by Holly Martin
‘Agatha accosted me in The Cherry on Top and tried to get me to admit having sex with you last night. I tried to explain we were just kissing but she wasn’t too convinced. Then she gave me a whole list of places we could have sex outdoors, just in case we fancied it.’
Jamie couldn’t help but smirk. The audacity of his aunt would never cease to surprise him.
‘Let them believe what they want, they will anyway. Who cares what they think? By tomorrow there’ll be some other piece of news to excite them. You were the one that said you didn’t want to hide our relationship.’
Melody visibly exhaled. ‘You’re right, I know you’re right. I don’t really care if they want to talk about us, I just wish they’d get their facts right.’
‘Shall we have sex on the beach now so that the rumours are actually true?’ Jamie said.
Melody laughed. ‘That would give them all something to talk about.’
‘If that’s what you want,’ Jamie teased.
‘Yes! Do it,’ Klaus shouted from the back of the studio.
Jamie smirked.
‘I think we should do it somewhere a bit more private for our first time,’ Melody said, quietly.
‘That’s probably a good idea. Come for dinner tonight.’
Melody arched an eyebrow and he laughed. ‘Just dinner, I promise.’
‘OK, but I have to drop something off for Aidan around eight. It won’t take long, we could eat after.’
He nodded. ‘OK, come round about seven thirty. I can come with you if you like.’
‘Sounds good.’ She leaned up to kiss him and then looked around the studio. ‘What are you working on?’
‘Oh, my statue for the Sculpture in the Sand competition.’ Jamie tried to sound vague in the hope that she wouldn’t want to see it.
‘Oooh, can I see it?’
His heart sank. ‘I’m… kind of a bit funny about people seeing my work before it’s finished. It will change so much between now and then and I don’t want people to see it when it’s only half done.’
‘Ah, OK.’
He could tell she was disappointed.
‘I could show you a piece I finished earlier this morning,’ he offered.
She brightened. ‘OK.’
He took her hand and brought her over to the drying shelf where a little statuette was sitting, drying before he put it in the kiln.
‘It’s a mermaid,’ Melody said, visibly enchanted by it.
He didn’t do conventional sculptures and statues very often. The tourists liked their art a bit more predictable, so he would do these little sculptures of seagulls, seals, crabs, and sea horses from time to time. Some were accurate and detailed, some were a little bit comedic, and he would paint them and put them in the window to draw the tourists in. Once they were in the shop, many of them would become transfixed with his more abstract pieces and buy those instead of the conventional pieces. But this idea had sparked to life the first night he had kissed Melody on their date and he knew he had to make it.
‘It’s a siren actually,’ Jamie said, and he watched the smile fill her face. ‘I was inspired.’
‘She’s very beautiful,’ Melody said.
‘As I said, I had great inspiration. I’m going to paint her hair sunshine blonde and her scales a beautiful sparkling sea-blue-green to match her eyes.’
She swallowed. ‘I think the tourists will love her.’
He shook his head. ‘She’s a gift for you and then you can always be reminded of how I see you. This incredibly beautiful, magical creature that has cast a spell over my heart.’
‘Oh,’ Melody said.
She turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck. ‘I do like you, Jamie Jackson. I might even go so far as to say, I adore you.’
He smiled. ‘I like you too.’
He knew that didn’t even come close to describing his feelings for her.
‘You’re quite possibly my favourite person,’ Melody said.
He bent his head to kiss her, hoping that actions would speak louder than words. He was crazy about her, even if he couldn’t find the words to tell her. Kissing her was everything, she must feel that too.
She pulled back, slightly. ‘See, this “friends who date” thing can actually work.’
‘I’m enjoying our sort-of relationship very much,’ Jamie said.
She smiled and gave him a brief kiss on the cheek. ‘I’ll see you tonight.’
She called for Rocky and then he watched her go, staring at her as she unlocked her shop door and disappeared inside. He turned back to face his competition sculpture. He just hoped she would feel the same way about him when she saw this.
