Christmas at Lilac Cottage: (#1 White Cliff Bay)

by Martin, Holly

  ‘Get help, call the lifeboat,’ she yelled at him as she ran down the slip, yanking her coat off.

  Alex, the oldest of the boys, was standing on the edge of the slip, trying to reach Sam who was struggling in the water, too far out for either of them to reach.

  Penny grabbed Alex’s arm and pulled him away from the edge. ‘Get help now.’

  ‘But…’ Alex was sobbing.

  ‘Go!’

  Alex ran up the slope and Penny turned and dived straight into the water, the icy waves closing over her head, the weight of her clothes dragging her down. She swam as far as she could underwater towards where she had last seen Sam. It was easier under the surface without the waves surging round her. Eventually she surfaced, just as a wave crashed over her head. The cold penetrated every inch of her body and she blinked blearily to try to see Sam. A flash of blond hair appeared momentarily over the waves and disappeared behind another surge a second later. She swam towards him, pushing with everything she had against the impending waves. She saw him again mere feet from her but when she tried to grab him the waves pulled him from her reach. She swam and pushed and grabbed and finally made contact with the back of his hood, pulling him towards her, hauling his tiny body against her own and determinedly trying to keep his head above the water, when another wave crashed over them. She couldn’t see, couldn’t breathe but she held Sam’s struggling body against her with every last ounce of strength. They broke through the surface again and she briefly saw a crowd of people lining the slip, before another wave crashed over them. She pushed towards the slip but the waves surged round them forcing them further and further away. She kicked frantically with her legs but it was hopeless.

  Suddenly everyone on the slip started waving and pointing frantically at her and Sam, some people even cheering.

  She turned round in the water and saw the bright orange RIB from the lifeboat station ploughing through the water towards her. The lifeboat crew were looking in the water for them but couldn’t see them. She didn’t dare wave in case she lost her grip on Sam.

  Waves crashed over her and she just hoped they would see them soon.

  A shout rang out from the boat and the next thing a rope with a small float on the end was thrown towards her. Holding Sam tight, she grabbed hold of it and they dragged her towards the side of the boat.

  She held Sam up out of the water for them to take, but that forced her under the water. A hand came down and grabbed her, yanking her back to the surface as the boy was taken from her.

  She looked up blearily into the eyes of her friend George, who was holding onto her with grim determination. Another hand grabbed her other arm and between George and another man she was hauled aboard.

  George knelt down in front of her, pulling a lifejacket over her head. ‘Are you OK?’

  She nodded, not able to talk as the cold night air sliced into her skin.

  George quickly stood back up and manoeuvred the boat back to the side of the slip. Penny glanced over at Sam huddled in Dave’s arms. He was shivering but clearly alive and seemingly uninjured.

  The boat slammed against the side of the slip. Dave quickly stood up and leant over the side to hand Sam back to his Dad.

  George helped her to her feet and Dave held out a hand for her to guide her ashore. Suddenly Henry was in front of her and he quickly lifted her to safety. He pulled the lifejacket off her and wrapped his coat around her tightly, though it did very little to dull the effects of the cold. Henry stared down at her, he looked furious.

  ‘Take her to The Pilchard,’ someone said. ‘They’ve got a fire in there.’

  Oh god, please no.

  Henry turned and marched through the crowd, dragging her with him.

  ‘Where’s the pub?’ Henry asked someone from the crowd and they must have told him because he started to head that way, not relinquishing his hold on her.

  The crowd surged around her, helping to push her up the ramp as her legs seemed unwilling to walk on their own, but every movement from her and every touch from someone else caused her wet clothes to touch her skin, making her even colder.

  She was vaguely aware that Henry was only in his socks too, having clearly ditched his skates at some point.

