by Holly Martin
He laughed. ‘OK, maybe me encroaching on your space every day at work might not be the best way to maintain our friendship but we can hang out at night or on your days off.’
‘You’ll be too busy hanging out with all the other women of the island. There has been much excitement amongst the single women about you coming home. I’m sure you’ll be off sleeping with a different woman every night.’
She frowned again. He had never done that when he had visited in the past, preferring to spend his time with her, Rome and Bella, but now he was back for good of course that would change. That thought had never really occurred to her before. But what did she expect – that he’d stay single and never date or have sex with anyone ever again? She knew he had dated several women in New York over the last twelve years but she’d never had to see it, apart from the very occasional photo he’d posted on Facebook. Now there’d be no escape from it. He was a good-looking man, incredibly good-looking in fact. He was kind, sweet, funny and very wealthy. He’d be fighting them off with a stick. And she’d have to watch him with them. Even worse, he’d be living next door, his bedroom was next to hers. Although Mrs Wimbledon, who had lived next door before she had sold the house to Dougie, no longer had a sex life after her husband had died several years before, Eden could quite often hear her moving around in her bedroom. Would she be able to hear Dougie having sex with all these women as she lay alone in her own bed? That thought was like a punch to the gut.
‘There’s that frown again. What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?’
‘Just thinking about having to listen to you shagging your way through the female population of the island. It will disturb my sleep, Mrs Wimbledon was a very quiet neighbour.’
‘There’ll be no shagging, I can assure you of that.’
‘Oh really, taken a vow of celibacy, have you?’
‘I’m just not interested in having a relationship right now. I have a ton of stuff I need to sort out with work; this move has been a bit tricky to sort out with clients. Isaac is coming to work for me three days a week after Christmas so we’ll probably have to sort out an office. I need to get the house finished and I feel a bit done with the dating scene right now. I’ve had several meaningless encounters and several relationships that were semi-serious but I never loved any of them. Having sex is fun but it just leaves you feeling flat afterwards if it’s not with someone you love. I came back to Hope Island because this always feels like my home, because I miss you so much when I’m gone and—’
‘You miss me?’ Eden swallowed a lump of emotion in her throat.
‘Yes, and Bella and Rome of course, and I’m just happy to hang out with you guys. I suppose, eventually, I’ll settle down with someone but that’s just not a priority for me at the moment. After my parents’ marriage ended so badly, I’m not sure I ever want to get married actually.’ He paused, staring at her, fondly. ‘What about you, are you looking for love?’
She sighed. ‘Not really.’ She wasn’t looking for it, because she had it. It just wasn’t reciprocated.
‘You haven’t been with anyone since Stephen broke your heart,’ Dougie went on.
‘He didn’t break my heart,’ Eden said. She would’ve had to have been in love with Stephen for her heart to break and that wasn’t the case.
He frowned in confusion. ‘He hurt you.’
‘I was sad that it was over.’ She had been upset when Stephen had broken up with her, mostly because she knew how much she had hurt him and she never wanted that. But also because Stephen was perfect in every single way: he made her laugh, he was kind, sweet, attentive, generous, great in bed, completely in love with her. He ticked every single box except the Dougie-shaped one. No matter how hard she tried, she had never fallen in love with Stephen in return. She liked him a lot, she was fond of him, but she had never been in love with him, not in the crazy head-over-heels kind of way that she loved Dougie. And although she’d known that she would never love anyone the way she loved Dougie and had been quite happy to stay with Stephen, it wasn’t fair on him and she’d known that. Stephen had been aware of the fact that she didn’t love him and had ended it after six months together. And while her concern had mostly been for Stephen and how gutted he was that he wasn’t enough for her, she had also been upset because she realised that she was probably destined to spend the rest of her life alone. If she couldn’t fall in love with Stephen – who had been perfect – then she had no chance of moving on with anyone unless she could miraculously fall out of love with Dougie and, after twelve or more years, she recognised that was never going to happen either.
