by Holly Martin
‘Don’t see why not,’ Rome said.
‘Look, this is the last time we’re going to speak about this, whether it’s the right thing to do or not is down to me to decide, not anyone else. I am happier right now than I have ever been in my entire life and that’s all down to Isaac. If it ends, then it ends. Yes, I’ll be gutted but I would never regret this time with him. I adore him and, quite frankly, he’s the best thing that has ever happened to me. I’d really like it if you were happy for me instead of threatening to beat him up if he puts a foot wrong.’
Rome stared at her. ‘This is something serious for you, isn’t it?’
‘Yes I think it is.’
‘He said the same about you,’ Dougie said, softly. ‘He’s a good man, Rome. I mean sure he’s had his fair share of girlfriends, haven’t we all. But you know I’d never let some asshole go out with her.’
Rome nodded. ‘I am happy for you, Bella. If he makes you this happy then I promise I’ll say no more about it.’
Bella was saved from any more overprotective words of wisdom by the arrival of Eden and Freya.
Dougie immediately got up and hugged Eden, his arms wrapped tightly around her. Eden clearly couldn’t decide on an appropriate place to put her hands, so she opted for a quick pat on the back.
‘Happy birthday, buddy,’ Dougie said and then held her at arm’s length. ‘You look amazing.’
She did too, she was wearing a beautiful deep blue dress, which had tiny flowers and beads sewed around the top.
‘This is Freya’s present for me. She always has wonderful taste in clothes,’ Eden said.
Dougie tugged her down next to him in the booth before she had any ideas about sitting somewhere else. It was the strangest thing to watch her sister be equally elated at being in such close contact with Dougie and utterly miserable at the same time.
Wanting to distract her from her torment, Bella slid Eden’s present across the table. ‘Happy birthday.’
Eden smiled gratefully. ‘Thank you.’
She tore open the wrapping paper to reveal a thick book, an illustrated collection of fairy tales. Bella had seen it in a second-hand book store and fallen in love with the beautiful pictures and gold-edged pages. Eden was a massive fan of fairy tales and Bella knew she would appreciate it.
‘Oh wow, this is beautiful, thank you so much,’ Eden gushed, carefully flicking through the pages. ‘I love it.’
‘Open mine next,’ Dougie said, sliding her a tiny square present.
Eden ripped open the paper and stared at the little black velvet box before steeling herself to open it. They all knew it wasn’t a diamond ring, but Bella knew there was a tiny part of Eden that kind of hoped it would be.
Inside, nestled against the velvet, was a crystal star necklace.
‘Oh it’s lovely, thank you,’ Eden said, touching the sparkly surface.
‘It’s for all those wishes you used to make as a child. You’d wish on the first star you’d see each night, you’d wish on a falling star, you’d throw pennies into a well and make a wish, and I thought that perhaps this would give you one place to store all your wishes, until they came true. Instead of waiting for the stars to shine, you can wish on this at any time.’
‘This is very sweet,’ Eden said, sadly.
Dougie looked at her in confusion.
‘I just… don’t believe in wishes any more.’
‘Why not?’
Eden shrugged. ‘I learned a long time ago that wishes don’t come true.’
‘Some wishes take a little longer than others to come true,’ Dougie said.
‘I had one wish growing up; every time I wished upon a star or on the candles on my cake, it was always the same wish. It wasn’t even something ridiculous either, I never wished for a pony or a castle in the sky or a vault full of gold coins and fancy jewels. It was quite a simple wish really and it never came true. Made me realise that no matter how much you want something, doesn’t mean you’ll get it.’
Dougie stared at her and no one said anything for a moment.
‘It’s a beautiful necklace though.’ Eden forced a smile on her face as she clipped the star round her neck. ‘Thank you.’
Rome leaned round Dougie, trying to diffuse the tension. ‘Did Dougie tell you that he’s moving back to Hope Island?’
Eden looked at Dougie. ‘Are you?’
