by Holly Martin
‘That’s a good idea. You might want to try the library too,’ Skye said.
‘I’m also going to see if I can find where the key fits, I feel like the two are connected. If I find the secret door I think the secret ingredient will be on the other side.’
‘You’re probably right,’ Skye said. ‘I can’t wait to see what you find.’
Skye watched her for a moment. The girl was visibly buzzing with excitement and Skye felt it was more than just finding the secret ingredient. ‘You OK?’
‘Yes, why?’ Bea said, her voice unnaturally high.
‘I don’t know, you seem… hyper.’
Bea giggled. ‘I have the biggest, best secret ever, but I’m not allowed to tell anyone.’
‘OK…’ Skye said slowly.
‘Do you want to know?’
‘Well of course, who doesn’t want to know secrets? But if you’re not supposed to tell anyone, maybe you should try to keep it inside, as hard as that might be,’ Skye said, glancing at Bea who was clearly about to burst.
‘But it’s such a good secret, I have to tell someone.’
‘Could you tell your dad?’
‘No, he’s the one that told me not to tell you.’
‘Me specifically, or just don’t tell anyone?’
‘No, it was you specifically.’
That had Skye intrigued.
‘Can I just tell you a tiny bit?’ Bea said, bouncing up and down next to her.
Skye was hugely tempted to get Bea to tell her everything – she suspected it wouldn’t take a lot to get her to spill the beans – but it wouldn’t be fair to Jesse.
‘As much as it kills me, it’s probably best if you don’t.’
Bea sighed dramatically. ‘Fine, but just know you’re going to be very happy.’
Skye laughed. By now they had reached the hotel entrance and she could see Angel running up from Sapphire Bay. ‘Go on with you, you big tease, go and find the secret ingredient.’
Bea giggled and ran off in the direction of the village.
Angel came to a stop in front of Skye, wiping the sweat off his forehead with his t-shirt.
‘Hey, I made some ads for you for the pudding parade,’ Angel said as they walked into the hotel together. ‘I actually found some old photos of the parade which I’ve incorporated into one of them. You can have a look and let me know which ones you want me to run with.’
‘OK, cool.’
He pulled her to a stop and lowered his voice. ‘And listen, Clover told me you were having a few problems with Jesse. Do you want me to talk to him?’
Skye smiled. ‘What does talk to him mean?’
Angel laughed. ‘I’m not threatening to beat him up, have you seen the size of him? I’m pretty sure how that fight would pan out and certainly not in my favour.’
‘His size is very deceiving, he’s a gentle giant,’ Skye said.
‘Well regardless, I pick my battles carefully. Honestly, I’m just offering to talk to him. He hasn’t really got any friends here beyond you, I’m happy to be that shoulder for him, if he needs it. Me and Noah could take him out for a beer.’
Skye smiled. ‘Angel, that is a lovely thing to offer. I’m sure he’d appreciate it even if he doesn’t want to talk about me or any of his issues.’
‘Well, the offer is there.’
‘Thank you, I’ll let him know.’
‘Right, I’m going to take a shower before the meeting starts. I’ll see you in a minute.’
She waved him off and walked into Aria’s office where both her sisters were gathered around the computer.
‘What baby items are you looking at now?’ Skye laughed.
‘I’ll have you know we are doing very important work,’ Aria protested.
Skye leaned over the desk to see the computer and laughed when she saw various baby costumes – pumpkins, fairies, and lots of different animals. ‘Looks like it.’
‘Actually, we were looking at job applications for the conference and banqueting manager’s role and one of the applicants makes baby and toddler costumes in her spare time, so we felt it was our duty to check them out,’ Clover said. ‘Aren’t they cute?’
‘How very diligent of you,’ Skye said, scanning through the different costumes. ‘Orla would look adorable in that mermaid outfit.’
‘Don’t encourage her,’ Noah shouted through from his adjoining office.
Skye grinned.
Aria turned her attention to Skye. ‘How’s it going with you and Jesse anyway? Did you talk to him?’
