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

by Holly Martin

  ‘I think you’re probably right,’ Leo said. ‘Go and get him and then bring him back here and we can all watch the marvellous magic show together.’

  ‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’ she asked Elliot.

  He shook his head. ‘Jamie makes you happy; I want you to be happy again.’

  She smiled with love for her nephew and gave him a big hug. Then she scrambled up, grabbed her bag and, with a quick wave at the others, she ran out of the house.

  23

  It was easier and quicker to run along the sea front, passing the other sculptures that had appeared that morning, all of them currently under wraps. Her eyes cast along the beach, searching for Jamie. Up ahead, near to her house, she could see a sculpture that was nearly as tall as she was. Was that it? But there was no sign of Jamie. She drew closer to her house and realised the sculpture was a figure, a woman who looked like she was dancing. Her heart skipped a beat.

  The sculpture was of her.

  She stumbled as she took the last few steps and then she was standing right in front of it. It was incredible; it was so lifelike, so detailed. She reached up to stroke the statue’s cheek – it was silky soft. The mystic topaz stones that she had sold Jamie a few days before shone out of the statue’s face as eyes. She looked so happy.

  Suddenly the significance of this hit her with the force of a double-decker bus. The sculptures were supposed to show the thing that people loved the most about Sandcastle Bay. The thing that Jamie loved the most was her.

  Tears fell down her cheeks, her chest heaving with suppressed sobs.

  He loved her.

  Oh god. This was such a big risk for him, putting out his heart and expressing his feelings in such a public way. Especially after he had been crushed in such a humiliating way before. This was why he had suddenly been scared about submitting this statue to the competition the night before. After seeing Polly, all those feelings of betrayal and embarrassment over what happened when he’d told her he loved her had come flooding back. Yet despite that, the sculpture was here, for all to see. He really did love her.

  She wiped her tears away and took a step back to look at the statue properly. The statue was sculpted to look like she was wearing a dress and there were beads around the statue’s neck that made it look like she was wearing a necklace. She moved closer to get a better look at the beads. They weren’t beads at all, they were gemstones. In fact, these were the gemstones that she had sold to Emily a few days before, when she had asked for gemstones for different meanings. All forty-two of them. She spotted bravery, kindness and loyalty. Her heart thundered in her chest. Jamie kept saying that he wished she could see all her qualities and here they were.

  She ran her fingers over each of the different gemstones. Creativity, imagination, warmth…

  ‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’

  Melody whirled around and saw her mum standing a few feet away.

  ‘Jamie is a wonderful man; I think he’s perfect for you.’

  Melody smiled. ‘He really is.’

  Her mum stepped closer. ‘He showed me this a few days ago. You can see how much care and attention has gone into this sculpture, the love he has for you just shines from it.’

  ‘He showed you? He never shows anyone his sculptures until they’re finished.’

  ‘He wanted my help with suggestions for the necklace. He already had a list of thirty qualities he saw in you and he asked me if I could think of any more.’

  Melody resisted saying that she thought her mum would have found that hard. Then her heart filled with love for Jamie at what he had done with that gesture. She hadn’t heard one positive thing from her mum in nearly twenty years and Jamie had directly asked her mum for compliments about her. Even if she never heard the words from her mum, the evidence that her mum did think positively of her would be there, preserved in the statue forever.

  Her mum smiled sadly. ‘As I was rattling off all these wonderful things about you, it occurred to me that I’ve never told you any of these things.’

  Melody stared at her. ‘I can’t honestly remember the last positive thing you’ve said to me. I suppose it must have happened once, I have very happy memories of playing with you when I was a child, but those memories seem so far away now.’

  Her mum winced. ‘I know. After your dad left, I was angry at everyone, including my own children.’

  ‘I know, I was there. No matter how hard I worked at school, no matter what I did, nothing seemed to please you.’

