Little Beach Street Bakery
Page 73
Next one of the fishermen struck a chord on his guitar, and the rest of them came forward. Polly didn’t recognise the song, but everyone else obviously did, as they all joined in.
I wish I was a fisherman,
Tumbling on the seas
Far away from dry land
And its bitter memories
Casting out my sweet line
With abandonment and love
No ceiling bearing down on me
’Cept the starry sky above
With light in my head
You in my arms
Woohoo!
She felt Kerensa take her hand as the fishermen, strong and low, sang a further two verses, with everyone joining in lustily on the last lines. Just as they finished, a tiny piercing light shot across the horizon.
‘Look,’ said Polly, astonished that it was so late and the party had gone on for so long. ‘It’s dawn.’
As the last notes of the guitar died away, the fishermen followed someone who appeared to be organising everything, who waved them all off the stage down towards the water’s edge, where there were sixteen Chinese lanterns – the number of men back home from the sea – and one larger one. Two men helped Jayden out of his wheelchair as the orange lanterns were lit, and the fishermen lifted them and let them sail high, high into the breaking dawn, lighting up the last stars in the sky.
‘Thank you to the sea,’ said Reuben, speaking simply for once. ‘For delivering our souls home. And look after our brother.’
Everyone stood watching the floating beacons of light soar higher and higher over the waves. There was reverent silence for a second, then they all burst into a storm of cheering and applause.
‘And now: PARTY HARD!’ said Reuben. ‘That’s an order!’
The DJ whipped immediately into a huge banging summer hit about wishing someone a good morning, and how they had to watch the sun come up, and everybody started dancing again, and hugging each other, and talking about how amazing it all was, especially when the DJ followed it up with ‘Praise You’.
The young fishermen were suddenly celebrities as far as the London crowd were concerned. Polly passed Jayden in his wheelchair. She hadn’t even had a chance to talk to him; she knew he had a nurse keeping a very strict eye on him – he shouldn’t have been out of hospital at all, but Reuben had pleaded with them to make a special case. He was sitting next to a ravishing girl with dark hair and huge brown eyes who was nodding sympathetically as he described his terrible plight and how brave he’d been in the face of death. She kept putting out her hand and stroking his arm sorrowfully. Polly caught his eye and he gave her a huge wink. She smiled to herself.
Over in the café, a crack team of chefs were serving up coffee and delicious-smelling bacon rolls along with Buck’s Fizz. Polly helped herself to breakfast and sat on a rock next to Huckle, who was watching the fishermen, surrounded by friends and family, bursting with happiness.
‘Hey,’ he said, pleased to see her. Very pleased. ‘Enjoying the party?’
‘It’s amazing,’ said Polly. She realised suddenly that she was starving; she hadn’t had much time to eat in the last week or so. ‘Everyone’s having such a good time.’
Huckle smiled that low, lazy smile.
‘Are you?’ she asked.
‘Oh sure,’ he said. ‘I always have a good time.’
In fact, he didn’t sound happy at all. Polly looked at him. The first rays of the sun were just starting to spread. One touched his hair, turning it golden. She thought about everything she’d learned about him. And how sure she was that it was he who had made Reuben take the boat out again. Reuben of course hadn’t mentioned that.
‘Do you?’ she said.
‘Well, put it this way,’ he said, looking out to sea. ‘If there’s a more beautiful place to be sad, I don’t know it.’
She put down her Buck’s Fizz suddenly and turned towards him. His deep blue eyes gazed at her, unreadable as ever.
Dammit, thought Polly suddenly. I have nothing to lose. She had already staked everything on coming here; on changing her life, on baking the bread. Every risk she had taken had paid off far more than if she’d stayed in Plymouth, living a safe life in a little flat with a little job and a little mortgage. Every leap into the unknown… well. Her thoughts flitted briefly over Tarnie. Well, almost every leap.
She shook her head. She was overthinking everything.
‘I…’ she said. She realised suddenly that her hands were shaking. Well, she had been up all night, she supposed. Lots of booze, not enough food. Down on the sand, the ambulance boys and girls were all tearing off their clothes and running screaming into the water. Five seconds later, it seemed like everybody was at it. There was a mass of people swimming and splashing. She smiled at the exuberance of it all. Their spot under the palm trees suddenly felt a lot quieter and more secluded, even if it was getting lighter every second.
‘I should…’ She half smiled.
‘You seem to be talking even slower than I do,’ said Huckle, but she could see a sudden tremble in his mouth, or was she imagining it? She steeled herself.
‘I should have liked… I should have liked to try and make you happy,’ she said. It came out in a rush, tailing off to a whisper, but she knew, as she looked up at him under lowered eyelids, that he understood. He took a deep, slow breath. Suddenly what had started on a whim was going to be terribly important for her to hear.
‘Polly,’ he said. The soft, treacly way he spoke her name made her feel as if she was setting herself up for disappointment. That he would apologise and explain – as he had done already – that he wasn’t in the market, that Candice had left him too raw, that they’d been through this.
She felt the touch of his huge, rough hand underneath her chin, lifting it up so she was looking directly at him. The music and the sounds of the revelling swimmers seemed to fade away. She was conscious of nothing but his piercing blue eyes, his handsome face. He seemed to be searching for something; looking at her like nobody else had looked at her before: hungry, curious, but also something else. Like he had finally found what he was searching for.
Just for a second – a delicious second – the entire world froze, and Polly realised suddenly that he was going to kiss her. For that long moment, she knew that this kiss would be everything she had ever dreamed of, everything she had ever wanted, and that after this, whatever happened, she might not want to kiss anyone else ever again.
