Chapter 7
Sarah was right. It had taken Hannah some serious manoeuvring to squeeze through the crowd waiting to be served in The Sardine. It was a miracle that she managed to get back out onto the seafront without spilling her coffee.
As she reached freedom and fresh air again, Hannah couldn’t help but grin. If that had been London, navigating a packed crowd would have been horrific… perhaps even a bit scary. But here, it had been full of laughter and giggled apologies.
It was such a shame that Stanley hadn’t been in the cafe. She really could have done with a big doggy cuddle. Ah well, she was in Seabury for a while yet. With any luck, she’d get to see him before she left for good. In fact…
‘Maybe I could ask Kate if I can take him for a walk.’
The idea made Hannah’s smile grow even wider. She’d never owned a dog. Gareth was allergic… or at least that’s what he always said. The thing was, she could swear she’d seen photos of him and his parents surrounded by a veritable pack of dogs at his childhood home.
Whatever. She shrugged the thought off. It simply wasn’t important any more.
Hannah took a sip of coffee as she stared out across West Beach. The deckchairs had been set out on the sand, and for a minute she considered commandeering one… but she had a feeling she’d be asleep in seconds if she did that.
‘No, I’ll keep walking for a bit,’ she murmured, turning to amble slowly along the seafront, her eyes drinking in the huge expanse of golden sand as she headed in the direction of Moore Bikes.
The last time she’d been in town, Hannah had walked this way nearly every day…
mainly to escape the growing storm clouds back at the house.
There was a memorial bench she’d become especially fond of.
It was the perfect place to stop—just far enough out of town that there hadn’t been too many people around to notice as she’d dried her tears and sucked in the sea air as if it was a balm for her aching heart.
Hannah nodded to herself. She’d go there now. It would be the perfect place to enjoy her coffee and cake. Besides, it would be nice to sit and actually admire the view minus all the tears and heartache!
It didn’t take before she reached the bench, and Hannah gave the little plaque on the back a gentle pat, just like she always did.
For my Paula. My mermaid. My love.
‘Hi, Paula,’ she sighed. ‘Long time no visit. I brought you some honey cake.’
Hannah lowered herself gently onto the bench, stretching her feet out on the grass in front of her. Ferreting around in the paper box, she broke off a small chunk of cake and popped it in her mouth.
‘Oh… my…goodness!’ she breathed, savouring the richness of butter and honey on her tongue.
Hannah closed her eyes for a moment and raised her face to the sunshine. What could be better than this?
Opening her eyes again, Hannah couldn’t help but grin as she took a swig of her coffee before taking a second, much larger bite of cake.
‘Okay bees, it’s official, I’m your new favourite fan!
’ she mumbled through her mouthful, watching as a couple of cyclists set off from the front of Moore Bikes, promptly followed by a smaller figure.
A dog, perhaps? The little group appeared to be heading in her direction…
but that didn’t matter. Today, there weren’t any tears to hurriedly wipe away, just delicious coffee and cake to enjoy while she watched their approach!
The sight gave Hannah an idea. She’d spotted a sign on the way past Moore Bikes advertising rentals.
Perhaps that might be a good idea while she was in town?
After all, there wouldn’t be time for a nice, leisurely walk into town every time she needed something, and even though she had the car, parking in the centre of Seabury was a notorious pain in the behind.
Cycling down would be easy, though, even if the hill on the way back up to the house might prove to be a bit of a shock to the system!
Hannah nibbled her cake and watched as the bikes came closer. That was definitely a dog lolloping along between the two cyclists. A big dog with its fluffy ears bouncing and feathery tail wagging furiously.
That had to be Stanley!
For a second, Hannah was sorely tempted to run to meet the little group so that she could get her doggy-cuddle fix after all. But then she realised there was no need, because the little group seemed to be heading straight for her.
Squinting slightly, Hannah realised that one of the cyclists was Sarah from The Sardine. Lou had clearly turned up to relieve her from her shift at last. But who was the lad cycling next to her? He looked familiar…
Wasn’t that Mr Eaves’s son?
Hannah hadn’t seen him for a few years now, but that had to be the grown-up version of the little boy she’d helped Aunty Millie to look after on occasion.
Before she could tell for sure, she was distracted by a huge, hairy, heavy Stanley head dropping right into her lap.
‘There you are, gorgeous boy!’ she crooned, dropping her face onto the top of his silky head and breathing in his warmth.
