by Holly Martin
Freya was silent for a long time, taking it all in.
‘God, it’s so beautiful,’ she whispered. ‘I never imagined it would be like this. We’re so high up.’
Rome leaned over her to look at the view. ‘That’s Wolf Rock Lighthouse. See that weird cone shape near the foot of the lighthouse, that was the original beacon that was built in 1836. The lighthouse itself took nearly ten years to build and was the first rock lighthouse in the world to have a helipad built on top. And over there is Longships Lighthouse,’ he pointed. ‘There’s been a lighthouse there since 1791.’
‘That’s over two hundred years old?’
‘No, the old lighthouse was too short and the waves would crash over it in storms and block out the light so they built a taller tower in 1875. And on a clear day like today, you can see all the way down the coast to the Rose Island Lighthouse which was very nearly demolished last year but was saved by a shark.’
‘A shark?’
‘An angel shark actually, which is quite appropriate considering how it saved the tower. It’s highly endangered and when they found a resident shark near to the lighthouse the council was stopped from pulling it down.’
Freya stared at him with a smile.
‘God, sorry, I let my geeky side have full rein there for a while. I have hundreds of history of Britain books in my bedroom, I spend hours reading this kind of thing before I go to bed. I find it fascinating, I forget that it’s boring for other people.’
‘I don’t find it boring at all.’
‘You don’t?’
‘No, you could keep me entertained for hours with all your facts. It’s like having my own personal tour guide.’
Rome smiled. He was sure she was just being kind but it was nice that she didn’t seem bored by it.
The plane started to drop in the sky and the pilot called out that the plane was coming into land though it was quite hard to hear her over the noise of the engines.
‘We’re coming into land already?’ Freya looked so disappointed.
‘Yes, it only takes fifteen minutes from St Mary’s to Land’s End, but we’re flying back too and I promise I’ll take you on a plane again in the future, a much longer journey next time. There are lots of sightseeing flights round these parts.’
‘Thank you for doing this for me,’ Freya said, squeezing his hand which she had held for the whole journey.
‘It was my absolute pleasure.’
He looked out the cockpit window ahead of them and could see the pilot was lining the plane up with the runway ready for landing. The sun was still rising in the sky, painting the clouds with a wonderful candyfloss pink. He looked back at his best friend who was staring out the window again, still holding his hand. It was going to be a good day.
Freya got out of the taxi at the disused football field, which was now filled with a multitude of brightly coloured floats as the representatives from each town made last-minute adjustments to their creations. She knew that everyone’s designs had been kept under wraps until that day when they had gathered together for the first time on that field. This was where the parade would start from later as it wound its way through the streets of Penzance.
Rome joined her and to her surprise took her hand again as he led her through the different floats, trying to find Cal. It was an Under the Sea themed carnival and as such there were floats with every sea creature imaginable, from Nemo-type clownfish, whales, sharks, crabs, octopus to even the imaginary or prehistoric creatures like the sea dragons, mermaids or the megalodon. They were all beautiful, clearly having been created with many days or probably weeks’ of hard work. Most of the floats had opted for the traditional wire frames covered with sheets of paper or some kind of papier-mâché. Some had used brightly painted wood panels and, in the case of many of the other islands from Scilly, their floats were made mostly out of flowers to celebrate the biggest export from the Isles of Scilly.
It wasn’t hard to spot the Hope Island float as it was the only one made almost entirely out of glass. It was stunning and completely unique. Six life-size dolphins jumping out of the waves had been made with large pieces of glass that had been placed over a mould and heated to get them into the right shape. Freya knew that Rome had spent a while teaching Cal how to solder the pieces together using copper foiling as there was no way the dolphins could be transported as one whole piece and arrive safely. The waves were a mixture of sheets of fused glass and mosaic work that were mounted onto wood. And judging from what Rome had told her, she knew that many of these parts would move once the parade was underway.
It had taken her and Rome weeks to get all the pieces ready and as much of it as possible had been joined together before it was carefully packed into containers and shipped over to the mainland with ‘Fragile’ stickers placed all over the boxes. A lot of Rome’s pieces were sent all over the UK and the staff at the ports knew to take extra care with anything that was sent out with the shop’s logo emblazoned on it. According to Cal there had only been one breakage once the container was unpacked but it was a clean break and something that was easily fixed by soldering the two pieces back together.
Freya spotted Cal and waved as he came hurrying over. He gave Freya a kiss on the cheek and hugged Rome as if they were best friends. This made Freya giggle – Rome was never a big hugger.
‘Cal, this looks amazing,’ Freya said. ‘It was so hard to imagine what it would look like when we were cutting out all these tiny bits of glass. You’ve done an incredible job.’
‘Thank you, but none of this would have been possible if it wasn’t for you two.’
‘It’s fantastic, Cal,’ Rome said. ‘Is there anything we can do to help?’
‘There’s a few bits of soldering you can do here and there. We’re nearly finished. Rome, can you go and see if Tiffany needs a hand?’ He pointed to the young girl at the back of the float.
