The Cottage on Sunshine Beach: An utterly gorgeous feel-good romantic comedy

by Holly Martin

  Melody knew that was true.

  ‘I do know that he’s crazy about you,’ Leo said.

  ‘How do you know that?’

  ‘Any fool can see that. He adores you.’

  But was that enough?

  ‘Don’t let some stupid spell of bad luck ruin what you two started. Talk to him tonight and then maybe have a second attempt tomorrow. Don’t give up on him yet.’

  ‘You’re right. It wasn’t really anyone’s fault it ended so badly. I just thought he would have been in touch today.’

  ‘He was on the sofa asleep, when I walked in and woke him up. He probably hasn’t been awake enough to call you. Stop overthinking this.’

  Melody knew he was right. She would talk to Jamie tonight so there was no confusion.

  A customer came in then so she said her goodbyes to Leo and helped them to pick out a lovely starfish necklace before turning her attention to her design for the Great Sculptures in the Sand Festival.

  Jamie’s idea of using sea glass was a good one. She had a ton of that, plus she had glass cutting and smoothing tools. Mosaicking couldn’t be that hard. She could just glue the pieces down onto a piece of wood and add some grout. She could get Klaus to cut her wood for her into the right shape and then she could probably add some kind of stand easily enough.

  Now she just had to decide what she was going to make.

  The waves weren’t a bad idea either. She doodled some waves on a piece of paper and they didn’t look awful.

  She thought about what Jamie said about making a sculpture that represented the thing he really loved the most. What she really wanted to do was a design of her and Jamie walking along the beach together. But she couldn’t do any kind of real likeness of them, especially not in glass, it would look like a five-year-old had drawn it. And would it be weird to do a sculpture of her and Jamie as the thing she loved most in Sandcastle Bay?

  But then she had an idea.

  Sandcastle Bay was famed for its rare heartberries, which grew on Aidan’s farm. They were supposed to bring luck in love to whoever ate them. The people of the village were supposed to be the happiest loved-up people in the UK. Every year in the spring there was a big love festival to celebrate the harvest of the special berries and people would share the heartberry cake with their loved ones, as well as little tokens of love. Love was a big thing in Sandcastle Bay, and also a huge selling point to the tourists. She could do a silhouetted couple together on the beach to show the thing she loved most about the village was love, and in her heart she would know that the couple represented her and Jamie, even if no one else did.

  She sketched out a few rough drawings of couples together, but they looked crap, their entwined arms seeming oversized and not anatomically correct. Maybe she could persuade Tori to help her draw something; she was brilliant at stuff like this. She would ask her later.

  The shop door opened and Aidan walked in.

  ‘Hey, have you come back to buy a second engagement ring, because normally one will suffice?’

  Aidan laughed. ‘Actually I wondered if I could borrow you for half an hour.’

  ‘Now?’

  ‘If you have time and you don’t mind leaving your shop.’

  It was a little quieter today, mid-week was never normally as manic as the weekends.

  ‘Sure, why not.’ Melody called Rocky, who came tearing across the shop. She grabbed her bag and stepped outside, locking the door behind her. ‘What do you need?’

  She crossed her fingers, hoping that he wanted help with the proposal for Tori – anything with romance and love on the agenda was definitely up her street.

  ‘I wanted to show you where I was planning on proposing to Tori, see if you think it’s OK.’

  Her heart soared that she would get to be involved, but she had to be honest with him.

  ‘If you proposed to her in your kitchen over a bacon sandwich, she would be saying yes. She is head over heels in love with you, I’ve honestly never seen her so happy before. As much as I would love to see a proposal with all the bells and whistles for her, she doesn’t need that for her to say yes to you. Whatever way you decide to do it, it will be perfect for her because it’s you.’

  Aidan smiled down at her. ‘You have a romantic heart, which is why I knew you’d be perfect to help me with this. I want the bells and whistles proposal for her; I want it to be so unbelievably romantic, because I think that’s what she really wants. I want to do this right.’