Stanley’s tail promptly went into overdrive, wagging nineteen to the dozen. Hannah laughed and wrapped her arms around his silky neck in an ecstatic hug.
‘Dad said you’d be here.’
The deep voice made Hannah look up at last. Sure enough, that couldn’t be anyone other than the boy who’d thrashed her at Snakes and Ladders when he was little.
‘Hi Jason!’ she said with a grin. ‘Wow, you’ve… grown! I swear you were just five years old two seconds ago.’
‘Try nineteen years old!’ laughed Jason.
‘Nineteen?!’ she gasped, suddenly feeling very old.
‘Yep.’
‘It’s his birthday today, you know,’ said Sarah, smiling across at him.
‘Well, happy birthday! Wait…’ Hannah blinked in confusion as her brain started to catch up. ‘Did you just say your Dad said I’d be here?’
‘Uh-huh,’ Jason nodded.
‘Erm… is there a problem at the house?’ said Hannah, wondering how on earth Mr Eaves knew she’d be sitting on a bench on the other side of town.
‘No!’ said Jason, shaking his head. ‘Nothing like that. It’s just, Dad said you were back in town, and we’re having a bit of a birthday celebration tonight, and we were wondering if you’d like to join us?’
‘Join you?’ said Hannah, doing her best to hide her surprise… and probably failing miserably, judging by the look of amusement on Sarah’s pretty face.
‘Yeah,’ said Jason. ‘I’d love it if you’d come.’
Hannah smiled. It was such a lovely, genuine offer… and what did she have to look forward to other than a lonely evening cleaning the house, followed by falling asleep in front of her laptop? A quick trip next door for a drink and a slice of birthday cake might actually be quite nice.
‘Okay, thanks. I’d love that.’
‘Great!’ said Jason. ‘So, we’ll meet you in the hotel at seven, then?’
‘The hotel?’ said Hannah in surprise. ‘I thought… your place…?’
‘Trust me, it’s better this way,’ laughed Sarah. ‘Hattie’s food definitely beats anything Mr Eaves might attempt to cook. No offence!’ she added, with an apologetic glance at Jason.
‘Definitely none taken,’ he laughed. ‘Cheese and chutney sandwiches are great and everything, but—’
‘Hattie’s cooking wins!’ said Sarah, with a decisive nod.
‘Right!’ said Jason. ‘So… can I tell him you’ll be there?’
‘Okay, sure,’ said Hannah, feeling a bit mystified as to why she was being included in the party.
She could understand being invited next door.
After all, Mr Eaves knew she was home alone, and it was a neighbourly thing to do.
But asking her to join a family gathering at the hotel was something else entirely.
Unless… maybe this was a big do. This was Seabury after all, and there was a good chance the entire town was invited. ‘Erm… who else is going?’
‘Just us two and Dad,’ said Jason. ‘Oh, crumbs… sorry about that!’
‘About what?’ said Hannah, raising an eyebrow. Was he apologising in advance for the company, or…
‘That!’ laughed Jason, pointing to Hannah’s lap.
She glanced down and let out a surprised laugh. While the three of them had been chatting, Stanley had hoovered up the remains of her honey cake and was now busily licking the cardboard box.
‘Stanley!’ gasped Sarah. ‘You’re a horror!’
Stanley glanced up at Hannah, but he didn’t look in the least bit guilty. In fact, if she didn’t know better, he was just disappointed that his snack had only consisted of a handful of crumbs.
‘Sorry mate,’ she laughed, stroking his ears. ‘I didn’t leave you much, did I?’
‘He’ll get over it,’ said Sarah. ‘Kate keeps saying he needs to be on a diet, but I reckon that would be practically impossible in this town!’
‘You have a point,’ said Hannah, patting her own stomach. ‘And on that note, I’d better fast for the rest of the day to make room for Hattie’s cooking!’
‘I can’t wait!’ said Jason, licking his lips as he wound back his pedals, clearly ready to set off again. ‘So, we’ll see you later, then?’
‘Seven at the hotel,’ said Hannah with a little nod. ‘Have a lovely birthday until then!’
‘He will!’ said Sarah with a grin.
Hannah waved the pair of them off and watched as Stanley dashed after them, his tail wagging as he lolloped along.
Right… it was time for her to head back into town. For one thing, she needed to find something to wear… and for another, she could do with finding out what Mr Eaves’s first name was if she was going to get through an entire evening in his company!