Page 86 of The Summer That Changed Us

‘Don’t worry!’ Grace cried, following behind him, ‘there’s no baby on board.’

Behind Grace was her sister, Zoe, holding a baby.

‘Robyn, Finn, meet Zoe and Ruby.’ Grace dumped the bags on the picnic rug. ‘Sorry we’re late. We had to pack enough kit for a month away from the house.’

‘Welcome to my life, sis,’ said Zoe, laughing. She tucked the baby into the pram, handed her a toy to play with and then turned to Robyn and gave her a hug. ‘Lovely to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you. Thanks for looking after my sister.’

A plastic toy came flying out of the pram. Finn retrieved it and handed it back to the baby.

‘It’s more like the other way round really,’ Robyn replied, watching Finn interact with Ruby out of the corner of her eye. ‘Thanks for joining in today. I’m glad of the support, especially now that Katie had to dash to Nottingham.’

‘What a nightmare for her,’ Grace tutted. ‘Any news? I haven’t had a chance to check WhatsApp.’

Robyn shook her head. ‘Nothing yet.’

Finn was making Ruby laugh by playing peekaboo with a small teddy bear. Her heart sank. He’d never be able to do that with a child of his own. Not if he stayed with her, anyway.

‘Hello gorgeous,’ Finn laughed as the baby grabbed at his finger.

‘Ooh, she likes you,’ said Zoe, crouching down right beside him and steadying herself with a hand on his shoulder.

‘She likes everyone,’ said Grace. ‘She’s going to be the life and soul of parties when she’s older, I can tell. Should we … ?’ She caught Robyn’s eye and nodded towards the assembled group.

‘Definitely.’ Robyn tore her eyes away from Zoe and Finn and signalled to Sadie, who immediately stepped into the circle and clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention.

‘Good afternoon everyone,’ Sadie began, smiling round at the group. ‘Well, this is a first! And thanks to Robyn for organising this event. Being here today embodies everything that our Previvors Group stands for: nurturing, encouraging, exploring new things. I really hope events like these event will develop a community not only united by the journey to health we’re on, but by sharing our own talents and passions. Which leads me neatly to hand over to the woman whose passion brought us to Merle Bay. Over to you, Robyn.’

Robyn joined Sadie and cleared her throat.

‘Today is about sharing something with you that makes me and my friends happy: spending time on the beach in the sunshine, breathing in the fresh sea air, doing something different and active. This is something to take our minds off what we’ve been through or what we’re still going through. For an hour or so we can just chat away to each other or stay quiet and enjoy being surrounded by nature. This is a chance to leave our real lives with all their worries behind, just for a little while. A good tip for you: the best bits are often found on the tide line. OK, that’s it,’ she gave a little self-conscious shrug. ‘Enjoy yourselves and happy hunting!’

Grace started them off in a round of applause while Robyn gave a wobbly sigh of relief. She hadn’t addressed a big group of people like that for years, but she’d done it, she thought proudly. And then everyone was on their feet, laughing and talking and making a beeline for the water.

Grace dabbed her eyes and beamed. ‘That was ace. I’m proud of you. Anything you need a hand with, just shout, otherwise I’m going to introduce my sister and my niece to the magical world of sea glass.’ She picked up a bag for her and Zoe.

‘Robyn?’ She turned to find Finn behind her looking at her oddly. ‘Is that really why you come to the beach? To get away from your life. Is it that bad?’

‘No, that’s not what I meant.’ Robyn was horrified. She reached for him, putting her arms around his waist. ‘My life has everything in it that I want, I promise.’

But has yours?

The words were on the tip of her tongue. She knew she should ask him, but did she really want to hear the answer?

He gave her a searching look as if he didn’t quite believe her.

‘When I’m here with Grace and Katie and we’re collecting sea glass, I find it easier to talk about how I’m feeling. We all need someone to talk to, don’t we?’ she said. ‘Even though we love our partners with all our hearts, sometimes they’re the people we find it hardest to open up to.’

‘I understand that.’ Finn drew her close and his heart beat against hers, connecting them. If only she could read his mind as well has his body. ‘But whatever is bothering you, I want you to tell me. I can take it; however bad it is, it won’t change how I feel about you. Promise?’

Her mouth was dry. As far as she was concerned, he’d already changed the way he felt. Was he paving the way to finally admit it?

‘Promise,’ she agreed. ‘But you’ve got to promise too. It has to work both ways, Finn.’

A look of nerves flashed across his face and his lovely eyes held her gaze. Finally, he nodded.

‘OK. That’s fair.’ He gave her a lopsided smile. ‘It looks like the beach really is a good place to talk. I think—’

He stopped, distracted by something over her shoulder.