  He opened the door to his jeep for her and she climbed inside, scooping Rocky onto her lap. He walked round to the driver side and they took off down the road. It wasn’t long before they reached the end of the village and he parked next to a small wooden gate, which Melody knew led to the heartberry field. She climbed out and waved at Mary Nightingale who was waiting at the bus stop. Mary looked over at them, squinting her eyes, but she didn’t wave back.

  Aidan held the gate open for her as she walked into the field with Rocky dancing on the other end of his lead.

  Two floods had swept across the field in recent months. One had been expected as it happened the same time every year but the other hadn’t and, if it hadn’t been for the whole village turning out to help, Aidan would have lost his entire crop of the rare heartberry. The bushes were no more than dead twigs now, but Melody knew that, come April and May the following year, the bushes would be overflowing with tiny red heart-shaped berries.

  ‘So what’s the plan?’ Melody asked as they walked through the rows of the dead plants.

  ‘A romantic meal, just the two of us in the place where I realised I wanted forever with her.’

  ‘Aww, that sounds very sweet,’ Melody said as they reached the part of the field where it joined Orchard Cove, a tiny little secluded beach that was only really accessible from Aidan’s field.

  She stepped out onto the sand with him.

  ‘We stood here, the night of our first kiss, looking out on the sun rising, so it is a special place for us.’

  ‘You’re going to propose here on the beach?’

  ‘In the cave actually.’ Aidan gestured to the little cave at the side of the beach. Melody stepped up to look inside and Aidan flicked on a switch on a nearby generator that she hadn’t spotted before. Suddenly the cave was filled with hundreds of fairy lights, glowing silver and gold in the darkness. Origami paper flowers hung from the walls like bunting and she knew that was something that was kind of their thing.

  ‘Ahh, it’s beautiful,’ Melody gasped.

  ‘Is it, is it OK?’ Aidan said, nervously.

  ‘It’s perfect.’

  ‘I thought about doing it on the beach, but the cave is so protected from the elements. I’ve been down here at high tide and the water barely goes into the cave at all so I can get all this stuff ready and it shouldn’t be affected by the weather or sea. I’m going to bring a table and chairs down here tomorrow and I have a double-bean-bag-type bed thing so we can lie here and watch the stars after dinner. I thought I would propose as soon as I bring her down here and then we can just enjoy the meal and the evening, just the two of us.’

  ‘It sounds wonderful,’ Melody said, dreamily. ‘She will love it.’

  ‘Good, I’m glad you like it,’ Aidan said. ‘I was wondering if I could ask a favour.’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘She absolutely loves your Eve’s Pudding; would you mind making some for us for tomorrow night?’

  ‘I would love to,’ Melody said.

  ‘I’ll have a warmer down here, so if you can drop it off around eight o’clock and then I’ll probably bring her down about half past.’

  ‘Great, shall I make some custard too?’

  ‘If you don’t mind.’

  ‘Absolutely. Oh, I’m so excited. I can’t believe tomorrow night Tori will be engaged.’

  ‘She has to say yes first.’

  ‘She will, I guarantee it.’

  Aidan bent to turn off the generator. ‘I hope she doesn’t think it’s
too soon.’

  ‘When you’ve found the one you want to spend the rest of your life with, why wait?’

  Aidan walked out of the little cave and Melody followed him back into the field, with Rocky barking at a nearby bird.

  ‘She was scared of getting involved in a relationship when she came here, we both were, but I know she belongs here now, with me. We were meant to be together, I just hope she sees that too.’

  ‘She does, she loves you.’

  Aidan nodded, a frown on his face as he escorted her back to the jeep.

  They were silent as they drove back to the shop. Aidan was clearly deep in thought and she hoped he wasn’t suddenly having second thoughts about the proposal.

  ‘Don’t doubt what you have,’ Melody said as he pulled up outside Starfish Court.

  He nodded. ‘Thanks Melody, I’ll see you tonight and remember, not a word.’

  She crossed her heart and zipped across her lips for good measure and Aidan laughed.

  She hopped down from the car and he drove off.

  The love lives of her best friend and sister were slowly coming together, she just needed to sort out her own now.

  8

  Melody knocked on Isla’s door later that evening and she could hear lots of voices from the other side. Elliot opened the door, still wearing his top hat, and gestured for her to come in like a butler would do. Obviously, the hat had other uses beyond magician.