‘For a year or two. See how it works out. I love New York, but I’ve always considered this place my home. Now I own my own company I can work anywhere in the world. I have a lot of clients in America and I’m not sure how it will work out because of the time zones but Isaac is going to come and work with me too, so it kind of makes sense to move here. I thought I’d give it a try.’
Eden smiled. ‘It’ll be good to have you home.’
Rome raised his bottle of beer. ‘Maybe this really will be the year of new beginnings for all of us.’ He looked at Bella and smiled.
They all grabbed their glasses and raised them in the air. ‘To new beginnings.’
Bella collapsed into bed on Friday night, barely able to keep her eyes open. It had been non-stop all week and especially over the last few days as the funfair had arrived and started setting up for the grand opening tomorrow. Local radio stations on Hope Island and the other Scilly Isles had been advertising it all week. There were posters in every shop in town and everywhere she went people were talking about it. She only hoped that people would come.
She looked down at Isaac’s t-shirt she was wearing. She hadn’t spoken to Isaac since lunch, which was a bit strange. Normally he would call her as he left the office and then call her again to say goodnight. It was weird how quickly they had fallen into this routine, and how much she missed it when he didn’t call.
Bella switched off her lamp and closed her eyes, her mind drifted, and she soon fell asleep.
A noise stirred her from her sleep a few hours later and she opened one eye, not sure if the noise had come from outside the house or if the noise was Alfie or Rocket outside her bedroom door.
She heard a shuffling again and this time she knew it was inside her bedroom. She sat bolt upright in bed and saw a shadow move at the side of her bed.
She leapt out of bed the other side from the shadow, grabbed the nearest thing to hand, which happened to be an iron, and slammed the bedroom light on.
Isaac was standing there, his shirt undone, looking tired and deliciously sexy.
Her heart soared. He was here in her bedroom. He had come home. But he’d never said he was coming, she wasn’t expecting him until the end of the following week.
Suddenly it didn’t matter. She dropped the iron and leapt up onto the bed and threw herself into his open arms, wrapping her arms and legs around him and kissing him hard. He kissed her back, holding her tight against him, his tongue inside her mouth as he tasted her, devoured her as if he hadn’t eaten for a month. His hands were everywhere, trying to touch her in every place at once. She was wide awake now, suddenly wanting his body against hers. The kiss was so urgent, so needful that it quickly escalated into something more.
He tore his mouth from hers. ‘Wall or bed?’
‘Wall.’
He turned and pinned her against the wall with his weight. ‘Good choice.’
He kissed her again as she wrestled his shirt off his shoulders.
‘Nice t-shirt,’ he said, as he pulled it over her head then kissed her neck, his mouth travelling down to her breasts where his tongue licked against her flesh.
He yanked a condom from his jeans pocket, and then kicked his jeans off and a frustrating few seconds later he was buried deep inside her. He let out a groan that was pure relief. She clung to him, feeling the strength in the muscles across his back. His hands held her tight in the exact position that ensured that every thrust hit that sweet spot inside her. His mouth was on hers kissing her so hard she could barely breathe. He layered kisses across her shoulders and curved himself round her as his mouth travelled south. She arc
hed against him and he placed a lingering kiss exactly where her heart was pounding furiously against her chest. It was this sweet gesture in the midst of all this urgent need that sent her tumbling over the edge, crying out his name as he quickly followed.
They clung to each other for a few minutes after, neither of them able to speak or move. Her heart was thundering against her chest and she could feel that Isaac’s was doing the same.
Eventually he moved, with her still wrapped round him, and carried her back to the bed, laying her down on the cool sheets. He quickly dealt with the condom and then climbed into bed next to her. Immediately he started kissing her again, but it was much slower this time, the urgency was over, his hands wandering over her body in a tender caress. She stroked her hands round the back of his neck, stroking down his arms and shoulders. He kissed her until every bone in her body had melted into his and only then did he stop, but only long enough to grab another condom from her drawer. He slid it on and captured her mouth with his as he moved carefully inside her. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and finally he drew breath to look at her.
