The Sunflower Cottage Breakfast Club

by Lynsey James

  He nodded and squeezed my hand. ‘It was amazing. Listen, I’m sorry about everything, OK? I didn’t make your time here very easy and I’m sorry. You deserved better than that; I judged you before I got to know you. And about that argument we had in the living room… I only said what I said because I thought you were running away from something you really wanted. You’ve got that amazing new job to look forward to, haven’t you? Bet you can’t wait to get started.’

  I pursed my lips and threw the duvet back. ‘Yeah, it’ll be great. I’d better go off for a shower; I’m heading off after breakfast.’

  Any excuse to avoid talking about how I really felt.

  *

  Noah insisted on making my final breakfast at Sunflower Cottage and said I could have whatever I wanted.

  ‘Has to be the chocolate pancakes,’ I replied.

  ‘Your wish is my command!’ He turned his back and began preparing the pancake batter.

  ‘This is the last time I’ll be having breakfast here,’ I said, feeling my heart sink.

  Rose reached over and patted my hand. ‘You’d better come and visit us now, you hear? You’ll always be welcome in Luna Bay.’

  I smiled and tried not to cry. The last thing I wanted to do was spoil my final breakfast with two people I cared for deeply.

  Just then, the doorbell rang.

  ‘Who could that be at this time of the morning?’ Rose asked.

  ‘I’ll answer it,’ I said, getting up from my seat.

  I padded down the hall and opened the door. There was an oily little man standing on the other side, dressed in a sharp grey suit and carrying a clipboard.

  ‘Hello there, miss,’ he said with a ratty little smile. ‘Are you the proprietor of this establishment?’

  ‘Who wants to know?’

  ‘My name’s Tim Knight. I’m the lead architect Walter Marshall Hotels hired to design the resort being built here. I wondered if it would be OK to come in and have a quick word? Talk schedules, dates for you guys moving out and the like? Just so we know when work can start.’

  He reached forward and offered his hand to shake. His suit was immaculately pressed and there was even a little square handkerchief in his left breast pocket. His brown hair was thinning on top and his pinched features were forced into a congenial expression.

  I didn’t say anything for a moment as I tried to work out what the hell the man was talking about. He adjusted his glasses and gave a cough, making me jump.

  ‘I think you’ve come to the wrong place, mate. There’s no resort being built here; the owners sold the place to Walter Marshall Hotels but, as far as I know, they’re keeping it pretty much as it is.’

  I saw Tim’s megawatt smile shrink ever so slightly. ‘This is Sunflower Cottage, isn’t it?’

  I nodded. ‘Yeah, that’s right.’

  ‘Then I’ve come to the right place.’ He moved to take a step over the threshold. ‘I’ve been commissioned to design a luxury beachside resort to stand on this plot of land. It’ll have forty rooms, a swimming pool, a Jacuzzi, a gym and an on-site spa. Don’t tell me you haven’t been informed about this?’

  ‘No, I bloody have not!’ I exclaimed. ‘I’m the business development manager from Walter Marshall and nobody’s mentioned anything to me about having an architect come to draw up plans! Sorry, I’m not having it.’

  Just then, Noah came to join me in the hall. ‘Emily, your pancakes are ready… Who’s this?’

  I took a deep breath before making introductions. ‘Noah, this is Tim Knight; he’s an architect that Walter Marshall Hotels have sent to draw up plans for a luxury resort. Tim, this is Noah. He helps run Sunflower Cottage.’

  ‘Pleasure to make your acquaintance.’ Tim offered a hand, but nobody took it.

  ‘What do you mean, a luxury resort?’ Noah’s voice was eerily measured and calm. ‘I thought you said your company was going to keep this place as it is.’

  ‘I thought they were; honestly, Noah, I know nothing about this! I’ll give Paul a ring and find out what the hell’s going on.’

  Tim gave another small, loud cough and adjusted his thick-framed glasses.

  ‘Excuse me, but time’s pressing on and I do have other appointments to get to, you know. Can you sort out whatever miscommunication you’ve had later, please? We have schedules to discuss!’ Tim’s voice bristled with anger and he made another attempt to step inside.

