New Bay

by Nell Dixon

  The winner of the children’s egg roll won a giant chocolate Easter egg while all the entrants got a small piece of chocolate. The adults went next. There was much laughter and cheering as people lobbed and rolled their eggs before hurrying forward to see who had won.

  “Congratulations to Noah Penwarren!” The judge announced.

  Posy watched as Noah went up to claim his prize, expecting him to return with a box of chocolates. Instead the judge announced the adult prize was a dinner for two at a nearby restaurant.

  “Lucky boy, you’ll be able to take your lovely companion on a romantic evening out.” The judge announced over the tannoy and several people in the crowd around Posy applauded and smiled as they offered their congratulations.

  Noah simply shook the judge’s hand and accepted the envelope containing his prize certificate.

  “Well done,” Posy said when he rejoined her.

  A dull flush still stained his cheekbones and she assumed he must have been embarrassed by the judge’s assumption that Posy would be his dinner companion.

  “It was a lucky shot.” He tucked the envelope into the back pocket of his jeans.

  “I appreciate you bringing me here today, it’s been fun.” She fell into step beside him as he walked away.

  The strain of trying to appear cheerful and unconcerned by his coolness had started to tell. She would be glad to get back to her tent where she could break open a bar of chocolate and have a good cry.

  She waited for him to unlock the car door.

  “I don’t expect you to ask me to share your prize by the way. I’m sure there are other people you would rather take.”

  * * * *

  Noah wanted to curse. Why did she have to be a journalist? Until Emma had dropped her bombshell he’d been looking forward to spending the day with Posy. It should have been a fun, romantic outing, instead it had been an awkward and uncomfortable afternoon.

  “I‘d like you to share the prize with me. I’d love to take you out to dinner.” He held his breath as she scrutinised his face, her wariness showing in her eyes. “Posy, I know I’ve been a bit off this afternoon and I’m sorry. I have a lot on my mind and I shouldn’t have allowed that to mar our time together, I’m sorry.” It wasn’t a lie, he did have a lot on his mind and he would have loved his time with Posy to have been better.

  “I don’t know. Maybe you and me might have been a bit of a mistake.” She bit her lip.

  Noah’s heart plummeted. “We are still friends though, I hope.”

  He waited for her to speak. She was on the verge of tears and he knew he was responsible.

  She blinked several times before answering. “Of course.”

  The drive back to the campsite was one of the worst half hours of his life. Even worse than when he’d finally ended his engagement to Jessica. Posy was out of the car before it had even fully halted, muttering a brief goodbye as she hurried away across the field to her tent.

  Noah raked his hand through his hair and thumped the steering wheel in frustration.

  “Nice going Noah, you idiot.”

  He pulled his car further along the driveway and parked at the back of the camp office.

  Emma was alone, tidying the racks of tourist information when he entered the reception.

  “How did it go at Tumblay?” She turned to face him, brochures still in her hand. One eyebrow tilted upward as she read his reply in his face. “Uh oh… That well, huh? What happened?”

  He flopped down onto a chair. “I stuffed up.”

  Emma’s face paled and she placed the brochures on the rack with exaggerated care. “What happened?”

  Noah groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. “Last night, before you told me about Posy working for that magazine, we’d been out, and well, to cut a long story short I kissed her.”

  Emma sank down onto the opposite chair. “Go on.”

  He couldn’t bring himself to look at his sister’s face. “So, today everything was a bit weird between us. It just all went wrong. She’s speaking to me – just – as a ‘friend’.” He held his fingers in the air to emphasise the ‘friend’ part.

  “And you still really like her?” Emma asked.

  “Yes, I really like her.” He hauled himself to his feet and tugged the envelope containing the egg rolling prize from his pocket. “Fat lot of good it would have done me anyway. Posy’s from the city, I’m here. We’re from different worlds, it was never going to work.”

  His sister’s eyes darkened with sympathy.

  “Here, I won this dinner for two at the Italian restaurant in Trevean Sands. You may as well have it, I won’t be needing it.”