‘Hi.’
She stroked a damp curl from his forehead. ‘Hello.’
‘I take it you’re pleased to see me,’ he said.
‘I could say the same about you.’
‘I bought you a Crunchie egg. I admit defeat.’
She giggled, which did wonderful things to her body in the place they were connected. ‘I bought you a Yorkie egg too. So let’s call this one a draw.’
He grinned and kissed her softly and briefly, moving slowly against her.
‘I even bought you Godiva chocolate-covered strawberries.’
She smiled, feeling her heart swell inside her chest for him. ‘You know what that means?’
‘I’m hoping it’ll mean that you’ll declare your undying love for me.’
‘It means, I’ll take you to the fair tomorrow and win you a giant teddy at the coconut shy.’
He laughed. ‘I only came back for that. Well that and your amazing hugs.’
He gathered her against him, one arm round her back and one hand round her bum, bringing him deeper inside her.
‘You’re pretty good at this hugging malarkey yourself,’ Bella said, her voice high with need as her climax started building inside her with every gentle thrust.
‘I’ll hug you forever if you let me, Bella Roussel.’
She looked up into his loving eyes and almost every fear slipped away.
‘I might just let you do that, Isaac Scott,’ Bella said and he smiled and kissed her.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Bella ran into the kitchen, hopping on one foot as she pulled on her red Converse. Isaac stood watching her in amusement as he sipped his coffee.
‘Stop smirking Mr Scott; I wouldn’t be running late if you hadn’t insisted on having a shower with me and then took advantage of me.’
He shrugged. ‘I have no regrets. Look, I’ll walk Alfie and Rocket, so that’s one less thing for you to worry about and I’ll see you down the fair soon and I’ll help you with whatever you need to do then.’
‘That would be amazing, thank you.’ She leaned up and kissed him briefly on the lips.
He hugged her to him and then whistled for the dogs. They both came running, leaping up at him in excitement. He grabbed the leads and, with another quick kiss on the cheek, he left.
Bella grabbed her bag and threw in some water and her purse and was just looking around for her phone when there was a knock on the door.
She quickly ran to answer it and found Eden standing on the doorstep, looking decidedly worried.
‘What’s wrong, are you OK?’
‘Can we talk?’ Eden said.
Whatever had put that fear on Eden’s face meant that the fair could wait. Something was clearly very wrong.
‘Of course, come in.’
Eden followed her into the lounge and sat down, playing nervously with the beads on her bracelet.
‘I didn’t know whether to tell you, Rome said I shouldn’t but I didn’t want it to be a shock for you,’ Eden said.
Bella sat next to her and took her hand. ‘Tell me what?’
‘I was just over on St Mary’s, Rome took me to buy me a pair of boots I wanted for my birthday and… we ran into your mum.’
Bella took a breath in. ‘I thought she was living in Scotland somewhere.’
‘I thought so too.’
Panic slammed into her. ‘Is she coming here?’
‘I don’t know. Bella, it gets worse. She’s with your dad.’
Bella stared at her. ‘What do you mean with? They split up. He walked out on her when I was five years old and never came back. They got a divorce.’
‘Bella, they got married again.’
A lump of emotion lodged in her throat. ‘When?’
‘Twenty years ago.’
‘Just after she left me with you.’
‘They came over to talk to us; apparently they are in St Mary’s to visit your dad’s mum.’
Another person who wanted nothing to do with her. She hadn’t missed her grandmother’s presence though as she had no recollection of ever meeting her, but she remembered asking Lucy about her when she was a bit older and felt sad that her grandmother didn’t care enough about her to want to be a part of her life, even if her son didn’t.
‘Did they ask about me at all?’
Eden hesitated and then shook her head. ‘They said they had heard about the fair and thought they might pop over to see it.’
Bella stood up. She didn’t want to see them. She didn’t want anything to do with them.
‘Bella, I don’t think they’ll come. Rome exploded at them when they said they might come over.’
