by Holly Martin
They had barely spoken apart from to discuss the different orders and she hated it. If they really were going to part for good at the end of his stay then she wanted to make the most of the time they had left, not spend the next week or so arguing and giving each other the silent treatment. Skye was hoping she might be able to clear the air now the restaurant was closed for a few hours before the evening rush. Clover, Angel, Noah and Aria were going to be there soon to discuss the pudding parade in more detail and come up with some ideas, but she hoped she might have a few minutes at least. Bea had been in and out during the lunchtime shift, sometimes helping to take food to the tables, sometimes playing outside with the other children and the giant games that they had in the garden of the café. She was outside now, playing chess against Sylvia.
Jesse was sitting in one of the booths, waiting for the meeting to start, so she went over and joined him.
He watched her as she sat down, not taking his eyes from her face.
‘We need to talk,’ he said, leaning forward.
Skye reached out to take his hand.
Just then the door burst open and Orla came thundering through, a little whirlwind of energy and big toothy smiles.
‘Daddy said I’m to come and help you make important decisions about the pudding day,’ she said, running up to the table, but she stopped in her tracks as she spotted Jesse, her eyes going wide, and Skye remembered they hadn’t actually met. Jesse had left shortly after New Year’s Day and Orla had arrived a few days after that.
Skye smiled. ‘Orla, this is my friend, Jesse.’
Jesse’s face split into a huge smile. ‘Orla, I’ve heard so much about you, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.’
Jesse held out his hand and Orla shook it solemnly. ‘You speak funny.’
‘I’m Canadian,’ Jesse said, softly. ‘Do you know where Canada is?’
Orla shook her head and then nodded. ‘Next door to America.’
Jesse smiled. ‘That’s right. It’s quite far away from here and different countries have different ways of speaking.’
Orla nodded. ‘You’re very big. Are all Canada-dians big?’
‘Some are, some aren’t.’
‘And very hairy,’ Orla said.
Skye suppressed a snort.
Orla’s eyes lit up. ‘Yetis live in Canada and are big and hairy, are you a yeti?’
Jesse smiled. ‘Maybe I am.’
Orla stared at him then bent down and crawled under the table.
Jesse smirked at Skye and whispered, ‘What’s she doing?’
Skye laughed and shrugged. She peered under the table to see Orla was studying Jesse’s feet, measuring her own against the massive size of his.
‘I think she’s checking to see if you’re really a Bigfoot,’ Skye said, quietly.
Orla came back out from underneath the table. ‘You have very very big feet. I think you are a yeti.’
‘Sshhh, don’t tell anyone.’
Orla stared at him and then climbed up on his lap. ‘I’ll keep it a secret. Does your beard come off?’
Orla gave it a tug and Skye couldn’t help but smile at Jesse’s complete patience.
‘It’s stuck on pretty good,’ Jesse said.
Just then the door was pushed open and Clover, Angel, Noah and Aria walked in.
‘Oh, I see you two have met,’ Aria said, sweeping Orla off Jesse’s lap and into her arms and saving poor Jesse from having his beard pulled again.
‘He’s a yeti,’ Orla whispered loudly in Aria’s ear.
‘That was supposed to be our secret,’ Jesse protested.
Orla giggled, clearly not feeling remotely guilty.
‘And have you met Bea, Jesse’s daughter?’ Noah said.
‘She’s outside playing chess with Sylvia,’ Skye said.
‘Is she a yeti too?’ Orla said.
‘No, she’s definitely not as hairy as me,’ Jesse said.
Everyone shuffled into the booth, Aria and Noah on Jesse’s side and Clover and Angel on Skye’s side. Orla manoeuvred herself so she was sitting next to her new best friend. Jesse clearly didn’t mind.
Jesse tapped the window to get Bea’s attention and Skye watched as she said goodbye to Sylvia and ran inside. Bea squeezed in next to Clover and Clover looped her arm around Bea’s shoulders.
‘Bea, this is Orla,’ Jesse said. ‘Aria and Noah’s daughter.’
‘Hey Orla. Great to meet you,’ Bea said.
‘I saw you when I came in playing with those big toys,’ Orla said.