  He tossed the envelope onto the table in front of Emma and left the office. He needed to get away from the farm and take some time to sort his head out.

  * * * *

  Posy watched Noah’s ancient car rumble down the track and disappear. Hot scalding tears rained down her cheeks before he was out of sight. She rummaged in her bag for her tissues and scrubbed at her face, uncaring of her make-up.

  “Posy Eloise Carmichael, pull yourself together!” She muttered as she gave another sniff. This was ridiculous, she wasn’t some love-struck teenager, she was a grown professional woman. Why was she allowing one kiss and a rejection to hurt her so much? It would only ever have been a holiday romance. She squashed all the tenuous half-formed daydreams she’d had of returning every weekend to New Bay to be with Noah.

  Drying her eyes, she dragged out her hand mirror and attempted to repair the damage to her make-up. When she was satisfied that she looked reasonable again she retrieved her laptop from the boot of the car. Once the article was completed and sent to Aggie, at least she could then be honest with Emma about her reasons for camping at High View Farm.

  It didn’t take her long to add in the information on Tumblay Manor and the future open days and events. She read through once more and polished her article up ready to send to Aggie. She downloaded the pictures she’d taken of the campsite and New Bay. Seeing the pictures again sent a pang through her heart as she recalled how happy she’d been only a few hours earlier.

  Her work complete, she decided to walk to the campsite reception where Emma had told her she could get internet access. The sooner the article went off, the happier she would feel. She picked up her laptop and noticed the sweatshirt Noah had loaned her the previous evening. She resisted the temptation to hug it against her body and inhale the faint trace of Noah’s masculine scent. Scooping the sweater up, she gathered her things and set off for the office.

  “Oh, hello Posy.” Emma bustled about behind her desk looking slightly flustered. “What can I do for you?”

  “Noah left his hoodie with me and I need to use the internet if that’s okay?” Posy wondered if Noah had spoken to Emma. Her friend definitely appeared to be uneasy about something.

  “Yes, of course, you can plug in over there and here’s a slip with the code for the Wi-Fi.” Emma’s cheeks were pink and she didn’t meet Posy’s gaze as she passed her the strip of paper with the access code.

  “Thanks, I’ll only be a minute.” Posy settled herself into a seat and plugged in her computer.

  “No problem.” Emma retreated into the back of the office.

  Ten minutes later, Posy was done. Aggie would have the article on her desk when she returned from her ‘glamping’ trip and Posy was now free to share her reason for her holiday with Emma. She just had to hope that Emma would forgive her mild deception and be pleased about the publicity the article would give her business.

  Noah’s sweatshirt was still draped across the counter when Posy went to tell Emma she’d finished. She couldn’t resist stroking the worn material one last time and wishing things had turned out differently. He was the first man in a long time to have stirred any romantic feelings in her heart. It seemed awful that things had gone so badly wrong between them.

  “Did you manage to connect all right? The internet can be a little unreliable here.” Emma asked
, lifting her head from where she appeared to filing documents in a cabinet at the back of the room.

  “Yes, fine thank you. Emma, I have to tell you, this was something of a working holiday for me.” Posy began, she hoped her new friend would understand. It would be horrid to upset Noah’s sister, too.

  “I know,” Emma said, her face flushing crimson under Posy’s surprised gaze. “I found out the edition of the magazine with our advert in and I saw your name in the front as one of the feature writers.”

  A wave of nausea hit Posy. How long had Emma known? Was the friendship and hospitality she’d experienced fake just so she would write a favourable article?

  “I’m not allowed to tell people what I’m doing until the piece is completed. I hope you don’t think I deceived you.”

  Emma crossed the office and stepped from behind the counter to grasp Posy’s hands. “No, don’t be silly. I must admit I panicked last night when I saw your name. I was worried you might not have enjoyed your stay and then Noah came in…” She broke off, a stricken look on her face.

