Summer at West Sands Guest House

by Maggie Conway

  ****

  West Sands Guest House looked beautiful. The evening sunshine bathed everything in a warm golden glow, making it the perfect setting for a family holiday and worthy of an advert for the Scottish Tourist Board.

  The kitchen was a hive of activity. Anna was bustling about looking as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Molly didn’t think she had ever seen her look so relaxed.

  ‘Top up?’ Anna offered, coming over to where Molly was standing chopping tomatoes.

  ‘Yes please.’ Molly inclined her head towards the window. ‘It’s lovely to see Olivia here with Lily,’ she commented. Anna followed her gaze where the girls were together in the garden.

  ‘I didn’t want to foist them on each other but they do seem to be getting on well,’ Anna said.

  Sitting nearby at the table were Molly’s parents. Earlier, she had listened to them enthuse about their day at the golf. They’d had an amazing day but were now sitting gratefully in the shade with a drink. Stuart was tending to the barbecue, a fork in one hand and a lager in the other, keeping an eye on Luke who was surrounded by what looked like half the contents of a toy shop.

  There was a feeling of everything coming together, Molly thought. As if West Sands Guest House had sprinkled a little magic over everyone. She forced down the uncomfortable feeling of being on the outside looking in. She wasn’t going to do self-pity. Instead she felt grateful to be here with everyone. Family – that’s what it was all about.

  She swiped the tomatoes from the chopping board into the wooden salad bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mixed in some dressing. ‘I’ll take this out now, shall I?’

  ‘Yes please and can you grab these napkins too? I’ll be out in a sec.’

  Anna’s head turned at the sound of the knock at the door. ‘That’ll be Ben and Eva. I’ll go.’

  The air was warm and breezeless as Molly stepped into the garden. The table was already crammed with all manner of delights and Molly smiled to herself. Anna had enough here to feed the whole town.

  Molly let out a little small yelp of surprise as the slightly mad dog from next door hurtled past her followed closely behind by Jamie en route to Luke at the bottom of the garden. Molly turned her attention back to the table, shifting a few things about to make way for the salad bowl.

  ‘There’s someone here for you.’

  Molly’s head shot up hearing Anna’s voice. ‘For me?’ She frowned.

  ‘It’s Tom,’ Anna whispered, barely containing her glee. ‘He’s waiting in the front room.’

  With her heart racing, Molly walked back towards the house, stopping briefly to greet Eva and Tom in passing. Between her mother’s revelation and Judy’s job offer, her head was already in a spin. Knowing Tom was here made her legs suddenly feel quite weak. The front room was silent and cool and Molly blinked as her eyes adjusted to the darker light. Tom stood at the window and even from a distance she could see the tension coiled in his shoulders. He looked tired and sombre. And so beautiful, Molly had to steel herself.

  Tom looked at her with a guarded smile. ‘Hello, Molly.’

  ‘Hello.’

  She walked over to the window, preferring to keep some space between them. She stared out at the sweep of white sand and the seagulls circling over the shimmering sea.

  ‘Molly, can we talk?’

  ‘I don’t think there’s anything more to say, Tom.’ She turned to him and she felt her armour weaken on seeing the weariness in his face.

  ‘Would you like a drink? I can get you something.’

  His eyes softened. ‘Molly, please just sit beside me.’

  Molly bit her lip, letting him gently take her by the hand and lead her to the sofa.

  He took a long breath before slowly releasing it. ‘You said it was too soon for anything to happen between us. But before you go back to the city or make any decisions, I need to tell you how I feel.’ He hesitated. ‘And … and I want to tell you what happened after the fire.’

  ‘After the fire?’ Molly asked.

  ’I told you how I recuperated at my mother’s house.’

  She nodded silently.

  ‘It wasn’t the easiest of times but I got through it – physically at least. After a couple of weeks, the fire started to replay over and over in my mind. It was as if I was trying to work out if there was something I could have done differently. Every time I closed my eyes all I could see were the flames and smoke. Then I … I started to have nightmares. Terrible nightmares. It’s difficult to describe to you how awful they are. How real and frightening.’ He paused, looking down.

  ‘Once my leg healed and I moved to St Andrews, I thought somehow the nightmares and flashbacks would all just disappear. I thought if I ignored them, they’d go away. But of course they didn’t. If anything, it got worse. I didn’t know how to handle it, it was alien for me to think I couldn’t cope. It went against everything I’d ever taught himself, the mental strength I’d developed for my game.’

  Molly listened carefully. She knew how difficult the fire had been for him, she’d seen for herself how tense he could become but she certainly hadn’t appreciated how much he must have been suffering in its aftermath and quite how much of a toll it had taken. She couldn’t help feeling disappointed he hadn’t felt able to share it with her. ‘Why didn’t you tell me? I would have understood and wanted to help.’

