Christmas at Lilac Cottage: (#1 White Cliff Bay) (8 page)

‘Here, sit down,’ Daisy said gently, as if Penny had just received some bad news and needed tender loving care.

Daisy patted the seat next to her and Penny sat down, obviously still waking up.

Penny started helping herself to some of the food and Daisy mouthed over her head, asking if she was OK. Henry nodded and mimed that she had been sleeping. Daisy sighed with relief.

Daisy liked Penny and it was easy to see why. He really liked her too. But it was almost unheard of for Daisy to like the same women he did. She had never really liked any of his girlfriends apart from Rosie and, although he hadn’t the best track record for choosing wisely, he did wonder whether some of it was to do with not wanting to share him after she’d had him to herself for the last sixteen years. He didn’t want to upset Daisy and he worried over how much his daughter would still like Penny if he ever got involved with her, or if she would find fault in her just like all the others. Daisy had practically made him promise not to pursue things with Penny and he had to remember that.

They ate and chatted about the upcoming ball for a while and then Daisy got up and started clearing away the plates.

‘We better get going,’ Henry said, glancing at his watch.

Penny nodded. ‘I’ll just grab my shoes and coat, I won’t be a second.’

Sure enough, she was back in the kitchen a few seconds later, with her shoes on, fastening her coat, her hair still a wild, tangled bush.

Henry bit his lip. As much as it didn’t bother him in the slightest going out with her looking like this, he knew it would bother her.

‘Erm… maybe you should, er, brush your hair first,’ Henry said.

Penny looked at him in shock. ‘Why, what’s the matter with it?’ She glanced at herself in the reflection of the window and her eyes widened. ‘Oh my god, why didn’t you tell me I looked such a state?’

‘Because we’re friends, and if you came to dinner in your tattiest stained pyjamas, I wouldn’t give a shit.’

Penny turned to look at him, a huge genuine smile forming on her face. ‘We’re friends?’

‘Yes of course.’ He wasn’t sure what had caused her to smile so much but he liked it a lot. Penny didn’t say anything else, she just walked out, presumably to do something about her wayward hair, but she had the biggest grin on her face.

He looked at Daisy in confusion and she came and hugged him. ‘You know, for all your grumpiness you can be very sweet sometimes.’

‘What did I do?’

Daisy let him go. ‘I’m just going to grab my hat.’

She ran upstairs and he stared after her. Women, he’d never understand them.

Penny came back in with her hair suitably brushed and swept up in a loose ponytail and he caught her arm as she moved towards the door.

‘Look, I’m sorry about…’ he gestured towards the shed, ‘the flirting and everything. I don’t want to do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable and I certainly don’t want to do anything to hurt you, but I would like to be friends. I promise no more flirting from now on.’

She eyed him speculatively for a moment then smiled. ‘I’d really like to be friends too.’

She stuck out her hand for him to shake and he smiled as he took it. The feel of her skin against his was like a jolt to the stomach. Her eyes were alight with happiness, trusting him so easily, when he barely trusted himself. Being friends was for the best.

P
enny’s heart
sank a little as they walked down towards the seafront and she realised that the ice rink was directly outside The Pilchard, Chris’s parents’ pub, a place she had tried to avoid for the last eight years. His parents had been lovely while they were dating and had been very excited about the arrival of their first grandchild, even if her pregnancy had come very early in their relationship. But after the miscarriage, and shortly after, the break-up, Chris had tried to tell anyone who looked badly on him for leaving her mere days after she had lost their child that she was unhinged, deranged and completely psychotic. Thankfully, most people hadn’t believed it. She wasn’t sure what his parents believed but the fact they had never been to see her in the months after their grandchild had died probably meant they had believed everything their son had fed them. She’d seen them around town occasionally but they always scurried off in the opposite direction whenever they saw her, making an already awkward situation worse. Thankfully Chris didn’t live in White Cliff Bay any more, but he did pop back occasionally to see his parents and the thought of running into him when she still felt so much anger towards him was not one she relished.

She looked at the ice skating rink, determined she was going to enjoy her night out and not let any of her feelings ruin it for Henry and Daisy.