  ‘We’re discussing no schedules and if you try and come onto this property again, I’ll ring the police. Now, kindly fuck off and tell whoever you need to tell that Sunflower Cottage is staying where it is.’ Noah looked as though he was ready to swing for the oily little architect.

  Tim’s thin, pencil-like body stiffened and he stuck his chin in the air. ‘We have a legally binding contract, you know. There’s nothing you can do to stop us.’

  Noah bared his teeth in what was supposed to be a smile. ‘You can shove that contract where the sun doesn’t shine. And there’s plenty I could do to stop you; want to stick around and find out what?’

  Tim gulped. ‘You haven’t heard the last of this. Prepare to vacate your property.’

  He spun on his heel and retreated down the gravel drive to where his silver BMW was parked haphazardly.

  ‘For such a well-turned-out guy, you’d think he could park his stupidly expensive car!’ I laughed to try and lighten the mood a little.

  Judging by the thunderous expression on Noah’s face, it hadn’t worked. Hurt was etched into his features as he looked at me with sorrow in his eyes.

  ‘Why the hell didn’t you tell me about this?’ he asked, his voice eerily calm and measured.

  ‘Because I didn’t know about it, I swear! You think I want to see this place turned into a luxury resort?! Of course I don’t!’

  ‘Well, that’s what’s going to happen, according to that slimy little shit! How could you possibly not have known about this?’ Noah stormed back to the kitchen and I took off in hot pursuit.

  ‘What on earth’s going on?’ Rose asked, hobbling out of her seat. ‘Who was that?’

  Noah looked like he wanted to explode with anger, but managed to keep it under control. ‘Do you want to tell her, or shall I?’

  I swallowed hard, hoping to keep a fresh wave of tears from spilling out. ‘Rose… I… I’m really sorry to have to tell you this, but my company’s decided that… Well, they want to demolish Sunflower Cottage. They’re planning to build some sort of luxury hotel in its place. I’m really sorry, Rose. I didn’t know about any of this until the bloke turned up on the doorstep. Please don’t be angry.’

  It took a moment for Rose’s true feelings to become apparent. At first I thought she wasn’t going to react at all, that maybe, just maybe, things would be OK.

  ‘Get out.’

  Her voice was just like Noah’s had been: calm and measured to scary proportions.

  ‘Rose, I swear to you I had no idea about this. They told me it was just going to be cosmetic changes then we’d be open for business. I didn’t know that they—’

  ‘So you’re some high-flying executive and you had no idea they were planning to turn this gorgeous B&B into some faceless corporate monstrosity? Forgive me if I don’t believe you! I may not have liked your colleagues who came before you, but none of them tried to pull the wool over my eyes like you have! You’ve wormed your way in here, making us believe we could trust you, when all the time you knew exactly what they were planning! Now, get out and don’t come back!’

  Rose’s cheeks had turned flaming red, her eyes ablaze with fury. I turned to Noah, who stood with his arms folded and his face set into a stony expression. I gave him what I hoped was a pleading look, but it didn’t have any effect.

  ‘You heard her.’ His voice was flat and toneless. ‘Pack your stuff and get out.’

  *

  I didn’t waste much time in preparing to leave. Noah stood in the doorway, watching me as I threw my stuff into my suitcase. Dixie sat obediently at his fee
t, her ears back and her head bowed low to the ground.

  I dragged my suitcase off the bed and it landed with a thud on the wooden floor.

  ‘You can think what you like about me,’ I said, staring directly into Noah’s eyes. ‘But I didn’t know what Walter Marshall Hotels was planning. Do you really think I want to see this place flattened and replaced with some horrible resort?’

  He didn’t say anything and dropped his gaze to the little white dog sitting at his feet.

  ‘That says it all.’

  I marched out of the room and down the stairs, turning for a final time to say goodbye to the place I’d come to love so much. Rose was in the kitchen, judging by the smell of fresh baking wafting into the hall. I thought about going in to say I was leaving, but suspected my presence probably wouldn’t be welcome.

  Instead, I opened the door and left Sunflower Cottage for what I was sure was the last time.