  ‘I didn’t see any of that. I was so wrapped up in my own grief and anger, I wasn’t aware of anything or anybody else. I know how much that must have hurt.’ She sighed. ‘I had this whole life planned. Right from seventeen years old, I knew who I was going to marry, where I was going to live, what job I would have, how many children. And I ticked every box. I wanted this perfect life and I lost sight of what was most important, my husband and my children. Without them, I had nothing. I pushed your dad away with my constant need for perfection and, when he left, my whole world fell apart. My carefully laid plan was reduced to dust.’

  ‘But you still had us, me, Matthew and Isla, and you pushed us away too with your anger and negativity,’ Melody said.

  ‘I know. I didn’t realise it at the time, but I saw it later and by then the gap was so big between us I didn’t know how to bridge it.’

  ‘An apology would have been a good start,’ Melody said, then regretted it because her mum was clearly trying.

  ‘You have no idea how sorry I am. When you spend so many years being angry at the world, it becomes so hard to break out of that default setting. I don’t want to be that angry person any more. Being with Trevor is helping me; it’s wonderful to feel loved again.’

  Melody felt a little guilty at that. She had probably not shown her mum any love for many years, and neither, she suspected, had Isla or Matthew. There had been no affectionate hugs or words. That had been because her mum had pushed them all away but it must have been very lonely for her mum nonetheless.

  ‘Looking after Elliot helps too.’ Her mum’s face lit up at the mention of her grandson.

  ‘Don’t push him away,’ Melody said, protectively. ‘He loves you and he doesn’t deserve that.’

  ‘I won’t, I promise. He makes me laugh and it’s been a long time since I’ve laughed at anything.’

  Melody looked back at the statue. She wasn’t sure if their relationship would ever go back to how it had been before her dad left, whether they would ever have a loving, affectionate one, but this was a start. They both needed to make an effort and it seemed her mum was willing to try so she could too.

  ‘Want to know which qualities I picked? Jamie showed me the relevant gemstones; let me see if I can remember which ones meant which. Oh yes, this black snowflake one—’

  ‘Snowflake obsidian,’ Melody said.

  ‘That’s for persistence and determination. I’m so proud of you for setting up your own business and making a success of it. Not many people can do that, especially alone, and not only did you make a success of it in London, but you’ve adapted and made it work down here in Sandcastle Bay too.’

  That had been hard work. No one was interested in buying diamond necklaces or sapphire rings in Sandcastle Bay. So she’d spent many months sourcing new jewellery, researching unusual styles and being a lot more creative when she was making her own. She’d never really considered that to be a quality before.

  ‘This moonstone is for patience. I see how you are with Elliot and you are wonderful with him. And this green peridot one is for positivity. You’ve had some setbacks in your life, your dad leaving, your mum being a cow and your brother dying. But you never seem to let it get you down. You always seem so happy. Especially of late, though I think your young man has something to do with putting that big smile on your face. Speaking of which, maybe I should let him talk through the rest of the gemstones.’

  She nodded down the beach and Melody looked around and saw Jamie walki
ng towards them. Her heart leapt in her chest.

  ‘Why don’t we have lunch tomorrow? I’ll ask Isla and Elliot too,’ her mum said.

  Melody turned her attention back to her. ‘I’d like that.’

  Her mum gave her a little wave – it was too soon for hugs and kisses goodbye – and walked off the beach.

  Melody turned back to Jamie who was approaching slowly. He ran his hand through his hair, nervously.

  ‘I’ve been looking for you,’ he said.

  How could she find the words to describe how this statue had made her feel, to say she was sorry, to explain?

  ‘I wanted to say—’ he started.

  Maybe she didn’t need words. She launched herself at him, throwing her arms round his neck and kissing him hard. She felt the sigh of relief against her lips as he held her tight. Tears soaked her cheeks and she didn’t even care.

  ‘I love you,’ she said. ‘I love you so much. I know you’re scared to say those words to me and I understand why now and I don’t need to hear them. This…’ she gestured to the statue and her voice broke as she looked at her again ‘… is everything to me.’

