‘Took you long enough,’ he heard her chuckle out.
‘Ah, you know me, I like to go around the houses.’
‘You talking to yourself, Jamie?’ asked Will, plonking himself down beside him.
Jamie laughed quietly. ‘I was having a chat with my nan.’
‘Oh, would you prefer if I left?’
‘That’s okay.’
Will glanced up. ‘It’s nice here when it’s quiet.’
Jamie looked towards the pub. ‘You had enough of singing for one night?’
Will chuckled. ‘Hey, I like singing. But I also like to sit with the sea every so often.’
‘Do you miss being in the navy?’
‘Sometimes. It was a big part of my life, but I’m happy with Ginny and our son up at our farm.’ He sighed deeply while smiling. ‘Still blows my mind when I think about the life I have now.’
‘Matt was saying something similar a minute ago.’
‘I guess we all look back at our old life at times and compare it to the one we live in now.’
Jamie knew he had been blessed to have had Alice in all stages of his life. ‘Mine’s definitely improved.’
Will laughed. ‘Mine too. Good, isn’t it?’
‘We were saying how it would be good to have some guidance along the way. Someone to point out which direction you should go, that sort of thing.’
‘But then you’d have no surprises.’
Jamie scoffed. ‘I don’t like surprises. I’d rather know what my map looked like.’
‘Maybe there is no map, just the decisions we make.’
There had been many bad decisions Jamie had made over the years. He did reach a point where he wondered if he was just stupid, but Alice often told him he was simply human.
He inhaled the salty air, then slowly sighed. ‘I’ve got Matt, Jed, and Sam all staying at the B&B tonight while the bridal party sleeps over at Lottie’s. There’s a room for you, too, if you want.’
‘Thanks, but I’m picking up Robert from Ginny later to take home. I’ll see everyone at the church in the morning. Good thing no one’s drinking tonight.’ Will tapped his shoulder. ‘Right, I’m off for a burger, or, with a bit of luck, a steak if Rob’s stuck some on the grill. You coming?’
‘In a bit.’
Will waved one hand as he went back to the pub. Jamie stretched as he stood, glancing in the direction of Berry Hill, where Lottie lived. If he took a slow stroll that way, he’d be closer to Alice for a moment, and he wanted so much to be with her.
The climb up the steep hill had him a little breathless, and it was decided that he would up his fitness levels in the new year.
The row of pastel coastal houses looked different since Lottie and Samuel had knocked three of them together to make one big house, but the street still held its charm.
Jamie went to the other side of the road to peer over the waist-high rail that wasn’t there when he was a kid. The drop down to the shingles was always a concern for the locals, so he could see why the council finally got around to making the grassy verge safer.
The boats in the distance bobbed gently in the dark sea, a faint clinking sound was all that filled the air. Ever since his release, it didn’t matter which part of Port Berry he was in, it all made him smile. He was home.
‘Jamie,’ came a small voice behind him.
He turned to see Alice coming out of Lottie’s.