Standing just in front of the rink was a fire breather, enticing the crowds with his fiery talent, and the golden glow of the flames stood dramatically against the icy backdrop of the ice rink.

The ice rink looked magical and enticing as they approached. Fairy lights were strewn across the top of the rink in a criss-cross star pattern and they sent orbs of lights over the black waves immediately behind the rink. With only nine days until the Christmas Eve ball, it seemed that the Christmas festivities were well underway.

Penny smiled as couples old and young clung to each other as they slid gracefully past, families with small children linked between them creating small chains of people as they skated round the rink.

They paid and got changed into their skates. Penny stood up, wobbling on the blades. How was anyone supposed to walk in these things, let alone move with any kind of skill or grace? Her feet really hurt inside them, but she guessed that was to do with the muscles she was using to stay upright. She hobbled towards the entrance, knowing that if she had been trying to impress Henry, she was a million miles away from looking sexy right now. Daisy got on the ice first, skating off and zooming round with all the ease of someone who had been doing it for years. Henry got on and patiently waited for her, both hands out towards her for her to hold.

She grabbed them and stepped onto the ice. Immediately her legs were like Bambi’s underneath her, sliding in opposite directions to each other and she tried to run on the spot to try to stop herself from falling. She squealed, drawing a lot of unnecessary attention down on herself. Henry immediately hauled her up against him, holding her steady, with his arms round her back and her face squashed against his chest.

Oh god, it felt too good in his arms. He was warm and strong and so solid. She tentatively rested her hands on his hips, trying to steady herself, but the rush of emotions that stormed through her at being held did nothing to quell her nerves.

‘Don’t panic, I’ve got you, I’m not going to let you fall, trust me,’ Henry said softly, with all the patience and tenderness of addressing a frightened child.

Holding on to her forearms firmly, he pulled back slightly, holding her up.

‘OK, relax, bend your legs a little and lean forward slightly, I’m going to pull you round. Look at me, not your feet.’

She stared up at him and unbelievably he started skating backwards, taking her with him. He cast an odd glance over his shoulder now and again, but other than that his eyes stayed on hers the whole time.

‘You’re doing great, don’t look down.’

She cast a look around and was surprised to see almost everyone on the rink and the spectators were watching her and Henry. Was she doing that badly that she was keeping everyone entertained with her wobbly gait? She flushed with embarrassment.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘People are staring.’

‘They’re not, don’t be so self-conscious.’

She glanced around again. ‘No, they’re definitely staring.’

Henry looked around as well, and she saw him frown as he saw all the eyes that were watching them.

‘They’re probably looking at me, you know the new guy in town, people are curious,’ he said, trying to placate her.

She looked at some of the townsfolk. Some were smiling at her encouragingly and Suzanna, one elderly lady she knew quite well, gave her a big thumbs up and a toothy wink as they passed. Suddenly Penny realised why they were getting all the attention: they thought she and Henry were a couple and they were all smiling because it was the first time that Penny had been with a man in over eight years. It was embarrassing because it wasn’t true.

‘They think we’re together,’ Penny said, quietly. ‘Sorry, these guys don’t get out too much and me holding hands with a man is big news.’

Henry smiled. ‘I’m not remotely bothered by it, so you shouldn’t be either. If they want to think I’m going out with a beautiful woman, then I’m totally fine with that.’

Penny flushed again at the compliment.

‘Right, start picking your feet up a little like this, so you can practise distributing your weight onto your different feet.’ He demonstrated lifting each of his feet off the ice ever so slightly and repeating it several times.

Penny blocked out the stares and studied his feet and attempted to do the same. It was surprisingly easy.

He gave her a few more pointers about pushing her legs back so that soon she was propelling herself across the ice. Even though he was still holding her hands, she felt like she was doing most of the work. He was a great teacher, so patient and demonstrative.

He stopped her and moved to her side, still holding one of her hands. ‘Let’s try it like this for a while, I won’t let you fall.’

She knew he wouldn’t. She tentatively pushed off and was pleased that she seemed to have the hang of it, though her legs felt like they were shaking under the strain. Her feet were still hurting and there were muscles screaming in her legs that she never knew she had. She caught sight of Daisy, staring at them. The last thing she wanted was for Daisy to feel left out so she pulled to a stop, clinging on to the side.

