes and he hung up.
Skye looked down at her scribbled notes for the parade. Jesse was coming and she couldn’t help the huge smile from spreading across her face at that thought. She missed him so much and she’d be lying if she said that putting on the pudding parade was just for the benefit of the Sapphire Bay Hotel and the café. There had been a tiny part of her that was doing this just to see Jesse too.
She had known him for around five years and they had been neighbours, best friends, friends with benefits, husband and wife, and then friends with benefits again – which was where they were now. And she was happy with that.
She shook her head. She was alone and she was still lying to herself. She wanted to take a step back to being husband and wife again – the truth was she still loved him and that was never going to change.
Her smile faltered a little because she had promised herself the next time she saw Jesse, she’d tell him her feelings for him. And now that time was only a day away.
Although her plan might prove a little difficult with Jesse’s daughter Bea there. God, Skye loved that little girl so much. Bea was smart, full of wisdom way beyond her years. She was a funny, eccentric and brilliant little girl. Although not so little any more, since she’d just celebrated her twelfth birthday.
When Skye had married Jesse, so she could stay in Canada long enough to sort out her working visa, they’d agreed to stay married for a year. That year had been the best of her entire life. She’d fallen head over heels in love with Jesse, her best friend. Their relationship had quickly escalated from friends to friends with benefits. And although she’d
given up on the idea of ever having children a few years before after three miscarriages, her dreams of being a mum had come true when she’d got to spend a year playing that role to Bea. She had adored spending every day with Bea, playing with her, talking to her, watching her learn and grow.
But Jesse had made it clear it was only going to be for a year. After his ex-wife, Ginny, had walked out on him and Bea, he’d been adamant that he didn’t ever want someone to replace her. So although they’d shared a bed, Skye had always felt that Jesse was keeping her at arm’s length. When the year was up, Jesse had sorted out the divorce and encouraged Skye to get her own place to live. The dream of being married to her best friend and being mum to his beautiful little girl had come to an end. They’d kept up their friends-with-benefits arrangement but only when Bea wasn’t around. Jesse hadn’t wanted to confuse her.
When Skye’s dad had got sick and she’d come back to Jewel Island to help her sisters, Aria and Clover, run the family hotel, she’d ended up staying, turning the old beach restaurant in the hotel grounds into an ice cream and dessert café. Jesse would come over every few months, or she’d go and see him. Sometimes Bea would stay with his sister when he visited, sometimes he would bring her with him, but as happy as Skye was to see Bea again, it would mean that any kissing, hand-holding, making love with Jesse would be scarce and only when Bea was asleep or not there.
Still, Jesse and Bea were coming, that was the most important thing. They could work out the technicalities later.
Now she just had to persuade Aria and her husband Noah that the pudding parade was a good idea.
Skye found Aria in her office. As hotel manager, her eldest sister always had a ton of stuff to do but since her husband Noah had become a partner in the Sapphire Bay Hotel, and was here to share the load, things had become a bit easier for her.
Aria always looked so professional, today wearing a knee-length deep red dress and matching heels, her dark hair pulled up into a bun on top of her head. In comparison, Skye was wearing shorts, flip-flops and her Cones at the Cove printed t-shirt.
Aria looked up and smiled when she saw Skye.
‘Hey, how you doing? You look happy. Have you just spoken to Jesse?’
Skye laughed. ‘Am I that predictable?’
‘You always have that glow about you whenever you’ve talked,’ Aria said.
‘He’s coming here actually, tomorrow.’
‘Oh wonderful.’
‘And he’s bringing Bea.’
‘Oh that’s nice, it’ll be lovely to see her again.’
Skye sat down. ‘I have an idea I wanted to discuss with you.’
‘Sure,’ Aria said.
Skye crossed her fingers and told her sister all about the pudding parade and how she wanted to bring it back.
‘That sounds lovely and completely absurd, but the islanders and the hotel guests would love that sort of thing. Let me have a look at the diary and see when we could fit it in. We have the festival of light coming up at the start of May.’
‘Umm, it’s sort of supposed to be the third Saturday in April.’
Aria’s face fell. ‘That’s two weeks.’
‘Yes, I know.’
‘Surely we could put it on later in the year, say July? We haven’t got a lot happening in July.’
‘We don’t have a lot happening now and, yes, the hotel is doing really well, but we haven’t had any big events since Christmas.’
‘We can’t pull off a big event in two weeks. If this is going to work, we need to get all the islanders on board. It will take a lot of organising.’
‘It’s just one day, most of which is just walking around the island carrying a few desserts. The islanders don’t have to take part, they can just come out and watch while we haul a few puddings around the island. It doesn’t have to be a big deal.’
Aria still didn’t look convinced. ‘Let me speak to Angel.’
Skye felt a little sigh of relief escape her lips. If Angel, their marketing manager, had the deciding vote, it would most likely be a yes.
Aria picked up the phone and rang through to Clover and Angel’s office.