  Chapter 26

  I stuffed my suitcase in Cilla’s boot, ready to head back to Scotland. There was nothing left for me in Luna Bay; I may have got Rose to sign over Sunflower Cottage, but now it was going to be destroyed. Plus, I hadn’t managed to find out anything else about Derek. The sooner I was back in Glasgow, the better. I couldn’t believe I’d ever even considered staying.

  I leaned on the side of the car and dialled Paul’s number, determined to find out as much about the deal as I could.

  ‘Hello?’ He sounded utterly exhausted and a bit slurred too.

  ‘What’s all this about knocking Sunflower Cottage down?! Cosmetic changes, you said. This is a bit more than a lick of paint and some new carpets, Paul!’

  He sighed and I heard him rub a hand down his scratchy face. ‘Did you not read the contracts, Emily? I thought you knew we were planning to knock that place down and build a luxury beachside resort. Why do you think we wanted it so badly? That’s prime land it’s sitting on! It’s close to major cities, the beach and there’s a load of amenities right on the doorstep. We’d be pretty silly not to take that chance.’

  ‘No, no, no; you’re not pulling that crap with me!’ I yelled. ‘If you were planning to bulldoze the place, I should’ve been told about it before I came. That isn’t the kind of thing you just sneak into the contracts without telling me. Since when do we ever demolish places? We usually go in, do a bit of building work to improve things, then it’s open for business! Why didn’t you tell me this before I came down here?’

  ‘Didn’t think I had to,’ he replied lazily. ‘I know what you’re like, Emily; you don’t let sentimental crap get in the way of a business deal. You go in, get the job done and Bob’s your uncle. You don’t let yourself get tangled up in what happens to a place after you close a deal; it’s why you’re one of our best executives. We know how lucky we are to have you. Come next week, you’ll be back where you belong and that crappy little B&B will be flattened. You should see the blueprints; there’s going to be a spa, a gym, a beauty therapy suite…’

  ‘You,’ I said, ‘are a fucking snake. You’ve got no idea how amazing this place is; people love it here and, if you take it away, you’ll have a full-scale uprising on your hands! Is that really what you want – bad PR for the company? A luxury resort isn’t what Luna Bay needs, Paul. What they need is the guesthouse they’ve loved for years.’

  He scoffed so loudly I had to take the phone away from my ear. ‘Emily, this isn’t about what some wee seaside village in the arse-end of nowhere needs! This is about a deal that’s potentially worth two million quid. So what if a few yokels don’t like it? They’ll have a couple of meetings in the town hall, maybe put up a few signs, then their concerns will mysteriously vanish when the money starts rolling in from all the tourism.’

  I cradled the phone between my ear and shoulder as I balled my hands into fists. My hackles were well and truly raised; how could he talk about somewhere as beautiful as Luna Bay in such crude, disgusting terms?

  ‘This might be some anonymous little place to you,’ I said, ‘but I’ve been here for a month now and it’s amazing! The people are fantastic, the scenery’s beautiful and if we steam in with a team of bulldozers, we’ll ruin all that. Please, there’s got to be somewhere else you can build this hotel.’

  Paul took a second before answering. ‘Nope. It’s in a prime location that’ll really attract the punters. What’s up with you anyway? This isn’t like you. I’ve never seen you get attached to somewhere like this before. Anyway, what are you worrying about? You’ve got the promotion you wanted; you should be thanking me. Get your arse back here as soon as possible, so we can make it official.’

  He hung up and I had to stop myself from throwing my phone down onto the gravel. There was nothing I could do now; the builders were coming to knock down Sunflower Cottage whether I liked it or not.

  Just as I was about to climb into the car, I saw Diane standing outside the Moonlight Café. She caught me looking at her, held my gaze for a moment, then headed back inside. I wondered if I should head over to try and make things right with her before I left. It was highly likely she wouldn’t want to listen to me, but I still had to try.

  I drove Cilla round to the next street and parked her just at the foot of the hill. Diane caught sight of me coming towards the café and went to turn the Open sign to Closed.

  ‘Wait!’ I yelled. ‘I just want to talk, I promise. Five minutes and I’ll be gone again.’

  She hesitated for a moment but reluctantly opened the door to let me in.

  ‘What do you want?’ she asked. ‘I think you’ve done enough damage round this village, if Rose’s hysterical phone call was anything to go by.’