  He grinned. ‘I didn’t bring you down here to show you a statue to represent how I feel for you. I want you to know, so there is no doubt. I love you, with everything I have. Not despite all your clumsy quirks, but because of them. I love you because of every single one of these wonderful qualities. Patience, compassion, wisdom. I love how brave you’ve been giving up your life in London and coming down here to help your sister raise Elliot. I love your wonderful imagination that helps create such beautiful and unique jewellery pieces. I love your kindness and patience when it comes to Elliot, the loyalty you show your friends. I love your passion, especially in the bedroom.’ He winked at her.

  ‘Oh god, I’ve been such an idiot. I never wanted the perfect relationship or the perfect date, I just wanted you to think it was perfect. And you did. You saw in me all these wonderful qualities that I never saw myself. Last night you said you’d had the best week of your life being with me and that didn’t even register until you walked out. I was so scared of losing you, of pushing you away. But you were right, I was putting my fears on you.’

  ‘I did the same. I held back from telling you how I feel because I was fearful of your reaction after what happened with Polly. I held back from letting anything happen between us for months because I was too scared. But no more hiding our feelings. If we are going to work, we have to be honest with each other. I really do love you.’

  ‘I love you too.’

  He leaned down to kiss her again.

  God, they really were going to be OK.

  She pulled back. ‘I came to see you last night, after you’d walked out. But you didn’t answer the door. I thought we were over.’

  ‘I was in the studio all night finishing off my sculpture.’

  ‘Yes, Aidan said that’s where you were.’

  ‘I wanted you to see it as soon as you walked out of your house this morning but you’d already left.’

  She frowned in confusion. ‘But I saw the curtains move.’

  ‘Probably Sirius, nosy little bugger. He’s always at the window when people are walking past or come to the door.’

  ‘And the radio was playing.’

  ‘I always leave it on for the dogs,’ Jamie explained.

  Melody smiled as realisation dawned on her. ‘And I’m guessing that the light going off was a lamp on a timer.’

  He cringed. ‘Yeah, it was. I always have the lamp come on at certain times so if I’m not there the dogs aren’t left in the darkness. I’m so sorry, I can only imagine how you must have felt, thinking I wasn’t answering the door.’

  She waved it away. ‘God, none of that matters now. I’m here where I belong.’

  He kissed her and then pulled back slightly. ‘Why don’t we take your imagination and passion up to your bedroom and put that silly argument behind us once and for all?’

  She smiled and kissed him briefly. ‘I would love nothing more than to do just that, but I have a marvellous magic show to go and watch and I’m under strict instructions to bring you back with me.’

  He laughed. ‘I can definitely think of better ways to spend my afternoon but I can wait until tonight.’

  As he slipped his hand into hers and they walked off the beach, she couldn’t help the huge smile from spreading on her face. Tonight couldn’t come soon enough.

  The sky was a beautiful flamingo pink with trails of lavender as Melody walked hand in hand with Jamie down Sunshine Beach, enjoying the Great Sculptures in the Sand Festival. There were food tents and craft stores all the way along the beach and many people were making their way around those before the evening’s entertainment started.

  She and Jamie wandered around the sculptures and Tori, Aidan, Isla, Leo and Elliot walked with them, admiring the different statues and models. Melody liked the eclectic mix, some made from wood, some made from recycled bits of plastic bottles and pots, some made from old shoes. It really was a wonderful display of the best bits of Sandcastle Bay. There were lots of seaside-themed sculptures, sandcastles, boats, ice creams, fish, dolphins and seals, but like Jamie, some of the people of the village had interpreted the theme much more personally.

  ‘So this is mine,’ Melody said, nervously. She looked up at Jamie but he was smiling as he looked at it.

  ‘So the thing you love most about Sandcastle Bay is…?’

  ‘Walking to work with you every morning, when the beaches are almost empty and it’s just us and the sun rising over the golden sands. That’s my favourite thing about Sandcastle Bay.’

  His smile grew. ‘This is us?’

