A Seaside Escape: A feel-good romance to warm your heart this winter

by Lisa Hobman

  *

  June 2015

  Mallory was snapped back to the present by a knock on the door. She answered to a rather giddy-looking Greg who stood holding a bunch of helium balloons with ‘Thirty Today!’ emblazoned on them. She giggled when he began to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ purposefully out of tune and far too loudly.

  She grabbed the front of his jacket and yanked him into the house. ‘Come in, you nutter.’ She felt she ought to save the poor neighbours’ ears.

  He had a little gift bag which he handed over when she had shut the door. She opened the bag to find a wrapped parcel inside.

  ‘Oh, I get it, it gets smaller the more layers I take off it, eh?’ she teased.

  ‘Na. That’s it. Last layer,’ he assured her.

  She ripped off the paper and took out the box. It was a set of new craft pens. ‘Oh, Greg, that’s lovely. Thanks ever so much.’

  His cheeks flushed. ‘There’s something else in there too.’ He pointed at the bag so she delved back inside.

  She took out a little black velvet box. ‘Oh.’ Her voice was almost a whisper as she held on to the box. Her eyes darted nervously between it and Greg who had a small smile curving at the corners of his mouth. She opened it and gasped. Inside was a silver chain with a silver pendant hanging from it.

  ‘It’s a Celtic knot,’ Greg informed her. ‘It’s the symbol for friendship.’ He smiled.

  Her eyes welled up with tears. ‘Oh, Greg, it’s beautiful.’ She threw her arms around him and hugged him. A sudden unwelcomed heat surged through her body at the contact and she gulped, pulling away and stepping back immediately.

  Greg ran his hand through his hair, his eyes looking anywhere but hers.

  Ignoring what had happened, she held out the necklace. ‘Here put it on me.’

  He pulled her hair around to one side and placed the chain around her neck. He fastened the clasp and then let her hair fall back over her shoulders. She turned to face him.

  ‘Gorgeous.’ He smiled.

  She walked over to the little porthole mirror near the front door. ‘Oh, I love it, Greg. Thank you so much.’

  ‘Well, I figured you’re the closest thing I have to a best friend around here, so…’

  ‘Well, I’m honoured to be your friend. It’s such a thoughtful gift. They both are.’

  Greg cleared his throat and ran his hand through his hair again. ‘Anyway, it’s all arranged, I’ll pick you up at half seven. We’ll go over for a couple of drinks and then we’ll go down to the beach for that steak, okay?’

  ‘Wow, you have it all organised.’ She appreciated how kind he was being and how much of an effort he was making to ensure her thirtieth birthday went with a bang and not a fizzle.

  ‘Aye, I have. Make sure you wear something very smart; the beach is an exclusive place to dine, you know.’ He put on his best ‘posh’ accent and winked. ‘And it’s quite warm out,’ he added. He opened the front door and turned to her. ‘I know it’s not the same as you’d wanted, but I hope you still enjoy your birthday celebrations, Mallory.’ He smiled.

  ‘Oh, I’m sure I will. So far so good.’ She gestured to her necklace and he walked away towards the bridge without a backwards glance.

  She ran herself a bath and added some relaxing essential oils, poured a glass of her favourite red wine, and climbed in. The warm water was soothing and she began to relax whilst the heady aroma of jasmine filled her senses. She couldn’t help still feeling a little disappointed with her so-called friends. This was a milestone birthday. Plus, it was her first birthday since Sam had passed; he always made such a fuss of her.

  Tears stung the back of her eyes but she fought them. No, you’re not going to do this Mallory Westerman! she chastised herself. This is your birthday and you will bloody well smile and enjoy yourself.

  Once the water had gone cold, and she resembled a shrivelled-up prune, she climbed out of the bath and wrapped herself in a huge, soft bath sheet. She surveyed her miniscule wardrobe of clothes that had now been promoted from the suitcase under the bed. She found a long floaty skirt in shades of turquoise and black and slipped it on, feeling unsure as to whether she would end up freezing at the beach. Oh sod it; I’ll take a blanket just in case, she decided. She accompanied the skirt with a pale turquoise fitted T-shirt and slid on her favourite flat, jewelled flip flops and her short denim jacket.