‘Or just have lots of sex?’ Clover asked.
Skye laughed and moved over to close the connecting door between Aria and Noah’s office. Noah looked up from his computer. ‘Do I not get to hear this?’
‘No you don’t,’ Skye laughed. ‘Girls only.’
She closed the connecting door and the main office door and sat down at Aria’s desk.
‘I’m not sure, we talked last night, but I’m not sure how further along we are. He had a crappy childhood. He struggled at school and by the sounds of it his parents and teachers were less than supportive. His parents completely abandoned him, just walked out on him when he was only a child. His gran didn’t want him and he grew up thinking he wasn’t really worth anything, that he wasn’t enough. And then Ginny leaving cemented his self-doubt into place. He’s protecting Bea because he doesn’t want her to suffer what he went through with lots of different people walking out on her, but he’s also protecting himself from experiencing that kind of hurt again.’
Skye sighed. ‘I’m just not sure if I can reach him. I told him I loved him, that he is enough for me, and the way he made love to me last night, well it felt like maybe he believed it. He seems happier today, but he still hasn’t said he loves me. He hasn’t mentioned any more about whether he intends to make a proper go of us. As far as I’m aware we will still be saying goodbye when his trip here comes to an end next week and it just breaks my heart. I’ve even offered him a job here, but I’m pretty sure he thinks the offer is only there because we are sleeping together, not because he’s any good.’
‘What if I was to offer him a job?’ Aria said. ‘Or at least persuade him to apply for the job we’re interviewing for on Wednesday.’
Skye nodded thoughtfully. ‘I think that could help, because at least then it’s not coming from me. It shows someone else believes in him too.’
‘He’s a brilliant cook, we’ve all tasted his wonderful desserts,’ Aria said. ‘And I know how high your standards are when it comes to people cooking in your kitchen, I’m sure you wouldn’t be offering him a job unless he was good enough, regardless of your bedroom activities. I trust your judgement.’
‘He is good enough, but how can I get him to see that?’
‘I think you just tell him that every day,’ Clover said. ‘As soon as he starts to put himself down, you build him up. Tell him you love him and why. Give him compliments. He’ll soon start to get used to having positive thoughts around you, rather than negative. But ultimately, it’s not your job to fix Jesse. His self-esteem has to come from him, from changing his mindset, and he can do that by doing things that make him happy and surrounding himself with positive people. At the moment there is no light to focus on. You’re here, he’s over there, he gets to see you every few months and he’s stuck in a job that doesn’t necessarily fulfil him. That would change if he was here, doing a job he loves, being with you every night, even if you can get him here for just a few months initially.’
Skye nodded.
‘And maybe get him to talk to Noah,’ Aria said. ‘He had a bit of a crappy childhood too, so maybe he can help Jesse.’
‘OK, thanks,’ Skye said. She felt more positive about all this already. She had a plan. She just had to get Jesse to agree to it. ‘How are we doing with job applications for the events manager role?’
‘There are two that look good,’ Clover said. ‘Seren and Phoenix, they both come with a ton of experience. Noah has sugge
sted we hire them both and they can work together.’
‘Not a bad idea,’ Skye said.
There was a knock on the connecting door and Noah stuck his head through the crack. ‘Can we come in now?’
‘Yes come on,’ Aria teased. ‘We haven’t got all day.’
Noah opened the door and walked in with Angel. Skye shuffled round to make room for them and she vowed to talk to Noah about Jesse as soon as the meeting had finished.
Jesse was in the kitchen of Cones at the Cove. The café was closed for the brief hiatus between the lunch and evening rush and he was determined to find the missing ingredient for the rhubarb pie. It couldn’t be that hard. He had a lot of experience in making desserts and a good instinctive knowledge of what went well with what, especially when it came to fruit, so he was going to try every combination that he could think of to find the right recipe for the pie.
