by Holly Martin
CHRISTMAS AT MISTLETOE COVE
A heartwarming, feel-good Christmas romance to fall in love with
HOLLY MARTIN
To the lovely, gorgeous, supportive and fabulous Kim Nash. Thank you for everything that you do and for always being there at all hours of the day. You are amazing.
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
Christmas at Lilac Cottage
Holly Martin’s newsletter
Also by Holly Martin
A Letter From Holly
Christmas Under a Cranberry Sky
Christmas Under a Starlit Sky
Snowflakes on Silver Cove
Summer at Buttercup Beach
Spring at Blueberry Bay
Summer at Rose Island
Fairytale Beginnings
Acknowledgements
Chapter One
Eden looked over at the door of Pots and Paints, her pottery painting café, for what felt like the hundredth time. Wanting something to distract herself, she rearranged the mini Christmas cakes in the glass cabinet. It was ridiculous to be this nervous but no matter how many times she told herself that, she couldn’t stop the butterflies from swirling and dancing in her stomach.
Her childhood best friend and the only man she had ever loved was coming home.
Only this time Dougie Harrison wasn’t just here for a few weeks, staying at her house and tormenting her by walking around half naked, torturing her with daily hugs and kisses on the cheek and then heading back to America again, leaving her with her heart in tatters and impossibly more in love with him than she was before.
This time he was moving back to Hope Island for good.
Although he’d still be staying with her for a few weeks. The house he’d bought wouldn’t be ready for him until after Christmas. The house he’d bought right next door to hers. If she didn’t know better she’d think he was doing this deliberately to wind her up. Except Dougie had no idea about her feelings for him. They had been best friends as far back as she could remember, they were incredibly close, always hugging and holding hands, but it had never been more than that and she had never been brave enough to share her feelings or to try to change their relationship into something more. And what would be the point? He had been living in America for the past twelve years; it was hardly going to work when he was so far away, even if by some remote chance he returned her feelings – which of course he didn’t.
The door opened and she jumped as she looked up, desperate and afraid to see him in equal measures. She sighed when she saw Barbara Copperthwaite coming in for her daily cup of coffee and cake, stamping her feet and clapping her hands against the cold. The pottery painting café was busy today which was a good thing; it meant she could try to keep herself occupied while she waited for Dougie to get here. She served Barbara her gingerbread coffee and a slice of Clare’s delicious mulled wine cake and then looked back towards the door.
Would things change between her and Dougie now he was living here for good? She didn’t dare hope for anything romantic to happen between them. She had given up dreaming and wishing for a happy ending for herself many years before. Twelve years before to be exact, when Dougie and his family had emigrated to the bright lights of New York.
‘Will you stop staring at the door like a puppy waiting for her owner to come home,’ Clare said. ‘And leave my cakes alone, no one is going to buy them with your fingerprints all over them.’
Eden smiled at her assistant. Clare Crissell had worked part time for her in Pots and Paints for years but recently had gone full time, which Eden was glad for. Although Eden could make cakes and pastries well enough, they were nothing like Clare’s creations and, with her taking care of the baking side of her pottery café, it left Eden to be creative and help the customers to paint their pottery pieces. It also meant that she could take days off whenever she wanted and, although Eden didn’t do that very often, she planned to take a few days or afternoons off in the lead-up to Christmas. The shop was busy today with lots of the island’s residents painting mugs, plates and other pottery items to give to their loved ones as festive gifts. As it was only a week until Christmas, today was the last day they could guarantee that the painted mugs and other gifts would be glazed and put in the kilns in time for the big day.
‘I’m not staring at the door like a puppy,’ Eden laughed, knowing she’d been doing just that.
‘You jump a mile every time the door opens. Dougie will be here soon. I don’t think the flight from Exeter arrives into St Mary’s until two.’
Eden nodded. Hope Island was the most westerly island of the Scilly Isles in Cornwall, and she knew that it would take Dougie a long time to get here. Suddenly she realised what Clare had just said. Eden opened her mouth to deny that she was waiting for Dougie but there was no point. She’d never discussed her feelings for Dougie with Clare, but it wasn’t hard to work out. Embarrassingly enough, everyone on the island seemed to know. The only person who didn’t seem to have any clue was Dougie himself.