‘I’m just going to have a rest for a little while. Why don’t you skate with Daisy for a bit and I’ll get back on in a few minutes?’

Henry nodded and escorted her safely off the ice, before tearing after Daisy and chasing her round the rink.

Penny sat down on a bench, took her skates off and leaned back against the sea wall. The waves were crashing onto the rocks about twenty metres below and she looked out at the little red and white striped lighthouse warning ships of the rocky islets that surrounded the bay.

Over the sound of the waves, she heard a shout of laughter come from the other side of the sea wall.

Penny knelt up and peered over the wall. The slipway behind her, used for the launch of boats, looked empty, but suddenly movement at the very bottom of the slip where it joined the water caught her eye.

She squinted against the bright lights of the ice rink to see two boys, Sam and Alex, playing just a few feet from the water’s edge. The waves were crashing theatrically against the sea wall, mere inches from where they were standing, and the boys didn’t seem fazed at all.

Where were Mike and Pippa, the kids’ parents?

Loads of kids played on the slip during the day, but normally only when the tide was out. Three big shipwrecks had happened in the cove over the years and wonderful little treasures like cups, plates, coins, jewellery and various sailing paraphernalia washed up on the slip on an almost weekly basis. Most of it was completely worthless, but for the children of the town it was like a little treasure trove down there. She watched Sam and Alex now, filling their buckets up with bits of sea glass, and other wondrous delights.

She looked around for Mike and Pippa. Surely they hadn’t let them go and play down there when the tide was in?

Suddenly a huge wave crashed against the slip, covering the boys completely, and to Penny’s horror, when the water receded, there was only one boy left on the slipway.

S
he was
on her feet before she even knew what she was doing, leaping over the small barrier separating the ice rink from the public and running to the top of the slipway.

She spotted Daniel, Maggie’s husband, with his two small boys in tow and he looked at her in horror as she ran past.

‘Get help, call the lifeboat,’ she yelled at him as she ran down the slip, yanking her coat off.

Alex, the oldest of the boys, was standing on the edge of the slip, trying to reach Sam who was struggling in the water, too far out for either of them to reach.

Penny grabbed Alex’s arm and pulled him away from the edge. ‘Get help now.’

‘But…’ Alex was sobbing.

‘Go!’

Alex ran up the slope and Penny turned and dived straight into the water, the icy waves closing over her head, the weight of her clothes dragging her down. She swam as far as she could underwater towards where she had last seen Sam. It was easier under the surface without the waves surging round her. Eventually she surfaced, just as a wave crashed over her head. The cold penetrated every inch of her body and she blinked blearily to try to see Sam. A flash of blond hair appeared momentarily over the waves and disappeared behind another surge a second later. She swam towards him, pushing with everything she had against the impending waves. She saw him again mere feet from her but when she tried to grab him the waves pulled him from her reach. She swam and pushed and grabbed and finally made contact with the back of his hood, pulling him towards her, hauling his tiny body against her own and determinedly trying to keep his head above the water, when another wave crashed over them. She couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe but she held Sam’s struggling body against her with every last ounce of strength. They broke through the surface again and she briefly saw a crowd of people lining the slip, before another wave crashed over them. She pushed towards the slip but the waves surged round them forcing them further and further away. She kicked frantically with her legs but it was hopeless.

Suddenly everyone on the slip started waving and pointing frantically at her and Sam, some people even cheering.

She turned round in the water and saw the bright orange RIB from the lifeboat station ploughing through the water towards her. The lifeboat crew were looking in the water for them but couldn’t see them. She didn’t dare wave in case she lost her grip on Sam.

Waves crashed over her and she just hoped they would see them soon.

A shout rang out from the boat and the next thing a rope with a small float on the end was thrown towards her. Holding Sam tight, she grabbed hold of it and they dragged her towards the side of the boat.

She held Sam up out of the water for them to take, but that forced her under the water. A hand came down and grabbed her, yanking her back to the surface as the boy was taken from her.

She looked up blearily into the eyes of her friend George, who was holding onto her with grim determination. Another hand grabbed her other arm and between George and another man she was hauled aboard.

George knelt down in front of her, pulling a lifejacket over her head. ‘Are you OK?’

