Chapter Text
Charlotte dreamed of the island that night. She strolled along the shore, collecting shells, picking one up and holding it up to the sun. The sky was pink, the sand soft beneath her bare feet and she was filled with a sense of hope and contentment - that lasted as long as it took to open her eyes and feel the cold sheets of a half-empty bed. The contrast between her dream and her reality was heart-breaking. If she had known as a child that grown-up life could be so cruel, she might still be living on the island, hiding from her future…
She swung her legs out of bed and traipsed towards the kitchen which, like her bed, was now also half-empty. The coffee maker had gone, as had the juicer and all the nice glasses. She opened the fridge and found - nothing, just empty shelves mocking her. Pulling a dirty cup out of the sink, she filled it with tap water and went to sit on a stool at the breakfast bar. She’d forgotten, he’d taken the stools too…
At least the kitchen table was still there with its rickety chairs she’d brought with her into the marriage. She’d always been adamant they not be exchanged for something more sleek and modern and now she was grateful she had insisted they stay. With the dream still in her mind, she realised why she was so attached to the scarred wooden table - it reminded her of the table in the island cottage, where she had sat doing jigsaws when it rained, drunk hot chocolate when it was cold and helped her mum shell peas, picked from the vegetable garden outside. Sometimes, even Lady Denham would sit at the table and chat….
Sitting there, absent-mindedly twisting her wedding ring round and round, she thought about Lady Denham… How old must she be now? Close to a hundred if she was still alive. Probably not spending her summers on the island anymore… Who went there now? Esther? Charlotte had a sudden flashback to her little friend, red pigtails and a look of mischief in her green eyes. How she missed those days…
A ring on the bell shook Charlotte from her reverie and plodding to the door, she found her friend and business partner, Georgiana, standing outside, frowning.
“Oh babe, I hoped I’d find you up and dressed and ready for work.” At Charlotte’s sad shake of the head, Georgiana’s expression softened. “Oh Charlotte…” she said, squeezing her friend’s arm and coming inside.
“He’s taken… everything!” said Georgiana looking at the empty flat.
“Not everything…”
“All the good stuff!”
“He paid for it…”
“Thank god you own the flat otherwise he’d have taken that too! Shitwit!”
Charlotte sank down on the kitchen chair, as Georgiana put the kettle on. Opening the cupboard door, she found the tin Charlotte kept the teabags in, but prising open the top, she found the tin was empty. “Did he take the teabags too?” she muttered. There was no coffee, no milk in the fridge… Defeated, Georgiana switched off the kettle and sat down at the table.
“Charlotte, you can’t go on like this,” she said, patting her friend’s knee.
“I’m sorry… I know I’m leaving you with everything to do at work…”
“I don’t care about the business, I care about you! You’re not looking after yourself!”
“I just feel…”
“Broken. I get it, but he’s a self-centred prick who never deserved you!” Georgiana gazed at the tears in Charlotte’s eyes and patted her knee again, “I’m sorry… It just makes me so angry! You here in this empty flat, completely destroyed while he gets to swan off with his pregnant girlfriend… You know what you should do?”
“No. What?”
“Swan off yourself! Sitting around here is doing you no good at all, it’s just reminding you of everything that’s happened. You need to go somewhere nice, somewhere that makes you happy. Just spend some time sorting yourself out, away from…” She waved her arm to incorporate Charlotte’s entire life. “... all this.”
“What about work?” Charlotte whispered.
“Oh babe, you’re no good to me like this. The Beaufort sisters are holding the fort. I’m sure they’d be happy to stay on for another few weeks. Get yourself a cheap package, go and sun yourself under a palm tree somewhere. Have a holiday fling…”
“Go to the island…” Charlotte murmured.
“The island?”
“It’s where I used to go on holiday, when I was a kid. Mum took me - her friend owned it…”
“Owned an island?” said Georgiana, her eyes wide. “Like Richard Branson owns that tropical paradise in the Caribbean?”
