Daisy’s Vintage Cornish Camper Van

by Ali McNamara

‘It’s not a problem at all – I have plenty of space. I was actually considering renting that space out to one of the holiday cottages for parking as we’re so tight for that in St Felix.’

  ‘Well, it was once an old fishing town – I doubt they had much need for car parks.’

  ‘No, indeed.’

  Jess sighs this time. She moves her head a little on Malachi’s legs, then is still and silent again.

  ‘I’ll miss this place when I go,’ I say, still staring at the sun, which is barely visible now over the sea. ‘I’ve had fun here.’

  ‘I’ve had fun you being here too,’ Noah says, gazing out over the ocean as well. ‘It won’t be the same when you go.’

  We both look across at each other, then immediately turn back again.

  I shiver. Now the sun has gone completely, there is no warmth on the beach at all. The only heat is the little bit still coming from the now empty barbecues.

  ‘Are you cold?’ Noah asks. ‘Have my jacket. I don’t need it. I have a sweatshirt on underneath.’

  Before I have time to say no, he’s unzipped his big North Face jacket and brought it over to me. He kneels down and wraps it gently around my shoulders.

  ‘Thank you,’ I say, looking at him.

  Noah’s hands haven’t left my shoulders, and his face is still level with mine; we can do nothing but stare into each other’s eyes.

  Without thinking any further about it, I take my chance and reach my face forward until my lips touch Noah’s. In what feels like for ever but is likely only a few seconds I feel him give a tiny jolt, but then he immediately relaxes and presses his lips firmly on to mine. He lets go of the jacket, and as I turn further in towards him it falls on to the sand but neither of us cares. Noah’s hands are now cupping my face, and our kiss becomes less experimental and more wanting as we explore each other’s lips and then mouths.

  We break momentarily to catch our breath.

  ‘Noah,’ I gasp, ‘I… I didn’t expect you to kiss like that. You’re quite the dark horse.’

  ‘Clark Kent…’ I’m sure I hear whispered behind me. I turn around, but Malachi and Jess are still sound asleep on the rugs. Perhaps it was just the sea breeze catching on the rocks or whipping along the sand, but I was sure I had heard those words.

  ‘Did you hear that?’ I ask Noah.

  But Noah is only interested in returning his lips to mine.

  ‘Wait just one moment,’ I ask him.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Noah asks anxiously.

  ‘Nothing, I just want to do this.’ I gently lift his glasses from his face and put them carefully in the pocket of his hoody.

  ‘Now then, Superman,’ I tell him, running my fingers seductively down his cheek, ‘show me what you’ve got.’

  Thirty-Six

  I awake the next morning and stare up at the ceiling of my bedroom in Snowdrop Cottage. Nothing odd there – it’s what I usually did when the morning light began to stream through the thin curtains to wake me.

  But today something doesn’t feel right. I’m used to being awoken by the noise of a seagull tapping around on the roof or an early morning delivery van passing down the narrow street on its way to the harbour, but today I realise I’ve been woken by the sound of gentle snoring.

  And then I remember…

  I close my eyes and quickly run over the events of last night after I’d kissed Noah on the beach.

  While Jess and Malachi had continued to doze on the rugs, I’d gathered our things and Noah had tethered the also sleeping dogs with their leads.

  ‘Will they be okay?’ I’d asked worriedly.

  ‘Jess and Malachi? They’ll be fine.’

  ‘No, I meant the dogs. Should we take them with us? Clarice, at least.’

  Noah had grinned. ‘Not if you want any peace. Clarice will scratch at the bedroom door all night unless you let her in, and I’m sure we really don’t want a small dog watching us when we get back to your cottage!’

  ‘No, you might be right there.’

  ‘Jess will take Clarice back to her house, no problem, and Ralph will stay with Malachi. The tide is as far in as it will come so nothing will happen to them, I promise. Unless you’d rather wake them?’

  I’d shaken my head. Where I was going with Noah and what I was planning to do with him was not something I wanted to share with Malachi or anyone else.

  ‘Not changing your mind, are you? Would you rather stay here?’ Noah couldn’t hide the tinge of disappointment in his voice.

  ‘No, of course not. I still want to go – but I think we should leave a note.’

  Noah had waited patiently as I scribbled a quick note and tucked it under Pegasus’s windscreen wipers. Then without looking back, we’d run hand in hand across the sand towards the steps that led back up to the town, quickly slipped on our shoes and continued to run back to Snowdrop Cottage, stopping occasionally to steal another breathless kiss from each other when we could bear the wait no longer.

  When we’d finally got back to the cottage, I’d struggled to get the key into the door because Noah had his arms wrapped around my waist while his lips caressed the back of my neck, making it extremely difficult to concentrate on something usually so simple.

  Finally I’d got the door open and we’d fallen inside with our lips locked together. I’d closed the door to the outside world with my foot and then, without speaking, we’d quickly made our way up the stairs to the bedroom where we’d remained for several eventful hours before falling asleep in the early hours of the morning.