‘It hurt because I’m clearly rubbish at relationships,’ Eden said, skating round the truth. ‘And I’m probably going to die alone, getting eaten by a load of cats.’
‘That’s not going to happen,’ Dougie said.
‘No?’
‘Well you don’t like cats, so I can’t see that you’d be buying one let alone a pack of them. Dogs maybe, but I don’t think death by cat is how you will see your end.’
‘Encouraging,’ Eden sighed.
‘And also because you’ll never be alone. You’ll always have me.’
‘Two spinsters together?’ Eden asked.
‘I don’t think I can be a spinster, I haven’t got the right parts for that.’
‘You know what I mean. Perpetually single. Neither of us getting married. That’s pretty depressing.’
‘Well, I don’t know if I’ll never get married. If my secret crush decides that she loves me too, then I suppose marriage could be on the cards.’
‘You have a secret crush?’
‘There’s a girl I’m crazy about,’ he grinned.
Hurt slammed into her stomach as she racked her mind for who it could be. ‘You’ve never mentioned her before.’
‘There didn’t seem much point, she doesn’t see me that way.’
‘And… you’d marry her?’
Her voice was suddenly high with anxiety. What would be worse, watching him work his way through half the single female population of the island and listening to him having sex, or watching him fall in love with someone, get married to them and have children with them? She knew the answer as soon as she asked that, panic rising in her chest so hard and fast she could barely breathe.
He shrugged. ‘If that’s what she wanted… Hey, are you OK?’
‘I just need some air, I feel hot,’ Eden muttered and quickly removed herself from his arms. He let her go and she moved quickly into the kitchen and out the back door into her tiny garden which overlooked the sea.
The sea was a deep blue today as grey clouds dusted the early morning sky. It still looked beautiful though and it calmed her down. It was cold outside, a shock to the system after being snuggled against the warmth of Dougie’s body, and it was enough to make her catch her breath.
She should have told him years ago. She should have made it clear that his frequent visits actually hurt; the ache in her chest always so raw every time he left. But she never had. He’d already broken her heart once when he had kissed her and then moved to America, never mentioning the kiss again. After the kiss, all she’d been able to see was this bright and wonderful future with the man she loved and she’d lost that, which had left a gaping hole in her heart. She didn’t want to go through the pain of that again and if she told him how she felt and he rejected her, she knew that pain would resurface. But she didn’t want to lose him as a best friend either. He was too important to her for that.
When he’d first mentioned that he was moving back to Hope Island for good, she should have told him then how she felt, she should have selfishly asked him to stay in America, but she couldn’t. As much as it hurt her whenever he came home, not seeing him ever again would hurt even more. But could she really watch him get married and have children?
She fingered the star necklace he’d given her for her last birthday. At the time he’d said it was so she would have somewhere to keep all her wishes in the s
ame place and she’d told him she didn’t believe in wishes or magic any more. And that was true but as she rubbed it between her fingers now, so that the metal went warm, she closed her eyes and wished as hard as she could that she could fall out of love with Dougie.
‘Thought you said you don’t believe in wishes any more,’ Dougie said and she let the necklace fall back onto her chest.
‘I don’t,’ Eden sighed as she watched the winter sunshine glint off his beautiful red curls. No, she didn’t because as she watched him come across the frosty lawn towards her, she knew she was still as in love with him as she’d always been. No wish was going to change that.
‘That was such a big part of who you were growing up, you always believed in magic and dreams and wishes coming true.’