Rome nodded and left Freya alone with Cal. As soon as Rome was out of hearing distance, Cal turned to her.
‘Have you and Rome finally got together?’
Freya blushed. Was everyone on the island rooting for them to get together? Did they all know her inappropriate feelings for her best friend?
‘No, what makes you think that?’
‘You were holding hands.’
‘Oh, that. I’m not really sure what that was about. We were holding hands on the plane because it’s the first time I’ve ever flown and it’s sort of continued since then,’ Freya tried to dismiss it but she had been delighted by the hand-holding herself.
‘I thought you two had your big date on Friday?’ Cal said.
‘Jesus, you weren’t even on the island then, how did you know about that?’
Cal laughed. ‘This is Hope Island we’re talking about, nothing goes unnoticed.’
‘Well it wasn’t a date, Rome wanted to ask me to be his business partner so the jungle drums on Hope Island got that wrong.’
‘But you wanted him to ask you out?’ Cal said.
Freya hesitated too long while she thought about an appropriate answer. She liked Cal, had chatted to him quite a bit in the past, and especially over the last few months as he had talked through his design for the float, but she’d never considered him someone she could confide in before.
Cal pounced on her hesitation eagerly. ‘You leave it with me, honey, I’ll sort it out.’
‘You will not. I don’t need any interference. I can cock things up nicely on my own.’
‘I’m not going to interfere. Much. All I’m saying is that part of the prize for the winning float is a night in the Under the Sea themed room at the Bay View Hotel tonight. There’s a four-poster bed, a Jacuzzi, a giant aquarium, the room is beautiful. Very romantic. If we win, or should I say when we win, the room is yours.’
‘No way, you did all this work—’
‘What am I going to do with that room?’ Cal said.
‘Take your husband, have a romantic night together,’ Freya suggested.
&
nbsp; ‘Honey, Travis and I have romantic nights together every night, we don’t need some fish tanks and a four-poster bed to inspire romantic moments. You two, however, need all the help you can get. Oh look, here’s Travis now, I’ll tell him the plan, he’ll be delighted.’
Cal rushed off to greet his husband and Freya sighed. Tonight was either going to be completely magical or completely cringe-worthy and as she refused to hope for the former she resigned herself to the latter. But regardless of whether they won the parade or not, no matter what happened, tonight she would tell Rome the truth.
Chapter Fifteen
The parade was well underway and the thousands of people that lined the streets of Penzance seemed to be enjoying it. But Rome could barely take his eyes off Freya, who was clearly enchanted by the whole thing. She was standing in front of him watching the floats go by and he was so charmed by her huge smile and enthusiasm that all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her and hug her. He resisted but he was finding his reasoning and willpower getting weaker and weaker.
The floats had been amazing. Seahorses, starfish, seals, basking sharks had all drifted sedately past, the floats all lit up with strings of fairy lights which looked magical in the setting sun. There were even floats with a yellow submarine, scuba divers and Baywatch-style lifeguards. Most of the floats had moving parts or enthusiastic dancers to make up for the lack of movement. The Hope Island float had caused quite a few ooohs as the sunlight and fairy lights had glinted off the glass and the dolphins had seemingly leapt out of the waves.
In between each float was a troupe of dancers in different colours, performing the parts of waves, or fish. Dancers dressed entirely in green boogied past now, with great swathes of green ribbon protruding from every limb that were obviously supposed to be seaweed. Small children dressed as multi-coloured fishes darted between them. There was a Chinese-dragon-style whale that weaved and bobbed and opened its oversized mouth, fire breathers, mermaids, ballet dancers, stilt walkers, and even the animals had got involved, with several dogs and pigs in fancy dress. The event was a huge success.
As the last float and dancers drifted past, Rome and Freya joined with the crowds and followed the procession to the nearby park.
‘This has been fantastic, I’m so glad we came,’ Freya said, slipping her hand back into his as they walked along. Surprisingly, it felt right there.
They had worked alongside each other for the morning, helping with last-minute modifications and soldering, though there hadn’t been a lot left to do. Everything had been wonderful between them again, as if the tension of the last few days had never happened.
Cal had been as bad as the ladies in Eden’s café the day before, giving Rome looks that he would have found almost comical had he not been on the receiving end: wide eyes, winks, waggling eyebrows, twitching his head in Freya’s direction whenever she wasn’t looking. It was something of a relief when Cal deemed the float to be finished and they were sent off for the rest of the day to enjoy Penzance before the parade started.
They had crossed the causeway and explored St Michael’s Mount and then come back and explored the cliff-side gardens and beach around Lamorna Cove. And Freya’s hand had been in his almost the entire time. He wasn’t sure whether it was him holding her hand or her holding his and whether it actually mattered. They just seemed to gravitate towards each other.
He realised she was still waiting for some kind of comment from him about the carnival. His head was filled only with her and he had no idea what he was going to do about it.
He cleared his throat. ‘Everyone has worked so hard, I think the judges will have a hard time picking a winner.’
‘Cal seems to think we have this in the bag.’
‘Ours was unique, but there were others that were really good. I hope Cal wins, the trophy will be a big coup for Hope Island.’
