The Little Village of Happiness: A gorgeous uplifting romantic comedy to escape with this summer

by Martin, Holly

  ‘I’m a big boy. I can take it.’

  They walked on in silence for a while and, because they were veiled in the darkness, she felt like she could say this and it wouldn’t really count.

  ‘I could fall for you Andrew Harrington. I mean I haven’t, but I feel like I really could. I have a feeling that six-month embargo will come to a spectacular end a lot sooner than we think but I’d at least like to finish unpacking before I leap into bed with the first man I met.’

  There was silence from him for a moment and she wondered if she had scared him with her half declaration of love. She was kind of scared of her feelings for him herself.

  He pulled her to a stop, put the torch on the ground and turned to face her in the darkness. He pressed a kiss to her forehead.

  Her heart erupted in her chest and she found her hands going to his waist and leaning into the warmth of his body.

  ‘I think, sometimes, you meet someone who is worth breaking all the rules for.’ He pulled back slightly to look her in the eyes. ‘And sometimes you meet someone who is worth waiting for however long it takes for them to realise it too.’

  Oh god. This man.

  She was in trouble with him and there was nothing she could do about it.

  Fourteen

  ‘Come on,’ Andrew said, breaking the moment. He picked up the torch, grabbed her hand and carried on walking across the cliff tops. He didn’t know whether to kick himself or give himself a bloody medal for walking away from that. There she was, bathed in the moonlight, looking magical and breathtakingly beautiful, staring up at him like she wanted to kiss him, and instead of grabbing her and kissing her again, he’d walked away. But as much as he liked her, he wanted to respect her decision to wait. He totally understood where she was coming from, things were moving way too quickly between them.

  She jogged to keep up with his long-legged stride and he forced himself to slow down. He glanced down at her and she smiled up at him.

  ‘Stop smiling.’

  This made her smile even more. It lit up her entire face. He quickly looked away.

  They reached the top of the steps to the beach and he turned off up the little path towards the village. They soon passed the stone ruins of the first houses in the village.

  ‘They say these houses are thousands of years old.’

  ‘Surely they can’t be that old,’ Willow said.

  ‘I don’t know. Apparently they had some historians digging round here many years back and they found evidence that pointed to several hundred years BC. They think it’s haunted too.’

  ‘What?’ Willow said, suddenly walking a lot closer to him.

  ‘You scared?’ Andrew said.

  ‘I wouldn’t say scared but not exactly thrilled. Have you seen anything?’

  ‘No. I don’t come down this way that often. I go for a swim in the sea from time to time but I haven’t seen any ghostly apparitions whenever I’ve walked past. But if you believe the gossip in the village – and I’d take a lot of that with a pinch of salt – some of the locals have seen something. Most people seem to think it was a story told by the older folk of the village many years ago to scare the children who grew up here from coming near the place. Although if I grew up here and heard those kinds of stories, it would be more likely to make me come down here and investigate than stay away.’

  ‘So what kind of ghosts are we talking about?’ Willow linked arms with him. ‘Headless horsemen, cloaked figures, that kind of thing?’

  ‘Vampires that suck your blood,’ Andrew said, pulling her close to him and playfully biting at her neck.

  ‘Stop it,’ Willow laughed, batting him away.

  He carried on walking, wishing he hadn’t done that because he could now taste her on his lips. ‘I don’t know really, depends who you speak to.’ The lights of the village twinkled ahead of them. ‘Some say it’s the ghost of the woman who walks the cliff tops looking for her lost love,’ he said.

  Willow laughed. ‘That’s a bit tragic. Maybe she fell in love with the handsome estate manager but kept giving him the run-around and in the end he went off and married someone far better and she wandered the cliffs weeping. And because she had tears in her eyes, she fell over the edge and died a tragic and senseless death.’

  Andrew smiled. ‘Maybe. But I don’t think we have any fear of history repeating itself there.’

  ‘Me falling over the cliff in my grief?’

