He tapped his nose. “Now that would be telling! Suffice to say that it hasn’t gone unnoticed in the town that a certain developer has changed somewhat. There’s been quite a lot of speculation as to why that might be, too. My aunt Val has a theory about that – and it’s one Lucy Penwellyn and I share!”
Ness felt her cheeks grown warm. Had Max written off the loan because he had feelings for her? Had she misjudged him all along? She felt confused and wrong-footed.
“The point is that this is all above board and legal, and actually a marvellous start for the St Pirran Trust,” David said, taking pity on Ness and returning to his usual businesslike manner. “I’d be inclined to accept it graciously and in the spirit it’s been offered.”
Ness nodded. She would do so and then she would hunt down Max Reynard and discover what this was really about.
She glanced down at the paperwork. She was the last to sign it; all the other names and signatures were there already. Annie, Fred, Merryn, Fern, David and Lucy – all witnessed and legal. No decisions would be made without a unanimous vote and never again would the island’s future hang in the balance. It could never become the private haunt of the wealthy or an upmarket hotel but instead would ring with music and the chatter of visitors. There were plans for concerts, workshops and even talks about a film of Armand’s life, something Ness was considering very carefully, and Lucy was also hoping to set up a music school for underprivileged youngsters. There was a wealth of good things waiting to happen.
One signature from her would set all this in motion.
Ness took a deep breath and signed with a flourish. There. It was done. She really hoped that somewhere her uncle could see what she’d chosen to do with his legacy, just as she hoped with all her heart that wherever they were now all the major players in his tragic story were at peace too. The truth about her family history hadn’t been easy to hear but it was better than the silence of not knowing.
David placed the document in his briefcase, snapping the lock shut.
“Wonderful. We’re all set,” he said with a warm smile. “By the way, I spoke to Fern’s father earlier on and he’d like to make a donation towards the first Armand Penwellyn musical scholarship. He says it’s his way of thanking Armand for keeping Fern safe.”
At least one good thing had come out of the festival mess and Jamie’s involvement with Logan Barrie – Fern’s reconciliation with her parents. Feeling protected from harm now that Merryn was beside her and her ex was in custody, Fern had got in touch with her family and started to build bridges. Her parents had been looking for her ever since she’d left home but the trail had grown cold when she’d come to the island. They were overjoyed to have been reunited with their daughter at last.
“That’s fantastic news, and kind of him too. Will you write and let him know we accept and are very grateful?” Ness asked.
“Of course,” said David. He picked up his briefcase. “It’s been quite a journey, hasn’t it? But I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, Ness, and I think your uncle would have been very proud at all you’ve achieved.”
“I hope so,” Ness replied, and the solicitor smiled.
“I know so,” he told her, before shutting the door quietly, leaving Ness alone with her thoughts and the ticking of the clock.
There. It was done. The castle was hers no longer but belonged to everyone – which was exactly as it should be. Ness had nothing that Max Reynard wanted. If it was only the island he’d cared about then she would never see him again. Nor would she be able to tell him how sorry she was that she’d misjudged him.
It was terrifying just how bleak these thoughts were.
Ness moved to the window and gazed out. She wasn’t sure how long she stood there, lost in memories and daydreams. Her mother would have known this view, and her father too. Both of them had been flawed people who’d burned so brightly for a season, but at least now that Ness had made her difficult choice they would never be forgotten. They’d always be remembered through their music.
The sun slipped lower, casting long shadows across the bay and stretching golden fingers through the room. The tide was on the turn, and as Ness looked out at the glistening sand she caught sight of a lone figure walking along the beach. Her breath caught.
No. It couldn’t be. She was imagining it.
Ness closed her eyes and opened them again slowly, hardly daring to hope.
He was still there.
Heart hammering, she flew out of the library and down the spiral stairs, her feet tripping on the worn flagstones in her haste to reach the bottom. Tearing across the Small Hall and through the kitchen, where Biscuit looked up from his basket in surprise, Ness burst through the back door and sprinted through the courtyard and beneath the Pilgrim’s Gate. The path down across the lawn passed in a green blur and then she was on the causeway and racing over the cobbles. Although her breath was coming in gasps, Ness couldn’t have slowed down even if she’d tried. Her heart had taken over and the sheer force of her emotion was going to take her across the beach no matter what.
Was it him or not? In the brilliance of the setting sun in was hard to tell. Maybe this was her mind playing tricks on her. Perhaps she was longing for something so badly that her imagination was placing it there for her, just as travellers lost in the desert saw water and shady palm trees.
But this mirage was solid. The late sun gilded his features, highlighting the strong cheekbones as he raised his hand to shield his eyes from the glare. Ness slowed to a walk. Her lungs were burning and her face was flushed from the exertion. With her curls tumbling from her ponytail she probably looked a state, but she’d never cared less about her appearance. Nothing else mattered apart from reaching Max. And it really was Max; Ness knew this now that she was closer. Even though the sun was dazzling her vision, every cell in her body was telling her she was home.
