Page 29 of Summer at the Cornish Garden Café

‘Thanks.’ Thomas smiled and colour appeared in his cheeks. ‘That’s a nice thought.’

‘Thomas… I feel safe with you too.’

‘Do you?’ He raised his brows.

‘You’re such a kind and sensitive person and I feel like I can trust you.’

‘Well, that’s good because I feel the same. I’m sorry about this.’ He tapped his left leg. ‘Pretty ugly right?’

‘No. Not at all.’ Lena meant it. Scars were not ugly. They were signs of what someone had been through, challenges they had met head-on and overcome. ‘You’ve been through a lot. I prefer to think of those scars as your battle scars. You fought to be here today and that’s amazing. You’re strong and resilient and I love that about you.’

‘Lena…’ His eyes darkened as he held her gaze. ‘I like listening to you. When I saw you earlier, I was worried about you seeing me in shorts. I can’t remember the last time I wore shorts, but I’ve been spending time with the dogs up at the sanctuary and they’ve made me rethink. They go through so much and yet they still trust, still find every ounce of joy in life that they can, and they’re still so friendly and keen to be loved. It takes some of them longer to come out of their shell, and some of them will always be guarded, but the majority of them are desperate to be with people, to show affection and have that affection returned. Their capacity for forgiveness and healing is incredible.’

‘They are very forgiving.’ Lena gazed at Fifi and at how she’d already given her heart to Thomas, and she knew in that moment that the dog would spend the rest of her days as a devoted companion to the handsome ex-footballer. ‘They have scars, sometimes physical, definitely emotional, and yet they’re still beautiful. Like… like some people.’

‘Are you saying I’m beautiful, Lena?’ He laughed and it was her turn to blush.

‘You are.’ She paused, realising something else was different. ‘Thomas, where’s your cane?’

He flashed her a smile then pulled a folding cane from his rucksack. ‘I’m trialling this one. I’ve been working extra hard at building strength and flexibility through yoga classes and at home, and while I’ll still need it at times, I’m trying to manage without it when I can. I think I’ve ended up relying on it more than I needed to, kind of an emotional crutch as much as a physical one, if that makes sense.’

‘That’s amazing.’ She blinked away fresh tears. ‘Now… finish your tea.’

‘Why?’

‘Just do it.’ Lena stood up and removed her hat, her T-shirt and her jeggings. As she dropped them to the sand, she felt Thomas’ eyes on her and she tried to be brave. To believe that she was beautiful despite her own scars. She’d put her bikini on under her clothes just in case. She didn’t really believe she’d go into the sea, but she’d thought it was worth wearing it because life could be unpredictable. And seeing Thomas being so brave had made up her mind.

‘Lena?’ His eyes roamed over her and settled on her stomach, and she nodded.

‘I have scars too.’

‘What happened?’

She looked down at the scar that ran from underneath her ribs to beneath her bikini bottoms. She’d spent a lot of time hating it but now it was time to start accepting it.Really accepting it, not just paying the idea lip service.

‘It’s a story for another time. I will tell you, I promise. But for now, can we just go in the water before I lose my nerve?’

‘Of course.’ Thomas gently woke Fifi then he stood up and removed his T-shirt and his shorts.

‘Budgie smugglers?’ The words escaped Lena’s mouth before she could stop them. She slammed her hand over her mouth.

Thomas blinked then laughed. ‘It’s been a long time since I’ve been swimming, and these were all I could find this morning. I know they’re awful and I wasn’t sure I’d even go in the sea but I thought there was a chance.’

‘Actually, you look kind of hot with a 70s or 80s vibe.’

‘I’ll takekind of hot.’ He winked. ‘You look hot.’

‘With my zipper?’

‘Your what?’ he asked.

‘I always think my scar looks like a zipper. And these other smaller ones here look like buttons.’ She pointed at the small round scars where the surgeon had initially inserted the laparoscope and surgical instruments. That had been before he’d realised exactly what he was dealing with.

Thomas held out his hand and she took it. He raised her hand to his mouth and pressed a gentle kiss to her palm. ‘I don’t know what happened to you, Lena, but I do know that you’re every bit as brave as you said I am. I hope you’ll tell me what happened one day because I want to know everything about you.’

Her throat ached at his words and so she nodded, afraid to reply in case she started to cry. They were united through their traumatic experiences but also in the way that they both wantedto live despite them. Moving on from trauma, whatever form it came in was challenging, because trauma was something that a person never got over. Scars would fade but never fully, and as for the emotional ones, they would always be there deep down. All people could do was learn how to deal with the emotional scars when they resurfaced, learn how to manage them, and, of course, how to release them. Pent up emotions were not conducive to living a peaceful, happy life.

Lena wanted to live peacefully and happily, and she had a feeling that Thomas did too. As for Fifi, she was already embracing her happy new life with the human she quite clearly adored. Humans could learn a lot from dogs, she thought.

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