  ‘Me running off with someone else.’

  ‘Ah, you’re a true gent.’

  He smiled. ‘Actually there is also an old wives’ tale that the apparitions are really fairies.’

  Willow laughed. ‘I think I believe that even less than the ghosts.’

  ‘The fairies apparently help the villagers when they are in need.’

  ‘Well that’s nice of them. They haven’t done much for the village in its current state.’

  ‘Sshhh! You don’t want to anger the fairies. Maybe you have to ask for help.’

  Willow stopped and turned back to face the ruins. ‘OK, fairies, we could really do with your help with the village. It’s looking a bit tatty and we need it to be ready for the open day in two weeks. Also we need some help with the presents we’re giving to the villagers, so any help you can give us there would be great.’

  She turned back to look at Andrew. ‘How was that?’

  ‘Fine. But you have to make an offering.’

  ‘What?’ Willow laughed.

  ‘Hey, I don’t make these rules.’

  ‘It sounds to me like you’re making them up on the spot. What do you suggest?’

  Andrew thought about this for a moment, because while he had heard rumours of fairies, he was making up the stuff about giving the fairies an offering.

  ‘How about a dance?’

  ‘You want me to dance for the fairies?’

  Andrew nodded. ‘I think the fairies will love it.’

  ‘On my own?’

  He shrugged. ‘You’re the one doing the asking.’

  She clearly thought about this for a moment and he honestly expected her to tell him where to shove it but after a few seconds she started to sway and swing her arms from side to side, then she started bouncing her shoulders and banging her knees together. It wasn’t like any dance he’d ever seen before. He wanted to burst out laughing and he also wanted to gather her close and kiss her because this bloody woman had got right under his skin. She had captured his heart and he didn’t think he would ever get over that.

  He cleared his throat and she looked at him. ‘That was amazing.’

  ‘Do you think the fairies will be suitably impressed?’

  ‘Well, I know I was.’

  She smiled and linked arms with him again as they carried on walking towards the village. ‘I don’t believe any of this for one second.’

  ‘You still danced though.’

  ‘This village needs all the help it can get. If that means I have to dance naked next to a fire at midnight, under a full moon, then I’ll do it.’

  ‘Oh yes, the dancing naked part. That’s what I forgot,’ Andrew said, turning them back around. ‘Let’s do it again, this time naked.’

  Willow turned them back to face the village. ‘Only at a full moon.’

  ‘Damn it.’

  He smiled as they walked along in the darkness. She made him really happy.

  They were approaching the first houses in the main part of the village now and luckily for them Ginny’s house was one of the first they would come to. The lights were on and the noise of the TV could be heard from inside.

  ‘OK, it’s this house here,’ Andrew said. He looked around to see if anyone else was around but the street was completely deserted.

  He watched Willow glance around too. ‘What if someone else takes the flowers?’

  ‘That would be a pretty heartless thing to do.’

  ‘Maybe we should knock on the door?’ she said.

  ‘And then what, run and hide? I didn’t tak
e you for the knock door, run type.’

  She flashed him a mischievous look and walked over to the door. She placed the flowers on the doorstep and then, to his surprise, she raised her fist to knock on the door.

  ‘Wait,’ he hissed. ‘We need a plan, where are we going to hide?’

  ‘I’ll leave that to you,’ she said, knocking three times loudly on the door.

  Crap.

  He looked around frantically as he saw the shadow of Ginny get up behind the curtains. He quickly snatched Willow’s hand and yanked her into the space between two houses on the opposite side of the street. He pulled her back into the darkness just as the door was flung open. His heart was beating out of his chest as Willow stifled a giggle. He watched Ginny look up and down the street and then glance down and spot the flowers. She bent down to pick them up and he saw her whole face light up with happiness.

  He felt a warm glow spread through him as she looked around once more and went back inside with a big smile on her face.