  He ran a hand down his face. ‘I could barely admit it to myself let alone tell anyone else. But I’ve done a lot of thinking recently. I can see now that since the fire, I’ve been functioning, doing what I have to. But at times it feels like I’m existing – not living.’ He paused to look at Molly and the intensity of his gaze seem to make everything else in the room fade away. ‘Then I met you. And everything changed. From that very first moment I met you, I started to fall in love with you.’

  Molly felt as if she had stopped breathing.

  ‘But I tried to fight my feelings for you. How could I even consider a relationship while I was battling to get through each day? I didn’t want to let you down or be a burden.

  ‘I’ve done a lot of thinking recently.’ His brow furrowed and he gave his head a small shake. ‘I was remembering my dad teaching me to ride a bike. It was a present for my eighth birthday – it was second-hand and the blue paint was chipped but I loved it. He took me out this day, holding onto the back of the bike and following behind me. He let go and obviously I lost my balance and fell off. “Get back up, son. Keep going,” he told me.

  ‘So I got back on and the same thing happened except this time I grazed my knee. The same thing kept happening and after a while, I wanted to stop, I wanted to cry. But I would never dare cry in front of him. He wasn’t a demonstrative man, not the type of man to tolerate his son crying. I’ve often wondered over the years what he would have made of his son playing golf. If he would have been proud, admired the dedication it took or if he’d dismiss it as a cushy way to make a living.

  ‘Every morning after another nightmare, all I could hear was his voice, telling me to get on with it. Not to be weak.’

  Tom’s eyes were deep pools of anguish and Molly felt her heart break for him as he turned to look at her.

  ‘I’ve been running away from the truth for the last year but I’m not running anymore. I wanted you to know everything. Most of all, I wanted you to know how much I’ve fallen in love with you. I know we haven’t known each other long but I’ve never felt like this before.’

  Molly stood up, her mind trying to sieve through everything. She moved over to the fireplace, hearing sounds filtering through from the garden. Happy sounds of family and friends on a summer’s evening.

  ‘The difficulties you’re having – they wouldn’t have made a difference to how I felt. What matters is telling me the truth, never hiding things from each other,’ said Molly.

  She saw him swallow. ‘I should have told you, I should have been more open with you. It’s difficult for me to admit that I might need help. I wanted
to be with you so much. I wanted to spend the night with you—’ His voice broke huskily. ‘But I didn’t want you to see me like that.’

  Molly looked down, absently picking at the sleeve of her jumper. ‘After Colin left, I was scared. When I saw you with someone else at the hotel, I froze. I married the wrong man and then I thought I’d fallen for the wrong man. Colin took away so much of who I was, tried to change who I was. I thought I needed to find out what I’m capable of myself – by myself.’

  ‘The right person would never hold you back, prevent you from being what you’re capable of.’ Tom lifted himself from the sofa and came to stand by her before he continued. ‘Do you remember the day on the beach, when you were crying? I remember thinking – apart from wanting to deck your husband – I wanted to say to you that I would never make you cry. I’d always want to make you smile. Your eyes had been full of hurt and pain but eyes as beautiful as yours should be lit up with light and happiness.’

  ‘Oh, Tom.’

  ‘Knowing you might be here for me gives me strength. It makes me feel like anything is possible. And I want to try and make you happy too. I’m so in love with you, Molly.’ He took her hand in his and Molly had no desire to pull it away, now or ever. In that moment Molly felt herself step out of the shadow of her marriage and her heart explode with love for Tom.

  ‘You are?’

  ‘Totally. You’re beautiful and caring and I want to be with you, Molly, now and always.’

  She nodded. ‘Good. Because I’m totally in love with you too.’

  ‘There might be difficult days and nights ahead…’

  She squeezed his hand. ‘When you love someone, you face these things together. I would never walk away, Tom. I know it might not be easy but we can do it together.’ Her voice was shaky with emotion and she wasn’t aware she was crying until Tom gently brushed away her tears.

  Very slowly and without his eyes ever leaving hers, he put his hands on her waist, drawing her in closer to him. Finally, she was able to lay her hands on his forearms, feel the muscles flex beneath her touch. She looked down at them and smiled.

  ‘What is it?’ he asked.

  ‘I’ve always had a bit of thing about your arms,’ she admitted.

  ‘Yeah?’ He gave a low chuckle as he tightened his arms around her and brought his lips down to meet hers. Molly slid her hands up his chest and onto his shoulders, feeling the tension in his body slowly start to yield as their kiss grew deeper.

  Finally, reluctantly, they pulled apart. Tom lifted his hands to unclip her hair so that it tumbled around her shoulders and Molly felt her cheeks glow and her eyes sparkle as his eyes roamed her face.

  ‘I’ll never let you down, I’ll never hurt you,’ he said softly.

  She looked at those beautiful blue eyes and she saw love and her future. She thought she could quite possibly stare into them forever. With a happy sigh, she took Tom’s hand, leading him to the door. She opened it and turned, smiling.

  ‘There are some people I’d like you to meet.’

  Epilogue

  Four months later

  Molly wrapped her coat tightly around her as she walked to her car, feeling the biting cold of the wind. But then it was November and she was living on the east coast of Scotland.