  The Pilchard loomed over them and she tried to pull back but Henry and the rest of the crowd were having none of it. The warmth of the pub swallowed them and Penny just hoped with everything she had that Chris was not going to be amongst the regulars tonight. People jostled around her and there was lots of shouts of confusion and calls for everyone to get out the way as Henry dragged her towards the fire.

  Where was Sam, surely they would have brought him in here too? Penny looked around as she was shoved into a seat right in front of the flames and locked eyes with Chris’s mum, Kathleen, as she pushed her way through the crowd to see what the fuss was about.

  To her credit Kathleen only hesitated for half a second when she saw who it was that was causing all the attention before she moved into action.

  ‘Come on, Penny, let’s get you into some dry clothes.’ Kathleen grabbed her hand and pulled her through the door that led to their living quarters.

  Through the cold and exhaustion, Penny noticed that nothing had changed since she had frequented these corridors and rooms almost every day when she had been going out with Chris. The dark wood panelling, the tiled floor, the photos on the walls, everything was exactly as it was.

  Even Kathleen hadn’t changed; maybe she had a few more lines around the eyes and a few more flecks of grey in her hair, but she had remained relatively the same. She was even wearing one of her favourite shirts that Penny had seen her wearing many times when she had been dating Chris.

  The scents of various cleaning solutions and the ever-present odour of alcohol was prevalent as it always had been, mixed with the smells of food from the kitchens.

  She didn’t need these memories; she had spent eight years carefully keeping them locked up. She had been here the night she had miscarried and everything about that night came flooding back to her now. Panic, fear and the devastating loss slammed through her, coupled with the memories of how badly Chris had treated her afterwards.

  Kathleen pulled her upstairs towards the bedrooms and she must have felt how awkward this reunion was too.

  ‘Would you like a shower or a bath to warm yourself up?’

  Penny shook her head, wanting to be out of there as quickly as possible and Kathleen nodded with understanding.

  Kathleen laid out some clean clothes and a towel on her bed and then hovered awkwardly for a moment.

  ‘Thank you for this,’ Penny muttered.

  Kathleen smiled weakly before leaving her alone in the room.

  With fumbling cold fingers she managed to get out of her wet clothes, dried herself off and dressed in the warm, dry clothes of her ex-boyfriend’s mum in record time. She needed to get out of here, her chest was tight, her throat was raw with suppressed emotion.

  She looked around for a plastic bag to put her wet clothes in and saw one propped up against a chest of drawers. She picked it up and carefully removed the contents and laid them on the bed, but her heart missed a beat when she saw the abundance of tiny baby clothes and a bear that had the word ‘Grandson’ emblazoned across its chest. As Chris was an only child it was obvious this was for him, or rather, his son. She ran her fingers across the softness of the bear, feeling numb and it wasn’t anything to do with the cold any more. She had heard, through the grapevine, that Chris had got married but she’d had no idea that he’d had a son, the grapevine had spared her that. She closed her eyes and prayed that the little boy who received this bear would be loved and adored by his dad and not hated as her child would have been years before. She hoped with everything she had that Chris had turned into someone wonderful like Henry, who loved Daisy so much there was no room for anyone else in his heart.

  She dumped her wet clothes in the bag and walked out. She walked down the stairs into the warmth of the pub again and a
loud cheer went up when her ‘fan club’ saw her. They all surged round her, patting her on the back and trying to thrust drinks in her hand.

  She was finding it difficult to breathe, the tightness in her chest becoming unbearable. Henry was suddenly in front of her, his eyes blazing with a myriad of emotions.

  ‘I need to go home, I can’t stay here.’

  He grabbed her hand and forced their way out of the pub, despite all the moans of protest behind them. They obviously wanted to celebrate her heroism until the early hours of the morning, but she got the feeling they probably would even without her there.

  It was freezing outside and Penny knew it felt worse than it was because she still hadn’t thawed out yet. Her whole body was aching, her muscles screaming at her.

  ‘You guys stay and enjoy the ice skating, I’ll get a taxi,’ Penny said quietly, as Henry pulled her a little way along the street.

