The Holiday Cottage by the Sea: An utterly gorgeous feel-good romantic comedy

by Holly Martin

  She expected him to laugh it off, or at the very least to stop looking at her like she was a queen. But he sat up and cupped her face, kissing her gently.

  ‘I’m looking forward to it,’ he whispered against her lips. He moved against her, taking control, which she was glad for as she was suddenly incapable of doing anything. ‘You don’t scare me, Tori Graham.’

  ‘I’ll just be scared for the both of us,’ Tori said.

  ‘You worry about tomorrow and I’ll take care of today,’ Aidan said.

  Emotions bubbled through her, this need for him, this fear of what would happen, sensations of pleasure spiking through her body – it was an overload of so many feelings all at once. Her body started to move, falling in rhythm with him, and for a while she was able to push aside her worries and doubts, and just enjoy the moment.

  He wrapped his arms around her, gathering her close so he was deep inside her, and then kissed her sweetly on the forehead.

  ‘I’ll take care of you,’ he whispered, and it was this tenderness towards her, this feeling of being safe, that sent her over the edge.

  * * *

  The day of the boat race arrived with high winds and occasional showers. As Tori and Aidan walked down the drive towards Blossom Cottage, her hair whipped around her face. The storm was due to hit later that night, getting worse in the early hours of the following morning. Because of the supermoon, the tides were at their highest at this time of year and she knew that Aidan was worried, no matter what he said.

  They had decided that, as soon as the sun set that day, they would start picking the fruit and work through the night to get as many heartberries as possible. Over half the field had already been harvested but that meant that they still had half the field to lose if the storm turned really bad that night.

  It would sadly mean they would miss a lot of the festivities that night. Aidan had suggested she could go to the festival instead, but the heartberries were very important to him and the villagers and she couldn’t let him pick them alone just so she could enjoy some fireworks.

  She glanced over at him and saw the frown on his face. There was nothing they really could do now. She had suggested they started picking the fruit that day instead of going to the boat race, but Aidan had insisted they needed to be picked at night. So, she would just have to keep his mind off things until they could get back to the heartberry field later that evening.

  ‘I wonder how the puppy-sitting went last night for Jamie and Melody,’ Tori said. ‘Melody said the puppies would need feeding every two to three hours, so I don’t imagine they got a lot of sleep.’

  Aidan looked at her and smiled. ‘Are you trying to set Jamie and Melody up by getting them to look after the puppies together?’

  Tori smiled. ‘Maybe.’

  ‘You can’t push two people together, it will either happen or it won’t. Interfering might be more of a hindrance than a help,’ Aidan said.

  ‘I don’t know, a little bit of a nudge didn’t seem to do us any harm,’ Tori said, squeezing his hand. Would they have got together if his aunt hadn’t been so insistent? Maybe she owed Agatha a bit more gratitude. ‘You know your brother better than I do, does he have feelings for Melody?’

  Aidan was silent for a moment. ‘I think I’d better plead the fifth on that one.’

  Tori laughed.

  ‘Does Melody have feelings for Jamie?’ Aidan asked.

  ‘Oh, look, a squirrel,’ Tori pointed wildly into the trees and he laughed.

  ‘Nice change of subject.’

  ‘Well, let’s see how well they got on last night,’ she said.

  She opened the door quietly, not wanting to frighten Beauty or the puppies and just in case Jamie or Melody were asleep.

  She stepped into the lounge and Aidan followed her. She smiled.

  Jamie and Melody were fast asleep on the sofa, his arm around her shoulder, her head on his chest and three tiny bundles of fur on their laps.

  ‘It seems they had a very good night together,’ Tori whispered, unable to keep the smile from her face. Maybe this would be just the nudge they needed to get them together or at least start the ball rolling.

  ‘Maybe we should take over the morning feed, let them sleep a little while,’ Aidan whispered.

  Tori nodded.

  She looked over at Beauty and saw she looked a lot more awake today. All the puppies were currently sleeping, and Beast was dozing, keeping one eye on his children.

