Morven snorted. ‘Yeah.Sureshe’s your friend.’
‘I meantyourfriend.’
‘Stop winding me up!’ Morven cried in frustration. ‘Now the cottages are ready, we’ll have real guests soon plus her family. You’ll need help with the cleaning and making the beds so I’m offering again.’
Sam relented. Morven had stood enough teasing. ‘That would be great but are you absolutely sure? I have advertised for a housekeeper but they’ll need an extra pair of hands too. They can’t be expected to deal with everything.’
‘Yeah. I’ll do it because as a cleaner I won’t have to see the guests and I need to save up some money. And you need the help while I’m here on the islands for the summer … and maybe next year until I start university next September.IfI do go,’ she said, deflating suddenly. ‘Because I might be somewhere else.’
Sam folded his arms. ‘Wow. That’s the best job application I’ve ever heard.’
Morven pointed her finger at him. ‘Don’t push it, Uncle Sam.’
‘OK. Yes, please, I’d appreciate your help,’ he said, touched by her plan to save up for uni. Natehadto realise how badly his daughter wanted to study Fine Art but the decision was out of Sam’s hands. ‘But please try not to call me uncle. It makes me feel old.’
Morven smirked. ‘You’re old enough.’
Sam rolled his eyes, quietly glad she was her cheeky self again.
‘Oh, look, here she is.’ Morven flipped a thumb in the direction of the café where Lily was walking through the tea garden, laptop bag over her shoulder and a box in her arms. On this fine midsummer day, the sun was hot on any bare skin and Lily’s cheeks had turned a nice shade of pink, not that he’d tell her. In a white vest top and her denim shorts, she looked as if she belonged on Bryher.
‘Hello!’ she said, breathing hard. ‘Elspeth insisted on us having these sandwiches for lunch. Bruce made me have this cauliflower – don’t ask me why – and Ivanka kind of strong-armed me into buying a jar of greengage jam from the shop. I don’t even like jam …’
‘I do,’ Morven said, swiping the jar from Lily’s box.
‘That’s lucky,’ she said.
‘Thanks,’ Sam said, taking the box from Lily, thinking that she’d become part of island life faster than he would if he’d been a stranger. From initially loathing the place, shewas now living the dream … the fantasy. It was hard to believe he only had a few more days left with her. How long would it take for this escape from reality – this retreat from her real life – to wear off?
Morven climbed aboard after them.
Sam reversed away from the jetty. ‘Will you want a lift home after you’ve helped or are you staying on Stark in Samphire?’ he asked his niece, who was lounging on the rear seat.
‘God, I’m not staying with you two. It’s Nazim’s birthday and I’m going to her party at the Tresco Inn. And before you ask, her mum has booked a jet boat to take everyone from Bryher there and back and she’s going to drive me home to Hell Bay House after. Auntie Elspeth knows all about it in case you want to double-check my alibi.’
Lily hid a giggle. Sam rolled his eyes. ‘OK. I’ll bring you home for five, if that suits you?’
‘I suppose that’ll be OK. I’ll need to get changed after helping with the cottages.’
On the way to Stark, above the engine noise, he caught snatches of conversation between Morven and Lily. They were talking about collaging, though much of it was lost on him.
He didn’t see himself as creative unless you counted building walls and installing roofs. The construction part of his job was a means to an end, until he could reach the woodwork part of the project. It gave him deep satisfaction to design the built-in window seats and find the perfect pieces of timber for the shelves. He could lose himself while he carved and planed and fitted.
He wasn’t about to have a stall at the craft fair, however.
His main pleasure on this trip was to see Morven engaging with him and Lily. He just hoped Nate didn’t let her down. He wasn’t sure how she’d react if his brother announced he was taking her off to LA to live with him and Grady. Sam couldn’t get that video call out of his mind: Nate’s shock, his tears and Grady’s reaction: ‘What the actual fuck has she done now?’ As if Morven was only an irritation to be borne, not a potential step-daughter.
When they reached Stark, she was still talking happily to Lily.
‘I could show you where I find the pebbles and shells. I know all the best beachcombing spots on Bryher and Stark.’
He winced. No wonder Morven knew Stark intimately after her antics … yet Lily answered her without apparent irony.
‘OK. I’d like that.’
Sam sighed. He wasn’t sure how much cleaning and bed changing would be done, though he supposed he should be grateful that the two of them were bonding over something rather than sparring with each other.
Sam spent the afternoon varnishing the woodwork in Starfish. Contrary to his expectations, Morven had helped clean the cottage, then she and Lily styled the bed with cushions and added a vase of fresh flowers grown in the garden at Hell Bay House.
