Page 50 of Second Chance Summer
There was a twinkle in his eye that infuriated her – and that added to his charm. And how could she find cargo shorts, an ancient T-shirt and builder’s boots so sexy? Her last boyfriend – she couldn’t call him a ‘partner’ as neither of them had invested enough time in the relationship for that – had favoured designer jeans, loafers and a weekly trip to a Turkish barber.
In fact, she didn’t have much experience of romanticrelationships at all. No amount of business acumen could help her navigate through the confusing feelings she’d been experiencing.
Once again, she thought of the obituary and the way the world had seen her. ‘Lily Harper was single …’ Those few words said so much. In her single-minded drive for success, she’d lost sight of the other things she wanted deep down: to find lasting love and, perhaps, have a family of her own one day.
‘Lily?’ Sam’s voice, gentle and calming, brought her back to the present.
‘I slept very well, thanks,’ she replied, pulling a hand-thrown mug towards her.
‘I’m sorry I shot off after dinner last night, but I needed to make the most of the daylight and thought you might like some time to yourself after the day you’d had.’
‘It was fine.’
His intense gaze made her twitchy. ‘You say “fine” a lot but yesterday must have been a hell of a shock, not to mention exhausting. The stuff that was being posted about you online was disgusting. What’s wrong with some people? Why don’t they focus on their own lives instead of dragging other people down?’
She gave a small smile. ‘If I knew that I’d be a trillionaire. I’d like to say they can’t have much in their own lives, but some of them seem to have it all: high-flying jobs, families. I’m sure they have mothers and partners and kids who’d be horrified to discover what their “amazing hubs” or “wonderful mum” was up to online.’
‘I’d be ashamed if someone I loved was spreading that bile.’
Lily shrugged. ‘I’ve had to stop trying to get inside their heads. I’ve had to let it go or it would have destroyed me. It nearly did …’ She sipped her coffee. ‘This is great. Where’s it from?’
‘A place near Land’s End. The owner, Eden, roasts it herself.’ He put a basket of croissants in front of her. ‘We can talk about what happened if you like? I’m aware that playing the strong, silent type isn’t the best way of approaching problems these days.’
Her heart did a flip. He sounded so earnest, so sincere, even though talking about her feelings must be the last thing he wanted to do.
‘It’s—’ She bit back the wordfine. ‘What happened yesterday wasn’t “fine” and what the online trolls had to say did bother me, but not as much as that obituary. Not as much as the comment from Amelia who isn’t my friend, clearly. However, my team are dealing with the public stuff and I’ll just have to suck up the rest. I can’t let it derail me, otherwise the haters have won.’
She selected a pastry from the basket, feeling the need to curtail any deep conversation in case she let her emotions get the better of her yet again. ‘Thanks for your concern. I’m looking forward to my break here and to starting again. And I think I’ll begin with this delicious-looking croissant.’ She smiled, making light of the situation, but it was just moments before she was deep in thought again.
Starting again … Startingwhatagain?She’d said shedidn’t want the experience to derail her, and yet she couldn’t get the comments out of her mind.
Driven, ruthless, cut-throat … the world doesn’t see the real Lily.
It didn’t really matter how other people saw her. It was how she sawherself.
The world had given its verdict on her and she hadn’t liked it much, but did she want to change it? Wouldn’t that be playing into the hands of the people who’d judged her?
Surely shemustfollow her own path – and hopefully, over the next couple of weeks, she could find out where that might lead her.
‘So, what’s it to be then?’
Resplendent in a lilac-and-orange kaftan, Elspeth opened her order pad at Lily’s table at the Quayside Café. ‘Coffee? Cake? A full Scilly breakfast?’
Lily laughed. ‘I’ve already had a great breakfast on Stark. Sam seems determined to feed me up, but I could squeeze in one of your wonderful brownies. And a mocha if you do them?’
‘Of course we do mochas,’ Elspeth said with pride. ‘And I baked a fresh batch of brownies this morning so you’re in luck. All coming right up.’
‘Thank you,’ Lily said.
Elspeth bustled off as four young people arrived for breakfast. From the conversation, she gathered they were students staying at the campsite. Each island had its own passenger boat, and there were more that plied their wayfrom St Mary’s. However, it was too early for the tourist ferries so the quay was busy with islanders loading up their own vessels.
Lily felt privileged to be there with them. There could only be a few dozen people staying overnight at the single hotel, bed and breakfast and handful of holiday homes. A sprinkling of holidaymakers were out for early strolls or dog walks but apart from that, the shores were deserted. The sands sparkled in the morning sun and the rocks glistened with green weed.
The tide was still going out leaving the shore washed fresh – the slate wiped clean, just like her life after her near drowning.
She was finding it almost impossible not to peek at the messages on social media about her ‘death’ and had to keep reminding herself that her team were dealing with those. Part of Project New Lily involved not constantly trawling through social media and being kind to herself, as much as to the people around her.
Shortly afterwards, Elspeth returned with a steaming mug topped with cream and marshmallows and a large slice of brownie. Although the June sun was warm, the breeze was fresh and Lily was glad of the fleece Sam had loaned her because her blazer and thin cotton sweater weren’t warm enough.