  Tori gently picked up the empty bottles and Aidan followed her into the kitchen. He set about getting bowls of food ready for Beauty and Beast while she made the milk bottles up for the three smallest puppies.

  She walked back into the lounge and scooped up one of the tiny puppies. Aidan put the bowls of food and water on the floor and then picked up another puppy.

  As Jamie and Melody had the sofa, Tori and Aidan sat down on the floor and started feeding the puppies. There was something undeniably sweet and achingly endearing about feeding newborn puppies, their tiny bellies getting fat with warm milk.

  Melody shifted slightly in her sleep and Jamie instinctively pulled her closer to him as he carried on sleeping himself. Tori couldn’t help grinning and Aidan smiled too.

  ‘OK, maybe a tiny bit of meddling doesn’t hurt,’ Aidan whispered.

  Melody stirred and opened her eyes sleepily. She looked up at Jamie just as he woke and looked down at her. For just a moment, they were aware only of each other and the look of adoration that passed between them was unmistakable before they suddenly realised where they were and that they had an audience.

  Jamie straightened, realised his arm was around Melody’s shoulders and quickly removed it.

  Melody looked embarrassed as she stood up.

  Tori passed her the third bottle to try to cover up the embarrassing moment.

  ‘We’ve only fed these two. Little Spike over there still needs a bottle,’ Tori said, pointing to the tiny puppy whose fur was sticking up around its ears.

  Melody quickly scooped it up and focussed all her attention on feeding it and Jamie went to check on the other puppies.

  Tori sighed as she watched the two of them almost pretend the other didn’t exist. Maybe an afternoon at the Heartberry Love Festival would be just what they needed.

  22

  Tori looked around as everybody loaded their boats into the water, lining the shore. There were about thirty to forty boats of all different shapes, sizes and colours. Over on the opposite banks of the river, there were another thirty odd boats in different shapes too. Some had wings or fish scales painted on the sides or, in the case of one, hundreds of rubber ducks strapped to the edges. She smiled when she saw Mark and Mindy’s boat in high-vis green with ‘Mindy’s Seaweed Shakes’ emblazoned on the side. Some people had just used giant inflatable sharks or crocodiles as their water crafts, which somehow seemed to Tori that they were cheating not actually building the boats themselves. However, knowing how hard it would be to direct those inflatables across the water with any kind of speed, she decided to let it go.

  Some of the vessels were fairly impressive, while others didn’t look like they would stay together for any length of time. And then there was Leo’s, a great big water dragon that had scales that glistened and sparkled in the midday sun, eyes that moved and even breathed fire. Aidan had mentioned that his brother always tried to better himself every year and the villagers now expected some kind of extravaganza from Leo.

  Aidan set about making sure the balloons were tied to the sides of his boat securely and Tori helped him.

  ‘So, we have to get to the island and back?’ Tori asked, looking at the island in the middle of the wide river. It was probably no more than twenty or thirty metres away but, to Tori, it could have been an ocean on their little boat of matchsticks.

  ‘In theory, we just have to get to the island to win a slice of the heartberry cake, though of course we have to get back once we’ve won it. But it doesn’t really matter so much if our bo
at breaks up and we don’t make it back.’

  ‘Except that we would get wet,’ Tori said.

  ‘Well, yes, there is that.’

  The wind raced up the river, making the boats bob and bump into each other.

  ‘And we have the wind to contend with as well,’ she said, still not entirely convinced that this boat race was a good idea.

  Aidan looked out to where the river met the sea and the white caps that were clearly visible as the sea swelled and surged towards the village. He frowned with worry and she knew it wasn’t over the boat race but what would happen to the heartberry field later that day.

  ‘So, we need to beat Leo and his ridiculous dragon,’ Tori said, trying to get his mind off the storm. ‘Show him that bigger isn’t always better.’

  Leo, who was taking care of last-minute preparations next to them, turned around. ‘Not a chance.’

  ‘Hey, my little boat might not look like much, but it’s got weight and size on its side. It’s small and nippy – your boat is too big to go anywhere fast,’ Aidan said.

