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

by Holly Martin

  ‘I suggest you get yourselves off home and in future, if you want to have outdoor sex, do it in your garden or somewhere that you are not likely to offend anyone.’

  ‘Sorry for offending you with our kissing,’ Melody said, clearly not taking this remotely seriously.

  ‘I’ll be having words with your mum about this, Miss Rosewood,’ Trevor said, obviously not amused at being laughed at.

  ‘My mum?!’ Melody said, incredulously. ‘I’m thirty-one. I don’t think I’m going to worry about being grounded or losing my pocket money anytime soon.’

  Jamie stood up and hauled Melody to her feet. ‘Come on, let’s go home.’

  He didn’t want to push Trevor any more in case he found reason to arrest them after all.

  Melody was still laughing. ‘And I’m not scared Santa is going to leave coal in my stocking either.’

  Jamie put his arm around her shoulders and ushered her down the beach. Trevor watched them go, obviously to make sure that they didn’t sneak off and have mad passionate sex anywhere else.

  ‘Can you believe him?’ Melody said when they were out of hearing distance. ‘Did you know he’s apparently going out with my mum?’

  Jamie laughed. ‘No I didn’t, but at least this will give them something to talk about on their next date.’

  Melody groaned. ‘Why would my mum go out with someone as serious as him? I’d love to see her happy again, I just don’t see that Trevor is going to do that.’

  ‘He’s a nice bloke, I think he’s just a bit bored in his job, nothing happens down here. There is almost no crime in Sandcastle Bay, so whenever there’s even the tiniest sniff of some wrongdoing, Trevor pounces on it.’

  Melody grunted with annoyance. ‘He stopped the most incredible kiss I’ve ever had. He’s not exactly high up there on my list of favourite people at the moment.’

  ‘Don’t worry, there will be plenty more where that came from.’

  ‘There better be.’ She was silent for a moment. ‘Is it wrong that I really want to have outdoor sex now?’

  Jamie laughed. ‘I’m sure we can find somewhere a little more secluded, when the time is right.’

  He walked her to her front door and could hear Rocky yapping with excitement at having his owner come home.

  She opened the door and scooped the puppy up in her arms, his whole body wagging with happiness. Jamie knew how he felt at being wrapped in her arms.

  ‘Do you want to come in?’ Melody asked.

  He stepped up close and gave her a brief kiss on the lips. ‘I really want to, which is why I think I’d better not.’

  ‘Scared I might be into whips and handcuffs?’ Melody teased.

  ‘Scared you might pounce on me the second the door is closed and take advantage of me.’

  She laughed. ‘There might be an element of that. Though I think you could look after yourself.’

  He wrapped his arms around her and gave her another brief kiss. ‘Do you think I could possibly say no to that, turn down your advances? I’d be powerless to resist your wiles and the next morning I’d feel all dirty and used but very very happy.’

  ‘Doesn’t sound so bad.’

  ‘Sounds amazing. Goodnight, my siren.’

  She reached up and kissed him before she stepped into the house and, with a smile, she closed the door.

  He leaned his forehead against the door for a second and sighed. God, being with her was going to be trouble and he was loving every single second of it.

  10

  Melody was helping a customer the next day when Jamie walked in. She couldn’t help the little flutter in her heart at the sight of him, which was crazy as she’d only seen him a few hours before when they’d walked to work together hand in hand along the beach. He’d kissed her goodbye before she went into her shop and everything just felt so perfect between them.

  He winked at her and then pretended to browse. She smiled and tried to turn her attention back to her customer, who was having trouble choosing between a sea-horse necklace made from opal, or a starfish necklace made from turquoise.

  ‘These are so beautiful, I really do like them both,’ the woman said. Melody hadn’t seen her before so she was probably a tourist. Most of her customers were unless it was someone from the village buying a gift for someone.

  Jamie sauntered over. ‘They’re both very pretty.’

