Coming Home to Maple Cottage: The perfect, cosy, feel-good romance

by Holly Martin

  ‘You can’t tell Leo, Elliot wants to keep it a surprise.’

  They all nodded.

  Isla checked that Elsie West wasn’t listening, but she was clearly distracted by Seth McCluskey, the surf instructor, jogging past the window with no top on. Isla took a deep breath because she knew they were going to go nuts over her answer.

  ‘I explained to Elliot what a hero was and he wants to go dressed as Leo.’

  ‘Oh my god,’ Emily said, holding her heart.

  ‘That’s so sweet,’ Tori said, and Isla could see she was on the verge of tears, her baby hormones making her extremely emotional.

  ‘Oh god, could you guys be any cuter?’ Melody said.

  ‘What’s going on?’ came a voice from behind them and they all whirled round to see Leo’s aunt Agatha had just walked into the café. Her newly dyed hair was bright green today, no doubt as part of the Halloween festivities. She was wearing a bright purple dress with large orange pumpkins. She clashed horribly but she neither knew nor cared. Isla liked Agatha but now that Leo’s brothers, Aidan and Jamie were completely loved-up, the pressure on Isla and Leo had intensified even more.

  ‘Nothing,’ Isla said, hurriedly. If Agatha got even the slightest sniff of any gossip, it would be round the whole of the village before the end of the day, whether it was true or not. And Agatha certainly didn’t need any encouragement when it came to Isla and Leo’s relationship, or the lack of one.

  ‘Well, obviously it’s something. Tori is in tears over there,’ Agatha protested.

  ‘Oh, I have something in my eye,’ Tori said, dabbing at it with a tissue.

  ‘Both eyes?’ Agatha asked as she settled herself at their table. She turned round and called across to the other corner. ‘Elsie, what did I miss?’

  Elsie turned round.

  ‘Tori’s going for her first baby scan this afternoon, Melody and Jamie have been talking about having children, Isla might apply for a job at Clark’s Cavern,’ Elsie started, and Isla stared at her in shock. She really had been listening to every single detail. ‘And then they talked about Halloween costumes for the parade and I’m sorry to say I got distracted by young Seth McCluskey running past with no top on.’

  Agatha scowled at her.

  Elsie shrugged, unapologetically. ‘That boy is cute. If I was twenty years younger…’

  ‘You’d still be way too old for him,’ Agatha scolded. She turned back to the table. ‘Well?’

  ‘It’s just Elliot’s costume for the parade,’ Isla said, frantically trying to think of something that wouldn’t implicate Leo. Agatha was desperate to see them married off and Isla didn’t want to add any fuel to that fire. ‘He’s thinking about going as Luke Skywalker because Luke was Matthew’s favourite character.’

  Isla winced at that lie, feeling immediately guilty. Especially as Elliot had chosen Leo as his hero, not his dad. But he saw Leo every day, whereas he hadn’t seen his dad for nearly eighteen months. Though she knew that Elliot still missed Matthew terribly, children seemed to be made of hardier stuff than adults when it came to grief.

  ‘Oh. That is very sweet,’ Agatha said, then turned to Emily. ‘I’ll have the mushroom soup please.’

  ‘We have pumpkin soup too,’ Emily offered.

  ‘Oooh, that does sound nice, I’ll have that,’ Agatha said.

  Emily hurried off back behind the counter and Agatha turned back to Isla. ‘Where is your young man this afternoon?’

  For a moment Isla wondered if she meant Leo, before she realised she was talking about Elliot.

  ‘Leo’s looking after him,’ Isla said. ‘They’re making the “World’s Greatest Most Spectacular Lego House”. Elliot wants to sell tickets for people to come and see it.’

  ‘I’d buy tickets,’ Melody offered. ‘If Leo has anything to do with it, I’m sure it’s going to be amazing.’

  ‘Oh, it will be,’ Isla said.

  ‘Leo sure is spending a lot of time round your house lately,’ Agatha mused as if it was a mild observation and not the prelude to some interfering.

  Isla sighed. ‘He wants to be there for Elliot.’

  ‘He wants to get into your knickers, you mean,’ Agatha said, pulling no punches.

  ‘He wants to marry her,’ Melody said, dreamily, and then immediately closed her mouth at a glare from Isla.

