Sunlight over Crystal Sands: A gorgeous uplifting romantic comedy perfect to escape with this summer

by Holly Martin

  ‘Do we have enough fuel to get there today?’

  He nodded. ‘I actually filled up the other day and I always get lots of spare. We’ll have more than enough to get to Dagger’s Point and back to Jewel Island again.’

  ‘This is exciting. I bet this is where we’ll find the key, now we’ve found the chest.’

  ‘I’d imagine so and then the treasure hunt will be over.’

  ‘I wonder what’s inside,’ Lyra said, trying to peer through the opening, but the crack was too small. She ran her hands over the chest, wondering if there was some secret button to open it.

  A thought suddenly struck her and she frowned. ‘Don’t you think the chest is in relatively good condition for something that supposedly has been in the ground for hundreds of years?’

  The wood was perfect, the gold not dulled or rusted at all.

  Nix shrugged. ‘I guess the bag protected it.’

  ‘The bag is in good condition too and the rope looks brand new.’

  ‘I don’t know, maybe being buried underneath the mermaid, the mermaid might have protected it from the weather.’

  She looked at the chest again. This just didn’t add up and Nix didn’t seem bothered by it at all. She glanced at him. He looked… uncomfortable, and that was confusing her more than the chest looking so new.

  ‘Anyway, did you want to go snorkelling now? Or we could go further down the coast and snorkel on the way back?’ Nix said.

  Had he just changed the subject?

  ‘We might see the seals if we go here,’ he said.

  Her heart skipped with that possibility. ‘Let’s go now.’

  ‘Great, I’ll get you some clothes you can swim in and I’ll dig out the snorkels too.’

  He disappeared back inside and she turned her attention back to the chest. There was something wrong about all of this, about the chest and bag being in pristine condition. And this whole quest, despite having been a lot of fun, had happened very easily: finding the first clue in Nix’s abandoned ice house, solving and finding the other clues, after hundreds of years, seemed just a bit too… convenient. And now Lyra couldn’t escape the feeling that Nix was hiding something from her.

  She guessed all would become clear when they finally found the key.

  Snorkelling was one of the most amazing experiences of Lyra’s life. She’d only been doing it a few minutes and already she knew she wanted to do this again. It had taken her a short while to get used to putting her face in the water and breathing through the snorkel, but Nix had been really patient.

  Why hadn’t she done this before?

  The sea was so crystal clear it felt like she could see for miles, a world that she had never seen before except on nature programmes, although seeing it on the TV could never do this beauty justice. Below her on the sun-dappled seabed were hundreds of starfish of different colours and sizes, but some, as Nix told her, were actually sunstars, with twelve or thirteen arms spread out like the sun’s rays. She’d never seen anything like it. There were lots of sea urchins perched on the rocks – lethal-looking black spiky ones and more friendly-looking pink ones with shorter spikes. There were a few crabs scuttling away from them, their claws held high as if ready to attack if the occasion called for it.

  Dexter was swimming next to them, which was interesting to watch in itself, seeing his long, powerful, spotty legs propelling himself through the water, using his tail as some kind of rudder.

  Nix suddenly tapped her arm, pointing frantically off to the left. She looked to where he was pointing and nearly squealed with delight. She could see two seals playing in the water, gambolling and swimming with such grace and elegance, the sun glinting off their silvery bodies. The creatures were very obviously aware of them, as they kept looking over in their direction, but they didn’t come any closer, maybe because of Dexter who was happily swimming around with no idea what was happening under the waves. The seals were utterly enchanting to watch until they disappeared off into the depths of the sea.

  Fish swam lazily past them, darting in and out of the rocks below, some coming very close but moving just out of reach when Lyra tried to touch them. Their scales were almost iridescent, shining in a beautiful rainbow of colours as the sun’s rays hit them.

  Nix suddenly nudged her again and pointed directly below, where there was a small mass of legs all curling around themselves like a nest of red snakes. Lyra quickly realised it was an octopus. It was incredible to watch as it moved itself across the seabed.

  Lyra could have stayed there and watched the underwater vista all day, but soon the coldness of the water started to seep into her bones. She lifted her head, treading water, as she moved her face mask onto her forehead and Nix surfaced too.

  ‘How was that?’ he said, pulling his mask off.

  She moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, and he slid his hands around her waist as she kissed him. He smiled against her lips as he kissed her back.

  ‘That good, eh?’

  ‘You are incredible. I feel like, since I’ve met you, everything has changed. This has been one of the best things I’ve ever done. Thank you for sharing this with me.’

  He smiled. ‘It’s been my pleasure. And if you ever hate me in the future, you can remember this moment and perhaps think that I’m not that bad.’

  ‘I don’t think I could ever hate you,’ Lyra said.

  He looked sad for a fleeting moment. ‘I think there could be a couple of things you could hate me for. But I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Come on, we better get a shift on if we’re going to get to Dagger’s Point before dark.’

  He started swimming off towards the boat and she stared after him in confusion.

  She couldn’t think what could possibly cause her to hate him, because she was pretty sure she was slowly falling in love with Nix Sanchez.