  ‘Thank you, kind sir,’ Melody said.

  ‘May I take your coat?’ Elliot said, trying to put on a posh voice.

  ‘I’m not wearing one,’ Melody giggled.

  Elliot looked down at Jamie’s jacket, which she was holding.

  ‘Oh well, this isn’t mine, but you can take it and hang it up anyway,’ Melody said, handing him the jacket.

  Elliot folded the jacket carefully over his arm and then gestured for her to follow him into the kitchen. Luke, Elliot’s puppy, raised his head from the basket, saw that it wasn’t anyone interesting and went back to sleep again.

  ‘Miss Melody Rosewood has arrived,’ Elliot announced loudly. Evidently Isla had him very well trained or they had been watching episodes of Downton Abbey together.

  Isla and Leo were there and they were happily chatting to Aidan and Tori, but there was no sign of Jamie. It wasn’t a direct route for her to go past Jamie’s house on the way to Isla’s, but she could see it from the road and there hadn’t appeared to be any movement from inside to indicate he was still there. She had considered knocking on his door to check, but she had already texted and phoned him that day; knocking on his door as well looked a bit too stalkery.

  Isla greeted her with a hug. ‘You snuck off last night without saying goodbye.’

  ‘You were asleep and in very safe hands,’ Melody smiled.

  Isla blushed a little and then turned her attention back to the curry she was cooking.

  Tori and Aidan gave her a hug, Aidan giving her a little wink, reminding her of the secret they were sharing.

  Leo gave her a hug too and whispered in her ear, ‘He’ll be here.’

  She smiled.

  ‘Would Madam like a nacho?’ Elliot said, formally. His hat had taken on a bit of a wonk, slipping over his eye, but like a true professional he wasn’t going to let that affect him delivering the snacks.

  She straightened his hat and took a handful of nachos, before he moved through the others, offering the bowl. Leo tapped the hat so it fell over his eyes again and Elliot went round offering the bowl of nachos to the others, clearly not being able to see. Isla took the hat off and popped it on the side before he injured himself and gave Leo a mock scowl.

  ‘So are you all ready for the Great Sculptures in the Sand Festival on Sunday?’ Melody asked.

  ‘Ours is going to be amazing,’ Elliot said. ‘It’s going to be a sea horse; not a proper sea horse but a horse made from the sea. It’s going to be made from giant waves and will have lightning and fire and it’s going to change colour so it looks like the clouds in a storm. We decided that the thing we love the most is the sea when it’s stormy and churning with big crashing waves and thunder and lightning over the sea.’

  ‘That does sound amazing,’ Melody said. ‘Is Leo helping you with this?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then I have no doubt it will be the best sculpture on the whole of that beach.’

  Leo was crazy talented when it came to big models like this. In the spring, there had been a boat race event as part of the Heartberry Love Festival where everyone had made their own boats. Leo’s had been a giant water dragon that shot fire from his mouth and had wings that moved. It had been incredible. He owned his own firework display company, so he was a complete expert on pyrotechnics and utilised those skills whenever he could.

  ‘Isla is helping us too and on Saturday we are going to take part in the Great Sandcastle competition together because we’re a family,’ Elliot said, excitedly.

  Tori smirked at Isla and Melody arched an eyebrow.

  Isla quickly waved it away. ‘I think he thinks that because Leo is here all the time.’

  ‘No, Marigold says we’re a family,’ Elliot said.

  ‘Did she?’ Aidan said. ‘I may have to have words with my niece.’

  ‘Marigold said that although I don’t have a real mummy or daddy any more, Isla was like my mummy and Leo was like my daddy.’

  ‘Oh no honey, Leo is wonderful and we’re so happy to have him around, but he isn’t…’ Isla trailed off, awkwardly.

  There was silence in the group. This was not a conversation to be had in front of everyone and Melody didn’t know what to do or say to change the subject. She felt for Isla, as she visibly battled with not wanting to offend Leo with everything he did for Elliot, but not wanting to give Leo that label and responsibility if he didn’t want it.