  Agatha shrugged. ‘Same thing.’

  ‘He does not want to marry me just so he can get into my knickers,’ Isla protested.

  ‘So why does he keep asking?’ Agatha said.

  ‘Because he loves her,’ Melody said, unable to keep her rose-tinted opinions to herself.

  ‘He simply wants to take care of me and Elliot. He’s worried that Sadie still owns half the house and what I’ll do when all the money runs out. That’s as far as it goes. It’s just a great friend looking out for me, nothing more.’

  ‘I think you should sleep with him, see if you have any spark there at all,’ Agatha said.

  Isla had no doubt they would have spark. The memory of that wonderful night they’d shared was seared on her brain forever. The sex had been incredible.

  ‘You don’t want to marry him and then find out you have zero chemistry,’ Agatha went on.

  Melody hid her smile behind her drink. Only she knew about the night Isla had slept with Leo four years before. Isla hadn’t told anyone else.

  ‘I don’t think that would be an issue. Whenever they’re together the chemistry sizzles between them,’ Tori said and Isla passed her an incredulous look. Why was she joining in too? Tori gave a smirk and a little shrug. Were they all in on this together?

  ‘Are you not tempted at all to… hide the sausage?’ Agatha asked, making a circle with one hand and poking her finger through it.

  ‘Not one bit,’ Isla said.

  Three disbelieving faces stared back at her.

  ‘OK, sure, of course I’ve thought about it—’

  ‘I knew it!’ Agatha cried. ‘Don’t think about it, just do it. Next time he comes over, just push him down on the sofa, straddle him and do the no pants dance.’

  Isla snorted. ‘And should I do this with Elliot in the next room?’

  ‘I’m very happy to babysit for such a good cause,’ Agatha said.

  ‘Me too,’ Melody giggled.

  Tori laughed and gave Isla the thumbs up. ‘We’d be happy to have him.’

  Emily came over with their order then, carefully placing the food on the table. ‘What are you all laughing about?’

  ‘Leo and Isla bumping uglies,’ Tori helpfully supplied, between her laughter.

  ‘Are you?’ Emily looked shocked and delighted by this wonderful news.

  ‘No, of course not,’ Isla said.

  ‘Are you planning to?’ Emily asked.

  ‘No,’ Isla said at the same time that Agatha, Tori and Melody all answered, ‘Yes.’

  Isla sighed. ‘Ignore them. I am not planning on sleeping with your brother.’

  She picked up her knife and fork and started eating, hoping the conversation would be halted by the food.

  ‘Why the hell not?’ Agatha said, tucking into her pumpkin soup and then waving her spoon around to make her point. ‘It’s clear to anyone watching that you’re completely in love with him.’

  ‘Because he’s not in love with me,’ Isla said, exasperated.

  ‘Oh, rubbish. Of course he is in love with you. No man is going to give up dating just so he can be a good role model for a child who isn’t even his. He is round your house every day and most nights. Don’t tell me all that is out of loyalty to Matthew.’

  ‘It is,’ Isla insisted.

  ‘Oh, leave her alone,’ Emily said. ‘If they’re going to get together, they need to be left to do it on their own.’

  Agatha opened her mouth to protest but Emily cut her off.

  ‘If I come over here and you’re still talking about this with Isla, I won’t give you one of my cupcakes. They’re made with caramel and apple, which I know is your f
avourite, decorated with a cute pumpkin on the top.’

  Agatha closed her mouth with a snap. After a moment she spoke; evidently being quiet was not one of her strong points. ‘You’d really deprive your poor old aunt of her favourite cake, the one and only treat that I have in my life.’

  ‘Don’t pull that old lady card with me. Change the subject or no cake for you,’ Emily said and moved off back behind the counter.

  Agatha waited until Emily was busy serving someone else and then leaned into the table.

  ‘My spies tell me he’s bought you a ring,’ Agatha whispered. Clearly the threat of no cake was not enough to stop her meddling.

  Isla put down her knife and fork and immediately looked at Melody, who owned the one and only jewellery shop in Sandcastle Bay.

  Melody shrugged behind a mouthful of sandwich. She quickly swallowed. ‘Don’t look at me. He certainly didn’t buy it from my shop.’

  ‘Where did he get it from?’ Isla asked.