  “What’s the matter? I’ve written a really nice piece. I think this is a wonderful site and New Bay is a great place for a holiday.” Posy frowned at her friend.

  “You don’t understand. The article is why Noah was so funny with you today. It’s all my fault.”

  Posy stared at her. “What do you mean?”

  Emma led her to the chairs and took the seat across from Posy. “I was in a bit of a state last night when he came back from seeing you. I’d found your name in the magazine and didn’t know what to do.”

  “I see.” It certainly explained his changed behaviour towards her. He must have been annoyed by her deception.

  “He’s very wary about getting involved romantically with anyone. He was hurt really badly when his engagement ended. I don’t know if he told you about Jessica?”

  “I met her when we went to the pub at Trevean Sands. She was back for the weekend to visit her parents and she bumped into us in the bar. He told me then that they’d been engaged.” Posy had the horrible feeling that she could see where the conversation was going.

  “Jessica and Noah were never a good fit. She’s a beautician and loves the bright lights, shops and parties. Noah loves being here. The farm is his life. For a while Jessica convinced him she would be happy here too, I think she thought she could change him, get him to move away.” Emma sighed, her pretty face troubled.

  “I suppose that kind of experience would make anyone put their guard up,” Posy said.

  Emma nodded. “You’re the first girl he’s seemed really keen on in a long time. He’s dated some local girls but that was more to get me and Mum off his back.”

  “And then he saw my name in the magazine and thought I was another girl who was being less than honest?”

  Emma’s face was the picture of misery. “He still really likes you.”

  Posy’s eyes smarted with unshed tears. “I really like him, too.” Not that it mattered now. It was all too late.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Noah ended up at the seafront. He parked his car and headed for the Surf’s Up Café. The crowds from earlier in the day had dispersed and the only people around were an elderly couple taking tea inside and some surfers in wetsuits at an outside table.

  “Hey, Noah dude!”

  A familiar figure hailed him as he approached. Noah’s footsteps slowed, he wasn’t sure if he was in the right frame of mind for company just yet.

  His old friend, Brad, bounded towards him, water dripping from his tousled blond head. “Hey man, you finally got off the farm.”

  “And you’re back riding the waves.” Noah forced a grin as Brad smacked him on the back. Brad had almost died in a surfing accident in the autumn and had spent most of the winter on crutches.

  “Too right, dude, missed out on the snowboarding season so I’ve got a lot of ground to make up.” Brad beamed at him.

  “Yeah, well I heard you had your own personal doctor to help you out.” Noah’s spirits couldn’t help rising with his friend’s good-natured banter. Much to his amusement, a hint of a blush crept over Brad’s cheeks.

  “Etty? She’s cool. She’s on duty this week. Can’t wait for her to get here next Friday, I’ll make a surfer of her yet.”

  Noah smiled, Brad and Etty made an unlikely couple. Etty was a junior hospital doctor and Brad was a semi-professional board rider with a laidback view of life. They had got together at Christmas during the winter carnival, much to everyone’s surprise.

  “How about you? I heard Jessica was back in town?” Brad adjusted the towel around his neck and wiped the saltwater from his face.

  Noah fell into step beside him as they approached the café. “I saw her the other night at Trevean.”

  Brad paused. “Ouch, dude.”

  The corner of Noah’s lips twisted in a wry smile. “I was with a girl from the campsite.”

  Brad raised his eyebrows. “Oh, yeah?”

  Noah shrugged. “Long story, Posy’s a city girl, journalist here to do some sort of undercover story on the site.”

  Brad let out a whistle. “How did you know? Did she tell you?”

  “No, Emma found out. Not that it matters anyway.”

  “Come on, I’ll buy you a coffee and one of Kelly’s famous cheese toasties. You can tell the Bradster all about it, dude.”

  * * * *

  Posy stayed and shared a tray of tea and biscuits with Emma. She’d wondered if she should cut her holiday short and head for home but Emma convinced her to stay. She felt better now her new friend knew about the article. At least she’d understood why Posy hadn’t been able to tell her what she was doing.

