Chapter 5
5
C ally walked out of her flat, down the steep stairs, and scooted across the first floor on her way to meet Nina. They were meeting to discuss another job at a property near the harbour and an extension to the decluttering job at Lovely Manor. As she made her way through the back of the deli and into the shop, she smiled at Alice and took in her surroundings. She loved living over the deli; the flat was close enough to be near to the bustle of Lovely, and she benefited from fabulous aromas of freshly baked bread and brewed coffee, but she was far enough above to be tucked up away from it all. She stood and looked around for a second at how nice everything was: the shelves lined with an assortment of bits and bobs, jars of homemade preserves, and beautiful teas, and everything else in between.
It wasn’t only the aesthetics of the place, though. Cally slotted right in with the Lovelies and adored the warm atmosphere, the friendly buzz of conversation from the regulars, and the just general all-around comfiness of the place.
‘Morning, our Alice,’ Cally greeted. ‘How are we? Keeping out of trouble?’
Alice looked up and returned the smile. ‘Morning. How's your day going so far?’
‘Just getting started with my actual day. I’ve been holed up on my laptop since the early hours, although it was very quiet. I think lots of people must be on holiday at the moment.’
‘Yeah, they are. Every other person on Facebook is in Majorca or somewhere just as hot.’
‘I reckon.’
‘And I’m stuck here.’ Alice rolled her eyes.
‘There are worse places to be stuck in the world.’ Cally noted with a chuckle.
‘Yep, I guess so. What are you up to?’
‘I'm meeting Nina to discuss a new job,’ Cally replied, her tone cheerful.
Alice nodded. ‘Busy as ever, our Nina. I don’t know how she does it. She’s always so organised and on top of everything and she does it all with Faye in tow half the time.’
Cally agreed. ‘She’s very good at what she does. Walks the talk, as it were. She puts me to shame.’
‘So I’m told. I need her to organise my whole life. Coffee?’
‘Yep. One for me and one for Neens. Lattes, please. Maybe a couple of scones, too, thanks. I’ll get a table. Thanks,’ Cally said, heading towards the front of the deli near the window.
As she settled at a table, she spotted Nina pushing her daughter Faye’s pram past the window. With her shoulder up, wedging her phone against her ear, Nina, as usual, was multitasking. Nina looked in and waved as she went past. Cally went to the front door, opened it, and helped squeeze the pram around the little bistro-style tables. Nina finished her call, popped her phone on the table, navigated the pram into the corner behind Cally’s chair, and sat down.
‘Phew.’ Nina gestured to Faye’s pram. ‘She was grizzling for England earlier. Overtired, I think. She really did get ratty. I didn't think she would ever drop off and then suddenly she was far away in the land of nod. So we can speak in peace, thank goodness. How are you?’
‘I’m great.’ Cally turned around and pointed to the pram where Faye’s head was to the side, her eyes closed, one leg was resting up over the side of the pram and her pink dress was squidged up at the front. ‘What a little sweetie. Aww, that dress.’
‘I know. She’s so funny. I’m so lucky she came along. It’s weird I can’t imagine life without her now.’
‘Ahh. You are.’
Nina sighed happily and joked. ‘I also like it when she’s sound asleep. She picks her moments sometimes when she’s ratty. I thought she was going to whinge all the way through this.’
‘I bet.’
Nina looked over at the counter, ‘Did you order?’
‘Yeah, I got you a coffee.’
‘Great. I need it. Right then. Ready to tackle another project?’
‘Absolutely. What's the scoop?’ Cally replied, eager to hear about the new job.
Nina gestured out the window. ‘There's a beautiful old house near the harbour. The owner is an artist, and the place is filled with years of accumulated stuff. She wants to create a more organised space to work and live in. I scoped it out a good few months ago and heard nothing, but she wants to get going on it now. No exact date yet, though, so we’ll see. Have you got any time coming up? Got much on?’
Cally nodded. ‘No more than usual. The only thing in my diary really is the Chowder Festival.’