‘And you were always the one who encouraged me to never give up on them. You told me there was magic all around us if we only know where to look. I remember when all the kids at school stopped believing in Santa Claus and we went down to Mistletoe Cove, where we would always hang out when it was just the two of us, and we talked about it. You asked if I still believed in him and I said I really wanted to, that there was something wonderful about the idea of this man visiting every child in the world in one night, bringing toys and gifts, travelling across the starlit skies in his sleigh with his magical flying reindeer. I said that I never wanted to stop believing in him and you told me not to, that I was never to give up on believing in magic. And every single year since then, there has always been a gift under my tree from Santa. Every year…’ The words caught in her throat as she stared at him. She knew they were really from him. He came home almost every year for Christmas and somehow he always managed to smuggle the present under her tree. Even in the years that he didn’t make it home, the present from Santa was always there.
‘But you still gave up on wishes. What happened for you to give up on them?’
‘They never came true.’
‘Maybe you’re not asking in the right way.’
‘Is there a right way?’
Dougie clearly thought about this for a moment. ‘Did you know the patron saint of wishes is Saint Douglas?’
She laughed. ‘It is not.’
‘It is, I swear. If I had my phone on me, I’d prove it to you, but trust me, it is. You need to tell your wishes to him. As a direct descendent of Saint Douglas, you can tell me your wishes and I guarantee they’ll come true.’
She smiled fondly at him and shook her head. ‘Not going to happen. Everyone knows if you tell someone your wish, it will never come true, basic wish rules 101.’
‘But I’m not just anyone, I’m the great-great-great-great-grandson of the Saint Douglas himself. I have the power to make all your wishes come true.’
She rolled her eyes. ‘Let me make you some breakfast before I go off to work.’
He snagged her arm. ‘OK, don’t tell me, but you know the legend of Mistletoe Cove, right?’
‘What legend?’
‘You mean to tell me that Eden Lancaster, chief wisher extraordinaire, has never thrown a wish into the wishing well?’
‘What’s the wishing well?’
‘The blowhole,’ Dougie explained. ‘That’s what the locals called it hundreds of years ago but its name has been lost over the years.’
On the far side of Mistletoe Cove, there was a hole in the rocks that led to an underwater cave. When the waves hit the sea entrance to the cave, the water would spray up through the hole like a giant fountain. Not many people from the island had seen it as it was so hard to get down to Mistletoe Cove, although the tourist boat trips around the islands always made a point of showing the visitors the blowhole. But Eden had never heard it called the wishing well before.
She decided to humour him. ‘No, I’ve not heard the legend of the wishing well.’
‘Well, legend has it that if you write three wishes on a piece of paper and throw it into the blowhole at midnight, all three wishes will come true.’
‘So the blowhole can read?’ Eden laughed.
‘I don’t know how the magic works, but I do know that it does work.’
‘You have proof of this.’
‘Yes, lots of people have done it and had their wishes come true. I did it. I wrote three wishes on a piece of paper on my seventeenth birthday and threw them in the blowhole. They all came true.’
She still didn’t believe this but she would indulge him. ‘What did you wish for?’
‘I wished that I would move to New York, I wished that one day I would own my own gaming company and I wished that I could meet my hero at the time, Harrison Ford.’
Eden laughed, remembering that he had actually bumped into Harrison Ford in a coffee shop in New York a few weeks after he had moved out there. His photo of the two of them together was still one of his most treasured possessions.
‘And none of that would have happened if it hadn’t been for the wishes I threw into the blowhole.’
‘I think the first two would have happened anyway with hard work and determination.’
‘Well, how do you explain me meeting Harrison Ford?’ Dougie grinned at her.
‘Lucky coincidence.’
‘Look, what do you have to lose? Come with me tomorrow night, make a wish, see if it comes true. I haven’t been back to Mistletoe Cove for years; it’d be good to see it again.’
‘I haven’t been back there either,’ Eden said, knowing full well that she hadn’t been there since the night they had kissed just before he had left for America.
‘Then let’s go there tomorrow, for old times’ sake. We’ll take a flask of hot chocolate, light a fire and toast marshmallows, just like we used to. And if you’re feeling brave enough, you can make a wish.’
‘It was minus five last night, I don’t think it’s warm enough to sit outside.’