  ‘I know he’s not my daddy, Daddy is in heaven,’ Elliot said, patiently. ‘But Marigold said he was like my daddy because he came to the Daddy Day at school last week.’

  Leo swore softly. ‘And we agreed we wouldn’t tell Isla, didn’t we buddy?’

  Isla stared at Leo. ‘You went to Daddy Day?’

  Leo cleared his throat awkwardly. ‘I’m not trying to take Matthew’s place, that’s not what this is. Elliot said that everyone was bringing their dads to school last week and said he didn’t have anyone to come in with him. And then he asked me if I would go instead.’

  ‘You didn’t have to—’ Isla started.

  ‘I know. But I couldn’t bear the thought of him sitting there with no dad beside him.’ Leo’s voice broke a little.

  Melody wanted to hug him. The grief for Matthew had affected them all and it hit them unexpectedly sometimes. She felt tears prick her eyes at this wonderful kind gesture from him.

  ‘I was going to keep him off school that day as I didn’t want him to feel left out,’ Isla said. ‘They were only going to play games and things so I knew he wouldn’t miss out on anything important. Thought we’d go out for the day but he was insistent he really wanted to go. Now I know why.’

  ‘I thought you’d be angry,’ Leo said.

  Isla shook her head and it was evident she was holding back the tears as well. ‘I’m not angry at all. I just… We’re… I feel very lucky to have you in my life.’

  Tori grabbed at a tissue box, handed one to Isla and quickly took one herself.

  ‘Have I made you sad?’ Elliot asked Isla.

  ‘No you haven’t, honey,’ Isla laughed through her tears.

  Elliot turned to Leo. ‘You should give her a hug. When I’m sad a hug from you always makes me feel better.’

  Aidan grabbed a tissue for himself and theatrically dabbed it at his eyes. Melody giggled at him as he tried to lighten the mood.

  ‘I don’t think…’ Leo started but Elliot had already taken his hand and led her over to Isla.

  Leo wrapped Isla in his arms, holding her close, and Elliot put his arms around them both.

  Melody
thought her heart might actually burst as she watched them together. They were a family, even if Isla wasn’t keen to define them as such. She glanced over at Tori as Aidan slid an arm around her shoulders. She couldn’t be happier that her sister and best friend had good men in their lives, but it did seem to make the ache in her own heart hurt a little more.

  As Leo continued to hold Isla, Aidan grabbed the nachos. ‘Shall we go and sit down?’

  Melody nodded her agreement and left the little makeshift family to hold each other in the kitchen. She moved into the dining area which was around the corner from them.

  Aidan sat down with Tori, and Melody sat opposite them.

  ‘What are you two making for the sculpture competition?’ Melody asked.

  ‘Well, making cakes and tarts is more my forte than any kind of sculpture,’ Aidan said. ‘And we all saw the terrible boat I made at the Heartberry Love Festival in the spring, but thankfully making models is right up Tori’s street.’

  ‘We’re making a heartberry. A large version of Max actually,’ Tori said, speaking of the main character in the animated adverts she had been making for the farm. ‘It was the heartberries that brought us together so it’s definitely the thing we love most about Sandcastle Bay.’

  ‘What about you?’ Aidan asked Melody.

  ‘I thought I would make something to represent the Heartberry Love Festival,’ Melody lied. Well, it was only a slight lie. ‘I’m making a mosaic couple out of sea glass. Tori, I wanted to ask you whether you’d mind drawing me a few couples, maybe one walking hand in hand and one kissing and hugging, and I can then get a wooden template made for my mosaic.’

  ‘Oh no problem, I can do that now.’

  Tori grabbed her sketchbook, which she habitually carried around with her in her bag, and started sketching out a few different couples, her hand flying across the page as she added different details.

  ‘OK, food is ready,’ Isla said, bringing in a big bowl of curry, visibly brightened after her big hug with Leo. Clearly Elliot was right; hugs from Leo seemed to have medicinal properties.

  Elliot trailed after her with a plate of naan breads and Leo followed with a big bowl of rice. Plates and cutlery were already on the table as everyone started helping themselves and then sat down, leaving an empty seat next to Melody.