  Lying under a blanket of stars was something Lyra could get used to. There wasn’t a single sound except the gentle lap of the water against the boat. Life on the open waves was something she could definitely enjoy. A life with no plan, no responsibility, was looking more and more tempting. Just complete and utter freedom.

  They’d arrived at Dagger’s Point just after sunset when the twilight of the evening was still allowing a fair amount of light, enough that she could see the impressive daymark standing in all its glory. Although sadly not enough to go exploring on the island. The next clue would have to wait.

  She rolled into Nix’s side, resting her head on his chest as she looked out on the mainland, twinkling with thousands of lights. Dagger’s Point was quite far out to sea but they were close enough to land that she could still see home. Nix had pointed out Jewel Island, but, as the sun had been setting at the time, it had barely been a shadow on the horizon, though she’d been able to pick out the distinctive shape of it.

  Right now, going back there on Monday, going back to reality, seemed very far away indeed.

  Nix wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

  She looked up at him. He seemed worried about something, distant somehow, even though he was as affectionate as ever. She wanted to talk to him about it but he had to trust her enough to open up and it was still early days for them.

  She snuggled into his side and decided to ask him something else instead.

  ‘Where do you see yourself in ten years’ time?’ Lyra asked, sleepily. It had been a long day and Nix had let her drive the boat, which had been exhilarating, scary and exhausting all at once.

  ‘Are you interviewing me for a job?’

  She laughed. ‘No, I’m just interested in you. What’s the grand plan?’

  Nix was silent for a while. ‘Ten years ago, I was twenty-one, I’d just got married. We had big plans, we were going to travel the world – which never happened because we didn’t have enough money – we were going to buy a big house, overlooking the sea – that didn’t happen either. And we were going to have a whole football team of children filling ou
r home with laughter and happiness. Sadly that didn’t happen. But the one thing I saw in my future, more than anything, was a happy ever after with my wife. If you’d asked me when I was twenty-one what life I saw for myself in ten years’ time, it would not have been the one I have now.’

  He was quiet again and she didn’t know what to say. She hadn’t intended to make him sad.

  ‘Being diagnosed with leukaemia knocked me for six. I never saw that coming in a million years. All of those plans went out the window. But not to sound too philosophical, where there is darkness, there is also light. I survived where countless others didn’t. And that kind of makes you reprioritise your life. What is it I really want? I didn’t want another serious relationship. And then, last week, everything changed. I met you and that was one of the best things that ever happened to me.’

  She swallowed down a huge lump in her throat.

  ‘I don’t think most of those original plans I had ten years ago will ever happen and part of me is scared to make plans for the future, in case they don’t come true. Better to live for now than be disappointed by the future. But I do know that I want that future, in whatever shape it comes, to include you, if you’ll have me.’

  She smiled. ‘You are everything I wanted to avoid for so long, but you have shown me a world I want to be a part of. But as exciting as this life is, it wouldn’t be the same without you by my side. I know it’s still early days for us and we’re taking it slow and, who knows, we might get bored of each other in a few weeks. But right now I want that future with you too.’

  He smiled and kissed her.

  It was exciting to think about a future with Nix but she couldn’t escape the feeling that he was holding something back. How could they ever really move forward if there were secrets between them? But it was still very early for them. Lyra would give him time and she only hoped it would be enough.

  As it was low tide, Nix was able to get the boat in close to the island again so they could get ashore quite easily and almost right next door to the daymark. It was an impressive octagonal stone building that towered into the sunlit sky. The eight arches took up half of the building and then it tapered off in a point some fifteen or twenty metres above them.

  ‘It has a very wide bottom; how do we know where to start digging?’ Lyra said.

  ‘Let’s have a look at the clue,’ Nix said. She passed him the paper. ‘There’s this lion, that must mean something.’

  ‘Let’s go and take a closer look,’ she said.

  They walked all the way round the outside of the daymark but there were no lions or any markings of any kind. Lyra walked inside the daymark through one of the open archways. The roof of the daymark was way above her. On the floor there were lines of large paving slabs that led through the arches and out the other side, so it resembled a giant star, but none of them had any kinds of markings either. She looked up again and that’s when she saw it. Above each arch were coat of arms carved into the top of the stone archway. Each one was different; some depicted various weapons, some showed plants, others different animals.

  ‘Nix!’ Lyra called and he came running in from outside. ‘Look, coats of arms.’

  ‘Oh wow, one of these must have a lion,’ he said.

  They started moving round, looking carefully at each coat of arms.

  ‘It’s this one,’ Lyra said, triumphantly pointing to a small shield that had a lion and an eagle carved into the stone.

  ‘It must be under here then.’ Nix pointed to the paving stone that was directly under the archway.

  She moved over to it. ‘Do you think we can just lift the stone?’

  ‘We can give it a go. Here, you take that side and I’ll take the other,’ Nix said.

  Lyra was surprised that she could get her fingers under the stone quite easily and it wasn’t embedded into the ground after years of being stuck in this position. They lifted it carefully out the way and, sure enough, directly under the slab was a small bottle buried in the soil. She levered it out with the trowel they’d brought with them and something rattled within.

