Page 26 of The Summer That Changed Us

The other two raced over to join her.

Robyn gasped. ‘Bloody hell! You’ve got a red piece; that’s really rare.’

Grace looked pleased with herself. ‘Worth waiting for then. There might be more where that came from.’ She squatted down again. ‘OK, you two, go and find your own rare patch.’

They both laughed as Grace waved Katie and Robyn away.

Grace was dressed top to toe in dark shades today. She looked stylish and carefully put together; her hair gleamed with health and her red lipstick looked dramatic, but the inky denim jacket, long black jersey dress and pale grey angora scarf drained the colour from her face. Robyn wondered if she’d always worn black or whether bereavement had affected her choices. She could see Grace looking gorgeous in bright jewel colours: ruby, emerald, sapphire. Colours to match the strong personality which Robyn glimpsed between moments of sadness.

Katie, Robyn noticed, favoured neutral shades: caramel, oatmeal and camel, which toned beautifully with her chestnut hair, ivory complexion and sprinkle of freckles. She was tall with long slim legs and her jumper was voluminous. Robyn’s wardrobe had consisted of much more body-hugging garments when she was in her twenties. A pang of sadness ran through her, sending a shiver down her spine; those days seemed like a lifetime ago.

‘What makes this beach good for finding sea glass anyway?’ Katie asked as they wandered further along the tide line together. ‘I’ve always wondered.’

‘There was a bottle factory just along the coast at one time,’ Robyn told her, pleased to move away from her thoughts. ‘Long gone now, but apparently at the end of the shift on a Friday, all the leftover bits of glass were thrown in the sea. Over time the edges get smoothed and years later it gets washed up by the tide, like little gemstones. You don’t get it everywhere. That’s why this beach is special.’

‘What do people do with it? Besides filling tall glass vases in my house.’ Grace came over, tilting her bucket to display her precious collection.

Robyn shrugged. ‘All sorts: arts and crafts, pictures, lots of jewellery.’

‘Or you can just do what my auntie did and leave bags of it in every nook and cranny of the house. She said it was too beautiful to get rid of,’ said Katie.

‘And what will you do with it?’ Grace asked.

‘Exactly the same,’ Katie laughed, tucking wisps of hair behind her ears. ‘I can’t part with her collection either.’

Robyn dipped her hand into the sea glass in her bucket and let it slip through her fingers. It had become very popular over the last few years and she’d noticed an increase in visitors to Sea Glass Beach. In fact, there was a woman on the other side of the bay, near Grace’s steps, who must be a collector. She seemed very intent on what she was doing and worked very fast, discarding almost as many stones as she kept as if she was only after a certain size or colour.

It was so pretty; there much be something creative she could do with it. But what? There were gift shops galore all along the coast selling sea glass items. She was pretty sure that given a bit of time, she could make things to sell too. Maybe sea glass art could supplement her income while she looked for more illustration work? The idea made her heart beat a little faster. She’d have to start off small because she didn’t have a marketing budget to attract customers and although the sea glass itself might be free, all the other pieces of equipment and supplies wouldn’t be. Still, it was a thought, and it was the best one she’d had, so she’d mull it over and see what came to mind. Pleased with her positive thinking, she spent the next few minutes racking her brains to come up with possible sea glass projects.

Katie sighed so deeply that it dragged Robyn out of her daydream.

‘Penny for them?’ she asked.

‘Just thinking how therapeutic this is,’ said Katie, without looking up. She seemed to have hit a good patch and was adding new sea glass to her bucket every few seconds. ‘Mooching along with the gentle swoosh of the waves in the background. It makes you forget all your worries for a while. This is just what I needed.’

‘Me too,’ Robyn agreed, taking a deep breath.

‘Me three.’ Grace put her hands on both their shoulders and gazed out at the water.

‘I look at the horizon and imagine the sea wrapping itself around the world, touching other beaches just like this,’ Robyn said. ‘And it puts the size of my problems into perspective.’

Grace looked at her sharply. ‘And I thought I was the only one with worries. Seems like we’re all in the same boat.’

‘Gosh, I’m sorry, Grace,’ Katie said, chastened. ‘You’re so upbeat and cheerful, I forget that you’re still grieving.’

‘I’ll still be grieving for Myles when I’m old and grey,’ said Grace with a hint of a smile. ‘He was the love of my life. Nothing will replace him in my heart. But life has to carry on, so my goal for the immediate future is to try and be as happy as I can be and not let grief dictate the agenda.’

‘Wise words. I wish I’d met you years ago,’ said Robyn, feeling a rush of warmth for Grace. ‘My mum died of breast cancer when I was fourteen and it took a long time to deal with the loss.’

‘Oh, love,’ Grace’s face softened. ‘That must have been tough.’

‘It was. I’m thirty-four and I still miss her. Every day.’ Robyn swallowed.

It was something she rarely talked about. Friends who hadn’t experienced a major loss didn’t get it. Even Finn couldn’t really grasp what it had been like for her growing up without her mum. It had been horrendous. Even now, twenty years on, her stomach churned just thinking about it. The memory of her mother’s face, contorted in pain, not only because of the cancer, which had been detected long after it had taken hold of her body, but because of the guilt that her daughter would soon be motherless and alone. Robyn had done her best to persuade her mum that she’d be just fine, that she was almost grown up and there was no need to worry, and that she’d be happy moving in with her dad and his girlfriend, but both of them had known it wasn’t true. The last few conversations they’d had mostly consisted of her mum apologising; it had been heart-breaking. The bond between the two of them had been severed just when she’d needed her mum most. The impact on Robyn was so all-consuming that she vowed she’d never have children for fear of it happening again. She couldn’t imagine saying goodbye to a child, not knowing what would happen to them after she’d gone. Even falling in love with Finn hadn’t changed her mind.

‘The only person I’ve lost who was close to me was Auntie Jean.’ Katie set her bucket down and wrapped her arms around herself. ‘We knew how ill she was, so in theory, I’d been able to prepare myself, but even so it was still a shock when she died. But your husband, Grace, and your mum, Robyn … that’s much harder to cope with.’

Grace’s eyes looked misty. ‘I don’t know if I am coping a lot of the time. I think I’m only just coming out of shock.’