  The woman looked up at him and her eyes visibly lit up at the sight of him. Melody smirked. He was very sexy and she knew a lot of women found him attractive, although that hadn’t been what had drawn Melody to him. She had been attracted to his kindness, his sweet nature and his warmth more than anything else.

  ‘Are they for you?’ Jamie went on.

  ‘Yes, a reminder of my lovely holiday down here.’

  ‘Well in that case I think you should buy both,’ Jamie said. ‘Then you can alternate between the two for different outfits and always carry a piece of Sandcastle Bay with you, wherever you go.’

  The woman looked at the necklaces and nodded. ‘You know what, I think you’re right. I’ll take both.’

  Melody smiled and rang up the sale and the woman left the shop, giving Jamie a little wave as she went.

  Jamie waved back and immediately turned his attention back to Melody before the shop door had even closed.

  ‘You’re so smooth,’ Melody said.

  ‘Hey, I got you a sale, didn’t I?’ Jamie said, leaning over the counter and giving her a sweet kiss.

  Melody smiled against his lips. ‘Can I help you with something or did you just come in here to pester my customers?’

  ‘You can actually. I’m looking for two gemstones, the same size, roundish, but I’m looking for an exact shade of blue.’

  Jamie had bought different gemstones for his sculptures before so this wasn’t an unusual request.

  ‘OK, I have lots of different blue stones that I haven’t used in any designs yet. What kind of blue are you looking for?’

  She pulled out her box of stones, all laid out in different colours, and she started sorting through them with her finger.

  ‘Blue-green like the sea.’

  ‘OK, sparkly and polished like a sapphire or more of a flat colour like a piece of turquoise?’ She indicated the two stones.

  ‘Sparkly definitely.’

  ‘OK.’ She picked out a few different ones. ‘We have blue topaz, spinel, zircon… The smithsonite has a nice blue-green hint.’

  He stared at them but clearly wasn’t convinced any of them met his needs.

  ‘What about that one?’ He pointed to one that had shades of blue and green but also streaks of purple and turquoise too. It was beautiful and one of her favourite stones. She was almost loath to give it away as she didn’t get them very often. She knew she only had four or five of these left. She pulled it out anyway and laid it on the counter.

  ‘This is called a mystic topaz and probably my favourite stone.’

  He looked up at her and smiled. ‘That is exactly what I’m looking for. Do you have two the same colour and size?’

  She sorted through her box and pulled out one triumphantly. ‘There we go.’

  He smiled as he stared at them. ‘These are perfect. Actually, do you have a third one a bit smaller?’

  She looked through the box and pulled one out and laid it next to the other two to check for size. It was about half the size of the previous two.

  The shop door opened again and Melody looked up, surprised to see her mum walking in. It had been over a year since she had opened her shop in Sandcastle Bay and her mum hadn’t been in once.

  She waited for her to look around, to perhaps make some comment about the shop or even for her to say something positive or even remotely nice about her jewellery, but she didn’t.

  ‘Hello Melody, how are you?’ her mum said, trying to force a small smile onto her face.

  ‘I’m fine, Mum, how are you?’ Melody said. She could be civil too.

  ‘I’m OK,’ her mum said.
She was always OK, never good or great, just OK. Either that or she had a list of moans a mile long. Today was obviously a good day.

  There was an awkward silence for a moment or two and Jamie bravely stepped in and filled it.

  ‘Hello, Carolyn.’

  ‘Hello Jamie, how’s it going over in the studio?’

  ‘Good, business is good,’ Jamie said.

  ‘That’s good,’ her mum said.

  God, this was awkward. Melody wondered if her mum knew she was dating Jamie or if she even cared.

  ‘You know, I saw one of your sculptures the other day, in… a friend’s house. You really have a wonderful talent.’

  Melody felt a tiny stab of jealousy at that. She loved it when people complimented Jamie’s sculptures; he was so talented and deserved any praise that was aimed his way. But this was the first positive thing she had heard her mum say in years and it was directed at someone else, not her.

  ‘Is there something I can help you with?’ Melody said, and she knew her tone of voice was cool.

