Page 37 of Sunsets and Happy Ever Afters

CHAPTER 20

Carrying the cricket bat, Sam wandered down to the beach with Joe and Charles, listening to their familiar banter. He might not like the cold water, but he enjoyed playing cricket on the beach. It brought back childhood memories, and it was great to now be creating the same memories for Chloe, who was walking in front with Maya and her children. What a surprise, meeting them here — but a good surprise. The girls were clearly inseparable as they skipped along the path together — it would make Chloe’s weekend even more memorable. And maybe this would be his opportunity to show Maya he wasn’t a stuck-up jerk after all. Perhaps on neutral ground, they could get to know one another better.

At the beach, the sun was shining but the wind was unyielding. The hard sand, washed clean by a retreating sea earlier, was cold under their bare feet. Although they were running around, it wasn’t warm enough to relinquish their jumpers and hoodies.

Everyone, except Rose, who insisted she sloped off early to make up the picnic, was playing. It wasn’t proper cricket. They bowled underarm — especially for the kids — and there weren’t any sides; it was more about who could stay in bat the longest. And they used a tennis ball, as this bounced more easily along the sand. Scarlett and Daisy played for a while, but easily became distracted by digging sandcastles in the sand when it was their turn to be outfield. Daisy helped Heather behind the stumps, fetching the missed balls. She would run after them gladly, but wasn’t very good at throwing them back to Heather, who tended to have to run for the ball anyway.

Lewis was particularly good in bat. For nine years of age, he certainly had a good eye for connecting cricket bat to ball. He gave them a good innings and enjoyed running from stump to stump, although the adults weren’t counting the runs.

“Okay, everyone spread out,” Joe instructed. They all laughed, and the fielders moved out further as Sam took his place to bat. He wasn’t in for long. It was Charles who caught Sam out after a couple of well thrown balls from Maya. Sam had been too busy watching Maya, rather than watching the ball. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail, but wisps blew in the wind. She looked so pretty, laughing with her head thrown back. She wore a pair of skinny, light blue jeans, with a cream T-shirt under a turquoise jumper. Such joy and warmth emanated from her. She’d said, “This is it, kids, catch him out,” and given a cheeky wink with her last throw, and it had distracted Sam completely. The ball had connected to the bat and had soared, high into the air, coming down easily into his father’s cupped hands.

Charles shouted “Out.” Joe, the biggest kid of them all, gave a cheer and ran round to high-five the palms of each child.

Cricket was halted when Rose appeared with a cool box in one hand and a bag in the other. Joe spotted her first and ran up the beach to help her. Sam followed, taking the bag from her.

“You should have called one of us to help you down to the beach.” Sam frowned at his mother.

“Ha, you know how lousy the mobile signal is in Kittiwake Cove,” Rose said.

“I’m sure it’s deliberate, to make us leave our mobile phones behind.” Sam didn’t have much of a signal on his phone up in the town, but it did work better on the beach, ironically.

“Yes, to remind people they’re on holiday,” Joe added.

Rose shrugged, now free of her heavy burden. “It’s probably not a bad thing.”

Charles collected the cricket wickets together as they all made their way to the base they’d picked in a sheltered spot, over on the right side of the beach by the rocks. It curved in a little, protecting them from the wind coming off the ocean.

Rose handed out wet wipes so that everyone could clean their sandy hands, especially the kids. Then, with the party either kneeling or sitting cross-legged on the blankets, she handed out the sandwiches. “Watch out for hungry seagulls, kids,” Rose said, eyeing the circling birds above. “Keep your food tight to your chest!”

Sam sat down next to Maya, but to his annoyance — and he knew he was being ridiculous to feel even the smidge of jealousy that he did — Joe sat the other side of her. His younger brother was cooler and managed to be much more at ease with the opposite sex compared to him. Even as kids, Joe the surfer dude had the girls fawning over him. Whereas Sam was the dorky, nerdy older brother, into science fiction, reading, engineering and cricket. Sam knew this feeling was ridiculous. Joe’s heart belonged to Rhianna now.

As they tucked into the picnic, the sun remained kind to them. Maya and Heather applied sun cream to the children’s faces and necks.

“The tide has turned. So, who’s up for surfing?” Joe said, directing his question at the children.

Sam had packed a swimming costume for Chloe, but he knew he wouldn’t be setting foot in the sea. He’d made that mistake once before at this time of year. Joe had convinced him to go in. His ears had frozen pink, and his lips had turned blue after about ten minutes. He smiled to himself, remembering Jade had had a good chuckle at his expense. Now he preferred to surf in the summer when it was warmer. Not much warmer but warmer than April. At least the sun could warm you up after if nothing else. Sam had never been like Joe, wanting to be in the water rain or shine.

Daisy and Scarlett screamed a yes. “Girls, you’re a bit small,” Heather said, frowning, and they both pouted.

“Nah, they can have a go,” Joe said. “Tom, you’ll come in with me, won’t you?”

“If you’ve got a wetsuit that fits.”

“Of course.”

Joe was speaking to a friend at one the surf hire shops situated further up the beach, tucked over on the left near a café. He shook hands, gave a wink, and something was said about ‘on the house’. Maya assumed he was giving the man a free meal or drinks at The Cormorant in return for lending them the wetsuits, neoprene socks and bodyboards. Joe owned his own wetsuit and fitted into it very nicely indeed. His legs looked a little bandy, but he had a narrow waist, widening to a toned chest and muscular shoulders. She had hoped Sam would get into one, but he’d declined. So had Maya and Heather, and Charles had headed back to the B&B to help Rose. Tom, being tall as well as solid, also looked good in a wetsuit. Heather kept eyeing her husband up and giving him a wink, and a tap on the bottom. But when he turned and playfully flicked water at her with his foot, she shrieked, running out of the inch-deep water she’d been paddling in.

“This water is so cold,” Maya said to Sam, who was huddled beside her, hands in his pockets and shoulders hunched. She was only an inch deep like Heather had been, as it was impossible to roll her skinny jeans much further up her calves. Sam had rolled up his jeans to just below his knees.

“Do you mean you can actually feel it? My feet have gone numb,” Sam said, swishing his feet from side to side in the clear salty water. They both stepped backwards as another wave came in.

Today the wind was bitter, making it hard to breathe. If you forgot the cold, the sun shining on the sea made it look almost tropical, the clear turquoise waters revealing the sand underneath. Further out, waves crashed, causing white lines of surf to roll along the beach. Maya loved the relentless rumble of the ocean.

“It hasn’t had a chance to warm up yet. Give it a couple of months, and it’ll increase by a degree or two,” Sam said, chuckling. “Like that will make a difference.”

“Yes, it will still seem cold.”

They watched Joe instruct the older children, while Tom helped Daisy and Scarlett catch the smaller waves rolling in only knee deep. That was nearly up to the little girls’ waists. Joe had the older three out deeper. They’d started on the sand at first, with Joe giving them instructions on how to hold their boards. The kids were laughing now, so he appeared to be good with them.

---