Christmas at Mistletoe Cove

by Holly Martin

  Dougie swallowed down the lump of emotion in his throat as he looked back at Eden.

  ‘I still have that necklace,’ Eden said, taking back the diary and flicking through to the next page she wanted to show him. ‘Though the rope chain broke as I wore it so much and the clasp on top of her head broke too, so she spends her life sitting in my jewellery box.’

  She handed him the next page. ‘This was from the night we kissed on Mistletoe Cove when I was seventeen.’

  I just kissed Dougie! Oh my god it was incredible, he is such a good kisser. We went to Mistletoe Cove and we were toasting marshmallows on the fire and then he just leaned over and kissed me. It was the best kiss I’ve ever had. I always hoped that he loved me and now it’s clear that he does. I never knew what it meant to cry with happiness but tonight I did. I wonder if we’ll get married soon. Maybe he might want to wait until I’m eighteen. I wonder how many children he wants. I’d like three. Oh god, I really hope they are red-headed babies with his beautiful curly hair.

  ‘My teenage self was getting a bit carried away after just one kiss, but at that age you never think rationally or sensibly. The point being that I have been in love with you for almost my entire life. I loved you when you were a scrawny, gangly, freckly little boy. I loved you when you were a geeky nerdy teenager obsessed with computer games. I loved you when you moved to New York and bought your own tiny apartment and were living on cheese toasties, or grilled cheese as you started to call it, as you were so completely broke and couldn’t afford any food. I don’t care about the gifts you give me or the nice things you do to try to woo me, though they’re very much appreciated. I don’t care how much money you have, all I’ve ever wanted was you for the rest of my life.’

  Dougie had always thought that if he ever came back to Hope Island he would have to pull out all the stops to get her to fall in love with him and though she’d said that she had always been in love with him, it had never really sunk in until now. She really had been in love with him her entire life. He didn’t need to prove himself to her any more. He felt like he had been given a wonderful gift.

  For want of something to do, because he couldn’t find the words to express what she had showed him, he turned the page. Although there was still a good quarter of the book left, it was evident that this was the last diary entry she’d ever written.

  Dougie is moving to America. I am heartbroken. I literally feel that my heart has been shattered. How can it hurt so much? I trusted him. He’s my best friend and I never thought he would ever hurt me but he has in the worst possible way. I don’t know if I can ever forgive him. God, I can’t stop crying. And the worst thing is I have to smile and be happy for him on the outside because this is what he wants. He wants to move to America more than he wants to be with me. Mum says if he didn’t want to move to America with his parents, he could move in here with us but I’m not even going to suggest it to him. I’ve never seen him so happy. He’s happy to be moving away from me. And that hurts more than anything. My dreams of getting married to him were just that, dreams, and they will never come true.

  Fuck. Shit. Fuck.

  He had destroyed her. He was the reason she had given up on all her hopes and dreams. He had taken away her belief in magic and her carefree happiness. Dougie felt tears in his eyes.

  ‘Oh god, don’t read that one,’ Eden said, taking the diary back off him. ‘That’s just the ramblings of an over-emotional teen.’

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Dougie said, the words getting stuck in his throat.

  ‘Don’t be, you were eighteen and you were living your dream, don’t be sorry for that. And maybe we never would have lasted if you had stayed. We were both so young. Can you imagine if we got married and had children when we were eighteen? We weren’t ready for that.’ She laughed. ‘You’re barely ready for that now. We needed this time to realise what we really wanted from our lives, what was important, and the fact that you came back to Hope Island at a time when everything is going so well for you speaks volumes for me. This is where you chose to be now, here with me, and that’s all I need.’

  ‘I will never do anything to hurt you ever again,’ Dougie said. ‘I’m here for the long haul. This is forever for me.’ He had never meant it as much as he did right then. He loved her and he was going to spend the rest of his life showing her how much. Even the prospect of marriage didn’t scare him any more.

  ‘As long as you don’t turn into a pumpkin at midnight on Christmas Eve or suddenly decide you don’t love me any more, I’m happy. I don’t need anything else from you.’

  He shook his head. ‘Never going to happen.’

  She was his future now and he knew that this was where he belonged.

  He leaned over and kissed her.

  Eden smiled against his lips as he kissed her, running his hands down her arms and then grazing his fingers down her back.

  He rolled her back so he was on top of her kissing her with an urgency she’d never felt from him before. His hands were everywhere, stroking, caressing, holding her to him all at once as if scared to let her go.

  She wrapped her arms and legs around him, holding him against her, cupping one hand round his neck, stroking his curls, trying to soothe him. But there was a desperation to him now, kissing her as if she was the air he needed to breathe.

  He pulled back slightly, kissing her neck, her collarbone and then capturing her breast in his mouth.

  ‘Oh god, Dougie,’ Eden moaned at the sudden unexpected sensation of his tongue against her nipple.

  He didn’t say anything as he moved lower, kissing and stroking across her belly before he settled himself between her legs, kissing her most sensitive area. Her orgasm ripped through her so fast and so hard, it was almost a shock after the sleepy, near-comatose state she had been in a few minutes before.

