Madison Skylar stood on the deck of the Sunflower Island ferry, feeling excited and nostalgic as she watched Sunflower Island come into view. Even from this distance, Madison could see gorgeous sandy beaches and flecks of multicoloured roofs. She’d been away for almost five years, with only a few flying visits in between, and seeing the only place she’d ever called home brought an unexpected lump to her throat.
Ice-cold wind whipped Madison’s long brown hair into her eyes, reminding her it was only the end of February. She pulled her flimsy jacket tighter. She’d lost her coat six months before, travelling through Thailand, and apart from the jeans and red jumper she wore, she had little more than shorts, bikinis and T-shirts in her backpack. Aside from her yoga mat, which she’d hitched to the side, this was the sum total of Madison’s worldly possessions. She’d have to rely on finding any old clothes she’d left at The Sunshine Hideaway – her aunt and uncle’s beautiful home and guesthouse – to stay warm until she found time to shop.
As the ferry drew closer, Madison saw the familiar dock with its wooden walkway that followed the water’s edge, leading foot passengers through gleaming white railings to a variety of cosy tourist shops. Closest was Sprinkles, an ice cream parlour that served the best and most unusual desserts on earth. Next to that sat The Rock Shop, which was always crammed with colourful fare including sweets, ornaments made from seashells and postcards from around the island. A couple of buildings down, Surf & Ride was already open, and a sign outside blew back and forth in the wind, offering boat tours and water-sports gear rental – not that there was much call for it in February. In the distance, behind the shops, Madison could just make out rolling fields. In the summer those fields would be brimming with yellow sunflowers tipping their heads towards the dock. The view made her feel a combination of excitement and homesickness.
Madison squinted at the crowd on shore, hoping to see Dee Walker, The Sunshine Hideaway’s cook and one of her surrogate aunties when she’d been a teen. Instead, her attention fixed on a set of broad shoulders that had her stomach somersaulting. Madison quickly looked away, determined to ignore the burn on her cheeks and the tingling sensation dancing across her skin. What was he doing here? Connor Robertson had always had the same effect on her – it was annoying to discover that after all this time, nothing had changed. Infuriatingly, despite multiple efforts over the years to attract his attention, Madison had received little more than a dismissive nod of the head or derisive comment, and she already knew today would be no exception.
Madison picked up her backpack without looking at the shore again, and followed the crowd towards the steps that would lead her down to the exit. The ferry made a series of deep toots and then let out a long screech, signalling that it was docking. Madison pulled out her mobile to see if by some miracle the battery had recharged itself. It hadn’t – she’d have to find Dee the old-fashioned way and look for her.
‘Shall I carry that for you?’ A blond man Madison had chatted to on the ferry – Tom something, she couldn’t remember his surname – took her large backpack from her hands before she could reply. ‘Are you headed straight to your aunt and uncle’s place or have you got time for a quick drink?’ he asked, looking hopeful.
‘Thanks for the offer… but you should know I have a boyfriend,’ Madison replied. This was true, strictly speaking – it wasn’t the most stable relationship, but she wasn’t looking for company and the mention of a partner was usually enough to see off a would-be suitor.
‘Promise you’re not making him up?’ Tom said with a laugh.
Madison shook her head. ‘He’s called Seth Matthews, works for Greenpeace. Google him if you don’t believe me. We met two years ago when I was travelling through Amsterdam.’
‘Then have a drink with me, just as friends?’ Tom persisted. ‘You can fill me in on all the best places to visit while I’m here.’
‘Perhaps another time,’ Madison replied, following as Tom trotted down the ferry steps with her backpack slung across his shoulder. ‘I’m going straight to The Sunshine Hideaway just as soon as I find my ride,’ she explained. ‘People are expecting me at home.’ Saying the word home brought an unexpected warmth to Madison’s eyes and throat. She’d been away since she was eighteen and now she’d reached twenty-three, it felt like the right time to finally stake her claim somewhere.
With Tom still at her side, Madison scanned the hordes of people clustering around the ferry but didn’t spot Dee, which was odd. They’d messaged the day before and Dee had promised to pick her up. Usually when Madison arrived on Sunflower Island, someone from The Hideaway was waiting, often with helium balloons and banners, welcoming her back. She stopped in the middle of the crowd so she could look around. Maybe Dee had been held up?
‘Madison.’ Connor’s voice came from her left and she fought the desire to turn towards it. It hadn’t changed – there was the same deep timbre, the same sexy tone that had her body humming like a finely tuned instrument… She could only imagine what would happen if he ever touched her for real. ‘Dee said you were coming alone,’ Connor said, sounding grumpy.
‘We’re not together, we met on the ferry. I’m Tom Jones – no relation, I can’t sing,’ Tom joked, dropping Madison’s backpack on the floor and holding out a hand to Connor, who narrowed his blue-green eyes and stared at it.