  ‘Nippy might be a huge overstatement,’ Tori muttered.

  ‘I don’t need speed, when I have style,’ Leo said.

  Tori had to admit he had that, the boat was stunning.

  ‘Besides, I have a secret weapon,’ Leo said.

  ‘If you tell me you have an outboard motor underneath the dragon’s tail, there’s going to be big trouble,’ Tori said, knowing that the only rule when it came to the boats was that they weren’t allowed to have any kind of motor engine attached. Propulsion had to come from hard work and a hell of a lot of luck.

  ‘You’ll have to wait and see,’ Leo said, cryptically. ‘But obviously my boat is going to beat yours.’

  ‘How do you know my boat won’t win?’ Jamie called across.

  Tori looked over at his boat. It was an impressive sight. Made mainly from reclaimed driftwood, it looked beautiful and like something that should be on display in a museum or a giant art exhibit. But attached to the sides were what appeared to be clay waves, in beautiful metallic hues of greens and blues. There was even a small mermaid attached to the front, which looked like it was made from sea glass. But the boat didn’t seem like it was made for the river. It was definitely sitting very low in the water with the heavy weight. It looked like the only thing keeping it from sinking right now was Jamie’s business partner Klaus, who was a giant of a man, holding onto a rope at the back of the boat as he stood on the banks. He looked like a Viking with his long red beard and leather headband wrapped around his forehead. Tori only hoped that Klaus had inherited some of that boat-building blood from his ancestors because she fancied her chances of getting to the island safely a lot more than Jamie’s right now.

  Melody came over to Jamie and he gave her all his attention as she presumably wished him good luck.

  ‘Well, that’s progress,’ Leo said, softly.

  The four of them had spent the morning making sure all the puppies and Beauty and Beast were well-fed before they left for the boat race. Despite the slightly embarrassing way the two of them had woken up, Jamie and Melody had whiled away the morning chatting and sitting next to each other as they fed the puppies. It was huge progress from the longing looks and awkward silences they had apparently endured for the last year.

  The Mayor stepped up on a podium on the island and started thanking everyone for coming, before outlining the rules. Basically there weren’t any, and then he started explaining the legend of the heartberry boat race, presumably for any tourists or newcomers who didn’t know.

  ‘Hundreds of years ago, Alfred Jackson would row out to this island with his crop of the full moon heartberries and Matilda Loveheart would row out from her little cottage on the other side of the river in Meadow Bay to collect them. A week later she would return with the coveted heartberry cake and they would share it under the stars. Now even then, they knew the legend of the heartberries, how by sharing the cake, their love would last for all of eternity. And boy would they need that luck of the berries. As many of you know, there was a great feud between the families in Meadow Bay and Sandcastle Bay and no trade was allowed to happen between the two villages, and definitely not any kind of romantic shenanigans. Which is why our lovers would meet under the light of the moon, here on the island, which was considered to be neutral territory. It was here they first consummated their love, conceived their first child and later, when the forthcoming arrival of the child was discovered, where they wed, ending the feud between the families once and for all. We celebrate this every year with a boat race from Sandcastle Bay and Meadow Bay to the island, where the people from both villages can enjoy the heartberry cake together. Now legend has it that if any of the winners share that cake with their beloved, they will be together forever.’

  The crowd predictably ooohed and ahhhed.

  ‘So, without further ado, let’s start this race.’

  The crowd cheered and clapped.

  ‘Ten, nine…’

  There was suddenly a mad rush as everyone with a boat started frantically preparing their crafts for take-off. Aidan untied the rope holding his boat to the shore and grabbed his paddle. Tori moved to the back, ready to start jumping up and down on the foot pumps.

  ‘…Two, one. GO!’

  Aidan pushed their boat off from the bank and started paddling frantically on the side, before moving over to the other side and doing the same. Tori held her breath as the boat bobbed around on the water, drifting out from the bank so they were soon in deep water. Miraculously the boat seemed to float. She jumped on one of the foot pumps, which seemed to make no difference to the speed and propulsion of their boat.