  I feel my closed eyes screw tightly together, partly from embarrassment and partly from pleasure as I remember what those few hours had consisted of.

  Noah might appear quiet, calm and perhaps a little bit dull, but that was quite the opposite of the man I found myself with in Snowdrop Cottage last night. In the same way as antiques shop Noah had proved himself a different person to Detective Flood, the man I’d spent last night with seemed like another version of him altogether. Once Noah’s glasses were removed, he was passionate, loving and extremely sexy, and I found myself having to remember on more than one occasion just who I was with once the bedroom door had closed.

  You really are Clark Kent, I think, smiling to myself.

  I realise the snoring has stopped, and I open one eye.

  ‘You are awake?’ I hear Noah say, and he sits up in the bed next to me as I open the other eye. ‘I wasn’t sure. You were pulling a very odd face – part happy, part pained.’

  ‘Facial exercises,’ I improvise. ‘I do them every morning before I get up.’

  ‘I don’t know why?’ Noah says, leaning over the top of me. ‘I think you look beautiful.’ He leans down a little further and kisses me. I find myself immediately responding, and then I hesitate.

  ‘Something wrong?’ Noah asks, sensing my reluctance.

  ‘No, no, not at all – bathroom!’ I roll out of bed, suddenly aware I’m naked, but I front it out, literally, and make my way to the bathroom.

  ‘Oh lord,’ I whisper, as I sit on the toilet. ‘What have I done?’

  Then I wail again as I wash my hands and see myself in the mirror for the first time this morning.

  It’s a good job Noah hadn’t replaced his glasses before he kissed me just now, or beautiful would have been the last adjective he’d have been using to describe me. Hideous, gruesome or even scary might have been a better way to describe how I looked this morning.

  I had smudged mascara under my eyes, making me look like Noah had punched me rather than seduced me last night, and my hair – well, it was quite clear that it hadn’t been brushed after we’d arrived back from the beach yesterday, and after a night of bedroom gymnastics now looked gale-force wind-swept. The overall effect looked like I was auditioning for a part as one of Macbeth’s witches rather than the romantic lead in a new rom-com.

  I tidy myself up, wrap a bath towel around me and head back to the bedroom, but Noah has gone. Not without making the bed, I note – this was
more like the Noah I knew. He must have replaced his glasses!

  I hear him climbing back up the stairs and he appears at the bedroom door. ‘Breakfast?’ he asks cheerily, pushing his glasses up his nose.

  ‘I’m not sure what I have in…’

  ‘Not a lot, I just looked. I’ll pop down the road and get us something. Back in a bit.’

  ‘Sure,’ I agree, grinning manically, but Noah kisses me anyway before bounding back down the stairs two at a time.

  You have a lot of energy, I’ll give you that, I think, and I grin.

  By the time Noah returns, I’ve got myself dressed into some blue jeans, a striped red and white T-shirt and my flip-flops. I’ve opened the balcony doors to let some fresh air in, and I’ve attempted to organise some breakfast things for whatever Noah was going to bring back from his excursion.

  ‘I just popped to the bakery,’ he says, laying some paper bags on the table. ‘I got some Danish pastries and two coffees – cappuccino, isn’t it?’

  I nod. ‘This is very kind of you.’

  ‘Nonsense, least I could do after, well… you know?’

  I nod and busy myself with transferring the breakfast on to a tray.

  ‘It’s funny,’ Noah says, thinking, ‘Ant was very insistent that I buy a Belgian bun as well as the Danish pastries. Why would he say that, do you think?’

  I smile. Word sure spread fast in St Felix…

  ‘No idea. Shall we eat on the balcony?’ I ask brightly. ‘It’s a lovely sunny morning again.’

  ‘Sounds perfect.’

  We eat our pastries and drink our coffees in the morning sun. We don’t talk about last night as such, only discussing Jess and Malachi and the barbecue. There may not be an elephant in the room while we sit out here in the fresh sea air, but it feels like there’s a huge something on the balcony with us that neither of us dare mention.

  ‘Thanks again for offering to keep Daisy-Rose in your back yard,’ I say, finishing off the last of my coffee. ‘That was good of you.’

  ‘Maybe I won’t have to offer my services any more,’ Noah says, smiling knowingly.

  ‘How do you mean?’

  ‘Well, I thought you might consider staying a while longer in St Felix now…’

  ‘Why would you think that?’ I ask foolishly.

  Noah’s expectant expression diminishes slightly. ‘I don’t know… perhaps because of what happened last night? I don’t know about you, but that meant something to me. It’s not something I have a habit of doing, I can assure you.’

  Oh lord…

  ‘I thought we were getting on well, Ana. I really like you.’

  ‘And I like you too, Noah, but —’

  ‘— but not enough to want to stick around – I get it. Sorry, silly mistake to make.’ Noah looks down at the half-eaten pastry in his hand. He lays it down carefully on his plate, still looking at it.

  ‘No, it’s not silly,’ I protest. ‘You just took me unawares, that’s all. I wasn’t expecting you to say that.’