‘You’ve not started on a course or anything yet?’
‘Nope. I’m still not sure what I want to do. I may actually wait on that front and do it once I get a flat sorted. If I get a flat sorted.’
‘Oh, right, okay. That’s music to my ears then.’
‘Ha.’
Nina shook her head. ‘I have so much work. It’s coming out of my ears. Who would have thought? It’s just all grown by word-of-mouth. Can’t complain.’
‘Your reputation goes before you. That has a lot to do with it. What about the manor? I heard there's an extension there?’
Nina sighed, rolling her eyes slightly. ‘Yes, more rooms to declutter. Apparently, Cecilia decided to open up the other wing. Did you hear that from Logan?’
‘Yeah, more Doreen, really. I think she’s concerned it will cause a lot more work for her.’
‘I don’t think she’s wrong. Honestly, there is so much junk in there. Have you been in?’
Cally shook her head. ‘No.’
‘I wanted to run it past you. Are you up for it, or is it too weird for you to be working there now you’re, well, an item with Logan? No worries at all. I wanted to ask you first. I’ll put a post on Facebook if you’re not interested.’
Cally mused for a second. It was a little bit tricky working at the manor now that she was going out with Logan. However, she was more interested in continuing to add to her savings account than feeling awkward. The equation was pretty simple: the more she worked, the quicker she’d be able to add to her savings for a deposit so that she would be able to buy a flat of her own. Saving and the deposit were driving just about everything she did, and she wasn’t going to stop until she got what she wanted. Her decision was a quick one. ‘I’m in.’
Alice brought over their coffees, placed the steaming mugs on the table, and added a plate of freshly baked scones. ‘Here you go, ladies. Fresh out of the oven,’ Alice said with a smile.
‘Yum. These smell amazing.’
Alice winked. ‘Enjoy!’
Nina took a sip of her coffee, sighing with contentment. ‘Ah, I needed this. What a morning, already.’
Cally nodded. ‘There's nothing like a good cup of coffee to kickstart the day, even though mine started at the crack of dawn.’
Nina leaned forward and frowned. ‘So, you think you'll be fine working at the manor, even though you're now involved differently with it?’
Cally nodded and waved her hand dismissively. ‘It'll be fine, yeah, not a problem. It is what it is and I love working with you.’
‘Nobody even goes over to that side, do they? To that wing, I mean?’ Nina clarified.
‘No, not that I’ve seen, no.’
‘So you’d probably not bump into anyone. Anyway, how have you been getting on with Logan?’
‘Yes, great. I've actually just had an invitation to go to some fancy races. My first real Henry-Hicks family thing, as it were.’
Nina raised her eyebrows in surprise. ‘Oh, wow, that sounds good.’
‘Yeah, I don't know, I'm not sure. I've never been to the races, I've never been to anything like that,’ Cally admitted. ‘I’ll have to meet the wider family, etcetera…’
Nina sucked air in through her teeth. ‘Right, yeah, so you're not sure what to wear and all that?’
‘No, no, I haven’t a clue at all,’ Cally confessed, shaking her head.
Nina smiled reassuringly. ‘Yeah, it'll be good though, won't it? A new experience and all.’
Cally nodded, trying to muster up some enthusiasm. ‘Yes, it will be. Just need to figure out the outfit situation. Logan mentioned his mum could help, but I think I’d rather do it on my own, to be quite honest.’
Nina chuckled. ‘Understandable. You’ll have to dip into the hat room.’
‘I thought that! That was a funny day when we secretly tried on those hats.’
‘Yup. Imagine having a whole room full of hats.’
‘I know, right? I don’t even really know where to start.’
‘Don’t worry about it. You’ll look stunning.’
‘I hope so.’
Cally picked up a scone and broke it in half as she wondered about the races. The more she thought about it, the more she felt as if her outfit was the least of her worries. Fitting in was going to be a whole different ball game altogether. Things were about to get interesting.