‘I just can’t believe he is really coming home for good this time. When he first spoke about this at Easter, I never thought it would happen. And then he came over in the summer to house hunt and it just didn’t seem real and when he came over for Rome and Freya’s wedding, he was so excited about moving back here for good and now he’s here, to stay, and I don’t know why. He always wanted to live in America when he was little, he had posters of New York in his room and he kept saying that one day he would have a big office at the top of the Empire State Building. And although he never made it to the Empire State Building, he did have a big office at the top of one of the other big skyscrapers, plus a beautiful luxury penthouse apartment that takes up the entire floor of one of the tall buildings, with amazing panoramic views of the city. His own video gaming company is a huge success. He was living his dream and now he’s coming home to tiny Hope Island. He’s sold everything, his car, his luxury home, almost all of his things, and for what? The tallest building we have here is a six-storey hotel. We have two pubs, three restaurants, no theatres or cinemas, no McDonald’s or Starbucks. He’s bought a tiny cottage when in reality he could easily afford one of those huge houses on the far side of the island. There’s nothing here for him. I can honestly see him staying here for a few months before he gets bored out of his brain and decides to sell up and go back to New York again. What has Hope Island got that could possibly keep him interested?’
‘The one thing that New York doesn’t have?’ Clare said, as she loaded some iced ginger cupcakes into the cabinet to nestle alongside the fresh mince pies she’d made earlier that morning.
Eden looked outside onto the street, wondering what Hope Island could possibly offer him. The cobbled streets, the cute little unique shops with their beautiful Christmas decorations hang
ing in the windows and the old Victorian-style lamps all added a vintage charm to the island. The cottages and houses were all unique, many of them painted in bright colours. The friendliness of the locals and that lovely community spirit was another attractive feature. The beautiful beaches and little hidden coves were something the tourists flocked to see. She loved it here and never wanted to leave but, like Dougie, many of the younger generation couldn’t wait to get off the island. She supposed the coastal aspect was something New York didn’t have.
‘The beaches? He has always loved the beaches here,’ Eden said.
‘You, you idiot. He’s coming back for you.’
Eden sighed. Clare wasn’t the first person to say this to her and she was sure she wouldn’t be the last.
‘He’s not coming back for me. It’s not like that with us. We’re best friends and it will never be more than that.’
It had never been more than that for them. Nothing had ever happened between them. Apart from one kiss. One incredible kiss when she was seventeen years old, standing on the shores of Mistletoe Cove. The kiss had been so wonderful that Eden had immediately gone home and dreamed of her wedding to him, imagined the house they would buy together and the little red-headed babies they would have. The next day, Dougie had announced that he was moving to New York with his parents and she’d had to smile and pretend she was happy for him. The kiss was never mentioned again and she had never told anyone about it, keeping that moment in her heart just for her. Nothing had happened between them since. He’d come over and visit, they’d laugh and talk just like they always had, but he had never shown any inkling of having feelings for her. And though she always hoped she would one day get over him, it had been twelve years since he’d left and she loved him now as much as she did then.
‘Honey, I promise you, he isn’t coming back here for the beaches,’ Clare said.
Eden sighed. There was no point in arguing. The islanders had made their own minds up about the reason for Dougie’s return, and most of them thought it was to marry her and have lots of babies.
She decided to change the subject. ‘Do you know when the pottery wheel is supposed to be delivered?’
‘Well, if it’s arrived on St Mary’s we might get it this afternoon, but you know how these things go. Nothing moves quickly here. I hope it doesn’t come tomorrow; the shop will be closed in the afternoon for the Christmas festival. Are you taking Dougie to the opening?’ Clare asked, switching the Christmas music on the iPod from Bing Crosby crooning about a White Christmas to Michael Bublé’s Christmas album.
Eden wasn’t sure if she would be ‘taking’ Dougie anywhere. Yes, he was staying with her and they were best friends but she was sure he would be doing his own thing, whatever that was. He wouldn’t want to be hanging around with her the whole time. But the Christmas festival was a big deal for the island, they’d never had anything like it before. The whole place had been buzzing about it for weeks and when the lorries arrived off the landing crafts a few days before, some of the locals had lined the streets and clapped as if the lorries were responsible for bringing Christmas itself to the island. Eden had been looking forward to the festival herself, there was a Christmas market, ice skating, sledging – on fake snow of course – and lots of Christmassy events happening throughout the week leading up to the holiday.
Bella, Eden’s adopted sister, well technically her cousin, was the brains behind it, having spent months creating a week-long Christmas event in order to raise money for the homeless charity that she worked for. Most of the events that Bella organised were held in the bigger cities, especially in London, but Bella had wanted something for the island this Christmas and especially something that would bring the tourists to the island at a time when they never really came.