12
Melody knocked on Jamie’s door later that night and when he answered he looked happy and relaxed.
Maybe there was a lot to be said for friends who date. He immediately bent and kissed her and then pulled her into his arms for a big hug. God, it felt so nice.
Harry, Ron and Hermione, Jamie’s older dogs, came sniffing around, wagging their tails and Sirius could be seen chasing his own tail in excitement as he bounced off the furniture and skidded over the wood laminate floor. Harry looked at Sirius and then back at Melody with that long-suffering look of a parent who doesn’t know what to do with their hyperactive child. Dobby the turkey was also wandering round, pecking at bits of dust on the floor and following the other animals around the room.
‘Come in for a moment,’ Jamie said, and she followed him down the hall into the bright and airy lounge with stunning views over the whole of Sandcastle Bay. She hadn’t been to Jamie’s house very often – they tended to meet at hers or on the beach on the way to work – but that view always took her breath away. The little houses tumbling down the hill towards the vast swathe of inky blue sea. The fruit fields from Heartberry Farm could clearly be seen, as could her little cottage perched on the edge of Sunshine Beach. A pink haze hung in the sky as the sun had already started its very slow descent and it left a pink glow over the water. It was beautiful.
Jamie was picking up a few things in an attempt to make the place look tidier for her. His house had a wonderful lived-in appeal. This was a home and the pottery and art magazines that littered the coffee table, the hoodie that had been strewn over the arm of the sofa and the bits of paper with his sketches on them scattered in messy piles on the floor just added to the charm of the place. This cottage was the epitome of Jamie Jackson and she loved it.
‘Don’t tidy up for me,’ Melody said.
Jamie paused in picking up some of his sketches and then deliberately left them on the floor, in a perhaps slightly tidier pile than they were in before.
‘I love your home, this view, the decorations, your dogs and Dobby freely wandering about the place as if they own it, I wouldn’t change a single thing.’
Jamie smiled. ‘The animals do own the house; they just let me stay here.’
‘Isn’t that the truth. I like to think I’m the one in charge in my house, but really Rocky’s the boss and he knows it.’
‘Come through to the kitchen a moment, I’ll just check on the dinner before we pop out. How long will we be?’
‘Probably only ten or fifteen minutes.’
She followed him into the kitchen where wonderful smells were coming from the oven.
‘What are we having? It smells amazing.’
‘Lasagne. It should be done by the time we’ve got back.’
He fiddled with the temperature on the oven and put the homemade garlic bread in the fridge.
‘Don’t want to leave this out, it won’t be there when we get back,’ Jamie said, giving a pointed glare at Sirius.
He grabbed his jacket and they left the house.
‘I thought we’d go by bike.’ Melody gestured to her beloved pink moped. She’d bought it not long after she’d moved to Sandcastle Bay to make navigating the narrow and twisty lanes a lot easier, but she never really used it. Walking was much nicer but, knowing they were a bit pushed for time that evenin
g, it made sense to dig it out. She didn’t want to be late for Aidan’s proposal and, as lovely as the walk through Sandcastle Bay would be at this time of evening, she wanted to eat and talk with Jamie in a more intimate setting.
‘OK,’ Jamie said.
She smirked as she handed him a pink helmet. To his credit, he didn’t even bat an eye as he pulled it over his head and fastened it underneath. She pulled hers on and got onto the moped. Jamie got on behind her, wrapping his hands around her waist.
She started the engine and moved off and his hands tightened slightly around her.
‘So what are we taking to Aidan?’ Jamie said over the noise of the engine.
‘I’ve made him dessert,’ Melody said. Apparently Jamie didn’t know. Well, he would soon when he followed her to the cave.
‘I’m sure Aidan’s more than capable of making his own dessert, the man is a demon in the kitchen.’
‘I’m sure he could, but my Eve’s Pudding is Tori’s favourite thing in the world.’
