Page 55 of A Secret Cornish Wish
Claire turns around to see me standing with her bouquet in my hands, about to argue with Eddie. But she blows me a kiss and looks so pleased that I have her bouquet, I don’t have the heart to do anything else but wave at her and hug the flowers close to me.
Then Claire and Jonathan climb into their car and we watch them drive away, waving through the back window to their guests, as they start their new life together.
‘Don’t worry,’ I say to Rob as the car disappears around the corner at the end of the hotel drive. ‘I’m not intending to get married anytime soon!’
‘It’s fine,’ Rob says. ‘I saw Eddie catch them and press them onto you.’
‘Good. So what now?’
‘Apparently the disco is carrying on and the bar is open until twelve. So I guess it’s back for some more of the same!’ He puts his arm around my shoulders and we walk back into the hotel with the others.
‘My round,’ Rob says as we get back to our table and I lay Claire’s bouquet carefully in the middle to protect it. ‘Same again, everyone? Where’s Mandy?’
‘I don’t know. She was with us when we were outside seeing Claire off,’ I say, looking around with the others.
‘She was talking to a woman outside,’ Eddie says. ‘Well dressed. American, I think. She had that big black hat on in the church.’
‘Oh, yeah, I know the one.’ I pipe up. ‘It looked like a flying saucer.’
‘Yeah, it did.’ Eddie giggles.
‘I’ll just get her the same as she usually has then,’ Rob says. ‘Back in a mo.’
‘I see the two of you have been getting on very well this evening.’ Eddie is grinning at me as I watch Rob walk across the dance floor towards the bar.
‘Maybe?’ I try to say this as enigmatically as I can.
‘No maybe about it,’ Suzy says, smiling too. ‘It had to happen sometime. I just didn’t think it would take five years apart to ignite the flame of love!’
‘It’s hardly love, it’s only been a few hours tonight.’
Eddie laughs. ‘Lust, then! It’s very definitely that! Someone isn’t going home alone tonight . . . ’
‘It may have escaped your notice, but both Rob and I are staying with our parents. Hardly the ideal setting for an illicit night of passion.’
‘You could find a way if you wanted to, I’m sure.’ Eddie winks. ‘I bet that’s what you two wished for, didn’t you?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘That night on the beach, when we found the mermaid’s barrel. We all made a wish, didn’t we?’
‘Oh, yes,’ Suzy says. ‘I’d almost forgotten about that.’
‘I hadn’t,’ Eddie says. ‘I was down in Morvoren Cove this morning, and it all came back to me when I saw a fish jump in the water.’
‘You saw a fish jump?’ I ask carefully. ‘Did you see the whole fish, or just its tail?’
Eddie tries to remember. ‘Just its tail I think – why?’
‘Because that’s what we saw last time, wasn’t it, Frankie?’ Suzy asks. ‘Just the tail. A really big tail.’
I nod. ‘Rob and I saw it the other day too when we were sitting up on the cliffs overlooking the bay.’
‘The mermaid of Morvoren Cove is back!’ Eddie says, holding up his hands and wiggling his fingers. ‘Ooh, spooky!’
‘Or maybe she never left?’ Suzy says. ‘Perhaps it’s not only us that sees this tail?’
‘I think we’d have heard something about it if anyone else saw it,’ I say. ‘My mum is always full to the brim of the local gossip; if this was a regular occurrence, everyone would be talking about it.’
