A Perfect Cornish Escape by Phillipa Ashley Page 0,104

asked, in despair at Tiff’s stubbornness.

‘I don’t think that would be a good idea for either of us, but I will tell him if and when I decide to leave. I’m certainly not leaving you until the interest has died down and I’m certain you’ll be OK.’ Tiff folded her arms and Marina saw the pout melt into a rueful smile. ‘You can’t change my mind. I won’t leave you.’

‘Oh Tiff, you can’t do any more, and I have the Wave Watchers, and plenty of friends and neighbours. They offered to stay with me in shifts and keep a guard at the door to get rid of the press – although they seem to have gone now anyway.’

‘And … you haven’t mentioned Lachlan?’ Tiff said.

‘Perhaps I can’t handle anything more at the moment. I can’t see a way forward.’

‘You will do, once you can breathe again.’

Marina was touched but wracked with guilt that her cousin had turned down her big chance. The fallout from Nate’s actions had spread like ripples in a pool, affecting those she cared for most, from Lachlan to Tiff. Would it ever end?

Chapter Thirty-Six

‘How did today go?’ Tiff asked, accepting the cool beer Marina handed her. It was Marina’s first day back at college.

Marina joined her on the garden bench. ‘OK,’ she said. ‘Obviously the students were curious and a few of the younger ones asked me questions, but most of the new ones were too terrified to speak or only interested in talking to their mates.’ She smiled. ‘I’ll take a self-obsessed teenager over a nosy colleague any day.’

‘I’m glad you felt you could go back to work …’ Tiff rested her own bottle on the arm of the bench. ‘Have you given any more thought to going back to the Wave Watchers?’ she said.

‘That’s much more difficult.’

‘Why?’

She sighed. ‘Because I feel like a fraud, and that I’ve betrayed people’s trust.’

‘Oh, my love, why would you think that?’ Tiff exclaimed.

‘Because the station – the whole Wave Watchers project – was built on a terrible lie. All that effort, all that energy that I threw into starting the Wave Watchers … People sympathised with me, I played on their sympathy and good nature. On their pity. They gave their time and their money to re-open the station, for my sake, when all along …’ She raised her eyes to the sky in shame. ‘That plaque on the wall dedicating the hut to Nate’s memory. The thought of even seeing it makes me feel sick with guilt.’

‘Listen to me,’ Tiff said sternly. ‘You didn’t know any of that. Nate was dead, in your eyes. Your feelings were genuine and no one will think otherwise. And besides, they didn’t do it only for you and Nate. They did it for their loved ones, for the community, for themselves. They knew it would save lives and it has. For God’s sake, don’t let Nate steal this Wave Watchers from you along with everything else he’s taken.’

The passion in Tiff’s voice moved Marina, but she still felt desolate.

‘Everything you’re saying is right, but I can’t help it. What’s happened has shaken everything I believed in: love, this community, myself. Now I don’t know if I can ever go back.’

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Tiff had just walked out of a luxury apartment development when her mobile rang. On seeing Yvette’s number, she was a little surprised. After all, she’d turned down the job twice. Perhaps she was calling in connection with more freelance work.

‘Tiff. Hello. Yvette here. I have to tell you that your cousin called me this morning and told me that I mustn’t let you turn this job down.’

Tiff couldn’t stop her squeak of amazement. ‘What? I had no idea! Marina did that?’

‘Clearly she has your interests at heart. Would you consider changing your mind?’

‘I – I’d need to think about it,’ Tiff said, still taken aback by Marina’s intervention and Yvette renewing her offer. She must be very keen to work with Tiff.

‘OK, but please, let me have your answer asap, because I really need a features ed. We’re busy, and going to be busier. And, Tiff, before you go – I have to tell you something else you might be interested in …’

It was dusk by the time she arrived home and she went straight round to Dirk’s. He answered the door in a dark blue sweater and jeans, his hair wind-blown, his cheeks shaded by stubble. He was magnificent and wild, like the land he lived in – and