I put my arms around her and pull her into a hug. ‘He didn’t leave because of anything you’d done. I’m sorry it was me who caused it.’
Sophie sniffs. ‘Don’t ever think that, Floss. Even though you were on your own, Mum, you did a damn good job. We were happy. And thank you for telling us. It makes a big difference that I know.’
I’m surprised yet validated at the same time. ‘I’m so proud of you for telling us, Mum. Those few sentences have completely reframed our childhood. Everything Sophie and I have been questioning lately has been explained.’ I smile at her. ‘If that’s all, I’ll get the cakes.’
Mum hesitates as I get up. ‘It isn’t everything. Not quite.’
Sophie’s eyes are wide. ‘If there’s more than this, I need an icing hit.’
I slide the plate onto the table and slip back into my seat, and Mum gives a little cough.
‘It’s not the complete end of the story. For me love has always been about snatches of happiness, lucky coincidences of time and place. In my experience the secret to everlasting love is to let go and move on.’
Sophie takes a large bite of cake and smiles. ‘That sounds like you, Mum.’
Mum sighs. ‘If the man from the end cottage had come back after a few years, we might have made a go of it. When he turned up in St Aidan thirty-odd years later, my first instinct was to hide. And that’s what I did for more than a year.’
I’m stunned. ‘So he wasn’t dead?’
Mum shakes her head. ‘He’d caught the wave of medical science, and gone on to live life to the full, as we’d agreed he should if he was lucky enough for that to happen. I’m not sure he was particularly looking for me when he came back, but St Aidan’s pull is a bit like gravity – at times we’ve all ended up here without really meaning to.’
I’m nodding. ‘That’s true for all three of us.’
Sophie’s pushing crumbs into her mouth and sounding typically impatient. ‘But what happened next? Where is he now?’
Mum looks calmer. ‘He saw a suitable property, bought it – and built the High Tides Hotel.’
Sophie chokes. ‘What the actual eff, Mother!David Byron is your long-lost love?’
Mum gives an exasperated sigh. ‘It would have been much more straightforward to get to know him without the history. But then I wouldn’t have gone on a date with him in the first place, so maybe itwasbetter we’d met before.’
I’m relieved and appalled in equal parts. ‘So this is why you’ve been so cagey?’
She looks up at the beamed roof. ‘You can’t rush these things. I hadn’t ever meant to come near the hotel at all, but you needed me for your ice-cream van evening, and when I saw David had spotted me, I had to do a runner. Then, on the spa night, I changed my tactics because I thought it would be useful for you, and we found there was a lot to talk about after all.’ She gives a shrug. ‘All this time later, we still haven’t run out of things to say.’
I laugh. ‘If you like each other enough to go skinny-dipping, in St Aidan’s eyes you’re together.’
‘The swimming was only a bit of fun.’ She pulls at the folds of her boiler suit. ‘When I’ve had the luxury of pleasing myself as long as I have, giving up my independence will take a lot of consideration.’
I have tears streaming down my cheeks as I look at my lovely mum, who’s done so well by us all our lives and always put herself last. ‘Fun, happiness, love – it’s your time to have them all. Whatever I’ve thought of David Byron in the past, I couldn’t be more delighted for you.’
Mum gives a cough. ‘There are a few drawbacks. He does have a tendency to want to pay for everything, but it’s only because he’s kind, and we’re working on that. And his musical tastes are terrible. It’s going to take a fair few St Aidan discos before he’ll be dancing to the Arctic Monkeys.’
Sophie pushes the plate across the table. ‘Cupcake, Mum?’
She hesitates. And then she takes one. ‘The rules of a lifetime have gone out of the window lately, so why not?’
It’s obvious Sophie’s mind is moving at a hundred miles an hour. ‘Are you and David going to get married?’
I let out a cry. ‘Sophie, that’s the kind of question Milla would ask!’
Mum’s face breaks into a smile. ‘I was wondering the same thing myself – I’m not sure I ever got the whole way with divorcing your dad!’
This is what I love about St Aidan and my family. Just when you think there are no more surprises, they bring out another one.
46
The bedroom at The Hideaway