  Greg called, as promised, right on time at half seven.

  She opened the door and did a twirl. ‘Will I do for the posh dining experience?’ she asked with a smirk.

  ‘You look… great.’ Greg seemed a little taken aback, but Mallory presumed she had misread his response. ‘Come on; let’s go get a birthday drink.’ He held out his elbow to her and she linked her arm around his.

  They wandered over to the pub and as they got to the door Greg opened it and gestured for her to go inside before him.

  ‘Why thank you, such a gentleman,’ she kidded as she walked through the door.

  ‘SURPRISE!’ the pub full of people all shouted in unison.

  Mallory stood there frozen, open-mouthed, as she was bombarded by party poppers, camera flashes and cheers all at once. She turned to Greg who was leaning against the door with his arms folded and a smile playing on his lips. He looked quite pleased with himself for his part in the deception.

  She gasped and pointed to him, narrowing her eyes. ‘You knew?’

  He held up his thumb and finger. ‘Little bit,’ he chuckled as he gestured.

  All at once Mallory was surrounded by people hugging her. As she spotted Josie and Brad she burst into a flood of happy tears. Brad lifted her and spun her around and Josie was crying too.

  Mallory sobbed, ‘But… but you rang! You weren’t coming!’

  Josie hugged her friend tightly. ‘You daft cow. Do you think I’d miss this? Not a chance. We were always going to be here, but we were the first people Greg rang when he decided to plan this thing.’

  Mallory froze. ‘Greg did all this?’ She covered her mouth with her hand in total shock.

  ‘He sure did. Look who else is here.’ Josie stepped aside and Mallory was swept into a group hug by Renee, Ryan and Cara. Cara was holding a cute little blonde baby boy.

  ‘Dylan?’ she cried. ‘Oh, he’s gorgeous Cara.’ She dabbed her eyes with a hanky someone had handed her. ‘It’s so good to see you all.’

  Mallory was hugged from all sides by neighbours and friends. Colin and Christine from the shop, Ron, Aileen, Stella, and a group of friends she had made since working in the pub – they were all there. The only one missing was Sam.

  Mallory heard Greg’s familiar voice over the pubs PA system. ‘Evening party people!’ he shouted as if he was some famous radio DJ hosting ‘Party in The Park’ or something similar. It made Mallory giggle. ‘Well, we’re all here tonight to celebrate the fact that Mallory is and I quote “getting old”.’

  Everyone laughed and turned to look at her. She felt her cheeks heat and decided she’d get him for that.

  Greg continued, ‘I reckon the first number tonight requires a bit of audience participation. Which as you may know is not something I usually encourage. You all know the words and this time you can sing along!’

  The crowd cheered and everyone broke into a loud rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ and then the pub erupted into applause and whistles. Mallory’s face could have split in two with the grin.

  When the ruckus had died down, Greg smiled over at her. She mouthed the words ‘Thank you’ at him. And with a nod he mouthed back, ‘You’re welcome.’

  ‘Right, that’s enough of you lot singing! It’s my turn now and you know what I always say?’

  Everyone shouted in unison, ‘DON’T BLOODY SING ALONG!’

  Mallory threw her head back with laughter.

  ‘Aye, that’s right and don’t you forget it.’ He put his plectrum in his mouth whilst he adjusted the guitar on his lap. He took hold of the plectrum and spoke again, ‘Okay, now as we know, Mallory is th
e big three oh today.’ Someone whooped. ‘Aye and so this night is dedicated to her. I’ll play loads of her favourite songs, that’s if her friends have told me the right ones and I’m not going to get into trouble later.’ A rumble of laughter rolled around the pub. ‘This first one is a song I dedicated to my good friend once before.’ He played the opening bars of ‘About a Girl’. He sang the song so well and with such feeling and Mallory realised she was grateful for Greg’s friendship and how he had helped her to settle in to her new life.

  Throughout the night, the audience was delighted with some fantastic music. Greg had clearly been speaking to Josie as she had pretty much given him a soundtrack to their history:

  ‘This next one is by a band who you may have heard of. Foo Fighters.’ The audience cheered. ‘You’ve never heard of them?’ he joked. ‘Oh well, at least that means no singing! This is a little song they did a few years back, it’s called “Learn to fly”.’