  ‘I just popped in because it’s your Aunt Rosa’s birthday next week and I was going to send her something. She likes jewellery. You sell jewellery, so…’

  ‘You think Aunt Rosa might like something I make?’ Melody said, and she knew she was fishing for some sliver of a compliment.

  ‘She has very quirky, eccentric tastes and so do you. I’m sure you can help me find something suitable.’

  Nope, not even a glimmer of a compliment was coming her way.

  Melody took a deep breath. ‘Aunt Rosa likes big statement rings, maybe you’d like to choose something from one of the cabinets over there.’

  Her mum wandered off to have a look and Melody watched her for any sign of approval. Of course there wouldn’t be, because her mum wouldn’t be seen dead in a big oversized statement ring, or most likely in any of the jewellery that Melody made. Sure enough, she saw her mum wrinkle her nose with distaste.

  She felt the stab of hurt in her heart.

  She glanced at Jamie, who was hovering awkwardly. He must feel the tension between them. She had spoken to him a little about her relationship with her mum before.

  Jamie walked over to the cabinet next to her mum. ‘I love these rings, they’re so expressive and bright and fun.’

  Her heart filled with love for him.

  ‘I prefer jewellery to be a bit more subtle myself,’ her mum said.

  ‘I think subtle jewellery has a time and place as much as these wonderful rings. I love this one,’ Jamie said, pulling out one that looked like a cluster of M&Ms. Melody had made them out of Fimo clay and varnished them to make them look shiny like the sweets. They were so easy to make and the customers absolutely loved them. ‘These are very popular with the customers.’

  ‘They are?’ Her mum sounded incredulous.

  ‘People like to wear jewellery as a way to express themselves. Some people have a silly, fun sense of humour and that is reflected in the jewellery they wear. This is probably not really your thing, but what about something like this?’ Jamie said, pulling out a ring that was made from rainbow pyrite, tiny speckles of gold like sand formed into the shape of a star. Melody loved that one and she thought Aunt Rosa would love it too.

  ‘I suppose this one would be OK,’ her mum said and Melody could tell she was done with this little impromptu visit.

  Jamie brought it back over to the till, and Melody put it in a box and rang up the sale. ‘Twenty-six pounds please.’

  Her mum paid.

  ‘Thank you, Melody.’

  She left the shop with the quickest of waves and a tiny smile that held a glimmer of sadness and then she was gone.

  Jamie didn’t say anything for a moment. Well, what was there to say?

  Melody groaned, and she let her head fall into her hands.

  ‘Why, why do I always do it to myself? Why do I always seek her approval? I love the stuff I make here, more so than any of the jewellery I made in London. It makes me happy, it makes my customers happy and I make a good living from selling it. Why do I care what she thinks?’

  ‘I suppose we always want our parents to be proud of us,’ Jamie said, coming round the counter and taking her in his arms.

  She leaned her head into his chest. There were no words he could say that would make her feel better, but his presence did.

  ‘She hasn’t said anything positive for nearly twenty years, since my dad left when I was thirteen. I’d almost given up hearing anything positive from her ever again. But since she’s been dating Trevor Harris, she’s apparently mellowed. Isla has seen it too when Mum’s been with Elliot and when she came in today. I thought, maybe, just maybe, she might have something nice to say. And she did, to you. The first time she’s been in my jewellery shop and she could have said how smart the shop looks or how proud she is of me or how she likes my jewellery but nothing. She couldn’t even say that she thought Aunt Rosa would like the gold ring, just that the ring was OK.’

  Melody let out a heavy breath.

  ‘God, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I let her get to me. I just saw her wrinkle her nose at my statement rings and I was right back to being fourteen years old and bringing home a painting I’d done in art. That exact same look. It hurt then and it hurts now.’

  Jamie stroked his hand through her hair and she smiled. She didn’t know why Jamie thought he was rubbish with women. He was here for her in exactly the way she needed.

  ‘I was always really clumsy when I was a kid—’

  ‘Just when you were a kid?’ Jamie teased and she laughed.