  ‘The jewellery shop in Meadow Bay,’ Agatha said, knowledgeably.

  Tori shook her head incredulously. ‘You really do have spies everywhere.’

  ‘That ring could have been for anyone,’ Isla tried.

  ‘It’s an engagement ring.’

  Isla stared at her in shock, her food forgotten. Leo had bought her a ring. She’d always thought his proposals weren’t remotely serious, but a ring was a big statement.

  ‘If he proposes with that ring, would you say yes then?’ Agatha pushed.

  Isla hesitated long enough for Agatha to smile triumphantly, as if she had won.

  ‘No, I wouldn’t,’ Isla said, firmly, picking her knife and fork back up.

  ‘You hesitated,’ Agatha said.

  ‘I was just thinking what I would do if he proposed with a ring.’

  ‘You’d say yes, of course,’ Agatha said.

  ‘Not unless it comes with a declaration of love. I’m not walking up the aisle with anyone without that. And unless you want me to tell Emily that you’re still hassling me about this then I suggest you change the subject,’ Isla said. So much for a peaceful lunch.

  ‘Me and Jamie have been looking at rings,’ Melody blurted out, desperately trying to save Isla from any more torture.

  It worked. Agatha’s gaze immediately turned to Melody instead. ‘He’s going to propose?’

  Isla sighed with relief that she would get a reprieve, at least for now.

  ‘Things are going so well between us,’ Melody said, taking another bite and chewing it slowly, obviously playing for time. Isla used the pause to continue eating her lunch. ‘We spend every night together either at my house or his. Even his animals have completely accepted me. Do you know, I got a hug from Dobby the turkey last week? Have you ever had a hug from a turkey before? It’s the sweetest thing.’

  ‘The proposal,’ Agatha urged, impatiently, clearly seeing this change of subject for what it was.

  ‘Well, I think he’d like to keep the moment a surprise, but we were talking about engagement rings the other day. Of course, owning my own jewellery shop, there’s a lot of pressure to pick the right ring and he can’t really buy it from me if it’s going to be a surprise. But he was in the shop the other day when a man came in to buy an engagement ring for his girlfriend. He spent ages choosing and looking until he found one he liked. After he’d left, Jamie said that choosing an engagement ring was a tricky business and then we got on to the subject of which ring in the shop I would want to be proposed to with.’

  ‘Did you tell him?’ Agatha said eagerly.

  ‘Well, I have no idea what my ideal ring would be. I’ve helped hundreds or thousands of couples to choose the perfect ring over the years but I don’t know what I would choose for me. To be honest, Jamie could propose with a plastic ring from a bubble-gum machine and I’d still say yes.’

  Tori nodded as she touched the blue moonstone ring on her left hand. ‘I barely saw the ring Aidan proposed to me with before I burst into tears. I love this ring, it’s so pretty and unique, but I would have said yes to any ring.’

  ‘I think if any man goes to the trouble of buying a ring, you should say yes,’ Agatha said, giving Isla the side eye.

  ‘Emily!’ Isla called, waving her hand to get her attention.

  ‘OK, OK, I’ll shut up,’ Agatha muttered. Obviously the cake was a good incentive.

  Emily wandered over and glared at Agatha. ‘Is she still giving you a hard time?’ she asked Isla.

  Agatha did a zipping gesture over her mouth, either to indicate that she wouldn’t say anything more or that Isla shouldn’t say anything.

  ‘Can I just get a glass of water please,’ Isla said, smiling sweetly. Emily clearly wasn’t convinced that was the reason that Isla had called her over in the first place. She gave Agatha a stony glare and walked off.

  Agatha mumbled something under her breath about only trying to help, which Isla decided to ignore, going back to her lunch.

  ‘You could always propose to Jamie,’ Agatha suggested, turning her attention back to Melody.

  Melody laughed. ‘Yes I could.’

  ‘Sometimes I think women hold off from telling the man how they feel for fear of getting hurt. But I think sometimes it’s worth the risk. Sometimes you have to know, sometimes you have to take your life into your own hands,’ Agatha said, with the subtlest of glances at Isla. Obviously that was directed at her, not at Melody, who was probably very confident about how Jamie felt for her.

  ‘I’m very happy to wait for Jamie to ask this time. I did ask him out, after all, and we’ve only been going out with each other for three months. I’m not in any rush,’ Melody said.