‘We’ll take our sleeping bags, stop making excuses,’ Dougie said. ‘You just don’t want to climb down the devil’s stairs. You’re obviously too scared.’
She grinned, knowing that was how he had persuaded her to go to the cove with him the first time when she was only eight years old. There was no direct path down to the cove, having to climb down through a cave and then down the rocky cliff face to get to it. Of course she had wanted to show him that she was brave enough to do it with him when she was a child and they had been many times since then as they had grown up together. It had become their special place.
‘Fine, we’ll go,’ Eden said. She couldn’t resist going back to Mistletoe Cove with him after all these years. And if the wishing well really did work, maybe her wish to fall out of love with Dougie would finally come true.
Chapter Four
Dougie looked down on Hope Island from his position on the highest hill. It was quiet up here, the odd dog walker or runner in view, but most people were already in work at this time. The air was crisp and cold and a damp haze clung to the hillside.
Though many of the trees had died off over the winter, there was still a rugged beauty to the island, the hills that spread across the middle of the island, the long Buttercup beach that still looked golden despite the grey winter sky. Over in one corner he could see the small, pretty Blueberry Bay, one of Bella’s favourite places, and in the far corner he could see Mistletoe Cove with the hawthorn trees he knew would be lined with mistletoe. It really was a spectacular place.
He could see the Christmas festival getting ready for the big opening that afternoon and he was pretty sure he could just make out Bella, her long red hair streaming behind her, directing proceedings. He was looking forward to going along this afternoon with Eden.
He stretched his arms above his head and took off at a run as he headed back towards the little town on the far side of Hope Island. He loved to run in the mornings; whether he was in New York or here, it helped to clear his head before he started his day. It gave him time to think. He was definitely going to miss the stunning New York skyline he could see from Central Park on his normal run and he’d miss
going to Starbucks after for his regular morning coffee. He’d miss the food, too. New York had the most amazing breakfast places, serving pancakes, waffles, French toast, eggs and their weird-ass bacon which wasn’t really bacon in the English sense but was something he had come to love. He’d miss that. He’d miss his car, his Lexus. It wasn’t flashy but it was a gorgeous car and drove like a dream. He’d miss his penthouse apartment, with all the space that it had afforded him. He’d miss that the city never stopped. Here many of the shops closed at four or whenever they felt like it really. The island was quiet, almost too quiet. But the views were spectacular, the air was cleaner and, despite everything he would miss about New York, this had always felt like home.
He cut through the park and out into the high street which was decorated with lights and garlands ready for Christmas in just six days’ time. He followed the cobbled lane towards Pots and Paints and pushed open the door. Eden was the first thing he saw. She was busy talking to a child as the boy painted a clay model of Santa with purple and green spots. Her long hair was swept back from her face in a little snowflake clip at the back of her head, leaving her glossy black curls to tumble down her back, her eyes were that sweet forget-me-not blue, and when she looked up to see who had walked through the door and her whole face lit up into the biggest smile, he knew he had made the right decision to move back to the island. New York had many amazing things but it didn’t have Eden Lancaster.
She stood up as he approached and he immediately enveloped her in a big hug.
‘I missed you,’ he said.
She laughed as she hugged him back. ‘You great daft man, it’s been two hours.’
He shrugged. ‘It was still too long.’
‘Josie has been asking about you,’ Eden said, softly, indicating the blonde woman making some half-arsed attempt at painting a mug. ‘And Kitty was in here earlier asking after you. You have quite the little fan club.’
Before he could reply to that, Josie tottered over on heels that were ridiculously high. He did like a woman in heels, there was something very sexy about heels. He glanced down to see what Eden was wearing on her feet and grinned when he saw the sparkly pink Converse he’d bought her the Christmas before. These had fairies and unicorns on the side and he’d told her it was so she would always have a bit of magic with her with every step she took. With her snowman jumper and worn jeans with holes in the knees, she was infinitely more sexy than any woman wearing heels.