Eden adored Bella. She’d not had an easy start in life and came to live with Eden’s family when she was a child, and Eden felt very protective of her because of it. So it was important that she go along and support her. As Dougie was also Bella’s cousin, as well as one of Bella’s closest friends, Eden knew that Dougie would want to go to the festival and support her too.
‘We’ll probably pop over tomorrow for the opening,’ Eden said vaguely, hoping that Clare wouldn’t pick up on how much she was looking forward to going to the festival with Dougie.
‘There’s the couples’ snowman-making competition tomorrow. Maybe you two could enter,’ Clare said, clearly deciding that she wasn’t going to leave this alone.
‘Well, we’re not a couple so…’
‘That doesn’t matter, I don’t think there’s any hard and fast rules about what qualifies as a couple.’
Eden was fairly sure a couple had to be in some kind of relationship to count as one, not just two friends who had kissed once many years before.
‘Rome and Freya are entering, and Bella and Isaac too,’ Clare went on. ‘It’ll be fun to compete against your brother and sister.’
Eden smiled; that would be fun. It surprised her that her brother Rome had agreed to be a part of such a thing. Normally he preferred to keep to himself, but since marrying Freya he had mellowed so much, walking around the island with a permanent smile on his face. She liked that he seemed to be having more fun now.
There was no more time to argue as the door opened again. Her head snapped up to look without her permission and standing in the doorway, silhouetted against the weak winter sunlight, was Dougie.
She wanted to run and leap into his arms, though she knew that wasn’t appropriate. He dropped the bag he was holding, watching her with that beautiful smile lighting up his face. And though her feet remained frozen to the ground, he didn’t seem to have any such reservations, walking quickly across the pottery café towards her. Her legs carried her forward the last few steps and suddenly she was in his arms as he lifted her off her feet, hugging her so tight.
‘I’m home, honey,’ he whispered against her ear.
She closed her eyes, resting her cheek on his shoulder so he couldn’t see the myriad of emotions that were no doubt racing across her face at having him here. She had no idea how she should be feeling about his homecoming. There was a huge part of her that was delighted but she knew she was desperately sad too. He would never be hers and now he was back here for good, she wouldn’t even get a reprieve from these feelings like she normally did when he went back to America.
‘I can’t believe you’re really here,’ Eden said. ‘I always wondered if you’d ever come home. I hoped you would but you seemed so happy in America.’
‘You make me happy,’ he said, holding her tighter.
He always said things like this to her, he was always this affectionate with her too. Hugging her, holding her hand, kissing her on the head or cheek. They’d even slept together in the same bed several times while growing up, and although it hadn’t happened that often since they were adults, it had happened once or twice, normally after one too many drinks. It wasn’t a normal level of intimacy for two people who had only ever been friends, she knew that, but they’d always been overly affectionate with each other, as far back as she could remember. It was one of the reasons she had started to believe that he’d had feelings for her too when they were teenagers, but as nothing had ever happened beyond that one and only kiss she had just put it down to Dougie’s flirty personality. He was such a natural flirt anyway; he could charm the birds from the trees. Every woman he spoke to walked away feeling a million dollars. He kissed and hugged every girl he was friends with and always had a big smile on his face.
‘And thanks for putting me up, it’ll only be for a few weeks. My house will be ready after Christmas.’
‘Couldn’t leave you homeless now, could I?’ Eden said.
‘Hasn’t stopped you trying to kick me out of your house before,’ Dougie said, letting her feet down on the floor and holding her at arm’s length so he could look at her. She drank him in too, his red curly hair that curled at the back of his neck, clover green eyes, the smattering of freckles
on his nose and cheeks. He was so beautiful. Her eyes cast down. And so big. She was sure he had filled out even more since the last time she had seen him. His shoulders were so broad, even his forearms seemed muscular.
She realised he was waiting for a response from her.
‘That’s because you walk around half naked most of the time.’
His mouth quirked up into a sexy smile. ‘And you don’t like seeing me naked, honey?’
Behind her Clare barely contained her laughter, turning it into a cough a fraction too late. Eden realised that most of the café was listening in to this conversation too.
What on earth did she say to that?
She swallowed down her embarrassment. ‘How would you like it if I walked around naked all the time?’
His eyes widened to comic proportions, a big grin spreading on his face. ‘I’d like that very much.’
