Maggie lay sideways on the rug on the sand, dipping in and out of her paperback as she watched Sarah and Evie and Anna play at the water’s edge. Looking at them she suddenly felt old and tired. Ten years ago she would have been messing around with them; now, like a cat, she was happy to bask in the August sunshine, feel its warmth on her skin and bones as a new generation hollered and chased and splashed. It was good to see the girls running around the beach and having fun just like when they were kids; Sarah in her shorts, tanned and fit and happy, and Anna, her hair all curly from the salt water, giggling like a twelve-year-old as they both tried to catch Evie. Yes, coming back to Gull Cottage year after year did them all good.
Some friends had holiday homes and apartments in Marbella and Alcudia and the Algarve, but they were blessed with having Annabel’s cottage to come to, Leo’s childhood haunt. Unspoilt and easy and relaxed, overlooking the beach and rocks, it was the perfect getaway. Leo had adored the place and summer after summer and on school breaks and holidays they had packed up the car and fled west. Sometimes Annabel was here, other times she would let them have the place to themselves as she visited friends and relations in England and far-flung places. The children had grown up with Gull Cottage, learned to swim here, and play tennis and sail and surf. It was a place for firsts. Lying here on the rug brought back a flood of memories of other summer days: Sarah learning to walk across the sand; Anna jumping off the rocks and breaking her leg; Grace spending hours making intricate castles and houses of sand. Her memory was of summers of ice-creams and warm bottles of lemonade, Tayto potato crisps, buckets and spades, sandals and towels, wet hair and togs, long walks on stormy days with anoraks and caps, watching the constantly changing colours of the water season after season and the roll of the sea as year after year passed. They had always planned when Leo retired to spend more and more time here, pottering around. The locals were lovely and Annabel Ryan had been a much-loved member of the community, involved in the village and devoting herself to reading and painting and gardening. Inheriting the house from her mother-in-law had been such a lovely gift and, despite Leo’s death, his brother David, who lived in Seattle, had been glad to see the old summer house stay in the family.
‘Are you getting in for a swim, Granny?’ coaxed Evie, standing over her. She’d been swimming for ages, and it never failed to amaze Maggie how small kids never felt the cold.
‘I’m just in a good place in my book.’
‘You weren’t reading: I was watching you! Come on, please. I want to show you my backstroke.’
Maggie smiled. Evie was like a little fish and now that her cast was off was making the most of being able to swim.
‘OK! OK!’ she relented, standing up, taking off her sunglasses and sunhat and leaving her book with the page marked as she took Evie’s hand.
Evie was such a good kid and an absolute joy in her life. She made being a grandmother easy with her sweet disposition and funny ways.
The water was cold and her toes curled with fright at the chill of the waves lapping around her feet.
‘Come on!’ urged Evie rushing in.
‘Give Granny a chance,’ warned Sarah who had waded in ahead of her. ‘It’s better to dip down quickly and get it over with,’ she advised, diving in and disappearing under a wave.
Maggie walked a little further out, the water lapping against her knees and thighs and hips, freezing the blood in her veins. Taking a deep breath she dipped right in and began to swim.
Evie popped up beside her like a porpoise. ‘Granny, watch, watch!’
She trod water chatting to the girls as Evie turned around and began to do a very good backstroke, arms and legs kicking in perfect time. They all clapped and she beamed with pride, her dark hair sleek and clinging to her head.
‘Good girl,’ said Sarah, proudly hugging her.
Anna ventured out deeper, then turned and swam parallel to the shore, her strokes even and strong, back and forward. Maggie swam along with her for a few minutes, before turning back for the beach as the cold water began to chill her.
‘I’m getting out before I freeze,’ she called as they swam on. She wrapped herself in the towel, scrubbing at her skin, drying herself off a bit, and then took off for a brisk fifteen-minute walk along the strand so the sun could warm her up.
The others were drying off, huddled on the rug sharing some chocolate she’d left hidden in her beach bag, when she got back. She took a square. Evie was sitting on Sarah’s knee regaling them with silly jokes she had heard in school.
‘Rob’s coming over for dinner tonight if that’s OK,’ said Anna. ‘I’ll cook.’
Maggie smiled, catching the knowing glint in Sarah’s eye. ‘That’s great, love. He’s a nice guy. Your grandmother always relied on Rob and had a lot of time for him.’
It surprised her to see the sudden affinity Anna had developed with the place. She was relaxed and at ease with herself here; the landscape and its simplicity had a hold on her and falling for Rob O’Neill had certainly had a great deal to do with it. Whenever he was around Anna it was clear to see that they meant a huge amount to each other. She didn’t want to interfere but if Anna was serious about him she was going to have to make some decisions.
‘Grace will be here on Friday; she’s coming straight from work,’ Anna reminded them. ‘Rob said he might hold a barbecue on Saturday in his place if everyone is free.’
‘That would be lovely.’ Maggie smiled, thinking how well things were working out for Anna and Sarah. The only one she had to worry about was Grace. Whatever was going on between her eldest daughter and Mark was a mystery!
‘Angus is going to come up on Saturday; do you think Rob would mind him joining us?’
‘The more the merrier,’ Anna said as she lashed on some sun block. Her skin was the fairest in the family and she didn’t want to look like a boiled lobster.
‘Angus has never been to the west of Ireland, he thinks it might be like the highlands! He wants Evie and me to go to Scotland with him for a long weekend at the end of the month before Evie goes back to school.’
‘So you’ll get to meet the Hamilton clan,’ exclaimed Anna, tightening the lid on the bottle of sun lotion.
‘Yes. It’s a bit scary, I suppose.’
‘And we might see the Loch Ness monster,’ added Evie, kicking the sand with her feet and burrowing with a small piece of driftwood.
‘We’re only going for three days,’ Sarah reminded her, ‘so I’m not sure we’ll be anywhere near there!’
‘If his family are even half as nice as Angus you’ll be fine,’ Maggie reassured her. She could see Sarah was nervous of Angus presenting a girlfriend with a child but any time she had heard him chat about his parents they seemed kind, good-hearted people.
‘Things must be getting serious!’ teased Anna.
Sarah flung a flip flop at her. ‘You’re a fine one to talk!’
Maggie picked up her book. She was saying nothing; she had interfered enough. At this stage it was up to them!