  The sun was lower in the sky as she made her way back to her tent. The sky had clouded over and Emma had warned her that some rain was predicted overnight. Posy folded her arms as she walked and hoped her borrowed tent would be waterproof.

  Tonight was the first night of her holiday that she was alone. Posy heated a can of soup over her primus stove and munched on some of the delicious bread she’d acquired earlier that day from a tiny deli just off the seafront. Once she’d washed up and cleared away, she wondered what to do with herself.

  Noah still hadn’t returned. Emma had promised that she would explain all about the article when she saw him.

  Posy tugged a sweater over her head; the air already felt damp against her face. She tucked everything away inside her tent in case of rain and paced restlessly back and forth. It was no good. She needed to go down by the sea where hopefully the Atlantic breeze would clear her mind before bed.

  The sun had begun to slide into the sea when Posy pulled up at the far end of New Bay’s seafront. Only a few people were out walking along the promenade. She spotted a few couples with toddlers in pushchairs and one or two people with dogs. On the sands the tide was coming in, crashing onto the beach in banks of white foam. A lone adult supervised a knot of small children as they danced about at the waters edge and tossed pebbles into the sea.

  Posy clambered out of her car and started to stroll slowly along the front. The restless energy which had possessed her at the campsite dissipated as she stared out at the sea. She paused at the low metal railing which separated the paved promenade from the beach and leaned against it. The breeze blew against her face, lifting her hair and filling her nose with the tang of salt.

  The sunset was less spectacular tonight, its golden glow partially hidden by scudding grey clouds. She rested her chin on her hands and breathed in the fresh sea air.

  “Posy?”

  Lost in her own thoughts she hadn’t noticed Noah’s approach. He stood a few paces away from her, his hands dug defensively in the front pockets of his jeans and his shoulders hunched against the wind.

  Her heart gave a crazy, irrational little skip of delight. “Hi. I was just looking at the sea.”

  He stepped forward to join her at the railings. “Me too.” He paused for a heartbeat. "Emma sent me a text.”


  Posy risked a quick peek at his face. His gaze was focused on the horizon and his jaw was rigid with tension.

  “Oh.” She wasn’t sure from his posture if his reaction to what Emma had told him was good or bad. A shiver ran along her spine. It was crazy when she’d only known him for a couple of days but somehow it really mattered to her what Noah thought.

  He turned his head to look at her, his gaze meeting hers. She tried to read the emotions in his eyes.

  “I’m pretty bad at talking about stuff.” The corners of his mouth lifted and she waited, her hands clammy with anxiety, for him to continue.

  “Emma filled in the blanks for me, about Jessica.” Posy nibbled at her lower lip. Maybe she was speaking out of turn and perhaps Emma shouldn’t have told her about Noah’s private life, but it was important that he knew that she knew.

  He didn’t appear surprised, his smile this time more of a grimace. “I thought she might have.”

  “I didn’t set out to lie to you or Emma. It’s important that when I write an article I try to give an unbiased view of something. You’d be surprised how many people and businesses try to curry favour with the staff at the magazine if they think we can get them a good mention.”

  A stronger gust of wind blew in from the sea bringing with it a few drops of rain.

  Noah straightened up from the railing. “Can we go somewhere warmer to talk? My feet have turned to ice.”

  Posy nodded and they set off together away from the seafront through the narrow side streets towards the Mermaid pub. Raindrops started to fall faster as they walked so they stayed silent, concentrating on hurrying to reach shelter.

  She was relieved to find the pub was empty except for an elderly man sitting at the bar. She smoothed her hair and brushed water droplets from her shoulders.

  “Can I get you a drink, Posy?” Noah reached for his wallet.

  “A glass of wine would be lovely, thank you.” She took a seat near the fireplace, relishing the heat from the small log fire burning in the inglenook. Noah joined her within minutes. The intensity of his dark blue gaze made her knees tremble and she was glad she was already seated.