Page 21 of Second Chance Summer
God knows, he knew how difficult – impossible – it was to come to terms with sadness. Hadn’t he also tried to blot out the pain of his own losses by throwing himself into work? Was creating Stark – trying to bring life back to a dead island – his way of clawing back what had slipped away from him so unexpectedly?
He’d no idea. He’d tried not to analyse his actions too deeply, until Lily had arrived.
Had last night been a cry for help – did she want to talk about what was upsetting her? Sam was no therapist; he’d barely got to grips with being a host. He’d also felt that interfering in Lily’s life in this way was too much of a burden to bear, so he’d listened, been vague, and joked that Stark was a place where he could guarantee complete quiet if nothing else.
He would have many guests in need of recuperation, peace and quiet – so long as Lily didn’t go home and spread the word that Stark was a dump and its owner a bully.
‘Is the fruit OK? Would you like a cooked breakfast or continental?’ he asked, trying to smile and be as helpful as possible. ‘I have bacon, eggs, sausage – vegetarian alternatives … Or pastries, which I baked fresh this morning.’
‘Continental is fine,’ Lily said, adding archly, ‘and stop trying too hard.’
Her amused tone took the sting out of her remark. She looked less exhausted this morning. He had to admit her eyes held a glint of mischief he found disturbingly attractive.
‘OK, I’ll fetch the croissants,’ he said, back in host mode.
While he arranged pastries in a basket, he heard a yelp and dashed into reception. Lily was standing in the porch with the door wide open.
‘What’s the matter?’ he said.
‘The sun’s out! And, oh my God, will you look at thatview?’
Sam followed her outside, blinking in the dazzling light of a June morning like a creature emerging above ground after a long winter. The full panorama of dozens of low islands and rocky skerries unfolded ahead of them, floating in a sea of azure, turquoise and deepest blue. Even though he’d known they were there all along, hidden by the veil of fog, he was seeing them through Lily’s eyes and experiencing the full impact on her.
She seemed to blossom under his eyes, holding her arms wide and saluting the dazzling orb in the sky.
Touched by her happiness, he stood by her side. ‘You can have breakfast out here if you like.’
‘Oh, I’d love to.’
He smiled, lifted by her lighter mood. ‘I’ll bring it outside with some fresh coffee.’
She switched her focus to him. ‘You will join me though? I’m dying to find out what all these other islands are. I can’t believe it’s the same place as yesterday. It looks like the Greek islands or the Caribbean.’
Sam had heard his home described that way before and it always gave him a glow of pride, though Scilly was, in his eyes, even more beautiful than those other glamorous destinations. ‘I’m glad it’s cleared up for you.’
‘I must have been very good.’ Her blue eyes sparkled, like a kid let out of school to go to the seaside.
Sam went back into the kitchen, thinking of how Lily had reminded him of himself, a young boy at the end of term, arriving back on Bryher from the Island Comp, knowing there would be no more lessons or boarding for six weeks. He’d enjoyed school and staying in dorms had been fun up to a point. He’d settled well unlike some of the other islands children, who’d found it hard to get used to boarding during the week because the daily journey would have been too disruptive.
Yet nothing compared to home, to the freedom of running free on Bryher; sailing to Samson with his father and Nate and, later, with his friends Aaron and Ben. More recently, he’d loved exploring with someone else, sitting on deserted beaches or swimming together in the crystalwaters. Once again, his desire to share that passion with others came back to him.
When he returned, Lily was pointing across the ocean under shaded eyes. ‘What’s that island there, with the square building and the waves breaking over it?’
‘St Helen’s.’
‘And the lighthouse in the distance. That’s the Bishop that we heard last night, I presume?’
‘Yes.’ He seemed surprised she knew.
‘And beyond?’
‘Nothing until Newfoundland.’
She swung round to look at him. ‘Wow. I’d no idea that it would be like this.’
‘Despite the website?’
‘I had a quick look after Richie booked, but not in detail. I was too busy trying to tie up loose ends before I came away.’