‘I was playing chess. I can teach you how to play later if you want,’ Bea said.
Orla nodded. ‘I want to play with the chess.’
Bea smiled and didn’t bother to correct her.
‘So let’s talk about the pudding parade,’ Noah said, getting straight to business as he pulled an activity book on mysterious creatures and a packet of crayons out of his laptop bag and passed them to Orla. ‘How are the plans for the parade itself?’
‘Well, we have the golden tray for the rhubarb pie and quite a few people are interested in taking part or coming to watch,’ said Skye. ‘Jesse is going to make the pie so that’s sorted. Kendra gave me an old recipe book of Walter’s, the previous owner of this café and the chief rhubarb-pie-maker around seventy years ago, so we’re hoping we have the recipe for the famous rhubarb pie in there. Seamus mentioned that the old pie used to be carried on a horse and carriage so I’m going to ask Michael if we can borrow his old one. And, well, we have horses,’ she added, looking at Clover.
Clover nodded. ‘Sure, I mean technically they’re not mine, but as the farmer that owns them hasn’t been back in over two years, I’m sure he won’t care. Freya would probably be your best bet, she’s very calm. If you took Zeus out I wouldn’t fancy the pie’s chances.’
‘Sounds good,’ Skye said.
‘And what route are you going to take?’ Noah asked.
‘Well, I think we’re going to have to cook the pie in Kendra’s bakery. That’s where it was always cooked in the past and we certainly don’t have any ovens big enough to cook it here or at the hotel. Then we’ll load it onto the horse and carriage and the villagers can follow behind with their puddings and desserts, through the village, over the headland and up to here. We need a bagpipe player to lead the procession, if we’re going to be traditional, and then Seamus and Kathy will be behind that. Traditionally it was escorted by the Royal Navy from the nearby base, but I’m not sure how I would even begin to approach someone from there and whether they would be interested. I’m sure they have bigger things to worry about than a little pudding parade so perhaps we can forego that part.’
‘We have to have the navy,’ Bea said, excitedly.
Skye looked at her. ‘Really, why?’
Bea blushed.
‘Bea wants to be a helicopter pilot when she’s older,’ Jesse explained.
Skye’s heart hurt a little that she hadn’t known that. The last time she’d spoken to Bea about what she wanted to be when she was older, Bea had wanted to be an Olympic showjumper, and before that it was a marine biologist. She hated she was missing out on so much of this little girl’s life. In a blink of an eye Bea would be going off to university or college and having a life of her own.
She caught Jesse’s eye and he smiled sadly, obviously reading her thoughts.
Skye cleared her throat. ‘Well, maybe we can try to get them to come, but if it’s a helicopter escort you want, we have a helicopter and pilot here on the island. Theo acts as our air ambulance, maybe we can persuade him to do a fly-by.’
‘That would be amazing,’ Bea said.
‘He also does the odd pleasure flight now and again. I’m sure I could persuade him to take you up,’ Skye said, trying to make up for her lack of being there for Bea.
Bea’s eyes lit up. ‘Do you think he would?’
Skye nodded, knowing even if she had to beg Theo or pay him vast amounts of cash to take Bea up, she would.
‘Can I be in the parade?’ Orla said, sticking her tongue out as she coloured the scales of a mermaid.
‘You can sit on the carriage with the pie and be the queen of the pudding parade,’ Skye said.
Orla looked up. ‘Will I wear a crown?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘And a cloak?’
‘Of course.’
Orla nodded eagerly. ‘I’d very much like to be queen.’
‘Then we shall make it happen,’ Skye said, feeling for a moment like a fairy godmother making everyone’s dreams come true. She glanced at Jesse again. If only she could make her own dreams come true.
‘OK, so that’s the parade sorted, what will happen then?’ Noah said, getting things back on track.
‘Do you want the hotel to do anything?’ Aria said.
