‘So!’ Pollyanna, as always, seemed to appear out of thin air. ‘It turns out that the locals are quite fond of the 50s costume party idea, and are eager to know when it will be happening.’ Pollyanna’s eyes were lit up like a child’s on Christmas morning. ‘Does that mean that the costume party idea is a yes?’ she squealed quietly, trying desperately to contain her mounting excitement.
Mia thought about it. The date of the anniversary was over a week away. That was enough time to gather everything she’d need, wasn’t it? Sure it was. It just meant that she’d need to order her dress ASAP to ensure it arrived before the evening of the party. ‘We’re going to need to send out invitations,’ Mia said slowly, hoping Pollyanna would catch on but without giving the game away too much.
‘Does that mean what I think it means?’ She was wriggling on the spot now, her mouth gradually widening into a huge, excited smile.
Mia nodded with her own grin in place. ‘It does.’
‘YAY!’
As Laurie sped down the motorway towards her destination, she couldn’t help but take a trip down memory lane.
She’d left London a bit later than she’d originally planned. What was supposed to have been two days in the hotel had turned into almost a week mainly because she’d grown nervous about her decision and had spent ages dithering over it. In the end, though, she had picked up her bags, checked out and forced herself to follow through with what she’d planned. Better late than never, she reasoned.
There hadn’t been anything magical about her and Neil’s relationship; they’d just been two people who’d met and happened to hit it off. Neil was attractive in that overly confident, huge-ego kind of way, with his expensive suits, whiter-than-white shirts and impeccably shiny shoes. Thinking about him now, feeling stronger than ever as she increased the distance between them, Laurie saw his hair as being too neatly cut, his nails too carefully trimmed and his breath a little overly done on the mints. It was as if catching him in bed with the nameless red-head had shone a different sort of spotlight on him. No longer was he the macho man who had everything going for him and who everyone, including her parents, thought was the best thing since sliced bread. Now he appeared to Laurie as an incredibly skilled liar with just the right amount of slimy charm to pull the wool over her eyes, his appearance and manner all joining in as part of the trickery.
The first time she’d met Neil, she’d been striding down the high street towards the tube with a takeout coffee clutched in one hand, her holdall in the other. She’d rounded a corner and bang. They’d smacked right into each other and the coffee had splattered all over his expensive suit. She’d been mortified, although in all fairness he hadn’t been looking where he was going, so engrossed was he in his phone. She’d apologised profusely to him while he’d stared down at his coffee-stained shirt aghast, as if he couldn’t quite believe that it had happened. ‘Do you have any idea how much this suit …’ And then he’d looked up, locked eyes with her and taken her in properly. They’d watched each other for a few moments. Laurie had wondered what on earth he’d been doing as he stood there, evidently sizing her up, eyes rolling from the bottom to the top of her repeatedly. ‘I’m so sorry,’ he’d gasped after the strange studying of her had passed. ‘That was entirely my fault.’
Looking back now, perhaps she should have realised then that Neil was a bit of a slime-ball, because what had clearly happened was he’d been furious at first about his suit, but then after a quick study of her face and body, he’d swiftly changed his mind and turned on the charm. He really was all about appearances, and Laurie realised she’d fallen for every spell he’d ever cast, with the expensive dinners and regular holidays dragging her further into his game. She was seeing him in his true light for the first time ever and it was highlighting a very ugly-hearted, conniving man she hadn’t seen before. It was quite scary really, how much you thought you knew a person and then, out of the blue, they’d do something you’d never seen coming, hadn’t thought was even possible. All the flowers, chocolates and prettily wrapped jewellery boxes. Had he been keeping her sweet, while entertaining the red-head? Her stomach turned at the thought of it. How could she have been so stupid and naïve. She’d been played good and proper. Well, she wouldn’t fall for anything like that again. She’d learnt her lesson and, although a harsh one, it was a lesson she knew would serve her well in the future. She knew she’d become dependent on Neil, but how could she have done anything else when he’d been so gentlemanly and sure about taking care of her, spoiling her and treating her like a queen? Well, not any more. This was it. Laurie Chapman was going to become one of those independent women. Except she needed a job, a place to stay and to get her life in some sort of order first. As of right now, she was messy and tired and wanted to crawl into bed, allowing everything that had happened in London to settle down and not alarm her so much each time she thought about it.
***
Sometime after, Laurie indicated to exit the motorway and finally, after what felt like years, she was able to see something other than grey, monotonous asphalt. In the distance, shimmering as if teasing her, the sea was spread out along the horizon. Just seeing it let her know that she was heading in the right direction, that she was growing closer, and the thought urged her to grip the steering wheel extra tightly. She felt nervous and suddenly began to question her plans.
She passed through numerous towns and villages, followed twisting lanes until the land grew cliff-dotted and windswept. Hills surrounded the road on which she was travelling, and the sea was closer than ever. As she rounded a sharp bend in the road, Laurie realised that the hill she was now descending was leading her into Sunset Bay. A roadside sign flashed by but she didn’t have time to slow and check it to be doubly sure. But there was a strange sort of pressure making itself known in her chest. She couldn’t put her finger on what it was exactly but as each second ticked by it became more pronounced, sitting heavy like a dull ache and refusing to leave.
The car managed the snake-like bends with ease and it wasn’t long until the beginnings of civilisation began to make an appearance. She passed by numerous pubs, B&Bs, shops and homes, but continued down to the sea. She wasn’t entirely sure why but it just seemed like a good idea, to clear her head and gather her thoughts before she put in an appearance.
The pier came into view at the bottom of Sunset Bay, the outline of the Ferris wheel towering and prominent against the darkening sky. Once she’d rolled the car to a stop, Laurie climbed out and glanced around. It wasn’t cold but a definite breeze was coming in from off the sea. She tugged her jacket a little more tightly around herself and took a path that she assumed would take her down to the sand. She followed it beneath the pier, the wood creaking and groaning above her, and then burst out onto the stretch of sand, the surge of freedom almost flooring her.
She’d been on plenty of holidays in her time, mostly paid for by idiot Neil, but there was something different about Sunset Beach. It wasn’t flashy or in-your-face. It just was. She took a slow walk along the shore, wringing her hands as she tried to figure out what to do next. Had she made a huge mistake in coming here? She hadn’t seen Mia since Grandma Dolly’s funeral, had been blanked out by her long ago, and although communication between the sisters had existed for a little while, it had slowly but surely petered out. Laurie wasn’t sure of what had gone wrong between them but she hoped Mia would allow bygones to be bygones and offer some sort of solace when she needed it most. She had to do. Laurie didn’t