  He quickly kicked off his shorts, reaching for a condom from her bedside drawers and then he was in her and on her, kissing her hard as he moved against her. This frenzied need for her was such a turn-on that she quickly felt that delicious feeling coiling in her stomach, travelling lower. She felt her breath catch at the back of her throat and he pulled back ever so slightly to speak.

  ‘I love you,’ Dougie whispered against her lips and it was those words that sent her crashing over the edge.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Eden woke early the next morning as the muted greys were just starting to light up the room. Dougie was wrapped around her back, one arm round her stomach, and there was a part of her that wanted to lie there in blissful ignorance for a while.

  She hadn’t slept well, that million pounds sitting in her account just didn’t sit well with her. She knew she needed a walk on the beach to clear her head.

  She disentangled herself from Dougie’s arms and wrapped herself up in a ton of clothes before stepping out onto the street. It was cold outside and she was surprised to see a sparkling layer of frost on the ground; the Scilly Isles so rarely got frost or snow.

  The world outside her little cosy haven was almost deserted, though there were a few people hurrying along the cold streets to get to their shops in preparation for the day ahead. She crunched over the frost and headed towards Buttercup Beach. She went down the steps onto the hard sand. She looked out on the pinky horizon for a moment but was distracted by a movement at the far end of the beach. As she looked that way she realised it was Rome out for an early morning run.

  He waved at her as he spotted her too and she waited for him. He enveloped her in a big hug as he approached and she hugged him back, glad of his warmth and his company.

  He held her at arm’s length for a moment and obviously didn’t like what he saw.

  ‘You OK?’

  ‘I’m fine.’ She smiled to reassure him but he clearly wasn’t convinced. He sat down and pointedly looked at the sand next to him so she sat down too.

  ‘How’s married life treating you?’ Eden said, keen to avoid the inquisition that was bound to be coming.

 
‘It’s absolutely perfect. How’s things with you and Dougie?’

  She wasn’t surprised he had heard, nothing stayed secret on Hope Island.

  She let out a tiny sigh. ‘Perfect.’

  Rome looked at her with narrowed eyes. ‘Why does it sound like you’re not happy about that?’

  ‘I’m not unhappy. It’s just… It is perfect, too perfect, and that’s what worries me.’

  ‘I’ve never pretended to understand women, but perfection is surely a good thing?’

  ‘I’m worried it’s not real. He hasn’t even been back a week and we’ve told each other we love each other and we’ve even talked about marriage. You know what Dougie is like, he’s never had a serious relationship and always been so against marriage after his parents’ relationship ended so badly, and now suddenly he’s the perfect boyfriend... It feels so unbelievable.’

  ‘Bella told me about the wishes at Mistletoe Cove,’ Rome said.

  ‘I know, it sounds crazy. Wishes don’t come true but everything started happening between me and Dougie straight after I wished for him to love me and then did you hear about the million pounds on the jungle drums?’

  Rome nodded. ‘Yes, though I wasn’t sure whether to believe it. People don’t just have a million pounds magically appear in their accounts; I figured the jungle drums had got it wrong this time. Is it true?’

  Eden nodded.

  ‘Wow. That’s a lot of money.’

  ‘I know,’ Eden said sadly.

  Rome nodded knowingly at her understated reaction. If anyone understood how awkward it was to suddenly be the recipient of a large unwanted sum of money, it was Rome. He had received a huge amount of cash after his fiancée had died in a terrible rollercoaster accident. He’d had no idea what to do with it as he’d felt it was wrong for him to benefit from her death. He’d ended up giving most of it away to friends, family and charities.

  ‘Hang on. You wished for a million pounds? That doesn’t sound like you.’

  ‘Not because I wanted it, just to prove to Dougie that all this nonsense about wishes coming true at Mistletoe Cove was a load of rubbish. I didn’t think for one minute that it would come true and somehow it did. How utterly ridiculous is that? Money doesn’t just magically appear in someone’s bank account and I can’t help thinking if that has come true, what if Dougie only loves me because of the wish too? And that’s complete madness. But it’s not just the wishes. I had this list of things that I thought I wanted in a romantic relationship, silly things like being carried to bed or watching the sunrise together, taking a bath with him or having a massage, and slowly one by one he’s crossing all the things off my list too. There’s no way that he would know what was on my list. He was fast asleep when I talked about it with Bella and Freya. So how could he possibly know these things unless…’

  ‘Unless it was really magic?’ Rome said incredulously. ‘You’re right, it is complete madness. If Dougie says that he loves you, then he loves you. There is no magic at work here. Why do you think that he could only love you if he was under some spell?’

  ‘It’s not that, it’s not that I think I’m unlovable or anything, but if Dougie genuinely loves me and the wishes are all just nonsense, then how do you explain the million pounds?’

  ‘That’s Dougie, the man is loaded even though he doesn’t like to admit it. Who else could hand over that much cash so easily? Well Isaac probably could but I find that even more unlikely. This is Dougie, he’s up to something.’

  ‘Exactly, that’s what I thought, but he flat out denies it and he couldn’t possibly know that I wished for a million pounds, no one knew that. The wishes were in a sealed envelope and I threw them into the blowhole.’

