Page 101 of One Cornish Summer With You
‘I haven’t decided yet. For now, Hector thinks I’m sellingto buy another smaller place in Cornwall but I can’t lie to him forever. I’ll need to move jobs.’
‘To Bristol?’ Tammy asked, weighed down with despair.
‘Maybe. Maybe abroad.’
‘Abroad!’
‘Why not?’ He rested his arms on her shoulders. ‘I have to go – not only for my sake, but yours. Since we met, I’ve brought you nothing but trouble and stress. I’ve been a reminder of bad times you were trying to move on from. It’s best for both of us if I go. You must realise that.’
Tammy could not deny that since Ruan had walked into her life, just at the moment when she thought she’d finally put the past behind her, her life had become a rollercoaster.
Her eyes blinded by tears, she nodded. ‘Goodbye, Ruan. I want you to be happy. And you’re right. Neither of us has brought much peace to the other.’
She turned away and jogged towards the van, tasting the salt spray on the wind and feeling the slight tremor as the high tide thundered on to the beach.
She half expected Ruan to call her back, make her stay, but when she looked, he was closing the door of the caravan behind him.
She risked one more glance at the house, but her vision was blurred by tears. Then she jumped into her van and drove off, not knowing if she’d ever see the house or Ruan again.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
‘Thank you so much. It’s way better than I’d dreamed! You aresobrilliant.’
‘We’ll never forget this for the rest of our lives. I’d no idea that Shaznay was going to propose.’
‘I had to pretend I’d seen some seals down here to get Dawn out of the hotel. I didn’t dare say I wanted to go for a walk because she knows I’m no rambler!’
Dawn giggled and slipped her arm around her fiancée’s shoulders.
Faced with the ecstatic middle-aged couple who’d just become engaged, Tammy kept her own forced smile in place. She was delighted for them, but the pain of her conversation with Ruan the day before was still so raw.
‘You’re very welcome. Congratulations. I’ve taken photos and the drone operator will send you the footage separately.’
‘Thank you for arranging it.’
‘No problem. You’re lucky because this is one of the few beaches where drones are allowed to fly. It’s been an absolute pleasure to be here for your special moment,’ Tammy added, feeling she was overcompensating by gushing. She absolutely didn’t want her own despondent mood to affectthis occasion, even though the last thing she’d wanted to do was a proposal, but Dawn and Shaznay were such lovely people.
‘Well, I have to say this is probably the happiest moment of my life,’ Shaznay said.
‘And mine,’ declared Dawn, looking lovingly into Shaznay’s eyes. ‘I never thought it would come. I never thought, at fifty-eight, that I would find the love of my life or dare to be with her.’
‘I had to pretend to be someone else for so long,’ Shaznay said with tears running down her face. ‘Now, here I am with my love for this amazing woman written all over a beach for anyone to see. I’m so glad we found each other.’
Tammy had a lump in her throat as her happiness for the couple and despair at her own situation battled each other for supremacy. She was on the verge of tears herself – again – and knew she had to get away.
‘I’m so happy for you,’ she managed to squeeze out. ‘Now, I apologise that I have to rush off to another … appointment, but I’m sure you’ll want to spend this time together to enjoy your design. Congrats again!’
She left the couple, holding hands on the cliff above the beach, watching as the tide started to lap at the proposal: a love knot with ‘Be Mine 4 Ever’ inscribed underneath.
She jogged off along the coastal path, threw the tools in the back of the van, and got into the driver’s seat. She rested her arms on the steering wheel and took a few calming breaths.
Dawn and Shaznay had risked a lot to be together. Dawnhad been in an abusive marriage and Shaznay’s family had cut her off when she’d moved in with Dawn.
Everyone she knew wanted her to be with Ruan. He was offering her a home: her beloved home. She wanted to be with him and he loved her.
Why was she waiting?
It used to be that she’d never met anyone she could even contemplate spending ‘forever’ with. Now she had and she was so terrified she’d lose him that she couldn’t commit.