  ‘Daisy has gone to collect our shoes. The car is here, I brought it as close as I could.’ He bundled her into the passenger seat, but before he could climb into the driver’s seat, Daisy was already clambering into the back.

  ‘I’m sorry I ruined your night.’

  Henry stared at her incredulously. ‘By saving a child’s life, yes how incredibly selfish of you. I saw you dive into the sea. I honestly don’t know whether to applaud your bravery or berate your stupidity – you could have been killed.’

  ‘Let’s go with applauding her bravery then, eh, Dad?’ Daisy said, from the back seat as she squeezed Penny’s shoulder. ‘You’re a hero.’

  Penny didn’t feel very heroic, in fact she felt pretty devoid of all emotion at the moment.

  Henry seemed to guess that she didn’t want to talk and they drove back up the winding lanes in silence. The further away they got from The Pilchard the more the pressure on her chest lessened slightly. She tried to order her emotions; she had done all her grieving for the baby she had lost eight years before, it didn’t make sense to be upset again now, but walking back into The Pilchard had brought back so many memories of that horrible night. She had been dealt one bad blow after another by Chris in the immediate aftermath of the baby’s death and for some reason she associated the pub with all of that. Not only had he left her two days after the miscarriage, but he had also spread cruel lies around town about her. Then to find he had been sleeping with Jade behind her back the entire time she had been pregnant had been the ultimate betrayal.

  To find out that Chris was now a parent again was a shock, especially after he had been so against her keeping their child. He had been young, they both were. But somehow, knowing he had grown up and moved on, that hopefully he was in a better place now, a much better person, made so much of that bitterness and hate she felt for him fade away. Maybe losing his baby all those years before would make him treat his little boy like a king and truly appreciate how precious he was. She would hope for that.

  They pulled up outside their house and she said her goodbyes to Henry and Daisy and let herself into her house. She ran upstairs and quickly changed out of the clothes that, although clean, still smelt of the pub.

  When she came back downstairs in her pyjamas, Henry was waiting for her. He’d lit a fire and the golden glow infused the room with warmth and light.

  ‘Are you OK?’

  She stepped closer to him, hesitant because she wanted nothing more than to step into his arms and have him hold her tight but she didn’t know how to ask for that. But somehow, instinctively he knew what she wanted and gave her just that. In one large stride he was in front of her enveloping her in his arms. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head on his chest, hugging him back.

  He felt so good, so warm and solid and dependable. She had known him such a short amount of time and she inexplicably trusted him. Everything melted out of her, the adrenaline and fear from rescuing Sam from the sea, the memories the pub evoked, her anger towards Chris, her inability and fear of moving on from her past. In his arms, in that moment, for the first time in a long time she was looking to the future. And maybe her future wasn’t with this man, but she sure as hell wasn’t going to hide away any more.

  She clung on to him for what felt like an eternity, until eventually she pulled away slightly.

  She looked up at him. ‘Thank you, you have no idea how much I needed that.’

  He cupped her face in his large, rough hands and kissed her forehead. Need for him erupted through her so fast it was almost painful. He pulled back slightly to look at her and his eyes scanned down to her lips and in the light of the fire she watched them darken. She didn’t hesitate this time; she reached up and kissed him.

  Chapter Nine

  His response was instant, his hands holding her face gently, his lips touching hers with the softest of kisses, his mouth lingering slowly. His tongue licked her bottom lip, ever so slightly, and she opened to him. As his tongue touched hers, the taste of him exploded through her and she flushed with embarrassment at the moan that escaped her throat. The sweet, spicy smell of him invaded her senses, his touch on her face, the feel of him against her mouth, it was too much all at once. She wanted to separate each sensation, each feeling, each moment and appreciate it all slowly but there was no time for any of that.

  Eventually he pulled back slightly to look at her. He smiled. ‘I’ve been wanting to do that since you opened the door to me on that first night.’

