by Holly Martin
He looked at Lyra to see if she would say the same thing.
‘Oh, I was pissed,’ Lyra laughed. ‘And I wanted to hate you so much, but I couldn’t, you were just too lovely.’
He grinned. ‘Sorry about that.’
‘You’re forgiven.’
‘I don’t claim to be an expert on love – I’ve been married six times – but I can see that what you two have is forever,’ Sylvia said.
Lyra looked up at him. ‘He’s my soul mate.’
Nix felt his heart fill with happiness. He had never wanted to plan for a future in case those hopes were dashed like before, but now he could see it all so clearly. He and Dexter and the woman he loved with all his heart. Nothing else mattered. She was his future and he couldn’t have been happier about that.
Epilogue
Lyra steered Serendipity around Jewel Island, Nix sitting next to her and Dexter lying between them. It was a glorious sunny autumn day, a lot warmer than was usual this time of year. A perfect day to celebrate her birthday. Nix had created a lovely treasure hunt for her which had taken her all over the island and then via Michelle’s house for cake and a surprise lunch with all her siblings, where Max had joined them on a video call. All of her family adored Nix now, which was something of a relief, but it was very clear to see how completely and utterly happy he made her. She had never loved anyone as much as she loved him – he filled her heart to the very top.
She looked across at Nix to see he was watching her, his eyes filled with love, and she smiled.
‘Right, where shall we anchor up?’ Lyra said as they approached Crystal Sands, where the latest clue he’d given her had directed them to.
‘This will do,’ he said. ‘Any closer and we run the risk of hitting the rocks.’
She cut the engine and Nix moved out onto the deck to throw the anchor over.
She moved out with him and looked at the little cove. ‘We’re still quite far out.’
‘But here comes the best bit,’ Nix said, stripping off his t-shirt and diving head first into the cool blue water. Dexter jumped overboard after him.
Lyra laughed as he surfaced. ‘Isn’t it cold?’
‘It’s bloody freezing, come on in.’
She rolled her eyes and stripped off her dress, so she was just in her bikini, diving into the water too. Christ it was cold, but it felt liberating as she swam under the waves. She surfaced next to Nix, looping her arms around his neck.
‘I love you.’
He grinned. ‘I thought the cold water might make you change your mind about that.’
‘There’s nothing that could ever change my mind about that.’
‘Right, come on, let’s go find your treasure.’
He turned for the shore and she swam alongside him, Dexter taking the lead as he powered through the water. There were a few rocks to avoid as they made their way to the beach but nothing too treacherous. They reached the shore and pulled themselves out onto the sand.
She looked around them at the towering cliffs. She could see their little cottage, Sunlight, sitting on the hills over Crystal Sands. It felt fitting somehow that the final clue would lead them here.
‘Well, I believe the clue points to the cave,’ Lyra said.
‘Which hopefully should be the bottom of the smugglers’ tunnel,’ Nix said, as Dexter made it to the beach and shook himself, cold water spraying everywhere.
‘Let’s go and take a look.’
They clambered over the rocks and into the cave, which was quite big on the inside and would have been the perfect place to hide some treasure in years gone by. The roof opened out above them and Lyra could quite clearly see a great shaft going straight up into the cliff, lined with rocks and metal rungs for a ladder. This was obviously the bottom of the well.
‘It’s so exciting to think they really did smuggle stuff onto the island through this tunnel and that our house was some kind of smuggling headquarters.’
‘It’s like we have our own private entrance to the beach. One day, when we really do find that treasure, and we become millionaires, we can use the money to reinforce the well and the ladder again so we can come down here whenever we want,’ Nix said.
‘What do you mean, “when we find the treasure”? That’s why we’re here today, isn’t it?’ Lyra teased.
‘You have to find it first.’
She smiled and looked around and her heart leapt. Up on a rocky ledge was a treasure chest, inlaid with gold.
‘Could that be it?’
‘It could be.’
She carefully climbed up the rocks and grabbed the chest, passing it down to Nix before climbing back down herself.
‘Shall we go back to the boat, see if we can open it?’ Lyra said.
‘Yes, I’m hoping you’ll like this treasure a bit more than the last lot.’
‘Hey!’ she said, indignantly. ‘I loved the last lot of treasure and I’ll love this treasure too, because it comes from you. Whatever it is, I’ll love it.’
He smiled. ‘Come on then.’
They swam back to the boat, which was a bit more difficult for Nix as he was now carrying the chest, but they were soon climbing aboard.
Lyra examined the box. ‘Right, we need a key.’
Nix tapped his chin thoughtfully. ‘Hmm, where would we find one of those?’
She laughed as she took the key from around her neck and unlocked the chest. She opened it up to see there was a blue silk cushion inside and, tucked into the top, was a diamond ring. She gasped with happiness. The diamond was perfectly round with small green leaves wrapped around it.
Her head snapped up to look at Nix and he was already getting down on one knee.