  ‘Apparently, I’m told this next one will take Mallory back to her shoe-gazing days. It’s called, “Wonderwall” by Oasis…’

  ‘A little insight into Mallory’s teenage years next. I’m told this one reminds her of her first love. A long-haired lout from the next village to hers. It’s called “Runaway Train” and it was done by a bunch of long-haired louts called Soul Asylum.’

  ‘Now everyone will probably remember this next song being done by a band called the Commodores, but I have to say my favourite version was by an alternative rock band called Faith No More, it’s called “Easy”.’

  The audience totally disobeyed Greg at this point and all joined in on the choruses, singing loudly and mostly out of tune. Greg could hardly sing for laughing.

  ‘This next one is a beautiful song that I’m going to throw in just because I love it. So there. And you can’t stop me ’cause I have a mic and you don’t! It’s by a local fella called Dougie McLean.’ A loud applause ensued. ‘It’s called “Caledonia”.’

  ‘Now there can’t be a single person in this place who has never heard of Neil Diamond?’ Again, there was loud applause and cheers. ‘Aye, everybody loves Neil Diamond. It’s one his best loved songs, “I am, I said”. I’m told it was Mallory’s folks’ favourite song, so this is for them, God bless them. No bloody singing along!’ Once again, his demands were ignored and the audience erupted into song.

  ‘Now I’m personally going to dedicate this song to the birthday girl. It’s by one of her favourite bands and mine too, but the message is loud and clear, do you hear me, Mallory? Fleetwood Mac “Don’t Stop”.’

  Mallory gasped at the touching gesture. She smiled and Greg’s smile beamed back in return.

  He sang with such conviction and Mallory loved the sentiment behind the words. Renee gave her shoulders an affirming squeeze and a little wink as they swayed to the music.

  The party had been wonderful. Greg had played so many of her favourite songs and had even danced with her to the jukebox when he had taken a break, twirling her around rather like a rag doll and making her howl with laughter. The night was drawing to a close and Mallory had enjoyed every single minute. She had been presented with flowers and cards. Colin had made her birthday cake; it was his wonderful specialty carrot cake complete with candles, but thankfully not thirty of them.

  Greg began to speak again. ‘Well, I’m hoping the birthday girl has had as wonderful night as the rest of us, eh? It’s been great to have you all here. But I have to say, when it comes to singing, don’t go giving up your day jobs. Leave it to the professionals. Know what I’m saying?’ The audience booed and heckled in fun. He shrugged at them as if to say, What? You know I’m right! ‘I’ll finish tonight with another of Mally’s favourites and I have to say that it’s grown on me this week whilst I’ve been practising it. It’s one from a while past and it’s by a bloke with an interesting name, if nothing else. He’s a mighty talented guitarist, not unlike myself.’ A groan rumbled around the room. ‘Okay, okay. It’s by Newton Faulkner and is a beautiful song for a beautiful… ah… friend and it goes like this.’ He used the guitar as a multitude of instruments, just like the songs composer. Mallory’s eyes glistened and after the musical intro, Greg began to sing ‘Dream Catch Me’.

  His eyes were closed whilst he sang, but suddenly he opened them and made direct eye contact with Mallory at a very poignant line in the song. Oh my word! Mallory’s breath caught in her throat, looking behind her to check if he was looking at someone else, but he wasn’t. His gaze remained fixed on Mallory’s for the rest of the song, a sweet smile playing on his lips. Mallory shivered.

  She loved that song so much, but she felt strange when he sang the words, especially when they were directed at her. It didn’t seem right.

  Josie hugged her friend, singing along and a little tipsy. ‘Oh, Mally, this takes me back. And I think maybe Greg is a tiny bit taken with you, don’t you?’ Hearing Josie say the words made her cringe. She and Greg were just friends. They both knew it.

  At the end of the evening, gradually, everyone filtered out of the pub. Renee and her family had rented a cottage and would be around for a week. Josie and Brad had stayed at the pub the night before, but were going to crash with Mallory and travel home Monday.

  Greg came over to say goodnight as she had said the last farewell to Ron who hugged and kissed her cheek. He waited patiently for Ron to leave. ‘Och shit, Mallory, you’re looking old now you know,’ he teased. She hit him on the arm and he pretended to fall over. ‘Have you had a good time?’ he asked.