  He glanced down at Willow and saw she was smiling too. They had done something wonderful tonight, well Willow had, but it felt amazing to be a part of it. This tiny gesture had just made a lonely old woman incredibly happy.

  Willow looked up at him, her eyes shining in the light from the street. She was incredible.

  He touched her face, grazing his thumb down her cheek. ‘I think I’d wait an eternity for you Willow McKay.’

  She pressed a gentle kiss to his palm. ‘I don’t think you’ll have to. Come on, we have lots to do.’

  With a quick check out on the street, she stepped out of the shadows and into the light. There was suddenly a big part of him that felt like he was doing the same. He smiled and shook his head and then followed her out on to the road.

  * * *

  Willow could not stop giggling. Andrew’s stepladder was the squeakiest, creakiest thing she had ever heard as he carried it the short distance from his house to Elsie’s. Surely everyone in the village would be able to hear it. Andrew was theatrically creeping along the little track, walking on his tiptoes, and that was making her laugh so much too.

  ‘Could you be any louder?’ she giggled.

  He turned to stare at her incredulously. ‘Do you want to carry this?’

  ‘Oh no, I’m fine with carrying the paint and the brushes. I take it back, you’re doing a splendid job.’

  He muttered something under his breath that didn’t sound too polite.

  They approached Elsie’s house and stood surveying it for a moment. There was still quite a lot to do, but it was a very small house so Willow didn’t think it would take them that long.

  ‘Let’s start round the back first. We can do the front last as we’re more likely to be seen there, and the later we’re painting that the better,’ Willow said.

  Andrew nodded his agreement.

  They walked through the gate and crept round the back. The house was in darkness, which in some ways was worse because if Elsie was asleep then she could be woken. If she had been watching TV then she would at least be distracted by that and the noise would drown out any squeaks and creaks.

  The back and front would be quite easy as even Willow could reach the top of the thatch with the paint roller. But the sides would be trickier as Andrew would have to go up the ladder to reach the apex of the house.

  Andrew laid the torch down on the ground, not pointing it directly at the house probably in case the light woke Elsie up. He poured some paint into the tray; luckily Elsie had started the house in white so they didn’t have to worry about matching the colours up. They both began painting the wall with their rollers, starting in the middle and working their way out to the edges of the house.

  Once that was done, they picked up their paint and ladder and moved round to the side. They were just propping the ladder up against the wall when Julia walked past with her Jack Russell and, to Willow’s surprise, a ginger cat on a lead. Julia didn’t see them but unfortunately the Jack Russell did. He started yapping immediately as Andrew quickly pulled her to the ground.

  ‘What is it, Colin?’ Julia said. ‘Did you see a rabbit or something? Oh, I bet it’s that nasty fox that’s been after my poor chickens.’

  Frustratingly, Julia decided to try and see herself, coming right up to the fence and dragging an unwilling Colin and the angry ginger cat with her. Willow was glad for the foresight Andrew had shown in his suggestion they wear black, but she wished she’d taken his advice on the camouflage paint right now. Willow wondered if Julia could see the ladder – she was certainly taking her time with looking over Elsie’s fence and Colin was still barking. Luckily the torch was still round the back but Julia could probably see the extra light coming from Elsie’s back garden.

  Eventually she gave up and left, taking a still yapping Colin and the angry ginger cat with her.

  Willow and Andrew lay there not moving for a while longer.

  Andrew sat up. ‘I think she’s gone.’

  ‘She’s probably creeping round the back of your house trying to spot you with a girl,’ Willow said, clambering up. ‘And are we not going to address the fact that Julia was walking a cat on a lead?’

  Andrew shrugged as if it was perfectly normal. ‘Rufus, apparently he likes it.’

  ‘He didn’t look very happy to me.’

  ‘Come on. We need to be quick, she’ll be back shortly,’ Andrew whispered, scrambling to his feet too.

  This whole project was going to be quite stressful. If they could deliver the presents to all the villagers over the next few weeks without getting caught it was going to be a bloody miracle.