‘Ah, Tom, this is Connor. He’s not really a people person,’ Madison explained, joining him. She ignored Connor’s irritated glare, and did her utmost not to let her eyes drop to the mouth that had given her a few sleepless nights over the years.
Madison could still remember when she’d first really noticed Connor. He’d been around eighteen, working with his father, renovating what was now the Town Hall. She’d been fifteen, and had recently moved to the island after her aunt and uncle had taken her in. He’d caught her eye as he’d stripped off his shirt, exposing a muscled chest that had turned her insides to molten lava. She’d introduced herself and Connor had told her to go away, which had pretty much set the tone for their relationship from then on. Despite that, Madison was convinced he hid a softer side that she still wanted to get to know.
‘Are you here for a reason?’ Madison pushed the image of a half-naked Connor out of her mind and checked over his shoulder, but the crowd had disappeared and only a few stragglers remained. ‘Or did someone hire you to scare off the tourists?’
‘I’m here for you,’ Connor grumbled, picking up her backpack from between Tom’s feet.
‘Where’s Dee? Is everything okay?’ Madison asked, feeling her pulse quicken.
‘She’s fine – she was cooking and couldn’t leave the food. No one else was around to take over,’ Connor muttered. ‘The truck’s in the car park and Jaws is waiting. Best say goodbye to this guy. For some reason, the dog hates blondes.’
Madison rolled her eyes at Connor’s retreating back, even as she appreciated the way his worn Levi’s stretched across his backside, moulding a bottom honed from years of physical labour working for his father’s building business. She sighed before turning back to Tom, who looked faintly put out.
‘Friend of yours?’ he asked, his forehead creasing.
‘No.’ Madison shook her head vigorously. ‘Friend of my aunt and uncle’s. I really don’t understand why, except they grew up with his dad… He’s only three years older than me but you’d think it were centuries. We don’t get on. He thinks I’m frivolous and uncommitted – in fact, he once used the word flibbertigibbet, which may be the most syllables he’s ever uttered in one go.’ Madison grinned, smothering the brief flash of hurt. She’d been seventeen at the time and desperately in lust. ‘I’d better go.’ She pointed in the direction of the car park.
‘Sure you’ll be okay?’ Tom looked concerned.
‘Oh, Connor’s harmless.’ Madison laughed. ‘Unless you can frown someone to death. And his dog’s a pussycat in disguise, truly. Enjoy your holiday.’ She waved without looking back as she made her way towards the car park.
‘I’ll give you a call,’ Tom shouted after her, making Madison regret her impulse to give him her number earlier in case he was at a loose end. But after spending so many years being pushed and pulled from pillar to post with her parents, who’d worked for the Foreign Office, it had become second nature to make friends with everybody she met.
The engine was already running in Connor’s battered old truck when Madison hopped in. Her backpack sat on the back seat next to Jaws, Connor’s large Boxer. The dog came to sniff her face and licked it gently before flopping down again. ‘At least someone’s happy to see me,’ Madison joked, as Connor thumped the truck into reverse and whizzed out of the car park, glaring at the windscreen. She took the opportunity to have a good look at him.
Connor Robertson had always been physically perfect. His hands were tanned from being outside so much and his forearms were strong and lean, like the rest of him – although he had his dark leather coat on so Madison couldn’t see much of his body from where she sat. His cheeks were angular and brown stubble seemed to live permanently on his chin, making him look sexy, dangerous and a little unkempt. His eyebrows were dark and his full lips were always frowning as though something – perhaps life – were dragging them down. Just once Madison wanted to see them lift just for her: was a smile really too much to ask for in life? She knew Connor hadn’t had things easy, and for some reason she seemed to rub him up the wrong way. Maybe now she was back on Sunflower Island, the time had come for all that to change – and this year would be one of new beginnings for both of them?
Connor tried to ignore Madison and pushed the truck into fourth. They joined the road that would take them along the beach and through a small coastal village. After that they’d join the main stretch that would take them five miles out of the main town to the other side of Sunflower Island and The Sunshine Hideaway.
She smelled good – Connor couldn’t fathom how, considering by all accounts she’d been travelling for three days. But then Madison never did anything he expected. He sneaked a look at her as she patted Jaws, who was lying on the back seat staring at her like a lovesick puppy. Like the boy she’d picked up on the ferry, his dog was yet another victim of her charms. There would be more before the week was out. Madison had a knack for enchanting people, and would leave the usual trail of broken hearts when she tired of her latest visit and left Sunflower Island again.
Her hair had grown. When he’d seen her last, it had been cropped and level with her jawline. The new style was artfully sexy, ending past her shoulders. It made him think of warm sheets and wild nights – things he hadn’t had time for in way too long.