“Not quite,” said Charlotte with a small smile. “It’s a tiny island off the South coast…”
“The South coast of… England?” said Georgiana, looking disappointed. “That doesn’t sound very exciting.”
“Oh, but it was!” said Charlotte, her face now aglow. “It’s just a mile off the coast but it’s like its own world! Lady Denham owned it - it had been in her family for ages and my mum knew her…. Anyway, she had a niece who was about my age and she invited me and mum one year to the island, so her niece, Esther, would have someone to play with. Then we went every summer because we loved it so much…”
“What did you do there?”
“We went swimming and collected seashells and camped on the beach… It was magical. There were three cottages there - Lady Denham employed a couple to look after the island and they lived in one and kept a vegetable garden and fruit trees, some chickens and a goat. We stayed in the other two and picked the fruit and collected eggs and learnt to milk the goat. There were seals too and lots and lots of birds…”
Georgiana looked at her friend’s glowing face and said, “That’s where you should go then.”
“I’ve been dreaming about it every night since… since Alex left.”
“That’s your subconscious telling you it’s where you need to be.”
“I’d love to go back…” said Charlotte wistfully. “But I haven’t been there for years and years. It was mum who stayed in touch with Lady Denham, so I have no idea if she’s even still alive…”
Georgiana whipped out her phone, asking, “What’s the island called?”
“Sanditon.”
Charlotte watched as her friend googled, clicked and scrolled, not even daring herself to hope…
Finally, Georgiana looked up and said, “I’m sorry, babe, but Lady Denham died a few years ago. It says here that her niece, Esther Babbington, is now the owner. There’s not much info about the place but Esther’s on Facebook. Why don’t you message her?”
Charlotte stared at her, it was all going so fast… Yet the thought of being on the island again, all on her own with nothing but good memories surrounding her, no one to speak to except the birds and the seals… She could already feel herself beginning to heal. She smiled at Georgiana, “Esther Babbington… She obviously got married. I wonder if she’ll remember me.”
Georgiana smiled back, “Only way to find out is to message her. Go on, do it now.”
“Alright. I will.”
—--------------
“Oh wow! That’s a blast from the past…” said Esther that evening, checking her phone.
“What’s that, darling?” said her husband, equally engrossed in something on his phone.
“Charlotte, my friend from the island… Babbers, are you listening to me?”
“Yes… no…” Babbington grinned sheepishly. “Sorry, what were you saying?”
Esther shook her head and patted the seat next to her on the sofa, “Sit down and leave your phone over there. There’s something we need to talk about.”
Babbington sat down next to his wife, saying, “Sounds serious, darling. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, hopefully… You remember me telling you about my friend Charlotte, who I used to play with on the island? Well, she’s messaged me, asking if she could stay on the island for a bit.”
Babbington frowned, “I didn’t think you were in touch…”
“We’re not or at least we weren’t. She was really apologetic about that, said she left it to her mum to stay in contact with Auntie but her mum died and now her marriage has broken down…”
Babbington’s face softened, “Poor woman.”
“Indeed. She said she’s been dreaming about the island and says she needs some time alone in a place full of good memories, which I can completely understand because whenever I feel a bit down, I think about being a child on the island and I feel instantly better…”
“So, what’s the problem? Tell her she can stay.”
“You know what the problem is. Sidney’s the problem.”
Babbington’s face fell, “Oh, you mean after last time…”
“Yes, after last time.”
“Is your friend Charlotte going to be anything like your brother?”
“Not unless she’s become a completely different person… but then Edward was a sweet boy, so who knows?”
They stared at each other for a moment, before Babbington said, “Just because it went a bit wrong with Edward’s stay, doesn’t mean the same thing will happen with Charlotte. I mean, Sidney was really clear that Edward and his lady friend weren’t to go near the cliffs and disturb the nesting birds…”
“He was…”
“And they were pissed as farts most of the time…”
“They were…”
"And Sidney’s become very attached to the island’s wildlife. He’s protective…”
“That’s the problem, though, isn’t it? He’s become too protective. He’s supposed to be helping us open the island up to visitors, but it’s become his private domain.” She sighed, then said, “I mean, it doesn’t really matter if he doesn’t do the job we set him, but I do worry about him. He’s becoming too solitary.”
