‘Hm,’ said Brooke. ‘Wasn’t it a bit dark for a stroll?’
‘Um. The moon came out,’ said Ivy, and for some reason she felt her cheeks getting pink.
‘Well.’ Brooke regarded her in silence for a moment, then said, ‘I’m looking forward to seeing Seal Island. Another Fox Bay secret?’
Ivy yawned into her coffee. ‘I mean. It’s an island, there are seals.’
‘Apparently it’s a dead ringer for Saltwater Isle inOcean Deepthough,’ said Brooke, pulling out her phone and clicking on a link. ‘Look.’ She held out the phone. ‘In this interview, Kathleen Lee says it’sexactlyhow she imagined it when she wrote the book. She said, and I quote, “Fox Bay could have been conjured up out of my own imagination. It’s exactly where I imagined the captain returning when he comes home and finds love again”.’
‘So youarea Kathleen Lee fan then?’ said Ivy curiously. She was sure she remembered Brooke saying the opposite.
Brooke shrugged and Ivy thought that she was also flushing. ‘Yeah, I mean her books are okay. I quite like them.’
‘I’m sorry.They’reokay? Youquitelikethem?’ Trip appeared, holding his backpack and tugging on his beanie. ‘Come on, Brooke, be honest now.’ A look of mischief crossed his face. He turned to Ivy. ‘Ivy, I think it’s time for me to tell you my sister’s deepest, darkest secret,’ he said. ‘She loves— Oof!’
He broke off as Brooke elbowed him hard in the ribs. ‘Shutup,’ she hissed. ‘And come on, will you? We’ll be late.’
She stalked down the street.
‘What?’ whispered Ivy as they hurried after her. ‘What’s your sister’s deepest, darkest secret?’
‘Brooke loves rom coms,’ said Trip, his long legs keeping pace easily. ‘She’s the biggest Kathleen Lee fan. She’s read all of them. She goes on Reddit forums talking about them. And everything else. Jilly Cooper, Emily Henry, Tessa Bailey, Danielle Steele. Brooke is never without at least one of those on her bedside table.’
‘Really?’ whispered Ivy, panting as she struggled to keep up with Brooke’s rapid stride. ‘But that seems so unlikely. Rom coms are all about love and optimism and Brooke is …’Hard as nails, she wanted to finish, but she bit her tongue. ‘She seems more of a realist.’
‘Oh, Brooke loves a love story,’ Trip said. ‘Romantic movies too. She’s always curled up watching something, so long as it has a happy ending … Name a Hallmark movie and she’ll have watched it. In fact, she usually clears this time of year just for that. The whole of December. She said otherwise she doesn’t have time to finish them all before Christmas Day, what with all the subsidiary channels.’
Ivy couldn’t help laughing, breathless from the pace the siblings were setting. ‘Brookeisjust like the heroine at the start of every Hallmark movie, before she meets the smalltown man who melts her heart. I had no idea she was such a fan.’
‘That’s why she’s here,’ said Trip. ‘To see if—’ He broke off.
‘What?’ said Ivy, frowning. ‘To see if what?’
‘To see if Fox Bay is how she imagined it when she was readingOcean Deep,’ he said, rather woodenly, looking straight ahead. There was something unconvincing in his tone that made Ivy study him closely. ‘Look,’ he said, pointing, ‘there’s Old Bill.’
Old Bill was sitting on the edge of his faded blue boat, whittling some indeterminate piece of wood.
‘Ah, you’re here for the island trip,’ he said, standing up as they approached. ‘Kate! Customers are here.’
Kate, a lean, tanned woman who Ivy knew used to run the surf school with Jacob, stuck her head out of the boathouse. ‘Hey, Ivy,’ she said. ‘Nice to see you back. How’s art school?’
‘It’s okay,’ said Ivy evasively. One day she would have to come up with a better answer. ‘Are you doing boat tours with Bill now?’
‘The surf shop is mostly shut up in the winter,’ she explained. She emerged holding a cup of tea and zipping up her jacket. ‘Apart from a few die-hard enthusiasts. Old Bill gave me this gig.’
‘What she’s not telling you is I’m not allowed to do long trips now. I’ve got to be careful, the doctor says,’ grumbled Old Bill. ‘Eyes aren’t what they were, neither’s my balance. I promisedSimi I’d be careful and she’s watching me like a hawk. Although Iwouldbe fine …’ He shrugged. ‘Anyway, Kate’s been helping me out till it’s lighter.’
‘Sorry it’s so early,’ Kate said, taking a final swig of her tea and setting the tin cup down on the harbour wall. ‘The tours start at eight and we’re still booked out after the Kathleen Lee stuff last summer.’ She pulled on a bright orange bobble hat. ‘Shall we go?’
‘Sure,’ said Brooke, hopping neatly into the boat. Trip followed and both siblings settled themselves with ease. Ivy, who scrambled in far less gracefully, boat rocking, wondered if they were used to sailing. Whereas she, who had grown up by the actual sea, had barely set foot in a boat.
‘Cast off,’ bellowed Old Bill, seemingly oblivious to the early hour and the sleeping residents of Fox Bay. ‘May you have fair winds and following seas!’
Soon they were heading across the water under a sky that was slowly turning gold. After about twenty minutes’ sailing, Seal Island rose ahead of them and, as they neared the rocks, seals began to appear, first a slick head or two, then dozens of them, lounging like sunbathers on the rocks, slipping into the sea with curious glances as the boat approached.
Kate slowed the boat and the seals bobbed in the water, watching. Brooke, seated near the bow, laughed with delight at one particularly bold pup that barked indignantly at them. Trip pointed, wide-eyed, as another darted beneath the boat like a shadow. The siblings looked more alike when they were relaxed,Ivy thought – Brooke in particular was transformed in this moment, her whole face alight with excitement.
Ivy wished, suddenly, that she could draw this and found herself reaching into her coat pocket – but she hadn’t brought her sketchbook.
