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She reached for her glasses, keen to try and deal with a few emails before she made the most of the rest of the day. The guests who were staying wouldn’t be back until later and she was keen to enjoy the sunshine while she could.
Amy and James had also been a great help at getting the coffee van up and running on a regular basis and that had brought in a lot of walking tourists and of course, income. There still wasn’t enough to do what they wanted to do in terms of the renovations, but she had stopped worrying about that too. They would get there some day.
Kirsty opened her laptop and refreshed her emails. Scrolling through them quickly, she groaned when she saw an email from Trudy and Chuck, the fussy American couple from the start of the summer. Did they really want to rebook so soon? Her heart plummeted at the thought of dealing with them,again.But as she started to read the email, she couldn’t quite believe what it said.
Jumping out of her chair, she slammed the lid down and began pacing the room. Had she imagined what they were proposing? She glanced out the window and saw the kids on the lawn with Steve. They had found the old badminton net and Dad was sitting on the bench under the sycamore tree, watching. She smiled. They were all that mattered.
‘You okay, sis?’ called Amy. Kirsty hadn’t heard her come in. ‘I’ve just been for a run. It’s so nice out there. I’ll have a quick shower and then get back to my coffee duties.’
Kirsty looked at her sister, wondering how she had managed without her. Amy was already talking about submitting plans to the planning department to convert the barns so she could have a yoga studio and therapy room at some point when she could raise the funds.
‘Are you okay?’ Amy asked again, glancing down at her phone as it pinged. ‘Oh, it’s Emma. Checking that we’re around as she may pop over at the weekend.’
‘Great,’ said Kirsty in a flap. ‘Though they may need to stay with you and Dad?’
‘Of course,’ said Amy.
‘It’s wonderful having you here, Amy. Thank you . . . and oh God, I don’t know what to make of this. But come and read this email.’ Her heart was racing as the words tumbled from her mouth.
‘Calm down, sis, what is it that I am looking at?’
Kirsty opened up her laptop again and pointed at the email from Trudy and Chuck.
We loved our stay so much that we have recommended you to our film-making friends who would like to shoot some of their next film on the island and at Meadowbank. Let us know your thoughts and if you are happy with this then we will send your details on. They will of course financially reimburse you for your time. The fee for a month is always extremely worthwhile and so makes financial business sense for you to consider . . .
‘Wow,’ said Amy, her eyes glistening in excitement. ‘Just wow! This sounds promising, doesn’t it? And makes up for that stupid competition you missed out on earlier in the summer.’
‘Indeed,’ said Kirsty. ‘It even just about makes up for them being such pain-in-the-arse guests.’
Amy hugged her and the pair jumped up and down in excitement.
‘Come on, let’s go tell Steve and the kids and Dad,’ she yelled.
As they ran into the garden to break up the badminton game, Kirsty realized that regardless of the amazing offer, none of it mattered. She had everything and everyone who was important to her right here, right now.
They wereherfamily and always had been and always would be. That was all that mattered, and this summer’s island wedding had been just the occasion to remind her what was important and how much she loved them all. It was the summer that everything had changed and their bond as a family had grown even stronger.
‘Guess what?’ she yelled in excitement. ‘You will never believe who has been in touch . . .’
‘Who?’ said Steve looking over.
‘Trudy and Chuck!’
He burst out laughing. ‘I was not expecting you to say that.’
‘Don’t worry,’ she said, throwing her arms around his neck. ‘It’s all good. In fact you won’t believe what they said . . .’
THE END