‘So how have you been?’ Madison asked, clearly determined to make conversation.
‘Busy,’ Connor answered without elaborating.
‘Last time I talked to my aunt, she said you’ve been working hard running the family business. I know it was a while ago, but I was sorry to hear about your dad,’ she added, sounding genuinely upset.
‘Thanks.’ Connor didn’t know what else to say, so he switched on the radio and turned the volume up. It was an edgy jazz track he didn’t recognise, and Madison looked out of the window for a few minutes, watching the green fields roll past. The atmosphere was strangely settling and he felt himself relax.
‘How’s your sister?’
‘Good,’ Connor lied, because in all truth he had no idea. Like Madison, his half-sister Georgie Grayson was a law unto herself and he hadn’t heard from her in almost a month – hopefully because she was too busy studying. His sister was in the second year of a construction management degree that Connor was helping to fund. After her third-year exams, Georgie planned to return to Sunflower Island to work with him in the family business.
‘So why did Dee ask you to pick me up?’ Madison changed the subject suddenly and Connor felt the tension hit between his shoulder blades.
‘I told you. Because she’s making dinner, and no one else was around.’
‘And you, what, just happened to be close by?’ Madison sounded shocked, which should have been insulting, except she was right: Connor wasn’t exactly the popping-in type. His work was too busy for socialising.
‘I’m working for your aunt and uncle,’ Connor explained. ‘Doing general repairs and fixing up the cafe in the cellar underneath the kitchen. It’s barely used – they wanted to give it a revamp to make it more attractive.’
‘I loved the old cafe.’ Madison sounded delighted. ‘They used to serve the best chocolate cake. It’ll be great to have it open again.’
‘Sure.’ Connor swallowed, wondering how much Madison really knew about her aunt’s recent illness, or if she’d been told the Skylars had decided to put The Sunshine Hideaway up for sale. Dee had made him promise to say nothing about either. ‘It’s an amazing project.’ One Connor had been lucky to get. Since his dad had died eighteen months before and he’d had to support Georgie through university, he’d needed all the work he could pick up. So when the Skylars had asked him to quote, and then eventually to take on the project, he’d been both grateful and relieved. It wouldn’t bring in loads of money, but the prestige should lead to more work on the island. He owed them a lot. Which was why he’d agreed to pick up Madison when Dee had asked and – despite his better judgement – to keep their secrets. At least for today.
Madison looked confused. ‘I wonder why they didn’t mention the work on the cafe.’
‘When was the last time you spoke?’
‘Not for a few months.’ Madison frowned. ‘It’s been more difficult recently, especially while I was in Thailand, because the signal was bad and the battery on my mobile keeps going flat. But I called a few days ago to say I wanted to visit – that’s when Dee told me about my aunt and uncle’s cruise. I thought I’d come anyway. I’ll be able to help out until they return.’
‘Sure you’ll stick around for long enough?’ Connor wished he could take the words back as soon as he said them, but at twenty-three, Madison’s track record for staying in one place could rival a tennis ball at Wimbledon. After a number of brief visits, she’d come to live with her aunt and uncle on Sunflower Island when her parents had died in a freak gas explosion at the British Embassy in Italy. Within a fortnight of Madison finishing school – though Connor had begun to think she might stay – she’d hopped on the ferry for her first adventure, before returning a few months later.
Madison’s aunt, Sandy Skylar, had filled him in on Madison’s ever-changing life from that point. She’d done a short stint at university. After dropping out, she’d trained to be a yoga teacher before working at a vegetarian restaurant. About two years ago, she’d upped sticks and gone travelling to Thailand with a band – the lead guitarist had been a customer in the restaurant, apparently. Clearly the job hadn’t worked out, or maybe it was the guitarist? Connor didn’t know and he really didn’t care. Or maybe he did?
‘My life has been filled with adventures.’ Madison chewed her bottom lip, looking both unhappy and thoughtful. ‘But Sunflower Island is the only place I’ve ever thought of as home, so I’m planning on staying… unless things don’t work out.’
Typical Madison – one foot out the door before she’d even unpacked. Connor wasn’t sure why that annoyed him so much and he didn’t say anything. Instead he gripped the steering wheel tighter and put his foot down. The sooner Madison Skylar was out of his truck the better.
‘You look angry,’ Madison observed, sounding surprised. She unnerved him, always had, with her permanent smile and natural ability to befriend strangers within minutes of meeting them. She was also unusually open, telling anyone and everyone what she was thinking, and people loved it, loved her – as if exposing your deepest thoughts and feelings were a good thing. They were so different she might as well be from the moon.
‘I just need to get back to work.’ Connor ground the words out from between his teeth, knowing he was being unfriendly, but seemingly unable to stop himself.
