‘Nell kept you busy?’
‘Once she’d collected me from school, there was always work to be done. Picking up food orders, prepping. She had me standing on a chair to chop vegetables when I was too small to reach the counter. Weekends and holidays were at the kiosk, lolling on a bench with a book or some colouring. By the time she’d have considered me old enough to roam free around the airport, I was working on the till and cleaning up.’
‘Didn’t you ever have fun?’
‘You’re suggesting that peeling bucketloads of parsnips isn’t fun?’
He smiled, turning to look at the view stretching out in front of us. It was only a week past the summer solstice, and nightfall was still a long way off.
‘I guess we all have our own definition of what’s enjoyable.’ His voice dropped, and my heart thumped, like a dog wagging its tail. ‘But I have been wondering how island life suits you.’
He was sitting side-on to me, with perhaps three inches between us, and I could feel the tension in his body mirroring the anticipation in mine. Slowly, his hand moved across the board and wrapped around my fingers. A flurry of sparks danced across my skin.
‘Island life suits me very well,’ I whispered, sounding oddly like a Jane Austen character.
‘You like it here?’
‘I love it here,’ I said, daring a peek in his direction. ‘I was thinking, if you didn’t mind, and it doesn’t make me seem like the disturbed stalker your family feared, of staying a bit longer.’
Pip jerked his head around to look at me. ‘Only a bit?’
‘Well. I haven’t got anywhere to stay once the B&B opens next week. Or a job. Any of my stuff.’
He took hold of my other hand, face glowing in the greenish leaf-light.
‘You can stay in Iris’s old room.’ He frowned. ‘No, that’s too much. But there’s bound to be someone with space. Plenty of the holiday homes will do longer-term lets. I mean, if you wanted one. And if you aren’t ready to start selling pasties, with your reputation, you could get summer work in any of the cafés or hotels. Lily would probably hire you while she’s on maternity leave.’
I swallowed, the reality of what we were discussing suddenly overwhelming.
‘You could stick it out until the Sunflower Festival, at least.’ He bounced my hands up and down. ‘Think about it, Emmie. Sundays on the beach, lunches on the cliff-top. We could take the boat out, spot some wildlife. It’d be the perfect antidote to all those years of slog. The island’s even better in July.’
For an enchanting moment, I let a montage of Pip and me dance through my head, where we explored the island together, spent time with his sisters, swam in the Irish Sea and gorged on freshly picked strawberries.
I also thought about Celine, and the potential fallout from me telling Pip what she’d done. But honestly, she was the one in the wrong; surely it wouldn’t be so bad that I couldn’t enjoy another few weeks here?
As Pip watched me, his face alight with hope and angst, I wanted more than anything to say yes, fling myself into his arms and have that kiss Iris had ordered. To pretend, for a few blissful moments, that it could all work out perfectly.
But then, inevitably, I pictured Gabe. How would he feel about me staying longer? Would he consider it an opportunity to talk about Mum, to bring both of us some closure? Or would he be angry that it risked someone finding out who I was?
Because how could I stay for any length of time and keep something like that a secret? Lily hadn’t forgotten that I was here to find out about the person in Mum’s letters. She wasbound to ask me about it again. Let alone if Pip and I started a romantic relationship – how could I not tell him our parents were briefly married?
As these thoughts pressed in behind my skull, all I could do was grip onto Pip’s hands and make sure I didn’t move a single centimetre closer to him.
‘I would like to stay. But there’s a couple of things I need to sort out first.’
Pip gave a careful smile, sensing my hesitation. ‘Does that mean you, um, might like me? I asked you, when we were walking home from the beach the other night, but you never answered.’
‘Well, I jumped on a plane and followed you from the mainland, didn’t I?’
‘Emmie, I’m serious. I’ve been driven half mad the past few days, wondering.’ He gave a weak laugh. ‘The past couple of years, if I’m honest.’
I took a deliberate, slow breath. Gripped his hands even tighter, and did him the courtesy of looking straight in his eyes.
‘Yes. I like you. A lot. All that time I was your pasty girl, you were my hot farmer.’
He laughed properly then, one of shock. ‘You think I’m hot?’
‘Well, Blessing came up with the name. I… I think you’re lovely.’