On the first of May, Harry Archer arrived on the island to sign the leases on the Old Grain Store, which was to be the Archers Ornamental premises on the island and one of the two-bedroom flats in the Old Barn conversion.
So his first port of call was
the Galleon Coffee Shop where he met with Amelia Williamson where he signed the
paperwork and picked up the keys.
His sister Pandora had
already made all the arrangements with the utility companies, and that was all
happening the next day.
Once he had finished with
Amelia, he had other fish to fry so he hurried towards the quayside.
Arielle Nicolas had been
standing on the quayside for about ten minutes, she was always early, when she
saw Harry approaching and her heart soared.
When he reached her, they
embraced and only the sound of
Phil
Holgate starting the engines of the Ocean Breeze brought them back to the
moment, so they smiled and got aboard, and then the Water Taxi moved off down
the Spanish River towards the open water
and it was a smooth ride across the dead calm sea.
The Shaw Brothers ferry, the
Empress Victoria, was on the jetty at Cabot Town, and Phil brought the launch
to a halt beside the small quayside.
Cabot Town itself was
actually just a hamlet, with a café, and a General Store/Post Office, from
there Arielle and Harry went South to the farthest end of Broad Beach Sands,
then they walked back up the full length of the beach and back up the rocky
path to the lane past the Seaview Hotel which led to the meteorological station
and then they walked inland to Hastings Lake to have their picnic lunch.
They ate their picnic sat on
a tartan rug in the spot beside the Lake where they shared their first kiss.
When they had finished Harry
refilled their glasses with champagne and as he raised his glass in a toast he
said
“Arielle Nicholas, will you
marry me?”
“You want to marry me?” she
asked quietly
“Yes” he said “I love you and
I want to marry you”
“I love you too” she said “Of
course I’ll marry you”
As soon as they returned to
Spaniards Creek they went straight to Cliff Haven
“We wanted you to be the
first to know” Arielle said and fidgeted excitedly
on the spot, then blurted out
“We are engaged”
“That’s wonderful news” Molly
said and kissed her
“Congratulations” Danny added
“Are you up for a celebratory
dinner?” Molly asked
The day after Harry proposed
he was nursing a hangover when he was at the new premises and the flat, while
amongst other things, carpets were being laid, the phones were being installed
and the signage was being affixed, but he was feeling better by the time
Arielle joined him for lunch.
Harry’s
brother Sam arrived on Wednesday in a Luton van loaded to the gunwales with
equipment and Matt Deighton was in the
passenger seat.
All of the staff in Sharpington were canvassed to see
if any of them wanted to transfer to the new building but only Matt was
interested.
Which suited Harry because he liked Matt, and they
worked well together.
Sam returned to Sharpington that night, but Matt
stayed on the island, then he returned the next day with another load, and
repeated the cycle on Friday but brought Pandora with him who then returned to the mainland with the empty van
and Sam stayed on.
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