  Rome clearly thought about this for a moment.

  ‘And if it is Dougie playing some joke, what part am I playing in all of this? Am I the punchline?’ Eden said.

  ‘Dougie wouldn’t do that to you.’

  ‘I know he wouldn’t, but I can’t help wondering if he’s doing all this just to be nice. He’s up to something. I’ve never seen Dougie like this before.’

  ‘I admit, he is acting a little bit funny,’ Rome said. ‘But love does strange things to a man.’

  Eden stared out over the inky sea and they sat in silence for a while.

  ‘What is all this really about?’ Rome asked, gently. ‘You and I both know wishes don’t come true, not in magical circumstances anyway. So what are you really worried about?’

  She didn’t answer at first then she leaned her head against his shoulder. He put his arm around her.

  ‘I’m scared of losing him all over again.’

  ‘You don’t trust him?’ Rome said.

  ‘He already broke my heart once and it really hurt. It destroyed me and there’s been no one serious for me ever since. Even with Stephen, I couldn’t fall in love again. Maybe that was because I was still in love with Dougie or maybe it was because I was too scared to fall in love again. I keep telling myself to enjoy this time with him and to not worry about the “what ifs” but if he walks away again after all of this, if this turns out not to be real at all, it would be so much worse than last time and I don’t think I could ever get over that again.’

  Rome sighed. ‘Firstly, you’re a Lancaster; you’re a strong, independent woman. There is no man in the world that can take that from you. There are no guarantees in love and if it ends in a few months or a few years down the line, it will hurt, but I promise you, you will get over it.’

  Eden winced a bit, knowing he was talking about how he’d felt when his fiancée died and how eventually he had found love again with Freya. It seemed silly to talk about not getting over a break-up when Rome had had to get over the death of someone he loved.

  ‘Secondly, if this turns out to be some big joke, I will kick Dougie’s ass and he knows that. But you know Dougie, you might not be able to trust him with your heart yet but you know he would never do anything like that to you.’

  ‘That’s true.’

  ‘And thirdly, when I said love does crazy things to a man, it’s true. I would have done anything for Freya when we first got together, anything to put a smile on her face. I sold the flat above my shop to her for a pound just to make her happy. You would not believe the paperwork involved in doing that, and it was almost a waste of time because she moved in with me a few days later, but I don’t regret it for one second as it made her so happy. I took her on safari when the whole issue of snakes and man-eating spiders scares the crap out of me but I did it anyway because I love her. As far as I can tell, Dougie is crazy in love with you so just enjoy the ride. We all make mistakes and he was eighteen when he broke your heart and moved away. Eventually you’re going to have to forgive him for that and learn to trust him again otherwise you’ll never be able to move on with your life. And if you can’t, that’s not fair on him either. Your relationship will only work if you can trust each other and with him trying to prove himself to you, which is what it looks like he’s doing, it seems like he’s scared of losing you as much as you’re scared of losing him.’

  Eden looked up at him. ‘That’s pretty good advice.’

  ‘Occasionally I have some pearls of wisdom to share. Let go of your past and enjoy what you have now. Worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.’

  ‘And I shall get that printed on a t-shirt.’

  He laughed and kissed her on the head. ‘On that note, I’ll leave you to your walk before I come out with any more clichés. I’ll see you tonight at Rosa’s.’

  She nodded and he got up and ran off the beach and up the steps towards the park.

  Eden looked back out at the horizon and then stood up herself. She dusted herself down and headed back home to the man she loved.

  Rome was right and if this relationship was going to work she had to trust Dougie again. She had to trust that this thing between them was real and forget about this nonsense about the magic of Mistletoe Cove.

  Eden looked at her watch and frowned slightly. Sh
e and Dougie were supposed to be at Rosa’s for seven to meet Bella, Isaac, Rome and Freya for their weekly dinner and it was already five past.

  He had been there when she had got home from work, welcoming her with a big hug and a kiss. No sex, sadly, but she was sure he would make up for that later, and then he’d rushed out saying he’d be back soon. That had been an hour ago.

  He was up to something, and she chastised herself for thinking that, but as he had left with a big mischievous grin on his face she hardly thought she was wrong.

  She knelt down by the Christmas tree and looked at the presents he’d left for her. It was Christmas Eve tomorrow and she couldn’t wait to wake up in his arms on Christmas morning, maybe make love before they came downstairs to open their presents. Just the peace and quiet of the two of them before the noise and chaos of Christmas lunch with her wonderful family.

  She ran her hand over the biggest present, which had appeared the day before. It was a box but she knew she wouldn’t be able to guess what was inside it. The next present was soft and misshapen and she ran her fingers over the bumps trying to feel what it was. Some parts of it were hard and lumpy and there was something a bit crunchy in there too.

  She reached for the small square one that had appeared only that day. Just as she picked it up the door flew open and Dougie was standing there, blowing on his hands. He saw what she was doing and he put his hands on his hips.

  ‘Hey, you’re not peeking at your presents, are you?’

  ‘No, I was just… rearranging them to make room for all the hundreds of presents I’ve bought you.’