‘Yeah, I would too.’
EPILOGUE
Flick looked out on the horizon as the boat, – or was it a yacht? – manoeuvred out of the pretty little harbour and made its way out to sea. The sun was just starting to set leaving trails of ruby and gold across the sky. It was beautiful.
Luke had hired the small yacht to celebrate her birthday, there was a pilot to take care of driving it and a chef who was going to cook them a meal. It was definitely above and beyond what she had been expecting.
‘This is wonderful, you really didn’t have to do this.’
‘Oh I did, it’s your birthday,’ Luke said, sitting next to her and putting an arm around her shoulders. He kissed her forehead. ‘Hiring this beautiful boat for the evening to spoil my incredible girlfriend on her birthday is money well spent.’
‘You know I’d have been just as happy sitting on the beach eating a bag of chips. You didn’t need to spend your money on this.’
‘You never let me buy you anything. I had to do this in secret so you wouldn’t stop me.’
‘You bought me a house last year, just to make me happy. I think that was more than enough.’
‘I bought the Wonky Tree Studios to help those with acquired brain injuries, not for you,’ Luke said.
‘You bought me a gift shop.’
‘That was to support the studios, it wasn’t really for you.’
‘You bought me a peacock blue sofa with green and gold peacock feather cushions.’
‘Our flat needed a new sofa, the old was getting a bit tatty.’
She smiled and leaned into him. He really was the kindest, most generous person she’d ever met. He’d also secretly donated half a million pounds to a local brain injury charity, ringfenced for art therapy or therapeutic art classes. He hadn’t told her, but she’d seen the thank you letter in the flat and it had made her fall in love with him a little bit more, if that was at all possible.
It had been ten months since the Wonky Tree Studios had officially become Luke’s, way ahead of the six months her nan had given them. Luke had said there was no point waiting until then to buy it when him taking it over gave peace of mind to the artists, but she’d known that was partly for her too.
Flick had wondered if he would be spending money like it was going out of fashion trying to keep it afloat, but the success of the café alone and twenty-five percent of its profits had given Luke enough money each monthto pay all the bills and the overheads. So he was actually making a small profit each month when he got the money from the artists’ sales too. He was putting all of that into a savings account to be used to pay for any repairs. While the money he got from the artists wasn’t much, the studios were largely self-sufficient thanks to Polly and the artists’ hard work in producing smaller items. But they’d all had the occasional large sale too, thanks to the extra footfall from the café, so everyone was happy. They’d all happily led the workshops too, including Aidan. Although the most popular workshop had been making Quinn’s cutlery monsters, everyone had loved taking them home. There was at least one workshop a week now, and sometimes there were more.
They’d had more artists join them too as their reputation grew, everyone wanting to be a part of it. Every studio space was now taken up with various artists, it felt like a thriving little community again, just like it used to be, and Flick loved that.
Flick and Luke still lived in the little flat above the house because it just made sense when they both worked there. But Luke had converted the spare room into a little craft area for Flick to do her wish jars and other craft activities.
Flick looked up at Luke and couldn’t help smiling. The last year had been incredible. The year before she had celebrated her birthday alone just a few days before she’d moved down here with no idea what she was going to do with her life, no job, no home, no prospects. LovegroveBay was going to be a six-month stopgap but now she had a home in a beautiful seaside town, a job she loved, she’d saved her grandad’s legacy and, to top it all, she’d found her soul mate, who she loved with all her heart.
‘Look, dolphins,’ Luke pointed and she stood up to see what he was looking at. Sure enough a pod of dolphins was keeping pace alongside the boat, leaping out of the water as they darted through the waves. They looked spectacular with the sun glinting off their wet, sleek bodies.
Suddenly the pod veered off and after a few moments she lost them from sight.
Flick looked back at Lovegrove Bay as they left it behind. all the different-coloured houses, the golden sandy beaches. This was home.
She looked at Luke. ‘Are you happy here?’
He smiled. ‘I’m the happiest I’ve ever been in my entire life.’
She leaned up and kissed him, smiling against his lips.
‘Now I’m surprised you haven’t utilised all the boat’s facilities yet,’ Luke said.
‘What do you mean? Does it have a bed?’ she ran a finger down the collar of his shirt, touching his warm chest.
‘It absolutely does have a bed if you want a nap or…something later.’
‘Something? Do you mean rumpy pumpy or mutually agreed nakedness?’