“You’re here,” she said, and her heart was thudding – although whether that was from the run or because of seeing him again it was hard to know. She was standing right in front of him now. He was deeply tanned and his dark hair was slightly longer than the last time she’d seen him. His face was thinner too, the eyes shadowed with tiredness. “Where have you been? I tried to get hold of you. Didn’t they say?”
Max said nothing for a moment. Then he exhaled wearily as though he’d been holding onto something for a very long time.
“Yes, they told me but I knew nothing I said was ever going to change your mind. I’ve been away. I took a holiday.”
“No you haven’t. You’ve been working with your charity, haven’t you? Building another shelter? That’s where you went and why I couldn’t find you. Don’t deny it. I know about the charities.”
He grimaced. “I see Adam’s been telling tales out of school.”
“Maybe,” Ness admitted, “but don’t be cross with him and Lucy. I can be very persuasive when I need to be.”
“I can imagine. The last time I was alone on a beach with you I felt I could be persuaded to do anything,” Max said, and the look in his eyes made her shiver.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I got everything wrong.”
He shook his head. His pupils were so dark, so intense, that she saw herself reflected in them. He was just a kiss away.
“Not everything,” he said. “There were some things you got exactly right.”
Ness nodded. When she listened to her heart she heard the truth, but so much else had got in the way.
“That loan was worth a fortune. Why write it off?”
“I meant what I said, Nessa,” Max told her quietly. “My vision for the island changed and this was the best way to prove it. You can start again now and without anyone else. Move forward. It’s your inheritance and it’s St Pirran’s legacy too. Nothing should be allowed to threaten that.”
“But you’ve chosen to walk away from the one thing you wanted above anything else. Why would you do that?” Ness asked, still staring up at him.
His low
voice was like a caress. “Ness, you already know the answer to that.”
Ness’s heart was telling her that she knew, had always known, and she longed for nothing more than to acknowledge the truth. She was falling in love with Max, had been since that first moonlit night, but everything in Ness told her it couldn’t happen this way. They had to be equals or nothing.
Gently placing her hand on his chest, the racing of his heart beneath her fingertips telling her Max felt the same way too, Ness took a step back.
“That’s a really generous offer but I can’t accept it as it stands.”
The sweeping brows rose into his dark hair. “Why ever not?”
“Because it doesn’t feel right. It changes the balance of everything between us. It feels like charity.”
“It is charity, Ness, but in the truest sense of the word. Jesus, have you got any idea how much money Reynards is worth? Let me write it off as a donation to the trust. Or how about we call it a fine for trespassing on a private beach?”
Ness shook her head. “It still feels like charity – or, even worse, being bought. Can you understand that? If I’m going to make Pirran Island work then I need to do it properly. Not with favours or donations. It feels wrong.”
His grey eyes held hers like magnets. “Christ, you’re so stubborn, Ness. Is it a Penwellyn thing?”
“Maybe,” she admitted. Lucy was stubborn, refusing for so long to accept any criticism of Jamie, and her uncles had been too proud to mend their feud. Even Addy had never listened to anyone. Oh dear. It seemed the castle wasn’t all she’d inherited.
“I need to do this properly, Max. It’s what my uncle expected and it’s the right thing. He didn’t leave me any money or pull any favours or even let us keep the piano. I think this was about more than just inheriting the castle. It was about building a legacy. I can’t do that if I feel I owe people favours or that I’ve been bought off. This all has to be done properly. It all has to be on the level.”
“My father would have loved you, Ness,” Max said, and there was a catch in his voice. “That’s exactly the kind of thing he would have said.”
“He sounds like a very wise man. I’m afraid I drove mine nuts,” Ness remarked. “In fact if he can see me now he’s probably banging his head on the pearly gates and yelling at me to just take the bloody money!”
“But you’re not your father any more than I’m mine.”
“No,” she agreed, “I’m not. I’ll accept the donation but there’s one condition: I want you to be a trustee of the island. I want to do this with your help and your vision.”
He sighed. “Ness, that’s great, but I don’t think I can. Please, accept the donation as my contribution to building something out of a childhood dream – but I won’t be here to be a part of it.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m leaving St Pirran.”
She stared at him in confusion. “But you can’t! You love it here. You told me that as a child you dreamed of living in St Pirran. That was why you came back.” Then a thought occurred to her. And she felt sick with disappointment. Had it only ever been about the island after all? “Is this because you can’t buy the island?”
“No,” Max said firmly. “That isn’t it. The trust is a wonderful idea and the best way forward for the island. I know I’m a successful businessman and all of that nonsense, but even I won’t be around for five hundred years. Hopefully the castle will be though – and if I can contribute towards safeguarding its future then that feels right to me. It’s what I wanted to do, Ness. I would have tried to do that if I’d bought it and I want to play my part in doing that now. Yes, it was a boyhood dream to own the island, but there’s so much more to it than that now. Besides, who owns it in reality? A place like this is only on loan to us, isn’t it? Maybe it’s closer to the truth to say that Pirran Island owns us?”