‘There are other prizes too,’ Freya said.
‘Oh yes, there’s some kind of hamper I think.’
‘And a night in the Bay View Hotel’s Under the Sea themed suite. Cal said if we win, we can have that room.’
Rome laughed at Cal’s not-so-subtle matchmaking. ‘What would we do with it?’
Rome knew exactly what he wanted to do with it, but he had no idea if Freya felt the same way. Holding hands with him did not mean she wanted to make love to him and, even if she did, it didn’t mean he should go ahead and do it.
Freya shrugged. ‘We can at least go and have a look at it. We were going to share a bedroom anyway, this won’t be that different.’
‘Except we would be sharing a bed.’
Freya shrugged again, trying to appear nonchalant but not quite managing to pull it off. Could it possibly be that she wanted to share a bed with him.
He swallowed. ‘And what would happen if we were to share a bed?’ he asked, his heart thundering in his chest. He waited for her to laugh it off and say that she intended to sleep and nothing else but she didn’t. She didn’t say anything for the longest time. Though she was still holding his hand she didn’t seem able to look at him.
Eventually she spoke. ‘I guess we can cuddle.’
Cuddle?
He suddenly wanted nothing more than to strip her naked and cuddle her in bed until she was screaming out his name.
He tried to make his voice sound normal though he knew it was anything but. ‘I like the sound of cuddling very much.’
‘You do?’
‘I can think of no better way to end our night. And even if we don’t win, we could still cuddle in one of the single beds.’
Freya looked up at him, a smirk fighting on her lips. ‘There wouldn’t be much room in a single bed. One of us might have to go on top of the other.’
His heart roared against his chest. They were actually going to do this. They were going to make love. He wanted this more than he’d ever wanted anything or anyone. It terrified him because, after one night, it would change everything between him and Freya. He didn’t want to lose her but his desire for her, his need for her, was taking over every thought in his mind right now and there was not a single bone in his body that could stop him.
‘Who would go on top?’ Rome asked. If they really were just going to cuddle it would be ridiculous for him to lie on top of her. She was so small and he was so big, he easily weighed four or five stone more than she did. He would crush her.
‘I think I’d quite like you to go on top. To start with, after that we could swap over,’ Freya said.
He couldn’t believe they were talking about it like this in the middle of the street, but so many people were talking and laughing around them, the sound of the music from the floats still filling the air, he very much doubted anyone could hear them.
‘You make it sound like there would be more than one cuddle?’ he said.
‘I’m hoping there would be multiple cuddles.’
‘Then I think I’d like to go on top too, to start with.’ He dropped her hand and slung his arm round her shoulders, pulling her against him. ‘We could skip the fireworks if you want. Go back to the hotel room, see which method of cuddling works the best.’
Her whole face lit up into a big smile. ‘I actually really want to see the fireworks.’
He groaned. ‘You’re killing me.’
She burst out laughing as she slid an arm round his waist. ‘Now just in case you don’t have anything…um… appropriate to… um, wear for our cuddle. I have some…something in the front pocket of my rucksack.’
He grinned. She’d planned for this, that was even hotter. And even though he always carried protection with him, he probably only had the one. As if she was reading his mind, she snuggled in closer.
‘I have enough for multiple cuddles.’
He laughed.
They walked into the park and followed the crowds down to the front by the lake.
‘I hope these fireworks start soon,’ Rome said, not really caring if he missed them all.
Up on the podium the mayor of P
enzance was talking about how wonderful the floats were and thanking everyone for coming. A cool sea wind blew in off the coast. Next to him Freya shivered a bit.
‘Are you cold?’
‘A little.’
He undid his coat and held it open for her. She smiled and stepped up against him and he wrapped the coat back around her, trapping her against his body. She looked up at him as she wrapped her arms round his back. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.
He was vaguely aware that somewhere in the distance the mayor was doing a countdown to the fireworks that everyone else was joining in with.
Rome stared at the beautiful girl in his arms and bent his head down and kissed her.
Fireworks exploded in the night sky above them and Freya didn’t take her lips off his for a second. He kissed her gently at first, the feel of her lips against his was divine. He moved his hands up to cup her face, stroking her soft skin with his thumbs. God, this kiss. There had been many women since Paige’s death but none of them had felt like this when he had kissed them. This was something different. This was something so special and unique that he was almost fearful of it. Afraid of taking it any further in case he ruined it. She wrapped her arms round his neck as the fireworks lit up the inky sky above them and when she let out a tiny moan of need he was lost to her, he knew there was nothing he could do to stop where this was going. He slid his tongue against hers, stroking his hands down her back and pulling her tighter against him.
She eased back ever so slightly, breathing heavily against his lips, and he realised she was trembling in his arms.
‘I never thought this would happen between us, I always hoped it would but I didn’t think you saw me that way,’ Freya said.
The fireworks were reaching a crescendo up above them, lighting up the air around them with red, green, blue and gold. He looked up briefly and then back down at his best friend, a sudden need to take her back to the hotel and show her exactly how much she meant to him.