Bella smiled, slightly. ‘He did? What did he say?’
‘He told them that it wouldn’t be good for you to see them, that life was good for you and you were happier now than you’d ever been. And seeing them now would drag it all up again. He really laid into them and said that them dumping you and you growing up knowing that your parents didn’t want you had ruined your life. He told them that he was disgusted by them, that as your parents they were the two people who should never have let you down and they walked away from you and you never forgave them for that.’
‘Sounds like he said all the things I would have liked to say to them if I ever saw them again.’
‘They seemed really surprised and hurried off after that, but not before Rome told them that no one from the island would welcome them back with open arms after what they did and it would be best if they stayed away. Rome told me not to tell you about it, but I worried about them coming over anyway and I didn’t want it to be a shock for you seeing them after all this time and especially together. Now at least you can prepare for it just in case they do come.’
Bella felt numb. ‘No, you did the right thing. I had no idea they got back together after they left me.’
Eden stood up and hugged her. ‘Are you OK?’
Bella nodded against her. ‘I’m fine.’
‘Look, I know that being left with us was the worst thing that happened to you, but it was the best thing that happened to me. I got a sister out of it and I love you so much.’
Bella pulled back slightly out of the hug to look at Eden. ‘It wasn’t the worst thing that ever happened to me. I love you and Rome and Lucy and Finn. I grew up with a wonderful family and I’ll always be grateful for you guys. I feel so incredibly lucky to have you all in my life. But it doesn’t stop it hurting that I wasn’t enough for my parents. They didn’t even care enough to ask how I was.’
‘Maybe they would have done if Rome hadn’t exploded at them and scared them off. You know how he can get.’
Bella nodded. ‘Thank you for coming to tell me; it’s good to be prepared.’
Eden smiled, sadly.
‘I’d better get to the fair, I’m sure there’s lots to do before it opens this afternoon.’
‘I�
�ll see you down there later.’
Eden left Bella alone with her thoughts as she stared out the window at the gold-encrusted sea.
Bella had always thought that although she must have played a part in her dad leaving, that also it must have been her mum that he fell out of love with too. That maybe she wasn’t entirely to blame but that maybe her mum had pushed him away as well. But now to hear that her mum and dad had got back together after she had been left with Lucy and Finn and had been married for twenty years, it showed that the only reason he left was because of Bella. He clearly loved her mum, but he never loved Bella. There really was something wrong with her. She had been a child, what could she possibly have done to push him away, to make him hate her so much he wanted no part in her life? Then, a year later, her mum had walked out on her as well.
She remembered as a child, knowing that her dad had left her and that her mum hated her for it. Bella had showered her mum with love and affection in a desperate attempt to make her mum love her too. She had made cards at school, picked flowers for her, made her little gifts, hugged her and kissed her and it was never enough. She remembered the last time she had seen her mum when she had driven her round to Lucy and Finn’s. She remembered that her mum had told her she was going to live with Lucy and Finn and when Bella asked how long for, her mum had snapped, ‘Forever.’ Bella couldn’t escape that feeling she had been left with that day, that her parents simply didn’t love her at all. That no matter how much Bella had loved her mum, that love had never been returned and how devastating she had found that.
She felt tears prick her eyes and she angrily wiped them away. She was happy now and she wasn’t going to let her parents ruin this for her.
She grabbed her bag and walked out the house. She had to get to the fair; she could fall apart later.
Isaac walked into the park and looked around at all the rides. Everything seemed to be perfect, awaiting all the people that would arrive later. Although the fair wasn’t due to open for another hour or two, there were still a large number of islanders milling about and looking at the different rides, and a few of the stall holders were already selling their goods and encouraging some of the children to have a go at winning teddies, goldfish and sweets. Food stands were starting to cook their foods and wonderful savoury smells of meat and onions lingered in the air. Up on the hill the firework crew were putting the last-minute touches to the firework display that was going to happen later. Everything was ready.