  * * *

  Andrew followed Willow through her gate, which he still needed to fix, and she let them into her house. He was bone-tired. After spending most of the night before lying awake thinking about that incredible kiss and then getting up early to help with the renovations in the village, and now spending the last few hours painting Elsie’s house, he was exhausted. Julia had been back along the road three times, either because she suspected something was going on or she just wanted to give Colin and Rufus a good walk, but it held them up considerably. Julia wasn’t the only one on a late-night walk either. They’d seen Connor from the pub walking his Labrador and Dorothy out for a random stroll too. Who knew that Happiness village was such a social hub for late-night activity?

  He flopped down on Willow’s sofa for a moment.

  ‘I’ll make you a coffee,’ Willow said, disappearing off to the kitchen.

  He felt his eyes droop closed and leaned his head on the back of the sofa. He wondered what the rule book said about him spending the night on Willow’s sofa because right then he didn’t have the energy to make it back home. He didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable with him staying but maybe she’d let him have a kip for a half hour or so. He felt himself dropping off as he heard her move around in the kitchen. After a few minutes, he heard her come back in and place the coffee cup on the table. He couldn’t even open his eyes. He felt a blanket being draped over him but the next thing he felt her snuggling in by his side, resting her head on his shoulder and wrapping an arm round his stomach. He opened one eye to look at her but her eyes were closed now too.

  ‘I really like you Andrew Harrington,’ she whispered.

  He put an arm around her and kissed her head. ‘I really like you too.’

  She looked up at him. ‘Are you planning on staying here tonight?’

  ‘Just for a little while,’ Andrew said, closing his eyes again.

  She got up out of his arms and he felt a bit bereft. ‘Then let’s go to bed.’

  Both eyes snapped open to see that she was holding out a hand for him. Good god. Of course he wanted that but he also respected her decision to not get involved in a relationship right now. He didn’t want her to do something she would later regret. He must have looked like a startled rabbit because she laughed.

  ‘To sleep, you pervert.’

  He smiled with relief because he wasn’t s
ure sex would be a good idea for two people who didn’t want to get involved. Although sleeping in a bed with her probably wasn’t a good idea either, it would make things very complicated. But the thought of going to sleep with her in his arms… well, there was no way he could walk away from that. He was respectful but he wasn’t a saint.

  He stood up and took her hand. ‘I can think of nothing I’d like more.’

  ‘Oh, I’m sure you could think of something,’ Willow said, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

  ‘I’m not sure I’m up to anything else.’

  He followed her up the stairs and sat down on her bed to take off his boots. He stripped down to his boxer shorts and got into bed, closing his eyes so Willow could get changed in private. He felt her slip into bed and cuddle up to him again, with her head on his chest. Yep, definitely complicated. He slid an arm round her shoulders.

  ‘Thank you for helping me tonight,’ Willow said.

  ‘It was my pleasure,’ Andrew said, honestly. ‘I really enjoyed it. Seeing Ginny’s face when she saw those flowers, that was pretty special wasn’t it?’

  ‘It really was. There’ll be lots of talk in the village tomorrow. We should get our stories straight about what we were doing.’

  ‘I’m going to tell everyone that I spent the night in bed with an incredible woman,’ Andrew said and she laughed.

  They fell silent for a while and he knew she was dozing off. Normally he would wait for the woman he was with to fall asleep before taking out his hearing aids, he hated drawing attention to his deafness, but he didn’t have to do that with Willow. She already knew and he liked that. He still felt a little self-conscious about it but he felt so at ease with her, nothing seemed to faze her.

  ‘I’m going to take my hearing aids out now,’ Andrew said. ‘So don’t talk to me if you want an answer or at least make sure you’re facing me. And if there’s a fire in the middle of the night, you’ll have to give me a big nudge.’

  ‘What do you do in your house to protect yourself from a fire?’

  ‘I have my smoke alarm linked to a strobe light and a vibration pad under my pillow.’