  ‘It’s supposed to be. I’m not as crafty as you.’

  ‘I love it. I have to say, it’s my favourite part of the day too: me, you, two crazy puppies.’

  She grinned.

  ‘That’s wonderful,’ Isla said.

  ‘That’s so sweet,’ Tori said and then turned to Aidan who was walking next to her with his arm round her shoulders. ‘I kind of feel we should have done something more personal to us now.’

  They’d already seen Tori and Aidan’s heartberry model, Max, and he was a big hit with the villagers.

  ‘Max is personal to us. We met because you were here picking heartberries. Besides, our next animated advert is going to reflect us and our life,’ Aidan said.

  ‘It is?’ Melody asked.

  ‘Max and his heartberry girlfriend Jenny are going to get married and there’s going to be a little heartberry baby,’ Tori explained, exchanging a look of love with Aidan.

  Melody’s heart filled with happiness for them. ‘Are you guys thinking of getting married soon?’

  ‘I think it will be this year,’ Tori said. ‘I think I’d quite like to get married before I start showing too much. I don’t want to be waddling down the aisle or having the baby on our honeymoon.’

  ‘I’m happy to get married sooner rather than later,’ Aidan agreed.

  ‘We thought we’d get married up on the farm, maybe September or October when the main fruit season is over. We might get a marquee.’

  ‘Sounds lovely,’ Melody said.

  Up ahead, Elliot was dragging Leo through the sculptures, laughing and pointing at the different ones.

  ‘Elliot can’t wait to see the horse that Leo has made for the festival, it’s all he’s talked about for days,’ Isla said.

  ‘You’ve not seen it yet?’ Jamie asked.

  ‘Bits of it – the bit that moves and churns with the water and the bit that seemingly has lightning inside and we’ve seen the head – but we’ve not seen it all put together. Elliot has been helping him, well I say helping, he’s been watching Leo make some bits of it. I have no doubt it will be something incredible, if I know Leo,’ Isla said.

  ‘He really does have a talent for stuff like this,’ Melody said.

  ‘I keep saying he should expand his business and make installations and sculpture
s like this. I bet lots of companies would be interested and he could do stuff like this around zoos and theme parks too. He is so good at getting things to light up and move, he’s so clever at things like that. Anything with pyrotechnics, animatronics, pneumatics or hydraulics is right up Leo’s street.’

  Elliot came running back to them, Leo following close behind.

  ‘Isla, our horse is just ahead, you need to come and see it.’

  ‘I can’t wait,’ Isla said.

  Leo took her hand. ‘You need to stand in the right place to appreciate it at its best.’

  Melody followed behind as Leo placed Isla and Elliot in the right place. He told Elliot to stay with Isla for a moment as he slipped off to start the mechanics of his sculpture. She saw a large glass horse modelled to look like it was running through the sand. It was made out of several chambers and one chamber had waves crashing against rocks inside, another had real forks of lightning going off inside. Melody had no idea how Leo had done that. The neck, shoulders and part of the head were made from mirrored panels, making the horse look very sci-fi, as if it belonged in another time. It was marvellous.

  She looked over at her sister and nephew. Elliot was jumping up and down with joy and excitement but Melody was confused by how quiet Isla was as she stared at the horse. Leo hadn’t seemed to notice as he moved round the horse checking the mechanics were all working properly. Melody followed her line of sight to see what she was staring at and realised that Leo had placed them in the exact place that Isla and Elliot could very clearly see their own reflection in the mirrored neck of the horse. Melody’s heart leapt. Was this Leo’s way of telling Isla that the thing he loved most about Sandcastle Bay was her and Elliot? She looked over at Isla’s reaction again. It was quite clear that her sister was thinking the same. Why else had he chosen that exact position for Isla and Elliot to stand when you could see the wonder of the horse from pretty much anywhere around it?

  ‘What do you think?’ Leo turned round and, for the briefest of moments, she saw him check Isla’s reaction before he moved his gaze to Elliot.