  ‘I think the key is inside,’ she said.

  ‘Let’s go back to Serendipity and have a look,’ Nix said.

  They put the slab back into position and quickly hurried back to the boat. The chest was sitting on the dining table waiting for them and Lyra sat down, easing out the cork in the bottle and tipping out the contents onto the table. There was no paper scroll this time, just a small gold key.

  ‘Oh my god, this is it,’ Lyra said. She went to pick the key up but Nix stopped her, his hand over hers.

  ‘What if we didn’t open it?’ he said.

  ‘What? We’ve come all this way and you don’t want to see what’s inside?’

  ‘I think the fun was in solving the clues and finding the treasure. I don’t want whatever is inside to ruin what we’ve had.’

  ‘Why would it ruin it?’

  ‘Right now, that chest could be filled with diamonds, rubies and pearls. Emeralds as big as your hand. Isn’t it nicer to imagine all that rather than open it and be bitterly disappointed to find that it isn’t?’

  ‘I want to see. It doesn’t matter if the chest holds nothing more than a few old worthless coins, I want to see it. This is our reward for all our hard work – don’t you at least want to see what we’ve won?’

  He sighed. ‘OK, but I just want to say, the last few days, going on this adventure with you has been incredible.’

  She frowned in confusion. ‘I’ve had a brilliant time too, it’s been a long time since I’ve done anything like this.’

  He took a deep breath and gestured for her to open it, taking a step back so he was leaning against the sink. He looked distraught.

  She was beyond confused right now. She picked up the key and fitted it into the lock. It turned perfectly. She opened the lid and looked inside.

  Chapter Twenty

  Lyra stared at the contents in confusion.

  Suddenly everything made sense. Why they’d found all of the clues relatively easily, why these clues had been undisturbed for supposedly so many years, why Nix had always been keen for her to solve the clues or find the next one, rather than doing it himself, why the chest was perfectly preserved, the bag undamaged, why the rope looked brand new. And most of all she knew why Nix didn’t want her to open it.

  Inside were several gold chocolate coins, a cuddly toy dinosaur and the beautiful green leaf ring she’d pointed out to Nix in the jewellery shop a few days before.

  ‘You did all this,’ Lyra said, quietly. ‘All the clues, the bottles, burying the chest, hiding the key, this was all you.’

  ‘Lyra, I’m sorry, it was never meant to be anything malicious. I never meant to deceive you, I just… I saw the real you, the one who secretly wanted to be Indiana Jones and you kept her locked away. I wanted you to see that the real Lyra was someone to be proud of, that letting her out wasn’t a bad thing. I wanted to give you an adventure, I wanted you to see that it’s OK to let go and have some fun.’

  She stared at the ring he’d bought for her because she’d said she’d loved it, she looked at the cute brontosaurus with its oversized eyes he’d chosen because he remembered that she loved dinosaurs. She couldn’t believe all the work he’d put into this, preparing the clues and hiding them. For her.

  ‘I know you’re disappointed and I’m so sorry, I—’

  ‘Stop talking,’ Lyra said, her voice choked. ‘Just stop.’ She stood up and walked towards him. ‘You did all this, for me?’

  ‘Yes, I’m sorry—’

  She reached up and put her fingers over his lips. ‘This is… amazing. You have nothing to apologise for. Is this what you’ve been worried about telling me?’

  He frowned in confusion for a moment and then his face cleared. ‘No, that’s, umm… something else. I was a little bit worried about this, I’m very worried about the other.’

  ‘Whatever it is, after this, you have nothing to worry about.’

&
nbsp; His frown turned to a scowl. ‘The other thing is in a completely different league to this. It’ll make or break us.’

  How could anything be so bad that it could split them up?

  ‘Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it together,’ Lyra said.

  He shook his head. ‘Can we have this weekend to just enjoy being with each other? I promise, I’ll tell you before we go back.’

  She nodded. She could give him that. ‘OK. Thank you for this. No one has ever done something like this for me before. No one has ever cared enough for me to go to all this effort. You’re the first person to see what was underneath.’

  ‘Lyra, you are definitely worth it. I… You mean the world to me.’

  She swallowed down the huge lump of emotion in her throat as she stroked his face. She leaned up and kissed him.

  He cupped her face as he kissed her and then his hands were in her hair as if he was desperate to touch her, to bring her closer. And she wanted that too. Their connection was not like anything she’d ever experienced before and suddenly it seemed silly to hold back. Right then, she knew everything she needed to know about Nix Sanchez. He was a kind, thoughtful, wonderful man.

  She slid her hands down his arms and he wrapped his round her back, bringing her in closer against him. The kiss turned urgent and needful pretty quickly.

  ‘Lyra,’ he whispered. ‘We need to stop, I promised you we’d take things slow.’

  She kissed his throat and she felt the vibrations of his groan against her lips. She slid her mouth to his collarbone, relishing the taste of him.

  Suddenly he lifted her and kissed her hard on the mouth. She wrapped her legs around him as the kiss continued and he walked straight into the bedroom. He laid her down on the bed, pinning her to the mattress, his body surrounding hers, his mouth not leaving hers for a second.