Chapter 15
15
F leur indicated left, turned down a side road, and pulled up outside Cassy’s house. She had been delivering a training course on the opposite side of the country and had agreed to pick Cassy up on her way past. They were going back to Lovely so that Cassy could have a weekend to herself and experience a secret chowder evening. Patrick was away at a family event, and Cassy’s husband had taken her boys camping for the weekend, which Cassy had definitely not been interested in attending. With all that in mind, the pair of them had earmarked the weekend ready for the taking for best friend therapy, chowder therapy, wine therapy, any therapy, really. Mostly, Fleur had been determined that Cassy have a break.
They’d been planning and cooking up their schedule and were both looking forward to it. Lucy was staying up in London with one of her ballet school friends, and so the pair of them had no parenting responsibilities, no one to annoy them, nothing to worry about, and not even a dinner to cook. All in all, both of them were going to make the most of it. Fleur parked on Cassy’s drive, hopped out, and as she got to the front door, Cassy opened it right away with an absolutely massive beam on her face. Cassy was clearly looking forward to getting away. By the looks of it, wild horses wouldn’t hold her back.
‘Hi, how are you? I’m so looking forward to this,’ Cassy rubbed her hands together. ‘It’s been a week, that’s for sure. Let me at Lovely Bay. I’m there for the chowder and the chocolate and one day in the future possibly one of the coats.’
Cassy had had a few problems with one of her sons at school, who had bashed another child over the head with his lunchbox. She’d been in and out of the school office, and then one of her other sons had fallen off his skateboard and cut his arm, requiring stitches. She’d had life stuff up to her eyes and was looking forward to a child and husband-free weekend doing nothing but mooch around Lovely with Fleur.
‘No more stitches or lunchbox bashing?’ Fleur joked.
‘All good. Everyone’s fine now. I won’t hold my breath. I am hoping for a weekend without stitches!’
‘Good. No more trips to the hospital then for you or any of your offspring.’
‘I hope not.’ Cassy jerked her thumb behind her. ‘I made them a huge pack-up. They took sandwiches, a frozen chilli that they just need to take out and dump in a saucepan while they’re camping, and I sorted out all their bedding and packed most of the car.’
Fleur raised her eyebrows. ‘So basically, you’ve done it all for them as usual. And here I was thinking you were going to chill out.’
‘Well, yes, when you put it like that. Oh well, it is what it is. At least I can relax now. Famous last words.’
‘We do that to ourselves, don’t we?’
‘Yep, we do, but it’s easier doing it that way. I think I’ll live to regret that though when they’re young adults and they won’t pick up after themselves.’
Fleur laughed. She knew the young adult thing well. Cassy wasn’t even yet close. ‘I’m not saying anything. I’m not exactly a model parent myself.’
Cassy rolled her eyes. ‘Says the person with the perfect daughter.’
‘Right, yeah, you know what the last year has been like.’ Fleur sighed and shook her head.
Cassy chuckled. ‘Yes, but she’s good, well-behaved, and happy and most of the time, she’s nice. So there you are. You’ve done a good job. Give yourself a back pat.’
‘I guess so. I’m never going to win any prizes for parenting.’
‘Don’t you believe it.’ Cassy pulled the front door shut. ‘Right, let me at Lovely Bay. I cannot wait. I need my best friend and vodka and not a lot else.’
T hat evening, Fleur smiled as she stood next to Cassy watching a boat chugging up the river. Lovely was showing off to the hilt with light catching on the water, the sound of the river lapping in the breeze and a soft salty sea scent in the air.
Cassy pointed at the riverboat. ‘Well, this is better than getting on a stinky old bus, that I know for certain. Ahh, I love it here. I may have to put our house up for sale and join you.’
‘Since when did you get on stinky buses? Last time I checked you didn’t take public transport if you could help it,’ Fleur said with a smile.
‘Good point.’ Cassy chuckled.
‘You have a very nice Audi that’s all paid for, and you’re getting another new one next year.’
‘Wow, you know how to put me in my place and keep me grounded, don’t you?’
Fleur laughed. ‘Yes, I do. Don’t you forget it.’
As they stood looking at the river, a beautiful sunset in the background painted the sky in a flame of pinks, oranges, and reds. The sky stretched above them displaying the kind of colours that made you stop and take it all in no matter how many times you’d seen a sunset before. Vast swathes of pink and deep coral streaked across the horizon, oranges and little hints of lavender popped up as the sun dipped lower, and wispy clouds dusted in rose gold stretched away as far as the eye could see. The river reflected it all, shimmering with the hues from above and little ripples in lazy patterns spread across the top as the boat made its way upstream. The water mirrored the sky in pools of peach and amber as if the whole world had been dipped in the Lovely glow for a bit.
Fleur exhaled slowly. ‘It doesn’t matter how many times I see the sunsets, when they are like this, they still get me every time. It’s this little corner of the world…’
Cassy nodded. ‘Same. There’s just something about it. It makes everything feel bigger. Like whatever nonsense happened today doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. It makes you feel small and forget about making sandwiches and packing a car. Ha!’
Fleur smiled. ‘That’s exactly it. It just puts everything into perspective.’