  She laughed as two men on the back of an inflatable crocodile and shark drifted past, downstream, heading out to sea rather than towards the island. Thankfully there were two rescue boats at the mouth of the river, ready to scoop up any stragglers who would end up floating out to the sea. The two men seemed to think the whole thing was hilarious as they desperately tried to propel themselves back to the island with only their hands to help them.

  There was a very small pirate ship, complete with a sail and a Jolly Roger flag, filled with pirates. As they bumped against Mark and Mindy’s boat, the pirates stepped aboard, waving their swords and shouting about commandeering the other vessel, much to Mindy’s annoyance. Tori glanced across at Leo’s sea dragon which was powering ahead towards the island, cutting through the water easily. Jamie’s boat was clearly struggling and seemed to be taking on water at the back, but Jamie and Klaus were taking it in their stride, laughing as they tried to bail the water out and paddle towards the island too.

  ‘Keep jumping,’ Aidan said.

  Tori leapt on the foot pumps again, doing a jump on each of the pumps for good measure.

  As Leo’s boat inched ahead, the wings lifted, and two water cannons moved out from underneath, squirting gallons of water on any of the nearby boats. Aidan got it full in the chest before he managed to stagger out of the way, laughing at the sneaky tactics. Another boat was getting wet too but Jamie’s boat, which was struggling behind, ended up with a jet of water right in the prow and started to list dangerously.

  Tori laughed as they struggled to keep the boat afloat, but it tipped over throwing both Jamie and Klaus into the water.

  Leo cheered, and she looked round at him as he did a little victory dance. Aidan was still paddling frantically, and she looked back over at Jamie and Klaus. The boat had flipped upside down and Klaus was wading ashore but there was no sign of Jamie.

  Her heart stopped. Was he underneath the boat?

  She looked around frantically, but he was nowhere to be seen. And nobody else seemed to have noticed.

  Without thinking she dived into the water, the icy cold hitting her hard as she surfaced and swam towards the boat. Something crashed into the water behind her and she glanced around to see Leo and Aidan powering through the water towards the boat, clearly having spotted the problem too.

&
nbsp; Something moved on the shore side of the boat and Tori saw Melody wading out to Jamie’s boat, getting there before Tori, Aidan and Leo could. With seemingly superhuman strength, Melody ripped the boat away and Jamie staggered to his feet in the water, coughing and spluttering.

  Tori watched as Melody wrapped an arm around Jamie’s shoulders and helped him ashore as he leaned heavily on her. Paramedics came running down to help him onto the bank and check him over but Jamie didn’t seem to be any worse off for his ordeal.

  ‘That’s definitely progress,’ Leo said, as he trod water next to her.

  ‘Looks like Melody is taking very good care of him,’ Tori said, watching her friend stay by his side.

  Aidan clipped Leo round the back of the head. ‘Dick,’ he said.

  Leo nodded. ‘Yep, totally deserve that.’

  ‘Well, I guess none of us are going to have everlasting love now,’ Tori said, as she looked round and saw Aidan’s matchstick boat had impaled itself on some rocks.

  Leo looked round too and smiled. Tori glanced over at what he was looking at and saw that his spectacular dragon had beached itself miraculously on the island.

  ‘Speak for yourself,’ Leo said. He swam across the river towards his boat, climbed aboard and then stepped ashore to claim his piece of cake, accompanied by a few others who had successfully made it to the island from both sides of the river.

  She turned back to Aidan, who put his hands around her waist as they both trod water to keep themselves afloat.

  ‘We’ve already eaten the magical berries,’ Aidan said.

  ‘That’s true and we both know how accurate Agatha’s predictions are.’

  ‘So, who needs some stupid cake,’ Aidan said, moving to the shore and then helping her up the bank.

  ‘Exactly,’ Tori said, though she couldn’t help feeling a tiny bit disappointed. She noticed Aidan looking wistfully over at the island where they were doling out the cake. It seemed he was a bit disappointed too.