I wish I was a fisherman,
Tumbling on the seas
Far away from dry land
And its bitter memories
Casting out my sweet line
With abandonment and love
No ceiling bearing down on me
’Cept the starry sky above
With light in my head
You in my arms
Woohoo!
She felt Kerensa take her hand as the fishermen, strong and low, sang a further two verses, with everyone joining in lustily on the last lines. Just as they finished, a tiny piercing light shot across the horizon.
‘Look,’ said Polly, astonished that it was so late and the party had gone on for so long. ‘It’s dawn.’
As the last notes of the guitar died away, the fishermen followed someone who appeared to be organising everything, who waved them all off the stage down towards the water’s edge, where there were sixteen Chinese lanterns – the number of men back home from the sea – and one larger one. Two men helped Jayden out of his wheelchair as the orange lanterns were lit, and the fishermen lifted them and let them sail high, high into the breaking dawn, lighting up the last stars in the sky.
‘Thank you to the sea,’ said Reuben, speaking simply for once. ‘For delivering our souls home. And look after our brother.’
Everyone stood watching the floating beacons of light soar higher and higher over the waves. There was reverent silence for a second, then they all burst into a storm of cheering and applause.
‘And now: PARTY HARD!’ said Reuben. ‘That’s an order!’
The DJ whipped immediately into a huge banging summer hit about wishing someone a good morning, and how they had to watch the sun come up, and everybody started dancing again, and hugging each other, and talking about how amazing it all was, especially when the DJ followed it up with ‘Praise You’.
The young fishermen were suddenly celebrities as far as the London crowd were concerned. Polly passed Jayden in his wheelchair. She hadn’t even had a chance to talk to him; she knew he had a nurse keeping a very strict eye on him – he shouldn’t have been out of hospital at all, but Reuben had pleaded with them to make a special case. He was sitting next to a ravishing girl with dark hair and huge brown eyes who was nodding sympathetically as he described his terrible plight and how brave he’d been in the face of death. She kept putting out her hand and stroking his arm sorrowfully. Polly caught his eye and he gave her a huge wink. She smiled to herself.
Over in the café, a crack team of chefs were serving up coffee and delicious-smelling bacon rolls along with Buck’s Fizz. Polly helped herself to breakfast and sat on a rock next to Huckle, who was watching the fishermen, surrounded by friends and family, bursting with happiness.
‘Hey,’ he said, pleased to see her. Very pleased. ‘Enjoying the party?’
‘It’s amazing,’ said Polly. She realised suddenly that she was starving; she hadn’t had much time to eat in the last week or so. ‘Everyone’s having such a good time.’
Huckle smiled that low, lazy smile.
‘Are you?’ she asked.
‘Oh sure,’ he said. ‘I always have a good time.’
In fact, he didn’t sound happy at all. Polly looked at him. The first rays of the sun were just starting to spread. One touched his hair, turning it golden. She thought about everything she’d learned about him. And how sure she was that it was he who had made Reuben take the boat out again. Reuben of course hadn’t mentioned that.
‘Do you?’ she said.
‘Well, put it this way,’ he said, looking out to sea. ‘If there’s a more beautiful place to be sad, I don’t know it.’
She put down her Buck’s Fizz suddenly and turned towards him. His deep blue eyes gazed at her, unreadable as ever.
Dammit, thought Polly suddenly. I have nothing to lose. She had already staked everything on coming here; on changing her life, on baking the bread. Every risk she had taken had paid off far more than if she’d stayed in Plymouth, living a safe life in a little flat with a little job and a little mortgage. Every leap into the unknown… well. Her thoughts flitted briefly over Tarnie. Well, almost every leap.
She shook her head. She was overthinking everything.
‘I…’ she said. She realised suddenly that her hands were shaking. Well, she had been up all night, she supposed. Lots of booze, not enough food. Down on the sand, the ambulance boys and girls were all tearing off their clothes and running screaming into the water. Five seconds later, it seemed like everybody was at it. There was a mass of people swimming and splashing. She smiled at the exuberance of it all. Their spot under the palm trees suddenly felt a lot quieter and more secluded, even if it was getting lighter every second.
‘I should…’ She half smiled.
‘You seem to be talking even slower than I do,’ said Huckle, but she could see a sudden tremble in his mouth, or was she imagining it? She steeled herself.
‘I should have liked… I should have liked to try and make you happy,’ she said. It came out in a rush, tailing off to a whisper, but she knew, as she looked up at him under lowered eyelids, that he understood. He took a deep, slow breath. Suddenly what had started on a whim was going to be terribly important for her to hear.
‘Polly,’ he said. The soft, treacly way he spoke her name made her feel as if she was setting herself up for disappointment. That he would apologise and explain – as he had done already – that he wasn’t in the market, that Candice had left him too raw, that they’d been through this.
She felt the touch of his huge, rough hand underneath her chin, lifting it up so she was looking directly at him. The music and the sounds of the revelling swimmers seemed to fade away. She was conscious of nothing but his piercing blue eyes, his handsome face. He seemed to be searching for something; looking at her like nobody else had looked at her before: hungry, curious, but also something else. Like he had finally found what he was searching for.
Just for a second – a delicious second – the entire world froze, and Polly realised suddenly that he was going to kiss her. For that long moment, she knew that this kiss would be everything she had ever dreamed of, everything she had ever wanted, and that after this, whatever happened, she might not want to kiss anyone else ever again.