Luckily, Sylvia had been hanging around outside looking for Bea and he’d persuaded her to come and be his taste-tester until his daughter came back. He was kind of regretting that right now though. She was one of the nosiest people he’d ever met.
‘So… tell me about Ginny,’ Sylvia said as he handed her a small bowl with rhubarb and strawberries mixed together.
‘You really want to know about my ex-wife?’
‘Yes I do.’
‘Why?’
‘People interest me, hazards of the job, I suppose. Why do some relationships endure and some don’t? I’m not judging,’ Sylvia added quickly. ‘I’m on my sixth marriage so I’m not exactly an example of how to do things right, but I do have extensive experience when it comes to matters of the heart. What attracted you to her?’
Jesse pulled up a stool opposite her. ‘She was having an affair, something Bea doesn’t know, and she walked out on me and her daughter, so I think I’d find it hard to come up with something positive to say about her.’
Sylvia took a spoonful of the rhubarb mixture. ‘Nice, but not right. There must have been something that made you want to go out with her in the first place, something more than just her looks.’
He sighed. ‘She was… adventurous, wild. I liked that. My mom was fairly strict growing up. I lived with my gran for a while and she didn’t allow us to do anything. Ginny was a free spirit. We had fun.’
Sylvia smiled. ‘She sounds like me. I was always looking for the next adventure. The next wave to catch. What happened?’
He passed her a bowl of rhubarb and peach next. ‘She fell pregnant, we got married and she hated every minute of it. She felt trapped and I couldn’t give her the life she wanted.’
‘I’m sorry that happened to you but you shouldn’t take the blame for that on your shoulders.’
He looked at her suspiciously. ‘Have you been talking to Skye?’
‘No. Well not about this.’ Sylvia tried the peach rhubarb combination and her eyes lit up.
‘Is that it?’ Jesse asked hopefully.
She shook her head. ‘No it isn’t, but this is absolutely lovely. You should definitely do this if you can’t find the missing ingredient. It’s delicious.’
Jesse sighed and passed her another bowl, this time filled with rhubarb and raspberry. ‘I promised Ginny a life of adventure. It’s fair to say I didn’t deliver on that promise. So yes, I do take the blame for that. Life was pretty boring, I suppose, by her standards anyway. We worked to keep a roof over our heads, to give Bea a life she deserved. I worked in construction and carpentry, painting, decorating, taking jobs wherever I could find them. It was long hours. I wanted to be a chef but there wasn’t really time or money for me to take any courses so I taught myself most evenings. I suppose we didn’t really have a lot of quality time together once Bea was born, but whereas I loved being a dad, Ginny never really settled into the maternal role.’
Sylvia nodded thoughtfully. ‘When we become parents our life changes, there is no doubt about that. And you have to be grown-up enough to take on that responsibility. It seems Ginny was not. Some people are not natural parents.’
‘Do you have children, Sylvia?’
Sylvia took a spoonful of the raspberry concoction and winced and shook her head. ‘Definitely not.’ She quickly passed the bowl back. ‘I have three children, all of them a lot older than you. I have seven grandchildren, two of which I’ve never met, and I believe I have five great-grandchildren too.’
‘You believe?’ Jesse said, in confusion.
‘Well, yes, as I said, I have two grandchildren I’ve never met and I think one of them has a child. I know about the other four great-grandchildren. I have photos, hundreds of them I could bore you with.’
Jesse smiled. ‘Maybe another time.’
‘The point is, it’s not your fault that Ginny didn’t want to be a mother to Bea or didn’t stick around long enough to find out how wonderful married life can be. At some point you have to grow up and accept that life isn’t sunshine and roses, it isn’t rollercoasters and parties and rock and roll. You embraced that life as a parent and by all accounts you are an amazing dad to Bea. You should be proud of that, not ashamed that your marriage didn’t work out. You shouldn’t hold that responsibility on your shoulders, when it sounds like Ginny was the one at fault, not you.’
Jesse had never really felt like he’d had anything to be proud of before but Sylvia was right, he could be proud of how Bea had turned out, and the fact that she was happy said a lot about how he had loved her and made her feel special over the last few years.
