Page 100 of The Secret Beach

‘Mum! This has got to be the best view in the world. This knocks the socks off Bali.’

‘I never get tired of it. And I know I’m very lucky. Tea?’ she asked, reaching for the kettle.

‘Why not?’ He smiled at her. ‘It’s good to be home.’

She loved that he called it home, even though he’d never set foot inside the house before. She guessed it was because she was in it, and it made her feel happy, that he felt it was his too.

‘Well, your bedroom’s upstairs. I’ve put your stuff in it.’ She’d thought at the time she was being silly, choosing blue-grey paint and denim curtains with a matching duvet cover and putting his clothes in the chest of drawers, and even his old teddy on his pillow. But even if he only spent half the time he was here in her house, it was worth it to know he was there, another heartbeat.

‘Hello!’

It was Adam, calling from the front door which she’d left open. They wandered in and out of each other’s houses all day long, but he never just barged in.

‘Adam! Come and see who’s here.’

Adam appeared in the kitchen doorway. He was dressed in navy linen trousers and a white shirt – quite formal for him, but this was obviously a nod to the occasion. A mark of respect. His face lit up.

‘You must be Bill,’ he said, heading straight for her son and taking his hand. ‘I have the good fortune to be your mum’s neighbour. I hope she doesn’t have too many complaints.’

‘None at all,’ said Nikki, but she loved him even more for not making it obvious they were an item, for keeping his distance in case she didn’t want to reveal that yet. Not that Bill would mind, but she wanted to give him a moment to breathe, to take in the new house, to settle back in. ‘He’s here for a fortnight. He came back for the anniversary.’

‘And because I was missing you,’ Bill admitted. ‘Bali is wild, but I just kept thinking about summer in Speedwell, and everything I was missing. Our sea. Our view. Fish and chips.’

‘Well, we’re doing a barbecue on the beach tonight,’ Adam told him. ‘I’m just off to the butcher so put your order in.’

‘Sausages,’ said Bill. ‘I’ve been eating way too healthily. I don’t want to eat a single piece of grilled fish while I’m here.’

‘Sausages it is. I’ll catch you later.’

When Adam had gone, Bill looked at Nikki, who blushed.

‘Me and Adam, we’re kind of …’

‘I know.’

‘Who told you? Dad?’

Bill rolled his eyes. ‘It’s totally obvious, Mum. And it’s cool. He seems great.’

He took the cup she was holding out. And they went outside to the bench, and drank their tea, and chatted over everything and nothing until it was time to get ready and go into town for the ceremony.

At midday, Helen took to the stage to give her annual speech. There had never been so many people. She looked out at the throngs gathered on the quayside, at the boats in the harbour, at the lifeboat station in the background, and the memorial glinting in the midday sun.

‘It’s hard to believe it’s been twenty years,’ she began. ‘Sometimes it feels like yesterday. Sometimes it feels like a lifetime. The memories and the sadness might have faded, but we still carry those seven hearts in our own hearts. They are all still there, in our children and our grandchildren, and we are still proud to have called them our fathers, our husbands, our sons, our brothers, our friends. And their legacy lives on, in the courageous team who still man the lifeboats, who still make sacrifices, who will stop what they are doing to save lives at sea. Speedwell is eternally grateful to everyone for their contribution, whether it is time or support or money, for without the lifeboat we are nothing.’

Afterwards she stood, head bowed, while the lifeboat crew sang ‘For Those in Peril on the Sea’, backed by choirs from the local church and the local school. She could see both Nikki and Graham in amongst them, Nikki in her all-weather gear, Graham in his suit, and she caught sight of Ralph in the crowd, giving her a nod of reassurance. And as the last notes of the hymn came to an end, she took the huge wreath of flowers Tamara had organised and went down the steps at the front of the stage, walked along the harbour’s edge and laid it at the foot of the memorial. There was a reverent silence until she stood up, and then someone began to clap. A thunderous applause of recognition and gratitude and remembrance broke out and seemed to go on forever, until the marching band struck up and filled the air with stirring nautical tunes.

Helen stood there, overwhelmed, not sure what to do. And then Ralph was there at her side, taking her by the arm, leading her through the throngs as people reached out to touch her on the shoulder or shake her hand. He led her straight into the Neptune, where Gloria whisked them to a private table. There was a bottle of champagne on ice in a silver bowl.

‘For you to propose a toast,’ said Gloria, opening it deftly.

And then Nikki and Graham were there, and Adam, and Bill, and Suzanne and the M and Ms, and Jess and Juno.

‘We’d better get another bottle,’ said Helen. And there they all were, the Norths, their glasses charged, and Graham raised his and said, ‘To William and Rik.’

‘To William and Rik.’ Everyone echoed him, and they all clinked glasses with each other and drank, each with their own thoughts and their own memories of the two men who had meant so much, even those who had never known them.

Later, in a bedroom upstairs that Gloria had lent them, Nikki and Jess got Juno ready for her performance with Zak Glazier. She was quiet, because Juno always went in on herself when she was nervous. She was staring at her phone. Zak had sent her a text saying, You’re going to be a superstar, Juno. I’m so proud to be performing with you.

---