“And that’s really why you wrote off the loan?”
“What can I say? The place has got to me.”
“Just the place?”
Max chuckled ruefully. “Of course just the place.”
Ness stepped forward and met that grey gaze head on. “Fibber.”
“Calling me a liar again?”
“I am,” she said. “And this time you aren’t telling the truth – are you, Max?”
“OK, not just the place,” he admitted. “Maybe the people in it too?”
Ness laughed. “Wow. I never knew you liked old Fred so much! He will be touched!”
Max’s brow crinkled. “Hmm, on second thoughts maybe I should more accurately say that there’s one person I found I couldn’t stop thinking about? When I should have been pushing to buy the place and moving forward with the development it was a shock to find that it wasn’t really the castle I was thinking about after all. I can’t stay here anymore. Not if that person doesn’t feel the same way as I do. It would be the worst kind of torture.”
Ness’s heart was playing hopscotch. “So who were you thinking about?”
“You,” Max said simply, and in an instant she was in his arms. Pressed against the heat of his body she could feel the rhythm of his heart beating as wildly as her own.
“I haven’t been able to think about much else since that first night,” he continued hoarsely, his lips against the top of her head. “The moon was so bright, do you remember? It was like daylight.”
Ness nodded. She’d never forgotten it – would never be able to forget it, and goodness only knew how hard she’d tried. That perfect moment would stay with her for the rest of her life.
“Do you remember what else happened that night, apart from the full moon?” Max asked softly. His hands came up and he cupped her face between them again, staring down at her as though he wanted to sear her face in his memory.
“Val Brown interrupted us?” Ness teased.
“Ah yes, good old Mrs Brown.” Max raised his eyes to the sky. “But no, fond of Val as I am, her appearance wasn’t top of my list of great memories. Shall I show you what I was remembering?”
Ness closed her eyes, anticipating his kiss – and when Max’s mouth brushed hers she almost wept with happiness, because she’d never experienced a kiss like it before. She’d waited so long for this, and now at last she felt the sweet relief of coming home. It wasn’t the first time Max had kissed her, of course, but there had always been doubt lurking in the back of her mind before, whereas now there was none. His mouth tasted of sea salt and wood smoke, and she knew she would never be able to get enough of it.
She pulled away and looked into his eyes, softer than she’d ever seen them; they were no longer hard and challenging but instead were filled with an emotion she hardly dared name.
“I remember,” she whispered.
Max took her hands in his and he drew her close.
“I think I should have told you a long time ago what I was feeling. The problem was that I couldn’t work it out myself. The irony! I was managing my businesses, working between three time zones, coordinating teams of craftsmen – but I couldn’t figure out what was going on in here.” He tapped his chest and gazed down into her eyes with an intensity that was enough to make her own heart fly into her throat.
“And what is going on?” she asked.
“Love,” he said simply. “I’m in love with you, Nessa Penwellyn.”
But Ness already knew this because his feelings shone from those grey eyes of his, so honest and true that her own eyes filled with tears. How could it be that only a few months ago she hadn’t even known Max Reynard and yet somehow, against all the odds, he’d already become the centre of her world? He was her enemy. Her rival. Her nemesis.
This change didn’t make any sense to her and yet she utterly trusted it.
“Could you feel the same way?” he asked, and the uncertainty in his face as he laid his soul bare almost broke her.
“I already do,” Ness answered quietly. “I think I’ve loved you since that first evening too.”
And then Max kissed he
r again, a kiss so tender and so full of promise that there was no need for either of them to say any more. As they stared at each other afterwards, smiling in delighted wonder, Ness wished she’d admitted her feelings sooner. One thing she’d learned from her time on the island was that life was short and regrets were futile.
“So will you stay? Be part of this?” she asked. Her breath caught in her throat because she knew now that there was nothing she wanted more.
Max’s answer was a gossamer-soft kiss. As she kissed him back, his touch told Ness that the future lay ahead of them, shining just as brightly as the sun’s final rays.
When at last they drew apart, Ness found herself staring across at the castle. She knew it had to be a trick of the light, but for a few seconds she thought she saw a young man, sketchpad in hand; he was drawing a girl with long curly hair and eyes as green as the seaweed on the causeway, who laughed and twirled as she played her violin. Then Ness blinked and the vision was gone – but she could have sworn that the dying notes of a solo violin trembled in the air before they were washed away by the pounding surf.
Her imagination again.
Probably.
She threaded her fingers with Max’s. The past, present and future seemed to blur together, but now this gave her hope and filled her with happiness. Any sadness and regret had vanished in the setting sun. There was so much ahead to look forward to. The rest of her life began right now.
“Let’s go home,” she said.
And, hand in hand, Ness and Max walked across the beach and back to Pirran Island as the waves sighed behind them and the shadows of the past faded gently away.
The End
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