Page 110 of Second Chance Summer
Morven sounded bored, but at least she wasn’t hostile. ‘No, sorry, he’s been working on Stark for the past couple of nights.’
‘Oh. Of course he is.’ Lily felt silly for even trying Hell Bay House when she might have known he wouldn’t be there.
‘If it’s urgent, I could get him on the radio?’ Morven offered.
‘No, it’s not urgent. No need for that, but thanks.’
‘No problem. Shall I tell him you called?’
‘Yeah, but it’s no biggie. I’ll catch up with him some time.’
Lily and Morven chatted a little longer – Lily was able toascertain that Morven was OK and had sold several more collages since the craft fair and had ‘convinced’ (Morven’s word) Sam to commission some fish collages for the cottages.
‘I’ll have to go,’ Morven said. ‘A bunch of us are going swimming at Rushy Bay.’
Images of the endless skies, white sand and twin hills of Stark flooded Lily’s mind. ‘Sounds lovely. Have a good time.’
‘We will.’
Lily ended the call. It was time to go back to work.
Stark felt a world and another time away. Everyone had their place there, their jobs, busy lives, worries and plans. They were too busy to talk to the demoralised CEO of a handmade gift company who was now not quite sure where her place lay.
She loved London, she loved her job, andyet… Richie’s words kept coming back to her.
For one horrible moment, I thought you were going to tell me you’d decided to jack it all in and live on Stark.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
‘OK. I think that will do for today, bar the tidying up.’
Aaron swiped the back of his hand over his forehead and admired his handiwork on the bathroom tiling in cottage number four. Sam grabbed a can of Coke from the cooler and handed it over. A week after Lily had gone, with the help of Aaron and the plumber, Starfish was ready for letting and Sea Holly was well underway. Sam had been staying on Stark since Lily had left, working all hours to get the work done.
‘Thanks for helping,’ he said as Aaron knocked back the Coke.
‘You’re welcome. Soon be done.’
Mentally, Sam crossed his fingers. He hadn’t told his friend about the deadline that Lily had set him. He didn’t want to give Aaron the slightest excuse to quiz him on that subject. He was finding it impossible to avoid thinking about it – or her – and whether he’d done the right thing in letting her go so easily.
It had been the right thing for Lily, even if it meant he suffered.
Sam threw himself into the grind of clearing the site withrenewed vigour, trying to ease his aching heart with aching muscles.
After an hour, Aaron stopped working and glared at him. ‘Sam, for God’s sake. Why don’t you slow down a bit?’
‘I want to get the site fully cleared up by tonight,’ he replied. ‘Don’t want to be starting on it again in the morning. It might rain tomorrow anyway, and I want my own bed tonight and to spend a bit of time at home with Morven.’
‘You must be tracking a different forecast but whatever,’ Aaron said, tossing broken tiles into the barrow with a clatter.
Sam was ready to drop by the time they’d made numerous trips with the rubbish down to theHydraat the quay and then unloaded it on Bryher in the early-evening sunlight. It had been a hard day and the back of his neck felt gritty. He really needed his own bed – a concept he immediately regretted when he thought of Lily in it.
‘You look done for. Tell me you’re not going back. Take a break.’
‘I’m staying at Hell Bay House tonight. Elspeth has been keeping an eye on Morven while I’ve been working and I think they’ll both go mad if I don’t come home.’ Morven had actually been a big help, adding some of her creations to the existing cottages and bringing over more artwork, pots and textiles from her arty friends. Lily had also suggested a few items from local makers, which he’d had delivered to Bryher.
‘Is Nate coming back soon?’ Aaron asked.
‘Three weeks’ time. He’s booked the flight and showed Morven the online ticket so she believes him.’