Jamie clearly thought about this for a moment as they zoomed along the sea front towards the heartberry field.
‘Special occasion?’
She grinned. ‘Yes, you could say that.’
She pulled up next to the gate that led to the heartberry field and they climbed off. She retrieved the wrapped pudding and a jam jar of custard from the box at the back of the moped. Jamie watched her carefully.
‘He’s going to propose, isn’t he?’ Jamie said.
‘How could you know that?’
‘Because you have the biggest grin on your face. You have such a romantic heart; it’s obvious you’re really excited and happy about this.’
‘OK, he is, and yes, I’m beyond excited. You have no idea how happy it makes me to see Tori getting her happy ending.’
‘Wow, that’s early for them,’ Jamie said as he followed her into the heartberry field.
‘I know but I suppose when you’ve found the right person, there’s no point in hanging around.’
Jamie was quiet for a moment. ‘I suppose not.’
‘He’s going to propose as soon as he brings her to the cave, so they can enjoy the night after. I think he just wants to get it out the way as the nerves are probably eating him alive.’
‘If I was going to propose, I’d be scared to death too.’
‘Scared she would say yes,’ Melody teased as she knew he was anti-relationships.
‘Scared she’d say no. It’s a big commitment and both parties need to be ready for that. Nothing worse than one half of the couple being more into the relationship than the other.’
It sounded like he was speaking from experience. Her heart ached for him if he’d been hurt that way.
She waited to see if he would talk about it some more, but when he didn’t she decided to change the subject.
‘So we just need to drop this pudding off in the cave and then we can go and have dinner,’ Melody said as she walked along the edge of the field. ‘Though it’s a shame we can’t stay and watch.’
‘You want to watch their proposal?’ Jamie said, slipping his hand into hers as he fell in at her side.
She looked up at him and smiled. ‘Oh god, my little romantic heart would love it. My world is permanently rose-tinted. My bedroom has shelves of hundreds of cutesy romance stories, with sparkly happy, feel-good endings. I love all that sort of stuff.’
‘It’s not real though, is it?’ Jamie said. ‘Love isn’t really like how they portray it in those stories.’
‘Why not? When you find someone, the other half of your heart, your soul mate, why can’t you have the happy ending?’
‘In my experience, there is no such thing as the happy ending.’
‘Then you haven’t met the right person. Look at Tori and Aidan, they were both hurt in the past and they put that behind them and now they’ve found their forever.’
‘I think what Tori and Aidan have is something special. I don’t think everyone has that.’
‘You just have to find your someone special too,’ Melody said. ‘I couldn’t be happier for the two of them. She has found someone wonderful in your brother and I’m so happy they’re getting engaged. So yes, I’d love to see it. But I will content myself with being a part of it in some tiny way,’ she gestured to the pudding, ‘and hearing all about it after.’
They had arrived at Orchard Cove by this point. The tide was out, the waves lapping gently on the shore as the sun set over the sea. The evening was perfect.
They walked into the cave and her heart dropped into her stomach. The table and chairs had been knocked over, the vase that had been filled with flowers was on the ground and the flowers lay scattered across the cave floor. It had been quite windy that afternoon so they must have got blown over. Thankfully the generator was still working as the fairy lights were twinkling and she could see that the warmer was on too.
She quickly put the pudding under the heat as Jamie moved to grab the table. She had a quick check on the other food that was in there, making sure none of it had dried out. It looked OK. She grabbed the chairs and rearranged them at the table. She found the tablecloth in the corner of the cave and put that back on as Jamie re-hung some of the lights and origami flower bunting that had fallen down near the front of the cave. She gathered up the flowers and placed them in the vase.
She stepped back to look at everything and it all seemed fine.
‘OK, let’s get out of here,’ Melody said.
Jamie nodded and followed her back onto the beach. However, as they walked to the edge of the field, Melody saw that Tori and Aidan were already making their way through the heartberry bushes towards them, having come through the farm entrance to the field.
