CHAPTERONE
Beach holidays were supposed to be sunny. An entire week of rain hadn’t even occurred to Beth as a possibility. Apparently it was something of a rarity for the Isles of Scilly in July, but that fact was of little comfort. Her first solo trip with her five-year-old daughter had been a washout. She’d need another holiday to recover from the two of them being cooped up inside all week.
Wandering through to the living room with a steaming mug of coffee in her hand, Beth smiled at Ellie, who was in her usual spot by the window. Out of boredom, her little girl had taken to gazing out of the window, looking out for people to wave at.
Their holiday home – quaintly named Peswera Cottage – was the last in a row of four cottages on a narrow lane, Peswera being the Cornish word for fourth. The lane ended shortly after the cottage, and a larger house stood up on the headland where the owner of the cottages lived.
Beth perched beside Ellie on the deep windowsill. Finally, the fog had lifted so they at least had a view over the bay, even if the rain and wind had remained.
“Do you think Noah will come to see us today?” Ellie asked, looking up at Beth.
“I’m not sure.”
“He said he’d come another day,” Ellie remarked, her eyes flicking back outside as though she expected the owner’s son to appear at any moment. He lived in the cottage next door, and Ellie had invited him in for a tea party the previous day. Not so much invited as dragged him inside by the hand.
“He said hemight,” Beth said.“And I think he was just being polite.” The poor guy had spent twenty minutes sitting around the coffee table with Ellie and her dolls and teddies. Once she’d got over her embarrassment, Beth had been grateful of the adult company.
“I think he had a nice time,” Ellie said confidently. “Can we go on Kit’s train today?”
Kit was another of the owner’s sons, who’d been over to fix a leaky tap earlier in the week. He’d told Ellie she could go for a ride on his tourist train once the rain stopped, but at this rate it didn’t seem as though that was going to happen.
“I’d like to.” Beth licked her thumb and rubbed at the dirty mark on her daughter’s chin. “Kit said the train doesn’t run when it’s raining though.”
“I don’t like this holiday.” Ellie looked accusingly at Beth. “It’s boring.”
“It was just bad luck that it rained all week.”
“When are we going home?”
“Tomorrow.” Beth gazed longingly out to the long strip of pale sand. If the weather had been decent for their stay, it would have been the perfect holiday spot. “We need to go up to Mirren’s house to check that she can drive us to the airport tomorrow.”
“Let’s go now,” Ellie said, hopping down from the windowsill.
“Can I finish my coffee first?”
“I want to go now, Mummy. I’m bored.”
“Okay.” She took another sip of her drink before taking the mug to the kitchen. By the time she came back, Ellie had her shoes on and was stepping out of the door. “You’ll need your raincoat,” Beth called after her.
Ellie turned on the doorstep and grinned. “It’s stopped raining.”
“Oh my goodness. Finally!” Following Ellie outside, Beth craned her neck to look overhead. “There’s blue sky over there.”
“Does that mean we can go on Kit’s train?”
“Maybe. Let’s go and talk to Mirren, then we can walk into town and see if there’s a train trip.”
The wind had dropped to a gentle breeze as they wandered up to Mirren’s house, dodging puddles as they went. Dark clouds were dispersing fast and a shaft of sunlight emerged like a spotlight on the sea, causing the tips of gentle waves to sparkle.
Beth had just knocked on the back door when Ellie spotted a butterfly and chased after it.
“I thought it was never going to stop,” Mirren remarked, glancing skywards as she opened the door. “I can’t believe it’s rained for the entire week.” She beckoned Beth inside. “I’m so sorry for you.”
From the kitchen window, Beth kept an eye on Ellie, who was happily exploring the garden. “It hasn’t felt like a holiday at all. More like the opposite.” Her eyes widened as she looked at Mirren. “Sorry. That sounded terrible. The cottage is fantastic, and you and your family have been lovely.” Kit had even dropped a box of toys off for Ellie, so she definitely couldn’t complain about her hosts. “It’s only the weather I have a problem with.”
“I understand.” Mirren smiled warmly. “I feel for you.”
“It definitely wasn’t the week I was expecting.” If Beth was honest, she’d known the week would be difficult, but she’d ended up feeling sorry for herself for different reasons than she’d anticipated.