The riverboat let out a horn as it approached and Fleur shook her head. Here she was living the dream, standing with her best friend and boy did it feel nice. She had to admit she was happy with her life as it was now. The year before had been a bumpy one with a lot of ups and downs, and at times, she’d wondered if she was going a bit bonkers, but now things were back on the straight and narrow, it felt great to be calm, centred and sorted. Hopefully, it wasn’t going to change. Everything with Patrick was fine, apart from the fact that he wasn’t thrilled about Ben moving closer. Lucy was good, Ben’s arrival had gone okay and as Fleur had settled further into Lovely Bay, she’d made a few friends with neighbours, been to more chowder evenings, and all in all, she was well aware that her move to Lovely Bay had been one of her better ideas. ‘I think I did the right thing moving here. I feel pretty lucky, to be honest. Who would have thought, eh?’
‘Well, obviously. Plus, you have me as a best friend which makes you very lucky. On all counts you’re hashtag blessed.’
Fleur rolled her eyes, but the truth was, she wouldn’t have had it any other way.
F leur looked down at her phone and tapped. ‘I just need to find the instructions.’
‘Do you have to give a password?’
‘Oh yes, I forgot about that,’ Fleur replied.
‘It’s really taken that seriously?’
‘Well, I don’t know about that, but it’s all part of it.’
‘So, what’s the password for this one?’ Cassy asked.
Fleur let out a strange chuckle. ‘That’s the whole point of a speakeasy and a password. You don’t tell anybody.’
‘Right. Okay then. That’s not weird at all,’ Cassy said, laughing.
‘Right, okay, here we go. I think the last one I went to, you had to knock three times on the door. This one says you need to go down the path beside the house, and there’s an old-fashioned ship’s bell hanging off the gate, and you need to ring it twice.’
A few minutes later, they had arrived at the side gate of a beautiful harbourside weatherboard property.
‘Looks like this is it, then,’ Cassy said, reaching up to a thick piece of rope dangling from a ship’s bell. She rang it, waited for a second, and then rang it again.
About thirty seconds later, the gate opened, and they both giggled to see Cally from the chemist smiling at them. She looked down at her phone, then up at them, and said,
‘Password?’
‘Chocolate, chowder, coats,’ Fleur replied.
Cally also giggled, opened the door wider, and gestured for Fleur and Cassy to walk in.
As they walked into the chowder event, Fleur looked around in awe. Everywhere tiny little tealights in blue vintage glass holders flickered softly. It looked as though lots of tables had been pushed together to create special areas, each covered with beautiful tablecloths topped with a white cutwork overlay and vases of fresh flowers. Acoustic guitar music played from a speaker on the side, on the floor a patchwork of rugs in pretty pinks, pale blues, and Paisley patterns had been carefully arranged, and hanging from the ceiling were gigantic white fabric lanterns, casting a glow over the space. At the far end, open doors let in a cool breeze, and the sound of the harbour and clinking of boats carried across the air. All in all, very nice, more than Lovely. Fleur was getting used to the speakeasy events but this one was next level.
‘Oh my god, this is amazing!’ Cassy whispered. ‘Where even are we?’
‘Wow, it is.’ Fleur looked around and shook her head. Every element seemed to have been crafted to perfection, as though Nina, the speakeasy owner, had spent a lot of time creating a space that made you feel as if you’d stepped into another world. It worked and then some.
Cassy’s voice was low as if she were in a library or a church. ‘If you’d told me this was happening in some little harbour town, I wouldn’t have believed you. Talk about take your breath away.’
‘I felt the same the first one I went to.’ Fleur pointed to the far wall. ‘I think we’re over there.’
Birdie approached with a tray of drinks in her hands, smiled, and indicated for them to sit down. ‘Evening, our Fleur. How are we? Hoping all is well?’
‘Good, thanks.’
‘Have a seat, chowder is on the way. Sorry, I’ll stop back in a bit and chat.’
Fleur and Cassy sat down, a drink was placed on the table, and about five minutes later two steaming bread bowls of chowder were in front of them.
Cassy dipped some bread in the chowder, popped it in her mouth and widened her eyes. ‘Wow, this is unbelievable. Like next level. I thought it was going to be like cream of something or other soup.’
Fleur chuckled, tearing off a piece of her sourdough and dunking it unapologetically into her chowder. ‘That’s the whole point of the speakeasy. You’re not supposed to believe it until you’re actually here.’
Cassy took a spoonful of the soup. ‘How did you even find out about this?’
‘Oh, I have my ways now that I’m a Lovely.’
‘Meaning?’
‘Meaning I happened to overhear Birdie mentioning it. You'd be surprised how many secrets this town holds. Lovely Bay looks sleepy on the outside, but trust me, there’s a whole lot going on underneath. Living near Birdie gives me access to all sorts.’
Cassy laughed. ‘Clearly. I feel like I’ve stumbled into some kind of secret society.’
‘You kind of have.’
‘Do you get to know who does what?’
‘Not really. There’s a committee.’
‘I wonder if you will get to know what is what.’
‘Not a chance. They keep it mysterious on purpose.’
Cassy narrowed her eyes. ‘There’s something about Lovely.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I don’t know, it’s like it’s made to make you forget everything else. All the stress, the chaos of normal life doesn’t exist here.’
‘That’s why I love it and they’ll be taking me out in a box.’
‘You really have found your feet here, haven’t you Champo?’
Fleur nodded and looked around. ‘I really, really have.’
‘Your life has settled down nicely. No more problems with Lucy, Ben is behaving, even your mum is, well, doing her own thing now. Compared to what, a few years ago, you’re great.’
‘I am.’ Fleur nodded. She didn’t know what was coming her way.