‘Crap!’ Melody said, pulling Jamie back onto the beach out of sight. ‘What do we do? If she sees us, it might give the game away or ruin it.’
Jamie looked around and then grabbed her hand. ‘Quick, back in the cave, there’s some rocks at the back we can hide behind.’
‘We can’t hide there all night,’ Melody said, searching the beach for some other kind of solution, but there wasn’t anywhere else they could go.
‘We don’t have to. You said that Aidan planned to propose to her as soon as they got into the cave. We hide there until she says yes, give them a few moments to hug and kiss and then we come out, offer our congratulations and leave them to enjoy their evening. They’ll be too loved-up after the proposal to care that we were actually there and we get to watch the proposal, just as you wanted. Then we can be back at my house in a few minutes and be eating that lasagne that’s in the oven.’
‘OK, good plan. Do you have your phone? We could even record the happy moment for them.’
‘Good idea,’ Jamie said, tugging her behind the rock. They knelt down so they were out of sight and Jamie pulled out his phone. Melody peered over the top of the rock, but they were in complete darkness there and, because of the brightness of the fairy lights in the front of the cave, it was very unlikely they’d be seen.
A few moments later, Aidan and Tori arrived.
Melody couldn’t help squeezing Jamie’s arm in excitement.
Tori gasped when she walked in. ‘Is this for us?’
‘For you,’ Aidan said.
‘It’s beautiful,’ Tori whispered.
Melody checked on Jamie and he was already filming it all on his phone.
‘I wanted to do something special for you, here in Orchard Cove, because it was here, as we watched that sunrise, the first night we kissed, that I realised I wanted to watch every sunrise with you.’
‘Oh,’ Tori said quietly, and Melody thought she might be cottoning on to what was happening.
‘You have changed my life, you’ve filled it with colour and joy and I simply cannot imagine my life now without you in it. I love you, with everything I have. You are forever for me,’ Aidan said, dropping down to one knee and offering out the ring box. ‘Would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?’
‘Oh god, Aidan,’ Tori said, her voice barely a whisper as she stared at the ring. ‘It’s beautiful.’
And with that Tori burst into tears.
Melody looked at Jamie and he pulled a face. ‘Not the best reaction,’ he whispered.
‘Just wait,’ she hissed. She had a pretty good idea why Tori was crying and it wasn’t just the proposal.
‘What’s wrong?’ Aidan asked uncertainly.
‘I’m just so happy,’ Tori sobbed.
‘It doesn’t look like it. Is it too soon? We don’t have to do this now, I just thought…’ Aidan said, clearly not having expected this reaction at all.
Tori shook her head, still crying. ‘I love you, this, all of this, is perfect.’
Though she still hadn’t said yes yet. Poor Aidan.
He stood up and pulled her into his arms, holding her close. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nothing is wrong, I’m happy, I promise.’
He stroked the tears from her face and Tori caught his hand and moved it down to her stomach. Melody felt the grin almost split her face. They had been right after all.
‘Aidan, I’m pregnant.’
He looked confused for a moment. He definitely hadn’t been expecting that. ‘What?’
‘I’m carrying your baby,’ Tori said, laughing through her tears.
If Melody thought her own grin was huge, it was nothing to the smile that lit up Aidan’s face at this wonderful news.
‘We’re having a baby?’
Tori nodded.
Melody chanced a quick glance at Jamie, not wanting to miss anything but wondering what he thought of this news too. He was grinning as well.
Aidan hugged Tori, laughing as he lifted her off her feet. ‘Oh god, this is the best news ever. Second only to you saying yes to my proposal.’
‘Oh, I can’t believe I didn’t say yes,’ Tori laughed through her tears. ‘Of course it’s a yes, I love you so much. You are my forever too.’
Aidan sighed with relief. ‘Can I put it on? See how it looks?’
Tori nodded, and it seemed like everyone held their breath as he slid the ring onto her finger. From where Melody was crouching, it seemed to fit Tori perfectly.