Page 109 of No. 17 Curiosity Lane

Daniel blinked back tears. ‘Thank you. I’m proud of you, too.’

After the final notes faded, the applause came again, louder this time, and the celebrations carried on. ‘Just before I get the champagne, I have one last surprise for you. Wait here.’

She left Daniel wondering where she was disappearing to. He burst into laughter when she returned– holding Gerald the Gorilla. ‘I couldn’t let him go. He’s worth more than a hundred quid, he’s family!’ she claimed, sitting him in a nearby chair.

Daniel grinned, pulling her into his arms. They stood in the doorway of No. 17 Curiosity Lane, the little shop that had once held so many secrets, and now so much promise, and they watched the people they loved celebrating not just them but everything they’d uncovered, everything they’d reclaimed, everything they’d rebuilt.

There was Amelia from The Story Shop, waving a homemade banner with one hand and holding a glass of fizz in the other, shouting something joyful and completely unintelligible. Becca from the Cosy Kettle was dancing with a cupcake in each hand, while Clemmie and Betty from The Café on the Coast had taken it one step further, linking arms and waltzing in the middle of the street. Betty’s apron was flapping in the breeze and Clemmie was laughing so hard she nearly dropped her wine.

Dilly from the lighthouse had brought sparklers and was trying to light them despite the sea breeze, while veterinary wizard Verity had tears in her eyes and her arms around Sam, her partner and the chef genius behind the Sea Glass Restaurant, who was already planning a celebratory tasting menu in Daniel’s honour.

And of course, Puffin-loving Pete, in his usual knitted jumper and an expression of quiet pride, stood off to the side with a beer in hand and a camera slung round his neck, ready to capture the moment for posterity.

Fern looked at them all, this warm, wonderful group of people she hadn’t known just a year ago, and now couldn’t imagine life without. They weren’t just neighbours. They were her people.

‘This…’ Fern whispered, resting her head against his shoulder, ‘this feels like forever.’

He kissed the top of her head. ‘That’s because it is.’

The sign above them swung gently in the breeze, catching the golden glow of the fairy lights strung across the street. Children danced on the cobbles, neighbours toasted with prosecco, and Gerald the Gorilla was now wearing a party hat and being fussed over like royalty.

Together, Fern and Daniel had turned heartbreak into hope, secrets into truth and music into something magical once more. A new chapter had truly begun, not just for the shop, or the island, or the story of a song that had been stolen, but for them and their future.

From the very first time she’d stepped through the creaky old door of No. 17 Curiosity Lane, Fern realised, she had known in her heart: this was exactly where she was meant to be.