Liz Fenwick - The Path to the Sea

LIZ FENWICKwas born in Massachusetts and after ten international moves she’s back in the United Kingdom with her husband and two mad cats. She made her first trip to Cornwall in 1989 and bought her home there seven years later. She’s a bit of a global nomad but her heart forever remains in Cornwall. For more information visit lizfenwick.com. Or find her procrastinating on Twitter @liz_fenwick

Also by Liz Fenwick

The Cornish House

A Cornish Affair

A Cornish Stranger

Under a Cornish Sky

A Cornish Christmas Carol

The Returning Tide

One Cornish Summer

Copyright

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2019

Copyright © Liz Fenwick 2019

Liz Fenwick asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Ebook Edition © June 2019 ISBN: 9780008290511

PRAISE FOR LIZ FENWICK

‘The queen of the contemporary Cornish novel’

The Guardian

‘Full of warmth, wisdom and compassion . . . Liz Fenwick’s writing is vivid, satisfying and descriptive’

Daily Express

‘Engrossing and romantic – a perfect holiday read’

Rachel Hore

‘Wonderfully intriguing and compelling . . . Together with Liz’s usual beautiful evocation of the Cornish scenery this was a brilliant read’

Barbara Erskine

‘Authentic and compelling . . . I loved it’

Rosanna Ley

‘As heartbreaking as it is absorbing . . . I read it in one day’

Kate Riordan

‘Intriguing, deeply felt and poignant’

Elizabeth Buchan

For the friend who has travelled the journey of my life, filling it with laughter, sharing the tears and the secrets, saving the memories and being an anchor when the waves of grief threatened to set me adrift.

Although we have chosen different paths, you remind me of the starting point and how far we have travelled. Great friendship doesn’t require proximity, just great love.

Thank you Christine.

Two roads diverge in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost, ‘The Road Not Taken’

Contents

Cover

About the Author

Booklist

Title Page

Copyright

PRAISE

Dedication

THE WAYMARKER

1. Lottie

SEA ROADS

2. Diana

3. Joan

4. Lottie

5. Lottie

6. Joan

7. Lottie

8. Diana

9. Lottie

10. Diana

11. Joan

12. Diana

13. Lottie

14. Joan

15. Lottie

16. Diana

17. Lottie

18. Diana

19. Lottie

20. Joan

21. Lottie

22. Diana

MILESTONE

23. Joan

24. Lottie

25. Diana

26. Diana

27. Lottie

28. Diana

29. Lottie

30. Joan

31. Lottie

32. Diana

33. Joan

34. Lottie

35. Diana

36. Diana

37. Joan

38. Diana

39. Lottie

40. Joan

41. Diana

42. Lottie

CROSSROADS

43. Lottie

44. Joan

45. Diana

46. Lottie

47. Diana

48. Lottie

49. Joan

50. Diana

51. Lottie

52. Joan

53. Diana

54. Lottie

55. Lottie

56. Joan

57. Lottie

58. Lottie

59. Diana

60. Lottie

61. Joan

62. Diana

63. Joan

64. Joan

65. Diana

THE CAUSEWAY

66. Lottie

67. Lottie

68. Joan

69. Joan

70. Lottie

71. Joan

72. Lottie

73. Joan

74. Diana

75. Lottie

76. Joan

77. Lottie

78. Joan

79. Lottie

80. Diana

81. Joan

82. Lottie

83. Diana

84. Lottie

85. Joan

DESIRE LINES

86. Joan

87. Lottie

88. Joan

89. Lottie

90. Diana

91. Diana

Acknowledgements

About the Publisher

THE WAYMARKER

1

Lottie

3 August 2008, 11.30 p.m.

All was silent except for the sound of the waves reaching the beach. ‘Happy anniversary,’ he said.

Lottie frowned. ‘Anniversary?’ Turning, she tried to see his expression. ‘Are you taking the piss?’

He traced her mouth with his finger. ‘Would I do that?’

‘Yes.’

She felt rather than heard his laugh as his body was stretched out next to hers, thigh to thigh, hip to hip.

‘We’ve been together for a month and a half.’

‘So, we’re celebrating half months as well as months?’

He kissed her long and slow and she wasn’t sure what they had been talking about as his hand ran across the skin of her back, just above her jeans.

‘I celebrate every day, every minute, every second that you are mine.’

Her breath caught and held, and she looked up to the sky. The milky way stretched above, vast and mystical. She was captivated. The universe and all its glory filled her. Here on this beach, wrapped in his arms, was where she wanted to be always. It could happen if they wanted it enough and she believed they did.

‘Alex?’

‘Yes?’ His arm tightened around her.

‘Will . . .’ Just then a shooting star sped across the sky and seemed to fall into the sea. She wished with all her heart that she could be in Alex’s arms for the rest of her life. She rolled onto him. ‘Did you see it too?’

‘The shooting star?’

‘Yes.’ He kissed her.

‘Did you make a wish?’

He nodded and pushed her hair back, tucking it behind her ears. ‘I did.’