She nodded, not able to talk as the cold night air sliced into her skin.

George quickly stood back up and manoeuvred the boat back to the side of the slip. Penny glanced over at Sam huddled in Dave’s arms. He was shivering but clearly alive and seemingly uninjured.

The boat slammed against the side of the slip. Dave quickly stood up and leant over the side to hand Sam back to his Dad.

George helped her to her feet and Dave held out a hand for her to guide her ashore. Suddenly Henry was in front of her and he quickly lifted her to safety. He pulled the lifejacket off her and wrapped his coat around her tightly, though it did very little to dull the effects of the cold. Henry stared down at her, he looked furious.

‘Take her to The Pilchard,’ someone said. ‘They’ve got a fire in there.’

Oh god, please no.

Henry turned and marched through the crowd, dragging her with him.

‘Where’s the pub?’ Henry asked someone from the crowd and they must have told him because he started to head that way, not relinquishing his hold on her.

The crowd surged around her, helping to push her up the ramp as her legs seemed unwilling to walk on their own, but every movement from her and every touch from someone else caused her wet clothes to touch her skin, making her even colder.

She was vaguely aware that Henry was only in his socks too, having clearly ditched his skates at some point.

The Pilchard loomed over them and she tried to pull back but Henry and the rest of the crowd were having none of it. The warmth of the pub swallowed them and Penny just hoped with everything she had that Chris was not going to be amongst the regulars tonight. People jostled around her and there was lots of shouts of confusion and calls for everyone to get out the way as Henry dragged her towards the fire.

Where was Sam, surely they would have brought him in here too? Penny looked around as she was shoved into a seat right in front of the flames and locked eyes with Chris’s mum, Kathleen, as she pushed her way through the crowd to see what the fuss was about.

To her credit Kathleen only hesitated for half a second when she saw who it was that was causing all the attention before she moved into action.

‘Come on, Penny, let’s get you into some dry clothes.’ Kathleen grabbed her hand and pulled her through the door that led to their living quarters.

Through the cold and exhaustion, Penny noticed that nothing had changed since she had frequented these corridors and rooms almost every day when she had been going out with Chris. The dark wood panelling, the tiled floor, the photos on the walls, everything was exactly as it was.

Even Kathleen hadn’t changed; maybe she had a few more lines around the eyes and a few more flecks of grey in her hair, but she had remained relatively the same. She was even wearing one of her favourite shirts that Penny had seen her wearing many times when she had been dating Chris.

The scents of various cleaning solutions and the ever-present odour of alcohol was prevalent as it always had been, mixed with the smells of food from the kitchens.

She didn’t need these memories; she had spent eight years carefully keeping them locked up. She had been here the night she had miscarried and everything about that night came flooding back to her now. Panic, fear and the devastating loss slammed through her, coupled with the memories of how badly Chris had treated her afterwards.

Kathleen pulled her upstairs towards the bedrooms and she must have felt how awkward this reunion was too.

‘Would you like a shower or a bath to warm yourself up?’

Penny shook her head, wanting to be out of there as quickly as possible and Kathleen nodded with understanding.

Kathleen laid out some clean clothes and a towel on her bed and then hovered awkwardly for a moment.

‘Thank you for this,’ Penny muttered.

Kathleen smiled weakly before leaving her alone in the room.

With fumbling cold fingers she managed to get out of her wet clothes, dried herself off and dressed in the warm, dry clothes of her ex-boyfriend’s mum in record time. She needed to get out of here, her chest was tight, her throat was raw with suppressed emotion.

She looked around for a plastic bag to put her wet clothes in and saw one propped up against a chest of drawers. She picked it up and carefully removed the contents and laid them on the bed, but her heart missed a beat when she saw the abundance of tiny baby clothes and a bear that had the word ‘Grandson’ emblazoned across its chest. As Chris was an only child it was obvious this was for him, or rather, his son. She ran her fingers across the softness of the bear, feeling numb and it wasn’t anything to do with the cold any more. She had heard, through the grapevine, that Chris had got married but she’d had no idea that he’d had a son, the grapevine had spared her that. She closed her eyes and prayed that the little boy who received this bear would be loved and adored by his dad and not hated as her child would have been years before. She hoped with everything she had that Chris had turned into someone wonderful like Henry, who loved Daisy so much there was no room for anyone else in his heart.