‘The cafe,’ Madison said. ‘Of course. After I’ve seen Dee and caught up with everyone, I’ll come and take a look.’ She flashed a devilish smile he recognised from when she’d been younger. ‘Maybe I’ll bring you a sandwich, to say thanks for the lift.’
‘No need,’ Connor mumbled as he joined the leafy road leading to The Sunshine Hideaway, just stopping himself from breathing a huge sigh of relief that they were almost at their destination.
As soon as Madison Skylar was out of his hair and he was back at work the better. He could already sense himself being sucked in by her charm, feeling like a planet being pulled towards a black hole it had no control over. But he didn’t have time for her, didn’t have time for anything except proving his father wrong. First, he had to get his sister through university. Then together they’d rebuild the family business into the thriving company it had once been. And absolutely nothing was going to get in the way of that.
When Madison saw The Sunshine Hideaway approach in the distance, tears pricked her eyes. The main building was large, white and striking, with six bay windows and a tall sky-blue front door. The guesthouse sat on a hill, surrounded by dense woodland that marked the start of the long hikes Madison’s uncle, Jack Skylar, took each morning. When she’d stayed at The Hideaway, Madison had spent hours outside with her uncle, stomping through woodland. The memory brought a lump to her throat. She’d been back to visit for small stretches since she’d left for university. And every time Madison felt like she was being wrapped in a warm blanket, making her wonder why she kept leaving.
A large field sat in front of the quaint building, which in summertime filled with hundreds of the blooming yellow sunflowers that The Hideaway and island were famous for. To the right were a couple of guest cottages that the Skylars used to let out to tourists. Beyond stood a double-storey building her aunt used as an office, with a huge glass window. The views from the study were incredible and Madison couldn’t wait to get out there to be alone – it was the perfect place to do an early evening yoga session and watch the sunset.
It seemed like an eternity before Connor pulled up in front of the house. Madison barely waited for the truck to stop before she opened the door and hopped down onto the gravel driveway. Jaws followed, eliciting an irritated grunt from Connor. Madison didn’t wait to pick up her luggage – she’d get that in a minute. Instead she half ran up to the blue front door. Dee must have been waiting, because it flew open before Madison arrived and suddenly she was being enveloped in hugs, cheered on by excited barks from Jaws.
‘I can’t believe you’ve finally come home.’ Dee smelled of popcorn and chocolate, just like always. Madison hugged the cook back, letting her chin rest on the top of her head. At five foot three, Dee was a good five inches shorter than Madison, but at least twice as round. ‘My goodness, you look just the same, although I swear you’ve lost weight.’ Dee took a step back to study Madison critically. Despite entering her sixth decade last year, Dee’s shiny auburn hair was styled into a sharp trendy bob that contrasted with her flowery, frilly apron. ‘How were your travels this time?’ Dee asked, tugging Madison through the hallway before opening the door on the right, leading to the sunroom, without waiting for her answer.
‘Sit yourself down, love,’ Dee said, as Madison took a few seconds to look around the room. It was scruffier than when she’d left and the walls definitely needed a paint. But the four cosy red sofas were still in the same spot she remembered, positioned around the large fireplace. The floor was polished oak, aside from a few deep scratches. A couple of thick rugs with a Mexican pattern covered the spaces between the furniture – Madison knew first-hand they were silky and perfect for sinking your toes into. Faded scatter cushions and soft blankets slung over the arms of the sofas completed the scene and made everything snug and welcoming.
Madison sat and picked at a piece of stray cotton on one of the sofa cushions. ‘How long are my aunt and uncle gone for?’ she asked, studying a crack in the wall above the fireplace that hadn’t been there before. No wonder Connor had been hired to redecorate: the place certainly needed some TLC.
‘Another six weeks. They’ll be disappointed they missed you.’
‘Oh, I’m not going anywhere.’ Madison got up and moved to the mantelpiece. There was a picture of her with her aunt and uncle by the front door of The Hideaway that had been taken when she’d been just sixteen. Madison stood in between them, her face beaming. They’d just been on a trip to Sprinkles for ice cream and Madison had dripped some onto her favourite T-shirt. Instead of being angry, which Madison had expected, her aunt and uncle had laughed. Her aunt’s long hair was tied back and she wore her usual jeans twinned with a silky shirt and pearls. Her uncle looked so much like Madison’s father she felt her heart squeeze. ‘Not if you’ll have me,’ Madison added shyly. ‘I’m hoping to stay for a bit, Dee. I’ve been wanting to come back for a while.’ She turned just in time to see Dee’s expression darken, before the cook smiled.
‘Is something wrong?’ Maybe she wasn’t welcome. Perhaps she’d be in the way? When you moved around as much as Madison did, it was easy to spot the clues that you weren’t wanted.
‘Of course not.’ Dee marched across the room and . . .
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