‘I think the main gathering place will be in here or outside, we have enough grounds around the café for people to hang out. But if Basia wanted to make some desserts and join in with the parade, that’ll be great,’ Skye said, referring to the hotel chef. ‘The mayor will cut the pie so everyone can have a bit and all the other desserts will be placed on a table for people to admire or eat. People can come in and try some of the different-flavoured ice creams and I’m going to do a special rhubarb ice cream in tribute to the pie. We can have stalls with some games and activities. I’m open to any other suggestions.’
‘Maybe we have a contest for the best pudding,’ Bea suggested.
‘That’s a great idea,’ Skye said. ‘That would certainly encourage some people to take part. At the moment the response from the villagers has been mixed.’
‘What about a cake or cookie-decorating contest, or just some stalls where people can have a go?’ Clover said. ‘When we had the autumn fair last year, there were lots of stalls for people to make their own cake pops or decorate their own toffee apples. Those kinds of interactive activities were very popular.’
‘I love that idea. I’d really like it if we could offer some small dessert-making workshops to teach people how to make different desserts. Jesse, would you be up for that?’ Skye asked, knowing he absolutely wouldn’t be.
Jesse frowned. ‘I don’t think I’m the right person for that, I have no qualifications or anything like that.’
‘You are absolutely the right person,’ Skye protested as Jesse diverted his attention to helping Orla place a sticker in the right place on a unicorn. Skye knew he would be embarrassed by the attention, but she didn’t want him to back out of this when he was so talented. She wanted him to see that his dyslexia was not an obstacle. ‘You are an amazing cook; your puddings are incredible and you have such a patient manner.’
‘I’d second that, your pancakes and waffles are out of this world,’ Clover said.
‘Yes, and that cake I had the last time you were here was divine,’ Aria said.
‘And I love your apple pies,’ Angel said.
‘Your brownies are some of the best I’ve ever tasted,’ Noah said.
Skye couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. She was so proud of him.
‘I’ve watched you teach Bea and you have such a lovely way about you,’ she said. ‘You are perfect for this. We can keep the workshops really small in size and short if you want, but I really want you to share your skills and experience.’
Jesse stared at her and then nodded reluctantly. ‘OK, just a few workshops then. Five people max.’
‘That’s fine,’ Skye said, excitedly. She was so happy Jesse was going to do this and she knew he would really enjoy it once he got into it.
‘Is there anything else you plan to do?’ Angel asked, making notes on his tablet. ‘I need to know what kind of things to put in the advert.’
‘Could we focus on the traditional aspect?’ Aria suggested.
‘Yes, I think that’s a good idea,’ Noah said.
‘Or just the puddings and ice creams,’ Angel suggested and Skye felt relieved that he got it. The traditional part was important of course, but the focus was on the puddings and the ice creams at Cones at the Cove.
‘Yes, that’s the main event so we should probably concentrate on that,’ Skye said. ‘At least for the adverts.’
Noah clearly thought about this. ‘Maybe we can make it a bit of both. I agree that Cones at the Cove should be the centre of attention – all the other events we have held at the hotel have been based around the hotel and the village – and, though this place has benefitted from them, it’s never been the focal point before. But I also think the absurdity of the parade is going to be an attraction. People will lap up the old traditions. Otherwise it seems a bit ridiculous to be carrying around a pie on the back of a carriage without telling people why we’re doing it. Many of the visitors that will come won’t have heard about the pudding parade before so we need to let them know that the parade is steeped in years of history and it’s in tribute to that.’
Skye nodded to concede that.
‘I can definitely strike a fine balance between the two,’ Angel said, tapping away furiously at his tablet.
‘I think we need some games and activities for the children,’ Aria said.
Clover nodded. ‘The parade will be fun to watch but then you need something for children to do other than eating cake and ice cream.’
‘I like cake and ice cream,’ Orla said as she carefully coloured in the wings of a fairy.
‘We could get a bouncy castle,’ Aria said. ‘Or one of those inflatable slides. We could get a few villagers to set up some stalls like a coconut shy or hook a duck, something to go along with the traditional theme. But I don’t want to take away too much attention from this place.’
‘And we do have games outside in the gardens,’ Jesse said.
‘And Jesse’s wonderful marble runs at each table.’ Skye nodded to the wall where there were magnetic pieces to create a marble run. Jesse had designed them especially for the café.
