Wish You Were Here – Part 4. Cressida McLaughlin
walked away from the water, peering into one of the largest caves that were carved into the cliffs like bite-marks. It was gloomy, stretching back into darkness so dense it was like a black hole, and it smelt of damp and cigarette smoke.
There were wide ledges at waist and shoulder height, and crisp wrappers and empty beer cans that had got snagged in crevices and not been washed out with the tide. It could have been a treasure trove, a place of intrigue and history, but instead it made her feel sad. Who would want to spend time in a place like this? She thought of Paige’s story about Adam and his friends taking a boat to explore the caves further along the coast, unreachable from any beach. It couldn’t be safe, doing it on a whim like that. She moved on, peering up at the sandy cliffs towering above her, a few wispy clouds beyond in a sky of paint-box blue.
She had a lot to be thankful for. She had to remind herself that she had pulled off a successful event in Campion Bay at very short notice, attended by more people than the New Year fireworks. It would soon be time for the summer festivities, the fireworks and funfair that came to Campion Bay every year, and as Robin perched on a large flat rock beneath the cliffs, brushing the loose sand off with her palm, she couldn’t help but wonder where Will would be by the time the fair rolled into town.
Would he still be here, spending his time in his aunt Tabitha’s house, working as a tour guide at Eldridge House, still with things to do? Or would he have sold the house to Tim and gone back to Kent or London? Would the seafront be blotted by heavy scaffolding and plastic sheeting, while they butchered the beautiful building where, the plaque announced, Jane Austen had once stayed? The thought left a lump at the back of her throat.
But there was one other option, which was that Will, having finished sorting through Tabitha’s house, would be living there, making a life for himself in Campion Bay. Was that a possibility? Could she dare to hope for so much happiness in her future, despite what she’d witnessed this morning?
Will might well be back by now from wherever Tim had taken him. She should head home and find him, say all the things that had been building up inside her for so long. But Molly, wise as ever, had been right to suggest she escape for a while. This was her thinking place.
She tucked her legs up beneath her, the rock wide enough for her to sit cross-legged, and pulled out her phone. She scrolled through her photo stream, looking back at the photos she had taken of the rooms when they were first finished: Andalusia, Wilderness, Canvas, Rockpool and Starcross. Neve, her dearest friend and former business partner, would have loved the guesthouse, she was sure. Especially Starcross, with its celestial theme, its nod towards astrology. And Eclipse would have been the perfect Once in a Blue Moon Days mascot. Robin had thought of those rooms, and then created them with the help of friends and family, and with Neve’s influence hovering over her like the glowing strawberry moon.
It had been open a little over a month, but already Robin had experienced more moments of pride and accomplishment than she could have hoped for. Starcross was her tribute to Neve, to their time together, but now it had other meanings for her. Every time she pictured it she saw Will in there, filling the space with his toffee-coloured hair and wide, relaxed smile, his little dog, Darcy, standing patiently beside the bed. Robin didn’t want to lose the connection with Neve, but she couldn’t deny that she had begun, finally, to move forward.
An idea prickled in her mind, firing up her senses like tiny electric shocks, but, as it started to develop, her thoughts were disrupted by barking. It was distant at first but constant, a dog that was either elated or distressed. She looked up, following the shoreline and stilled when she saw the small brown dog in the waves. She was heading towards her, her tail wagging madly, her movements more like a dance as her paws pounded in and out of the shallows.
And then Robin’s gaze moved beyond the familiar dog, the dog that she already loved so much, and found him. His short hair blew in the breeze, his Wrangler boots were in his hands, his jeans rolled up above the ankles. He gave her a brief wave, but was too far away for her to see his expression.
Robin sat up straight, letting her ribcage fill again and again, gulping in the sea air as if it would give her strength. Finally, she had her chance. She would be able to tell Will everything. She only hoped that, despite his time with Tim, despite all that had happened between them, he would understand.
‘Hello.’ His voice was soft and unsure, his eyes squinting slightly against the sun as he looked down at her.
‘Hi, Will.’ Robin slipped her legs out from beneath her as he approached, and slid over to the side of the rock. Will sat beside her, nodding thanks at her for making room for him. They didn’t speak for a moment, but instead watched Darcy dancing joyously in the waves. She got hold of a long piece of seaweed and tugged at it, loosening it from the sand, her front paws getting tangled in its fronds.
Robin laughed, and Will shook his head. ‘Ridiculous dog,’ he said quietly.
‘I’ve missed her,’ Robin admitted. ‘I’ve missed both of you. The guesthouse doesn’t feel the same.’
‘My current sleeping arrangements aren’t anything like Starcross, if it makes you feel any better.’
‘It doesn’t,’ Robin said. ‘Are you on the floor, or in Tabitha’s old bed?’
‘A bed, but not Tabitha’s. Her room was the most damaged when the roof leaked, so the bed will need to go. I’ve got a whole heap of furniture in the middle of the dining room, ready to be disposed of. It looks like I’m about to start a Wicker Man-style fire – it’s quite impressive.’
‘Don’t do anything too rash. You know I’m here, I can still help you.’
‘I know that,’ he said. ‘But things haven’t exactly been … straightforward.’
‘Will, I …’ She turned towards him. ‘I need to be completely honest with you. About everything; about Tim, what happened last night.’
He didn’t look at her, but kept his gaze on the sea. The sun was sparkling on the water like shards of glass. ‘I saw him earlier. He came to the house. He told me a few things.’
Despite the warm day, Robin felt a chill run through her. ‘What things?’
‘Lots of things. Lies, possibly. I don’t know.’
‘So ask me.’
Will exhaled and leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. ‘He said that you had suffered a major trauma before you came back to Campion Bay. That it had affected you deeply, that you were … struggling.’
Robin swallowed. It was a few seconds before she could speak. ‘Struggling? Was that the word he used?’
‘No. But are you – did something terrible happen, in London?’ He turned to face her, his green eyes piercing through the wall that had immediately come up. It wasn’t Will’s fault, but how dare Tim use what had happened to Neve against her?
‘What did he actually say?’
Will winced. ‘He said you didn’t know what you wanted, that you were behaving irrationally. I haven’t thought that for one minute – you’ve never seemed irrational to me. But he said that you were blowing hot and cold. He gave the impression that you’d rekindled your relationship, given in to old passions, but that you were still unsure. He thought it was only a matter of time before you were back together. I’m sorry, I know this is personal, but he admitted it to me, and—’
‘None of that’s true,’ Robin said. She surprised herself at how calm she sounded. Her stomach churned with a mix of anger and sadness at Tim’s fabrications. She didn’t know if this was more of his manipulation, or if he still believed, despite what she’d told him last night, that there was a chance for them. But exaggerating the fallout of her grief at Neve’s death was a low blow.
He hadn’t even been there those