  She drove her car along the winding coastal road thinking of the lesson she had just finished. Of all things, she never would have imagined she’d be teaching golf to children. It was only a few lessons a week to young children but she loved it.

  Every now and again she had to pinch herself, hardly believing how much her life had changed. The last few months had been a whirlwind in every sense and Molly didn’t think it was possible for her to be any happier.

  A short while later she pulled up at Willow Cottage and smiled, seeing Tom and Monty waiting for her. As she climbed out of the car, Monty wagged his tail enthusiastically, but didn’t stray far from his master. Since Tom had brought the gentle Collie cross home from the rescue centre, they were practically inseparable. Tom had named him Monty, after a special dog he had met once. Monty thought he was a very lucky dog because he was rarely alone and got to spend the day with Tom at the golf school. He had also learnt to retrieve golf balls which everyone seemed delighted with.

  Molly felt her heart flip as Tom put his arm around her, pulling her in for a kiss. After buying Willow Cottage, Tom had moved in a few weeks ago but today Molly was moving in.

  Judy and Harry had come back from New Zealand after what by all accounts was an amazing experience for both of them and Judy had moved back into her flat while Harry had returned to his own home. Although they considered themselves a couple now, both were content to keep their own space and Molly couldn’t be happier for them.

  ‘Should I carry you over the threshold?’

  ‘We’re not married,’ she laughed.

  ‘You know I’m going to keep asking you.’

  ‘I’m depending on it.’

  Molly couldn’t wait to marry Tom but didn’t want to rush. She wanted to wait just a little longer, to savour simply being a couple. She followed him through the front door now and she gazed around.

  ‘There’s so much work to do,’ she said happily. ‘Where do you think we should start?’

  ‘The bedroom. Definitely,’ Tom said nuzzling her neck. Tom still had difficult nights but at least he was able to associate the bedroom with more pleasurable things now. Much more pleasurable.

  ‘I was thinking the kitchen actually,’ she giggled.

  ‘Spoilsport.’

  It was impossible for Molly not to cast her mind back to when she and Colin had viewed their house. Then, everything had been perfectly new and shiny with absolutely no work to do. Here, everything needed work and Molly was delighted by that. She banished thoughts of her old life – there was to be no more dwelling in the past. Her life in the city was now over. A couple of trips was all it had taken to pack it up. Apart from a few personal items and clothes, she had given everything to charity. This was a whole new start.

  While Judy had been in New Zealand Molly had moved into her small flat and had happily immersed herself into her work at the inn. She had done lots of research into golfing packages available in St Andrews and had discovered a gap in the market.

  She now organised specialised packages for couples, the most popular of which included a golf lesson, a round of golf and a romantic gourmet meal. Molly had also come up with the idea of converting one of the inn’s downstairs storerooms into a luxury spa room so that ladies could also have treatment. In the morning guests enjoyed a leisurely breakfast served either in their room or in the dining room. She was now exploring the idea of singles golf packages.

  Molly divided her time between the inn and the golf school. She spent a few days a week at the inn, managing the golf packages and helping with much of the administration, giving Judy more free time.

  It had been Tom’s suggestion that Molly give lessons to young children. At first, she’d dismissed the idea but he had persuaded her to give it a go and now she loved it.

  Tom was working hard on his recovery and Molly was proud of him. Now he had a formal diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder and was seeing a counsellor, things were slowly improving. Tom had taken Molly to meet his mother and his family in the village where he had grown up. Tom’s mother had been warm and welcoming, her pride for her son obvious to see not only in her face but in the cabinet she kept full of gleaming trophies.

  Tom looked at Molly lovingly now. ‘When is everyone arriving?’ he asked her.

  ‘Stuart and Anna are picking the kids up from school and then coming straight here.’

  Molly couldn’t wait for the children to see the house, especially Lily who she was so proud of. There had been a few wobbles but she had settled into her new school and so far, things were going well. Anna was very excited about starting her bed and breakfast in the spring – and was having great fun with Eva who was designing the rooms for her. They were thinking alon
g the lines of a French colonial style, last Molly knew.

  ‘Did you see Joe at the school when you left?’ Tom asked her. ‘He was locking up and then going to collect Beth. She’s doing great but I think she’s looking forward to getting out before the baby is born, even if it’s just to our little housewarming’

  ‘I’d better get the champagne then. Sounds good doesn’t it? Our housewarming.’

  Tom grinned at her, pulling her in close. ‘Sounds wonderful.’ And as they waited for everyone to arrive, Molly knew she had found her forever home at last.

  Acknowledgements

  Thank you to my editor, Hannah Smith, and the HQ Digital team for all their work and support on the West Sands books.

  A special thank you to my family, especially Martin.

  The next book from Maggie Conway is coming in 2019.

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  About the Author

  Maggie Conway lived the first ten years of life in London before moving to Scotland. She has a degree in English Literature and spent many years working in offices dreaming of pursuing her passion for writing.