  ‘OK, now too, but Dad used to get really impatient with me. Mum was sympathetic, always sticking up for me when I’d knock something over or break something. I struggled at school too and my dad spent many hours sitting with me at the dining table trying to help me with my homework. When he left, for a while I blamed myself. If I was cleverer, smarter, better, less accident-prone, maybe he would have stayed. I spent years trying to be this A-grade student, trying to excel at every subject, trying to be less clumsy. I think partly in the vain hope that he would come back if he could see how smart I was, and partly to make my mum proud of me, to try to make her happy again. There was probably a tiny part of me that was scared she would leave as well.’

  She sighed, and Jamie placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.

  ‘But she wasn’t proud. Nothing I did had any impact on her. She was angry, negative and dismissive with everyone, including me. And worse, whenever I’d knock something over or break something, that patience she’d had before was gone. I used to enjoy writing little stories which I’d give her and they lay on the kitchen table, unread, until she’d moan at us to clear our crap off the table. I won a prize in art and she didn’t even come along to the award evening. Matthew and Isla were there and even my dad came, but she didn’t. She simply didn’t care about anything I did. It didn’t help that there wasn’t really anything to be proud of. I was never top of the class for any subject. I was average at everything. And I suppose I could have accepted her indifference, but it was the negativity that was the hardest. The little comments, the looks of disappointment and irritation. It hurt, and I started to lose faith in the person I was. Matthew and Isla were great, they were always so supportive, trying to build me up and reassure me, they’d tell me how proud they were of me. It wasn’t until I left home to go to university that I realised I didn’t need her approval; that living with her was so oppressive and damaging. I swore that she wasn’t going to hurt me any more with her lack of interest or scathing looks, but I suppose I never resolved it, I just minimised the time I spent with her and that works except for when I have to see her.’

  ‘It sounds like you had it rough. Your teenage years are such an important time for developing who you are as an adult. You need support and guidance and it sounds like you didn’t get any of that,’ Jamie said, gently. ‘Her divorce obviously affected her greatly and she took that out on you. I wonder if she regrets that now.’ />
  Melody sighed. ‘I doubt that.’ She looked up at him. ‘What’s your relationship with your mum like? I know you don’t see her very often.’

  ‘Only because she lives so far away. We’re very close. She’s always been very supportive about my art and encourages me to follow my dreams.’

  ‘Isn’t that what every parent should do for their children,’ Melody said. ‘Be proud and shout about their achievements to anyone who’ll listen.’

  He nodded. ‘Some parents obviously didn’t get the rule book.’

  Melody sighed and leaned her head against his heart again. ‘She wasn’t always like this. She was a wonderful mum when we were little, and everything changed the day my dad walked out.’

  ‘Maybe that other mum is still in there, but she has been angry for so long that she no longer remembers what it feels like to be that other woman. This has become her new norm. Have you spoken to her about it?’

  ‘No, I always feel like I’m treading on eggshells with her. She blows up at the slightest thing, so prevention and avoidance has always worked so well. Some things are just better left alone.’

  ‘I don’t think this will ever change though, not unless she knows how much it hurts you.’ Jamie stroked his hands soothingly down her back. ‘Surely, it’s worth a try? You don’t have any real kind of relationship with her at the moment, so it can’t make it worse. I could come with you if you wanted.’

  She looked up at him and smiled. ‘You’re very sweet, Jamie Jackson. And I know you’re right. Let me have a think about it and what I could say. Maybe I’ll talk to Isla about it too. It’s times like this I really miss Matthew. He would always talk me down when I’d get in a tizz over Mum. You’ve done a very good job of stepping into his shoes today.’

  ‘I’m always here for you, Melody. Regardless of what happens between us, I’ll always be here. I know how hard it is to lose someone close to you so if you ever want to talk about that, I’m here.’

  She smiled sadly. He had lost his dad when he was a child, and although they didn’t speak about that very often, she knew it must have been hard for him.