‘OK, all that sounds good,’ Noah said. ‘What about fireworks at the end of the day?’
‘That would be wonderful,’ Skye said.
Suddenly Orla let out a squeal of delight and Skye looked over to see what had caused it. The little girl was pointing to a picture of a yeti in her book.
‘It’s you,’ she said to Jesse.
Jesse pulled a face similar to the yeti in the book and Orla let out a laugh that was pure joy.
Skye watched him with her and her heart ached a little bit more. She wanted this life with him, she wanted to be a family with him and Bea and a child of their own. But right then that felt very far away indeed.
Skye woke up in the early hours of the morning to find Jesse wrapped around her from behind, his breath heavy on the back of her neck as he slept deeply. She had been so tired when she’d got back from the café that night she’d ended up going straight to bed, and despite her best intentions to stay awake until Jesse joined her so she could talk to him, she’d pretty much gone straight to sleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. She’d been sleeping so heavily, she hadn’t even noticed him getting into bed with her.
She closed her eyes, relishing in the feel of being wrapped in his arms. This was where she belonged.
She shifted around carefully in his arms, not wanting to wake him, but he didn’t stir as she rolled over to face him. He had the slightest smile on his lips as he slept. He had such a gentle, lovely face that she couldn’t help her heart filling with love for him as she watched him.
She leaned forward to place the softest kiss over his heart when she felt his hand cup the back of her head.
She glanced up at him and saw his eyes were open, watching her with a lazy smile.
‘Hey, sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,’ Skye said.
‘You never need to apologise for that. Best way to wake up with you in my arms.’
She smiled and leaned up and kissed him on the lips. He smiled against her mouth, kissing her as he curled one arm around her back and rolled so she was on top of him.
She pulled back slightly to look at him and he brushed her hair from her face, affection for her shining from his eyes.
‘I’m so confused with you. The way you look at me, the way you hold me and touch me, I feel like you have feelings for me too, but then you won’t do anything about it. Do you really want this to end?’ Skye asked.
‘No, I don’t.’ He sighed. ‘You deserve more.’
‘You’re damned right I do. I deserve a proper relationship, not this weird secret fling we’re having now. How can we ever see if we’re going to last when all we have is secret sex every few months? You never gave us a proper chance.’
He sighed. ‘This is all me, I did this.’
‘Well, it sure in hell wasn’t me,’ Skye said. ‘I’d have stayed married to you forever.’
‘I misjudged you so badly. Everything I thought I knew about you was a lie.’
Skye frowned. ‘That seems a bit harsh, I’ve always been honest with you.’
‘You did nothing wrong,’ Jesse said, tracing his thumb across her lips. ‘I thought you were just like Ginny, flighty, afraid of commitment. Your marriage to Oliver ending after only a year, your past of travelling the world. I had no idea you were running from tragedy and grief. I made assumptions and I had no right to do that. I was scared to put my trust in you, scared of letting Bea get close to you only for you to leave and for her to get hurt all over again. And, if I’m completely honest, I was scared of getting hurt myself.’
Skye traced her fingers across his bare chest, resting them over his heart. She wanted to promise that she would take care of his heart if he let her, that she would never break it, but that seemed like such a big thing to promise.
‘Jesse, I am flighty. I’ve spent years running from my problems, hiding away from them instead of dealing with them. When the going got tough, I ran. I don’t think you misjudged me at all. You saw me for who I was. I was scared of settling down, getting involved in a relationship. Oliver made me feel like I’d let him down so badly, that losing our babies was all my fault, and I never wanted to go through that again. I felt worthless, like I was only good for making babies and I wasn’t even good at that. It was better to build a wall around my heart and never let anyone in. But when I met you, everything changed. I didn’t want to run any more. But you never saw that. You saw the scared girl I was when we first met, you never saw how I changed because of you. You made me brave and bold. You gave me back the woman I was before I met Oliver. You encouraged me to achieve my dreams by helping me open the ice cream shop in Banff. My walls crumbled so quickly when I was with you. The first time we ever made love, I was already yours, and yet I knew for you it was nothing more than sex.’