“Well, maybe having your friend there will do him good. I mean, he went to the island to heal his broken heart - maybe he can help Charlotte…”
Esther looked at her husband in disbelief, before saying, “You’re right! We could get Sidney to run a retreat for the broken and bereaved. I can see the publicity already: Come to the island and under the supervision and care of our resident psychological expert, you too will become whole once again. It’s genius!”
Babington looked at the sarcastic glint in his wife’s eye and said, “That’s not entirely fair, darling. Sidney’s got a good heart, it’s just been badly bruised.”
The glint faded, as Esther replied, “I know, Babbers. I know he’s a good man - but he’s becoming a grumpy bastard…”
“I’d be a grumpy bastard if anything happened to you!”
Esther smiled fondly at her husband and cupped his cheek with her hand, saying, “And I hope if that happened, your friends would do their best to bring you back to the good, sweet man they knew you to be.”
“Ok, point taken.” Babbington took her hand and kissed its palm, “So, what are you going to do?”
“I guess I’m going to phone him and plead Charlotte’s case.”
—-----------
That evening, Esther took a deep breath, then jabbed at Sidney’s number. Her phone rang and rang but eventually a voice barked, “Esther.”
“Sidney, darling, did I drag you away from something important?”
There was silence, then, “What do you want?”
“I don’t know… maybe for you to sound a little happier to hear from me? Speaking as your friend…”
“... and benefactor, I know. Sorry, Esther, it’s been a bad day, more rubbish washed up on North Beach, a dead rat, and the falcon’s been back…”
Esther thought of her husband’s oldest friend battling to protect his beloved seabirds and, chastened, said quietly, “You take good care of my island, Sidney, thank you.”
“You’re very welcome, Esther. It’s a privilege to be here.”
“I’m glad you feel like that because another friend of mine would like to share that privilege for a few days…”
Sidney’s voice was immediately suspicious, “Who?”
“Her name’s Charlotte Heywood, her marriage has just ended and she wants some time to get herself together again…”
Silence.
“Listen Sidney, I know the last time I sent someone to the island, things didn’t go well…”
“Hmph.”
“... But Charlotte knows the island - Auntie used to invite her and her mother to come on holiday with us so I’d have someone to play with. We used to have the best time as children and she wants to spend some time in a place where she has good memories.”
“I won’t have time to mollycoddle her…”
“She’s not coming for the benefit of your company, darling. She wants to be alone as much as you do.”
“You’ll tell her about the birds nesting, won’t you? She mustn't go near the cliffs.”
“I’ll tell her.”
“I suppose you’ll want me to get the cottage ready for her…”
“It would be the kind thing to do but Charlotte’s not expecting anything to be done for her.”
“No… Well, good.”
Esther paused before adding, “I don’t know what Charlotte’s like now but I loved her when we were children. It sounds like she’s going through a rough time, so if you could be nice to her, you’d be doing a good thing - a good thing for you too. You don’t speak to enough people, Sidney. I know you hate the idea of having more visitors to the island, but I suggested opening the island up a bit more for your sake too. I know you needed the solitude when you first went there, I absolutely understand that, but maybe now you should be thinking about mixing with a few more people…”
“I mix plenty! I go onshore, I shop, I speak to you, to Babbers…”
“Hmm.”
“And Old Stringer! You’d be surprised at the conversations we have.”
“About boats and birds?”
“What else is there?”
Esther caught the glimmer of a smile in his voice and laughed. “On second thoughts, maybe you should leave Charlotte to her own devices - she’s going for some R&R, not to be bored to death!”
“Suits me fine.”
Esther ended the call and sent Charlotte a message saying she could stay for as long as she wanted and giving her all the details she needed. Then she crossed her fingers tightly, hoping that at best, Sidney made a new friend and at worst, he didn’t send her packing…