He passed Sylvia a bowl of rhubarb and apple but it was clear she wasn’t finished talking.
‘And if this thing with Ginny is stopping you from moving on with Skye then you definitely need to put it to bed now. You need to stop punishing yourself for something that was out of your control. Skye is a wonderful woman and Bea adores her. Don’t you think you deserve to be happy? Don’t you think all three of you deserve that?’
‘Eat the apple,’ Jesse said.
Sylvia took a spoonful. ‘Very nice but it’s not right.’
He handed her the last bowl, rhubarb and pear. ‘I was always afraid of putting my trust in Skye, I never thought I would be enough for her to want to stay. If it came to an end I knew it would hurt Bea all over again.’
‘It takes two people to make a relationship work. I’d be more worried that someone was enough for me than whether I was enough for them.’
Jesse smiled; he loved Sylvia’s attitude.
‘Of course, if Skye isn’t enough for you then there is no point in taking it any further. If all she is to you is someone to have some great sex with then it probably is time to draw a line under it and let her go.’
‘She is so much more than great sex.’
Sylvia took a bite of the rhubarb and pear and shook her head. ‘Tell me, why is getting this pie right so crucial to you?’
‘Skye wants to do something for this place, make Cones at the Cove an integral part of the community. And if the parade is important to Skye then it’s important to me too.’
‘Important enough that you flew halfway across the world for her?’
‘She and Bea are everything to me,’ Jesse said.
‘Then you need to fight for her. Like all good things, it’s worth the challenge of getting it right. This pie will be amazing when you finally find the missing ingredient and I’m afraid none of these were it. But you and Skye are the perfect combination, anyone can see that.’
Jesse nodded. If he had to serve the rhubarb pie as it was, or even with peach or pear, he could live with that. But he couldn’t walk away from this trip without sorting things out with Skye once and for all.
He decided to turn the tables on Sylvia. ‘So tell me more about Walter, do you have fond memories of him?’
Sylvia’s face fell. ‘Not really, he was the reason me and Mum ended up leaving here.’
Jesse started stacking up the little bowls, his interest piqued. ‘And why was that?’
Sylvia sighed. ‘I suppose you’ve rea
d all about it in his notebook but maybe you should hear my side of the story. My mum and I came here when I was around eight years old. She was divorced, which was scandalous enough in those days, and Walter had lost his wife. To start with they just enjoyed each other’s company but then it turned into something more. The islanders, they didn’t like it. I think they thought Walter should mourn his wife for the rest of his life rather than moving on, or maybe they didn’t like that my mum was divorced or that Walter was nearly fifteen years older than she was. Either way there were a lot of nasty things said.’
‘Your mum and Walter weren’t actually doing anything wrong then,’ Jesse said. ‘The way the diary was written made it sound like it was a secret affair.’
‘I think Walter would have liked to keep it a secret, but maybe that was because he knew the islanders would give him hell over it. But a place as small as this, nothing stays secret for long. My mum didn’t care about the comments, she loved him and he made her very happy – he made both of us happy actually. As you can imagine, I didn’t have the best dad growing up. Walter was… lovely. But, ultimately, Mum loved him and he didn’t love her.’
Jesse looked at her. ‘That’s not the impression I get from reading his notes. I haven’t read all of his diary entries but he says many times how much he loved your mum and you.’
She stared at him in surprise. ‘He broke it off with my mum. She told him she loved him and he never said it back. She wanted to get married again but I think the judgement from the islanders was too much for him. In the end we left and he did nothing to stop us.’
‘From what I’ve read, he regretted that decision to let you and your mum go every day for the rest of his life.’
‘I don’t understand that. Letting my mum go because he didn’t love her as much as she loved him is one thing but letting her go because of what other people thought is really rather sad.’
Jesse picked up the book and passed it to Sylvia. ‘Maybe you should read it before you judge him so harshly.’