AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re very talented. I’ll take the postcard. I would love to buy the painting, but sadly, I can’t afford it. Plus, I’m not sure where I’d put it in my house. It’s probably too big.”
“Of course. I understand.”
Maya paid for the postcard and as she was about to leave, the bell above the door jangled and Sam walked into the gallery.
“There you are. I thought you’d got lost. The kids returned, but not you.” Sam chuckled.
“Oh, I was on my way back,” Maya said. “I got distracted by this beautiful painting.” She pointed to the seascape. “It reminded me of when we were sitting on the beach on Saturday evening. We had a very similar view.” She wished she could afford the painting. It would be the perfect memento of a perfect weekend.
“Yes, we did.” Sam stood beside Maya and admired the painting, arms folded. “It’s beautiful.”
“I’ve bought a postcard of it. Can’t quite justify the real thing. Although, without sounding like my son, it would look pretty awesome in my living room.”
“Shame,” Sam said, still looking at the painting, before turning to Maya. “Mum’s feeding your kids up on cake, so I thought I’d best come find you.”
“Your mum has been amazing.”
They said their goodbyes to Tilly, who was back at her easel. She gave a wave and a thank you for visiting. As they left the gallery, the bell of the door tinkled behind them.
“Did you know Tristan helped deliver Tilly’s baby?” Sam said as headed back to the B&B.
“No, how come?”
Sam chuckled, relaying the story to Maya that Joe had told him: just before Christmas, when the country had suffered another bad snowstorm, Tilly had gone into labour while snowed in at Trenouth Manor. “Knowing Joe, he’d probably found a suitable excuse to leave Tristan to deal with Tilly.”
Maya decided she would give Rose her thank-you gift as she was about to leave. She worried that the gifts weren’t enough really. She and her kids had been truly spoilt this weekend; she’d hardly spent a penny on food or entertainment. She had paid in advance for the accommodation, so that eased her guilt a little, but all the extras had been given so generously by Sam’s family.
As four o’clock drew closer, Maya packed up her car, with Sam helping with her suitcase and the holdall she’d brought. The kids were happily playing board games in the lounge under the supervision of Charles, who had Scarlett and Daisy perched on each knee. She’d even caught Lewis and Amber calling him Granddad, which was rather sweet.
When everything was packed and ready to go, Maya went to find Rose in the kitchen. Her heart was heavy at having to say goodbye, as she gave Rose her gifts.
“Oh, my dear, they’re lovely, you didn’t need to do that,” Rose said, giving Maya a hug.
“Oh, I did. You’ve gone above and beyond looking after us this weekend, Rose.”
“You can come and stay with us any time,” Rose said, with a generous smile.
“Thank you,” Maya said, then turned and addressed everyone gathered. “It was lovely to meet you all.”
While Lewis and Amber gave Rose a hug, thanking her for the cake, Joe came bumbling in loudly through the back door. “Hey, everyone!”
“Maya’s about to leave,” Heather told him.
“Yes, I thought that might be the case. Goodbye, Maya. Fab meeting you.” Joe gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek, then winked when he let her go. “Hopefully we’ll catch up again soon — maybe at my wedding.” Before Maya could respond, with a twinkle in his eye, Joe had turned and ruffled Lewis’s hair. “Two fab little surfers you have.” Lewis and Joe fist pumped and wiggled their fingers. Lewis thought Joe was so cool. He hadn’t stopped talking about him and surfing all weekend.
“Thanks, you were amazing with them.” She smiled. “Right, goodbye, everyone. And thanks for everything.”
Maya hugged everyone, including Sam, and kissed Heather on the cheek, then stood, swinging her hands awkwardly. She needed to leave, but as though her feet were glued to the kitchen’s tiled floor, she couldn’t bring herself to move.
“Right, I’ll show you to your car,” Sam said, as if sensing her reluctance to leave. “Chloe, come and say goodbye to Lewis and Amber.”
All buckled up in the car, with a push of the button, Maya wound the electric window down, while Sam stood waving, one arm hugging his daughter around the shoulder. Chloe waved too, although she didn’t look happy.
“Text me when you get home, so we know you’ve arrived safely,” Sam called.
“I will.”
After ten minutes on the road, as they wound through the country lanes, Maya could hear muffled crying coming from the back seat. She looked over her shoulder, then in her rear-view mirror. Lewis, red-faced, had tears trickling down his cheeks. He wiped them with his sleeve. Amber, also sombre, looked out of the window, not even teasing her brother.