She dumped her wet clothes in the bag and walked out. She walked down the stairs into the warmth of the pub again and a loud cheer went up when her ‘fan club’ saw her. They all surged round her, patting her on the back and trying to thrust drinks in her hand.

She was finding it difficult to breathe, the tightness in her chest becoming unbearable. Henry was suddenly in front of her, his eyes blazing with a myriad of emotions.

‘I need to go home, I can’t stay here.’

He grabbed her hand and forced their way out of the pub, despite all the moans of protest behind them. They obviously wanted to celebrate her heroism until the early hours of the morning, but she got the feeling they probably would even without her there.

It was freezing outside and Penny knew it felt worse than it was because she still hadn’t thawed out yet. Her whole body was aching, her muscles screaming at her.

‘You guys stay and enjoy the ice skating, I’ll get a taxi,’ Penny said quietly, as Henry pulled her a little way along the street.

‘Daisy has gone to collect our shoes. The car is here, I brought it as close as I could.’ He bundled her into the passenger seat, but before he could climb into the driver’s seat, Daisy was already clambering into the back.

‘I’m sorry I ruined your night.’

Henry stared at her incredulously. ‘By saving a child’s life, yes how incredibly selfish of you. I saw you dive into the sea. I honestly don’t know whether to applaud your bravery or berate your stupidity – you could have been killed.’

‘Let’s go with applauding her bravery then, eh, Dad?’ Daisy said, from the back seat as she squeezed Penny’s shoulder. ‘You’re a hero.’

Penny didn’t feel very heroic, in fact she felt pretty devoid of all emotion at the moment.

Henry seemed to guess that she didn’t want to talk and they drove back up the winding lanes in silence. The further away they got from The Pilchard the more the pressure on her chest lessened slightly. She tried to order her emotions; she had done all her grieving for the baby she had lost eight years before, it didn’t make sense to be upset again now, but walking back into The Pilchard had brought back so many memories of that horrible night. She had been dealt one bad blow after another by Chris in the immediate aftermath of the baby’s death and for some reason she associated the pub with all of that. Not only had he left her two days after the miscarriage, but he had also spread cruel lies around town about her. Then to find he had been sleeping with Jade behind her back the entire time she had been pregnant had been the ultimate betrayal.

To find out that Chris was now a parent again was a shock, especially after he had been so against her keeping their child. He had been young, they both were. But somehow, knowing he had grown up and moved on, that hopefully he was in a better place now, a much better person, made so much of that bitterness and hate she felt for him fade away. Maybe losing his baby all those years before would make him treat his little boy like a king and truly appreciate how precious he was. She would hope for that.

They pulled up outside their house and she said her goodbyes to Henry and Daisy and let herself into her house. She ran upstairs and quickly changed out of the clothes that, although clean, still smelt of the pub.

When she came back downstairs in her pyjamas, Henry was waiting for her. He’d lit a fire and the golden glow infused the room with warmth and light.

‘Are you OK?’

She stepped closer to him, hesitant because she wanted nothing more than to step into his arms and have him hold her tight but she didn’t know how to ask for that. But somehow, instinctively he knew what she wanted and gave her just that. In one large stride he was in front of her enveloping her in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head on his chest, hugging him back.

He felt so good, so warm and solid and dependable. She had known him such a short amount of time and she inexplicably trusted him. Everything melted out of her, the adrenaline and fear from rescuing Sam from the sea, the memories the pub evoked, her anger towards Chris, her inability and fear of moving on from her past. In his arms, in that moment, for the first time in a long time she was looking to the future. And maybe her future wasn’t with this man, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to hide away any more.

She clung on to him for what felt like an eternity, until eventually she pulled away slightly.

She looked up at him. ‘Thank you, you have no idea how much I needed that.’

He cupped her face in his large, rough hands and kissed her forehead. Need for him erupted through her so fast it was almost painful. He pulled back slightly to look at her and his eyes scanned down to her lips and in the light of the fire she watched them darken. She didn’t hesitate this time; she reached up and kissed him.