‘Hey Angel, can you pop in here for a second?’
Aria put the phone down and a few seconds later Angel appeared wearing shorts and one of his stupid t-shirts. He was one of those people who never took life seriously, always with a glint of amusement in his eyes. Skye liked him and he had made her twin sister, Clover, ridiculously happy.
‘What’s up, boss?’ Angel said to Aria.
Aria gestured for Skye to tell him, which she did.
Angel shrugged. ‘If you’re asking if we can pull off a big event like that in two weeks, sure. It might be a bit late to get guests to book for it, but I can run some adverts. I’m sure we’ll at least get some day visitors even if we don’t get any overnighters, although you’ll always get some last-minute bookings for that kind of thing, especially if you want to offer some kind of discount. Plus, if it’s a success, we can make sure we video it and put it on our website for next year. I’ll put it up on all the local websites in their events pages too. The more reasons we give outsiders to come to the island, the better, even if it is for a small day event.’
Aria nodded. ‘OK, if Angel thinks we can manage it, then I’m up for it. Let me just check with Noah.’
‘Check what with Noah?’ Noah said, as he walked into the office with Orla, their newly adopted four-year-old daughter. Orla ran straight up to Aria and climbed up on her lap, showing her a picture she’d done at school that day. Aria gave all of her attention to it as Orla chatted away about what it was.
Skye smiled at how the little girl had changed so much in the short amount of time since she’d come to live at the hotel with Noah and Aria. When she’d come to Jewel Island a few months before, she’d been wide-eyed and terrified of everything, but the transformation from scared little girl to happy and confident had been very quick. Living in a home where two parents absolutely adored her had helped. In fact, everyone on the island had made such a big fuss of her that Orla had very quickly felt at home.
Skye explained to Noah about the pudding parade and that she wanted to hold it in two weeks. Noah frowned at that part.
‘I’m not sure if two weeks is long enough…’ he started but trailed off as he glanced over at Orla.
Skye turned round to see the little girl staring at them with wide, excited eyes as if it were Christmas Day. ‘We’re going to have a parade, just for puddings? Will there be cake and ice creams and pie and toppings?’
‘Yes, all of those things, if Daddy says yes,’ Skye said, knowing full well that Noah was never going to say no to his daughter.
‘Can we, Daddy?’ Orla said, bouncing up and down on Aria’s lap.
Noah smiled and rolled his eyes at Skye’s underhanded tactics. ‘Yes of course we can.’
‘Yayyy!!’ Orla said and Skye leaned over and high-fived her.
‘What’s going on?’ Clover said as she walked into the office, dressed in her dance gear, probably having just finished teaching one of her dance classes. Her blonde curls were tied back in a neat plait, something Skye had never been able to achieve with her own hair.
Orla leapt off Aria’s lap and flung herself at Clover. ‘We’re having a big pudding day where we get to eat cake and ice cream all day.’
Clover picked Orla up and hoisted her onto her hip. If Skye hadn’t happened to glance at Angel at that exact moment she would have missed the way he frowned when Clover scooped up Orla. But a second later it was gone. What had that been about?
‘That sounds like fun,’ Clover said. ‘Angel is amazing at making chocolate brownies, maybe he’ll teach you how to do it for the pudding day.’
Orla turned her attention to Angel. ‘Will you?’
Skye watched as Angel casually took Orla from Clover’s arms. ‘Sure thing.’
Skye looked between Clover and Angel – something was going on there.
‘You’re going to
have to organise all of this though,’ Aria said to Skye, as she snapped back into hotel manager mode. ‘You’re going to have to liaise with Seamus and the villagers.’
‘I will, I promise. It will be smooth sailing, I assure you. Me and Jesse will take care of everything.’
Skye hurried out the office before they changed their minds. It looked like she had a parade to organise.
Chapter Two
Skye looked at her watch. She had about an hour before Cones at the Cove reopened for the evening. She decided she’d pop down to the village now and at least speak to Seamus, the village mayor, about the whole thing.
She walked out the entrance to the hotel and looked out for a moment over Sapphire Bay, the long stretch of golden sands, the turquoise blue sea, the sandy dunes. A small headland jutted out at the end of Sapphire Bay where there was a natural archway through to Emerald Cove. She could see her little café perched on top of the cliff; it looked a happy little place sitting in the sunshine. She could even see the roof of her cottage from here. Both the café and her cottage had spectacular views over Emerald Cove. Whenever she had a spare moment, which there didn’t seem to be a lot of lately, she liked to sit on the decking outside the cottage and just watch the waves as they rolled in from the sea. The hotel gardens extended down to her café at Emerald Cove, although the hotel grounds stretched much further than that, encompassing her twin sister Clover’s little cottage up at Ruby Falls, and in the other direction it had paths from the gardens down onto Pearl Beach too. Skye loved it here. She’d been born and raised on the island but never really appreciated it until she’d left and come back home many years later. Now, she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.