‘Lyra Thomas, you have filled my life with utter joy. I never understood before what it meant to find my missing piece but I know now. You are quite literally the other half of my heart. I love you with everything I have. Will you marry me?’
She couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across her face. ‘Nix, you are my soul mate. And I thank my lucky stars every day that fate or destiny found a way for us to be together. I love you and I can’t wait to be your wife. Yes, of course I’ll marry you.’
He smiled and plucked the ring from the chest and slid it onto her finger, where it sparkled in the sunlight.
She bent down and kissed him and he gathered her against him, rolling her onto the deck beneath him. The kiss continued as clothes were quickly removed. He moved his mouth to her throat and she took a moment to admire the ring again.
‘You’re right, I do love this treasure more than the first lot. That was the start of the rest of my life with you, but this, right here, is our forever.’
He smiled as he kissed her again. This was her happy ever after: Nix, Dexter, and a little boat called Serendipity.
If you enjoyed Sunlight over Crystal Sands, you’ll love my next gorgeously romantic story, Mistletoe at Moonstone Lake, out in October. You can pre-order your copy here
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Sunshine, Seaside and Sparkles – The Holly Martin Reader Group
Also by Holly Martin
Jewel Island Series
Sunrise over Sapphire Bay
Autumn Skies over Ruby Falls
Ice Creams at Emerald Cove
Sunlight over Crystal Sands
Mistletoe at Moonstone Lake
The Happiness Series
The Little Village of Happiness
The Gift of Happiness
The Summer of Chasing Dreams
Sandcastle Bay Series
T
he Holiday Cottage by the Sea
The Cottage on Sunshine Beach
Coming Home to Maple Cottage
Hope Island Series
Spring at Blueberry Bay
Summer at Buttercup Beach
Christmas at Mistletoe Cove
Juniper Island Series
Christmas Under a Cranberry Sky
A Town Called Christmas
White Cliff Bay Series
Christmas at Lilac Cottage
Snowflakes on Silver Cove
Summer at Rose Island
Standalone Stories
Fairytale Beginnings
Tied Up With Love
A Home on Bramble Hill
One Hundred Christmas Proposals
One Hundred Proposals
The Guestbook at Willow Cottage
For Young Adults
The Sentinel Series
The Sentinel (Book 1 of the Sentinel Series)
The Prophecies (Book 2 of the Sentinel Series)
The Revenge (Book 3 of the Sentinel Series)
The Reckoning (Book 4 of the Sentinel Series)
A letter from Holly
Thank you so much for reading Sunlight over Crystal Sands, I had so much fun creating this story and revisiting the beautiful Jewel Island. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you did enjoy it, and want to keep up-to-date with all my latest releases, just Sign up here. Your email will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.
One of the best parts of writing comes from seeing the reaction from readers. Did it make you smile or laugh, did it make you cry, hopefully happy tears? Did you fall in love with Lyra, Nix, Dexter and George as much as I did? Did you like the gorgeous little Jewel Island? If you enjoyed the story, I would absolutely love it if you could leave a short review on Amazon. Getting feedback from readers is amazing and it also helps to persuade other readers to pick up one of my books for the first time. You can leave a review here.
My next book, out in October, is called Mistletoe at Moonstone Lake. It’s the fifth book in the Jewel Island Series and follows two new arrivals on Jewel Island, Zoey and Kit. You can order a copy here.
Thank you for reading.
Love Holly x
Acknowledgements
To my family, my mom, my biggest fan, who reads every word I’ve written a hundred times over and loves it every single time, my dad, my brother Lee and my sister-in-law Julie, for your support, love, encouragement and endless excitement for my stories.
For my twinnie, the gorgeous Aven Ellis for just being my wonderful friend, for your endless support, for cheering me on, for reading my stories and telling me what works and what doesn’t and for keeping me entertained with wonderful stories. I love you dearly.
To my lovely friends Julie, Natalie, Jac, Verity and Jodie, thanks for all the support.
To the Devon contingent, Paw and Order, Belinda, Lisa, Phil, Bodie, Kodi and Skipper. Thanks for keeping me entertained and always being there.
To everyone at Bookcamp, you gorgeous, fabulous bunch, thank you for your wonderful support on this venture.
Thanks to the brilliant Emma Rogers for the gorgeous cover design.
Thanks to my fabulous editors, Celine Kelly and Rhian McKay.
To all the wonderful bloggers for your tweets, retweets, facebook posts, tireless promotions, support, encouragement and endless enthusiasm. You guys are amazing and I couldn’t do this journey without you.
To anyone who has read my book and taken the time to tell me you’ve enjoyed it or wrote a review, thank you so much.
Thank you, I love you all.
Published by Holly Martin in 2021
Copyright © Holly Martin, 2021
Holly Martin has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places and events other than those clearly in the public domain, are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events all locales is entirely coincidental.
978-1-913616-23-6 Paperback
978-1-913616-24-3 Large Print paperback
978-1-913616-25-0 Hardback
Cover design by Emma Rogers
