To Turn Full Circle

by Linda Mitchelmore

  She spread her arms wide to take in the small cove, empty now of people. Not that many ventured down the rough steps and clambered over the sharp rocks to get to the sand, which became just a thin strip when the tide was high.

  But the tide was far out now. Emma kicked off her shoes. Then she unfastened her stockings and took them off, too – rolled them up and tucked them in her shoes. She wriggled her toes and let the sand, warmed by the sun in the day, push up between them.

  ‘I’m beginning to think nowhere could be as lovely as this. Made lovelier because you’re here, too.’

  ‘Flatterer,’ Emma said, tickling Seth in the ribs before running off.

  Running off, knowing he would chase her.

  He did. Caught her. Folded her into his arms.

  ‘I was so jealous, Em,’ Seth said, ‘when I saw you in Matthew Caunter’s arms that night. The night …’

  ‘I was sixteen. I’m sorry you saw what you saw and especially after waiting so long for me, but it was an innocent kiss. A thank you, and a goodbye. You do believe me?’

  ‘I do now.’

  ‘And it was my birthday.’

  ‘I hardly need reminding,’ Seth said, kissing the tip of her nose. ‘And you’ll be having another one soon.’

  ‘So I will,’ Emma said. ‘My eighteenth.’

  ‘Almost a woman,’ Seth said, grinning at her.

  ‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’ Emma said, mock-outraged. Although she could guess. They had only just stopped short of making love more than once. It was only a matter of time before … Emma felt a frisson of excitement ripple through her.

  ‘Oh, I think you know,’ Seth said. ‘What woman could resist a man who’s kept all the letters she’s written him?’

  ‘You’ve kept all my letters?’

  ‘Didn’t I just say?’ Seth said, stealing another quick kiss. ‘Every single one. Got a bundle of them, I have, all tied with garden string because it was all I could find.’

  ‘Well, there’s a thing. I’ve kept the handful you wrote me, too.’

  Thank goodness Seth had thought to look in the chest of drawers in her room and clear the contents into her carpet bag.

  ‘And tied with garden string?’

  ‘You know they’re not. I used the ribbon from a petticoat I grew out of. I thought if I threw them away, burned them, then I would have lost the little bit I had of you – the paper you’d touched, the stamp you’d licked to put on the envelope.’

  ‘D’you think we’re destined to be together?’

  ‘Because we’ve both been through rough times? Or because …’

  Emma couldn’t say the words that were in her head – because we love one another.

  Seth hadn’t said he loved her yet, even though he’d demonstrated that he did in so many other ways. And for her to say it first, well it would be too forward, wouldn’t it? Not seemly.

  ‘Because, Emma Le Goff, despite your quick tongue and your impulsiveness ….’

  ‘The way I kissed you in front of Mrs Phipps?’

  ‘Brazen hussy. Kiss me again because I’ve forgotten what it felt like.’

  Emma duly obliged. And somehow in the kissing they had gone from a standing position, to sitting down – their arms wrapped around one another – on the sand. Seth’s hand brushed her breast as they sat and it felt right to Emma; it was what she wanted – to start on her journey to become a woman.

  If Seth wanted to lay her down on the sand, lift her skirt and make love to her right now then she probably wouldn’t put up any resistance. Life was too short to live it by other people’s standards – look how short her mama’s had been. And her papa’s. And Johnnie’s. And Seth’s ma’s.

  ‘I’ve been thinking, sweetheart,’ Seth said as he kissed the top of her head. ‘You won’t have anyone to give you away when you get married.’

  Emma snuggled deeper into Seth’s arms – he’d say he loved her in a minute, she knew it.

  ‘Dr Shaw might, if I asked him. He’s always been kind to me. But getting married means a wedding. June’s a lovely month for a wedding, I’ve always thought,’ she said.

  ‘But that’s almost another year away now. Just before Christmas would be a lovely time.’

  ‘Oh, no,’ Emma said. She kissed the tip of Seth’s nose to let him know she wasn’t telling him off, only joking with him. ‘I wouldn’t want shop flowers, only wild ones. Wild sweet peas in a posy and dog roses in my hair …’

  ‘You’d look beautiful carrying a cabbage,’ Seth said.

  ‘Oh you. Anyway, it’s usually best if a girl’s told that she’s loved and that she’s asked before she gets married. And I haven’t heard you say either of those things yet.’ Emma put a hand to her ear, pretended to listen hard.

  ‘I didn’t think I needed to, Em,’ Seth said. ‘But just so we set the record straight …’

  ‘I love you, too,’ Emma said.

  There, she’d been the first to say it even if Seth had been the first to show it. Did it matter which way around the love came as long as they reached the same place together eventually?

  ‘As much as I love you, Em?’

  ‘Oh, I expect so,’ Emma said. ‘Every bit as much as that.’

  Seth wrapped the blanket he’d brought around them.

  ‘Show me,’ he said.

  So Emma did. As the sun began to slide down the sky and the sea turned crimson, she kissed Seth until her lips were sore and her face ached. Their bodies came together there on the sand, their souls and their hearts hungry for the union.

  Then they drifted in and out of sleep, sated from their love-making. Emma opened her eyes to find the sun quite gone and the moon rising.

  ‘Wake up, sleepyhead,’ Seth said. ‘Time to go. Time for me to make an honest woman of you.’

  ‘Oh, not too honest,’ Emma said. She dropped a gentle kiss on his lips. ‘I quite enjoyed being dishonest just now …’

  About the Author

  Linda Mitchelmore

  Linda has lived in Devon all her life, where the wonderful scenery and history give her endless ideas for novels and short stories. Linda has over 200 short stories published worldwide and has also won, or been short-listed, in many short-story writing competitions. In 2004 she was awarded The Katie Forde Bursary by the Romantic Novelists’ Association. In 2011 she won the Short Story Radio Romance Prize.

  Married to Roger for over 40 years, they have two grown-up children and two grandchildren. As well as her writing, Linda loves gardening, walking, cycling and riding pillion on her husband’s vintage motorbikes.

  To Turn Full Circle is Linda’s debut novel and the first in her trilogy.

  Follow Linda –

  on Facebook: http://en-gb.facebook.com/people/Linda-Mitchelmore/100002529352904

  and Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/lindamitchelmor

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  Choc Lit novels are selected by genuine readers like yourself. We only publish stories our Choc Lit Tasting Panel want to see in print. Our reviews and awards speak for themselves.

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