  Agatha looked like she was going to press Melody further so Isla decided to step in.

  ‘And how is your romance with Stefano going?’ Isla said, pointedly. The poor man who owned the Italian restaurant in the village had been the object of Agatha’s affections for a very long time and there was nothing subtle about her attempts to convince him they would be great together. As far as Isla was aware, he was still fending off her advances.

  ‘Ah, the man is just too shy. But sometimes men need a little persuasion, a little nudge in the right direction,’ Agatha said, obviously turning the conversation back on her.

  ‘How are the wedding plans going?’ Isla asked Tori before the conversation could be diverted back to Leo again.

  ‘Really good. I keep thinking I should be more stressed than this with only a month to go. I wonder if I’ve forgotten something major, but everything seems to be going smoothly. It’s only going to be a small affair anyway. We’re having a big buffet, not a big fancy sit-down meal, and really it’s only family and close friends. So if something goes wrong, we’ll get by on the day. Honestly, as long as Aidan is there, I’ll be happy. The rest of it will work out,’ Tori said, serenely.

  Isla smiled. How wonderful to be so completely secure in her relationship that she didn’t really care whether the party was a big success or not. The day was about Tori marrying Aidan and that was the only thing that she cared about. Other brides went completely bridezilla about it all, but Tori seemed beyond calm.

  Isla experienced a sudden pang of jealousy. Would she ever have that? A man who loved her completely, through the good times and the bad. Someone who would love Elliot like he was his own. Her thoughts turned to Leo. God, she so wanted that man to be him. But her battered heart was wary of being broken again. She had been with Daniel for two and a half years, they had talked often about a future together, but just a few days after Matthew had died and she had told Daniel she would be taking custody of Elliot, he dumped her. He certainly hadn’t seen a future that was for better or worse. Isla knew that whoever she ended up with had to love her and Elliot unconditionally. Leo, as far as she knew, had never had a serious relationship with anyone and she wasn’t sure, despite his proposals, whether he really wanted one.

  The door to the café was suddenly pushed open and the light was blocked out temporarily by
Aidan Jackson, the oldest of the three brothers. He shared the same good looks as Leo, but Aidan looked carefree and happy, something she hadn’t seen in Leo for a very long time.

  She watched Tori’s face light up at the arrival of her fiancé and she stood to greet him, giving him a brief kiss on the lips, not caring who saw.

  ‘Hello beautiful,’ Aidan said, smiling against her lips. He moved his hand to her belly. ‘Are you ready to go and see our little Pip?’

  ‘I can’t wait.’ She grabbed the remains of her sandwich and wrapped them in a napkin. She quickly kissed everyone at the table goodbye and, with a little wave from Aidan, they left the café hand in hand.

  Isla stared after them wistfully. She looked back at Agatha, who gave her a meaningful look.

  Maybe Agatha was right. Maybe she should take control of her own life. If she wanted something badly enough, then maybe she should go after it.

  Though how she was going to do that, she didn’t know.

  Chapter Three

  Isla dusted the frost and specks of dirt from Matthew’s gravestone, placed a towel on the floor and sat down, curling her knees up to her chest. Here, tucked in the corner of the graveyard, the trees had shed their loads, leaving a jewelled carpet of leaves in cranberry, plum, tangerine and lemon, all sparkling with the light frost that seemed to be clinging onto the day.

  She sighed as she stared at the name on the stone, written in gold. It didn’t feel right talking to this headstone as if it was Matthew. This lifeless, black stone was not a fair representation of the man who lived his life with so much laughter and adventure. But she didn’t have any other place to go.

  When he was alive, they’d called each other at two o’clock every Saturday for a chat and a catch-up. Occasionally she’d have a little chat with Elliot too, but mostly with Matthew. There were other times in the week they might phone each other, but Saturday was almost an unwritten rule. For some reason she had decided to continue that tradition, even if it was one-sided.

  ‘How are you?’ Isla asked. ‘Still dead, I see. Personally I think you’re just attention-seeking.’

  They’d always had a relationship based on banter, sarcasm and generally taking the mick out of each other in that affectionate way that brothers and sisters have. It didn’t seem fair to do it now when he couldn’t defend himself, but she’d always greeted him with some sarcastic remark and she didn’t want to change that.