  Noah glances up at me now. ‘What were you expecting me to say then? Thanks for last night, I’ve got what I wanted, now I’m out of here?’

  That was more like what I was used to.

  ‘No, of course not. But… my stay in St Felix… it was never going to be permanent, was it?’

  ‘Apparently not.’ Noah stands up. ‘Perhaps I’d better leave. I’ve made enough of a fool of myself already. If I stay and keep talking I might end up looking like a complete idiot!’ He makes his way towards the open French windows.

  ‘No, please don’t go,’ I say, grabbing his arm. ‘Like I said, you took me by surprise.’

  ‘I knew I shouldn’t have listened to Jess,’ Noah mumbles, pulling his arm away as he stomps inside.

  ‘What do you mean “listened to Jess”?’ I call, following him. ‘What’s she been saying?’ I chase after Noah as he heads for the stairs.

  ‘It really doesn’t matter now,’ Noah calls, as he disappears down the staircase. ‘You’ve made your feelings very clear. I should be grateful to you – at least you haven’t strung me along.’

  ‘Noah, stop it, please! It does matter.’ I thunder down the stairs after him, but my foot lands awkwardly in my flip-flop and I stumble down the last couple of steps, landing in a heap on the hard kitchen floor.

  ‘Ouch!’ I cry, just as Noah reaches for the front door handle. He turns to see me rubbing my foot.

  ‘Are you okay?’ he asks, rushing back. ‘Have you hurt yourself?’

  ‘Nothing broken,’ I say, attempting to stand up.

  Noah silently takes hold of me and helps me up.

  ‘I’m fine, really,’ I tell him. ‘I thought I might have hurt my ankle but it seems fine now I’ve put weight on it. It’s just my pride that’s a bit bruised, and probably my bum.’

  ‘I think that might be my problem too,’ Noah says, moving away from me now I’m upright again.

  ‘Your bum or your pride?’ I ask, smiling a little.

  To my enormous relief, I see a half smile twitch at Noah’s lips too. ‘The latter.’

  ‘I’m sorry I didn’t say the right thing upstairs,’ I tell him. ‘You took me by surprise.’

  ‘I know – you keep saying that. Look, don’t be sorry. Your answer was honest, and I always appreciate honesty. Even if I don’t always like what I hear. I read the situation incorrectly, that’s all. As often happens to me in matters of the heart, I got it wrong. I should be the one apologising.’

  ‘Don’t start that again! I thought I’d cured you of saying sorry.’

  Noah gazes thoughtfully at me. ‘Ana, you’ve cured me of much more than that. If you only knew how much you’ve actually done for me.’

  Then he turns and quietly lets himself out of the door, while I can only stand and watch him go.

  Thirty-Seven

  ‘Hey, Malachi,’ I say sadly, as I open the cottage door later that morning. I’d rushed downstairs hoping it would be Noah returning, and I feel guilty that I’m disappointed it’s only Malachi and Ralph.

  ‘Not interrupting anything, am I?’ Malachi says, peering behind me.

  ‘No, why would you be?’

  ‘I just wondered if yer man Noah was still here. I got your note,’ he says, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket. ‘Very nice!’

  ‘No, he’s not,’ I reply gloomily. ‘Do you want to come in?’

  ‘What’s wrong with you?’ Malachi says, beckoning Ralph inside and closing the door behind them. ‘I thought you’d be all rainbows and unicorns this morning. Oh… was his unicorn a little disappointing last night?’

  ‘Malachi! Is that all you think about?’

  ‘Well —’ Malachi begins, but I cut him off.

  ‘Forget it, I don’t want to know, and for your information, Noah was amazing last night.’

  ‘Amazing… High praise indeed. So where is he now – resting?’

  ‘I don’t know, probably at his shop.’

  Malachi scans my face. ‘Uh-oh, that doesn’t sound like the happy afterglow of someone who’s had an amazing night. What happened?’

  ‘Come upstairs,’ I say, beckoning him towards the sitting room, ‘and I’ll tell you.’

  ‘Ah,’ is all Malachi says, when I’ve finished telling him a very condensed version of the events of last night, and a very detailed one of what had happened this morning.

  The French windows are still open, but we’ve retreated indoors because grey clouds are beginning to multiply and join together in the skies now the tide has changed direction.

  ‘Ah – is that all you’ve got to say?’ I ask incredulously. ‘Usually I can’t stop you talking and giving me your opinion.’

  ‘A man’s pride can be easily dented,’ Malachi replies, scrunching up his face, ‘and it sounds like you’ve knocked a great big wedge in Noah’s.’

  ‘Why? I didn’t say he’d done anything wrong. In fact, quite the opposite…’

  ‘All right, enough details! No, you di
dn’t say that, but you did turn him down.’

  ‘No, I didn’t… I just panicked a bit when he seemed to assume I’d be staying here in St Felix. Like us spending the night together automatically meant we were a couple.’

  ‘Did he actually say he wanted to be a couple?’

  ‘No, but he asked if I might consider staying on longer.’

  Malachi looks thoughtful for a moment.