  She smiled. ‘Me too.’

  He moved to the sofa, taking her with him. He sat down in the corner of the sofa and pulled her onto his chest, wrapping his arm round her shoulders.

  ‘Do you want to talk about what went on tonight?’ he asked softly.

  She nodded, telling him all about Chris and his parents and the new baby and he listened without interrupting, without taking his eyes off hers. It was a cathartic release to talk about it with someone after so long keeping it locked up inside. Whilst she talked he wrapped a blanket round her, warming her from the outside and from the inside with his kind gesture.

  When she had finished she rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes, suddenly feeling like she had run a marathon. She wasn’t sure what the future held for her and Henry, but it didn’t seem to matter right then, lying in his arms.

  He shifted slightly beneath her and she found her hand instinctively gripping his shirt, before she quickly released him. She opened her eyes to look at him and he smiled at her.

  ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.’

  She smiled and let herself drift off to sleep.

  * * *

  Henry woke the next morning to find he was stretched out on the sofa, Penny lying completely on top of him, her face buried in his neck. Her soft breath on his skin was one of the most wonderful feelings he’d ever had.

  He couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss, how it felt, how she tasted. He wanted so much more.

  Guilt suddenly slammed into him. For the first time in his life, Daisy hadn’t been at the forefront of his mind. She had specifically asked him not to do anything with Penny and, although he hadn’t promised anything, he had decided to respect her wishes and not take things any further. But that hadn’t even entered his head the night before when Penny had kissed him and he had most certainly kissed her back. Crap. The one thing Daisy had asked him not to do and he’d gone ahead and done it anyway. He really didn’t want to do anything that might upset or hurt Daisy.

  But he was already in way over his head here. He really liked Penny. Maybe he’d just see how things went over the next few days, maybe nothing would happen between them at all and there would be no point bringing it up with Daisy. Maybe the kiss would be the last of it. But he had only known Penny for a few days and he’d already kissed her and spent the night with her, albeit in a far more gentlemanly fashion than any other woman he’d spent the night with. Things were not looking good for something casual.

  He eyed the clock above the fire and knew he had to get up, even though he would have quite liked to hav
e stayed there all day. He was supposed to go to work for a few hours today so they could show him a few things and he could get used to some of the tools and equipment, meet his line manager and some of the people on his team.

  He shifted, trying to get up without waking her, but her eyes shot open.

  ‘Hi,’ he said, resisting the urge to smooth her hair from her face.

  ‘Hi.’

  ‘I need to go. I have to pop to work today and I don’t want Daisy to wake up and find I’m not there.’

  ‘Of course you don’t.’ She sat up and shifted off him and he stood up, leaving her sitting on the sofa, looking sleepy and adorable.

  ‘She’ll probably try to hang around with you, but just tell her to sod off if she gets on your nerves.’

  ‘I’m happy to have her around, she’s lovely.’

  He nodded, not really sure how to say goodbye.

  ‘Thank you for being there last night and staying with me and for…’ she trailed off, touching her lips. She was remembering the kiss and wonderful memories slammed into his mind too.

  He smiled and gave her a little wave before walking out. God, that kiss had been sublime, he wanted nothing more than to go back and do it again. He made it halfway across the kitchen before his control snapped. He turned and strode back towards her, immediately taking her face in his hands and kissing her hard.

  She started a little before her hands slid round his neck, running her fingers over the fine hairs at the back of his head and kissing him back. She smiled against his lips before she pulled back slightly.

  ‘You need to go.’

  He nodded, kissing her briefly. ‘I’ll see you tonight.’

  He walked out, suddenly feeling a hell of a lot better about his day. He let himself through the connecting door and came face to face with Daisy as she came down the stairs. Guilt burned through his gut. Why had he not thought about Daisy when he had cuddled up on the sofa and decided to spend the night with his wonderful neighbour?