  I nodded. ‘Yeah, I’ve really screwed up, haven’t I? First I lied to you, and now, thanks to my company, Sunflower Cottage is going to be turned into some horrible resort. I’m leaving to drive back to Scotland in a minute; I just wanted to come and tell you how sorry I am for all the trouble I caused.’

  Diane looked at me for a moment, her face an unreadable blank canvas. I felt like I was being appraised and a blush crept into my cheeks.

  ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’

  My head snapped up, as though I’d just received an electric shock. ‘Are you sure?’

  ‘Mm-hmm. I want to talk to you about some stuff that’s been on my mind. Unless you have somewhere else to be?’ She gestured outside to where Cilla was parked.

  ‘I think I could spare a few minutes,’ I said with a smile.

  *

  A few minutes later, the tea had been brewed, the Victoria sponge had been sliced and we were sitting at a table near the back of the café.

  ‘I really didn’t mean to lie to you,’ I said. ‘I just thought I stood a better chance of finding out more about Derek if you didn’t know who I was. You might’ve delivered some rose-tinted version of what he was like, instead of the truth.’

  Diane nodded, staring down at her slice of cake. ‘You’re right; I probably would’ve. Derek was a wonderful man, but he made his fair share of mistakes in life. By the looks of things, you take after him in that regard!’

  ‘You’ve got that right! Thanks to me, Sunflower Cottage is going to become one of those tacky hotels we always said we’d never build or invest in and there’s nothing I can do about it. Noah and Rose will probably never speak to me again either. I don’t blame them; Sunflower Cottage means so much to them and I’m partly responsible for it being destroyed.’

  Diane’s features hardened and she fixed me with a stern glare. ‘Emily, that sort of attitude isn’t going to help you fix things. I learnt a long time ago that feeling sorry for yourself doesn’t get you anywhere. What you have to focus on now is how you’re going to make things right.’

  I scoffed, spraying cake crumbs all across the table. ‘I think it’s gone beyond the point of fixing things now! The builders will be here any day to start work and, aside from everything else, Noah, Rose and probably the rest of Luna Bay think I must’ve known about it all along.’

  �
�And did you?’

  ‘Of course I didn’t! If I had, I’d never have agreed to come to close the deal. Walter Marshall Hotels always prides itself on having unique establishments that are different from the usual chain hotels you find. They’re all about “offering something special” to their customers, so I don’t know where this idea for a huge resort has come from. Paul says the deal’s worth about two million quid, so there’s no chance of getting them to back down.’

  Diane tapped her chin thoughtfully and looked at the remainder of her Victoria sponge, like it might hold all the answers she was looking for.

  ‘It’s a tough one,’ she admitted. ‘Anyway, what do you say we have a break from thinking about how to save Sunflower Cottage for a few minutes? I have some things to show you.’

  *

  ‘Come on Derek, look at the camera! I don’t want this video to be filled with shots of the back of your head, lovely as it is!’

  I watched as the grainy image of my biological father appeared on the screen. He turned round to give his wife a smile, though she was behind the camera. He was a very handsome man: tall with dark-brown hair and keen brown eyes full of laughter and sparkle. The video showed him on a beach with a little girl playing in the sand at his feet.

  ‘That was when we were on holiday in Rhyl,’ Diane said with a fond smile. ‘Our Nicola was only about four or five there; she used to love going to the beach. Derek was always larking about with her; he used to pick her up and swing her around so she could pretend she was a fairy princess.’

  I turned my attention back to the video, where Derek was doing just that. Nicola squealed with delight as she was spun round and round in circles. The video was zoomed in on her face, which was lit up with joy as she was brought back down to earth.

  ‘He looks like he was an amazing dad,’ I choked out. ‘I wish I could’ve met him.’

  ‘He absolutely loved you, I’m sure of it. I can’t believe he kept you a secret for so long; I know it must’ve hurt him to not be a part of your life.’

  ‘I had a brilliant dad growing up: he taught me how to drive, how to ride a bike and was front and centre at my uni graduation. He’s always supported me in everything I’ve wanted to do. But I wish I’d found out about Derek before it was too late.’