  ‘The best. Thanks so much for doing this for me, Greg. It was so sweet of you.’

  ‘No bother. That’s what friends do. And like I said, it’s my fortieth in a wee while.’ He wiggled his eyebrows.

  She rolled her eyes. ‘Well, I’m guessing you won’t let me forget that.’

  ‘Am I allowed to hug you?’ he asked, opening his arms. ‘I think I made a total balls up of the last time I hugged you. You know? The incident I now like to call “Chalkboard-gate”. I cringe whenever I think about it. What a complete tube.’ He laughed, shaking his head.

  She walked into his open arms for a hug and he embraced her briefly but strongly.

  ‘Thanks again, Greg. You are a really good friend,’ she told him, looking directly in his eyes as she said it.

  ‘Aye, you’re not so bad yourself, matey.’

  She reached up and kissed his cheek. His sandalwood cologne filled her nostrils and her heart did a strange skip as she shivered again. What the heck is wrong with me? She was immediately angry with herself for even noticing his cologne, let alone allowing it to have any kind of effect on her.

  She pulled away and said goodnight before grabbing Josie so they could make their way home. Mallory walked so fast that Josie’s little legs could only just keep up. Brad managed quite easily, but did ask what the rush was about. Mallory didn’t answer.

  When they got inside, Josie whispered something to Brad who went out to the van, which he had moved to Mallory’s house at some point during the evening. He collected their bags and took them straight up to the guest room that they had claimed as theirs last time they were there.

  Josie stood arms folded as Mallory removed her denim jacket and hung it up on the coat pegs by the door. ‘Right, missy, spill the beans will you.’

  ‘What are you on about?’ Mallory knew exactly what she was getting at, but didn’t want to talk about it.

  Josie tapped her foot like she did when she was annoyed. ‘You know very well what I mean. Something’s up with you and I want to know what it is.’

  ‘Josie, if you have something to say, just say it.’ Mallory didn’t want to be the first.

  ‘You’ve been a bit distant ever since Greg sang that last song,’ she pointed out accusingly.

  ‘Yeah? So? It was weird; he was looking at me as he sang that line.’

  ‘What line?’

  Tears began to sting Mallory’s eyes and she raised her voice. ‘You know what line!’

  ‘Why
don’t you remind me?’ Josie demanded.

  Mallory sighed, running her shaking hands through her hair. ‘The line that talks about falling in love. That bloody line! All right?’ Tears escaped her eyes and slid, unwelcomed, down her face.

  Josie threw her hands up in exasperation. ‘I knew it. I bloody knew it. And now you’re worrying you’ve led him on, or what people will think if they notice he has feelings for you, and what Sam’s family will think if they notice? Am I right?’

  Mallory nodded and a sob escaped her lips as she slumped onto the sofa.

  ‘Mallory, you are not…’ she tilted Mallory’s chin so that she looked at her. ‘Hey, listen to me, you are not responsible for other people falling for you. Well… you are a bit because you’re so lovely… but that’s not what I mean… what I mean is people can’t help who they fall in love with or when it happens. It’s not your fault. It doesn’t mean you have to reciprocate. And it doesn’t mean you’re betraying Sam in any way. Do you understand?’

  Mallory wiped her eyes and nodded. ‘I do understand, but I really like Greg and I don’t want to hurt him. I may be totally missing the mark here anyway. Maybe it was just a coincidence that he looked at me? Maybe I’m wrong. He does keep saying I’m his best friend and he keeps calling me “matey” so I could be imagining it?’

  Josie sat beside her friend and put her arm around her shoulders. Mallory had always been guilty of putting other’s feelings before her own.

  ‘Mally, honeybun, Brad and I saw him looking at you on more than one occasion tonight. He threw the party for you; he arranged everyone to come. He somehow managed to get people here from Canada for goodness’ sake; he arranged the food; he learned all your favourite songs. He bought that beautiful necklace. I’m sorry to be the one to pass on the news, babe, but he’s smitten.’

  The undesired words hit Mallory like a ton of bricks and she burst into tears again. She was sure that this was the end of their friendship. After all, she didn’t feel the same. She couldn’t.