Chapter 10
10
‘Hey!’
I looked up from my book as Dennis towered over me.
Musky, spicy tones hit my nostrils.
‘Ooh, you smell nice!’
Oh God, did I say that out loud? What was wrong with me?
‘Thank you.’ The surprise that I’d complimented him was written all over his face. ‘Just got out of the shower.’
‘Oh!’
Trying very hard not to think about Dennis in the shower and hiding my blushes as I put my book into my cross-body bag, I guided Dennis out of the shop, and into the street, locking the door behind me.
‘Where are we going then?’
‘You’ll see.’
It was clear by the way he clenched his jaw that he was hating someone else being in control.
‘Trust me. You might even enjoy yourself.’
He huffed.
Leading him over to the beach, I unlocked the door of a little wooden hut and removed two litter picker-uppers, two large clear plastic bags, two fluorescent tabards and two pairs of gloves. Picking up some jelly beach shoes for us both too, I slipped off my trainers and left them at the side, indicating that he should do the same.
‘You’re not serious. These are Prada, Nancy. I don’t want anyone stealing them. They cost a fortune.’
‘Are they? They look more like Primark to me, but you can lock them in the hut if they’re so precious.’
He grumbled his thanks as I locked the hut back up and handed him one of each of my wares.
‘You want me to pick up litter and wear those?’ He turned his nose up.
‘Yeah. I’m making you an honorary beach angel.’
‘Gee, thanks. Just what I’ve always wanted.’
‘Oh, get over yourself, Dennis. You’re not in your posh London office now. You’re at the seaside and we all need to do our bit in conserving the planet for future generations.’
‘Yippee do!’
He held up his hands in protest as he could see from the way I’d crossed my arms and huffed that I was annoyed by him.
‘You’re quite cute when you’re angry, you know, Nancy. Right, come on then. What am I doing?’
He really was infuriating and I never knew where I stood with him, constantly blowing both hot and cold. I stomped away from him.
‘OK, OK! Wait for me.’ He caught up and grabbed at my arm, spinning me round. ‘I’m sorry! I’m here and I’m happy to help.’
‘Well, tell your face that then.’
He grinned widely and the corners of his brown eyes crinkled.
‘You should smile more often, you know. You’re not so ugly when you’re not being petulant.’
‘Gosh, is that another compliment? Wonders will never cease.’
‘Dennis, can we stop all this? I haven’t got the energy.’
‘Deal. And, to be honest, neither have I today. Come on, let’s get this over with.’ I looked up and he held his hands up again. ‘Last joke, I promise. I’m done now. So, what are we looking for?’
Surprisingly, he did listen quite attentively as I explained that we needed to collect any plastic matter from the beach and he was staggered at the amount we found in just the first half an hour. When I enlightened him on how the plastic gets washed up from the ocean on the tides, he asked many intelligent questions and I felt like he was really taking an interest in what we were doing. I explained that I’d recently found a sweet wrapper from the seventies, which had clearly been floating around for years, and talked about how crisp packets can lurk around for decades. This, I think, made him realise the extent of the issues and he really started to take it all on board. I could see his brain was working overtime and wondered what he was thinking.
‘Do you know, Nancy, it would be great if we could think of some ideas to incorporate your love of the environment with your love of books and the shop. Maybe a recycling project.’
‘That’s not going to make money though, is it, which is really what you need me to be focusing on.’
‘I get that, but it would get people into the shop and maybe while they’re there, they’d buy something. If they don’t come in, they’re never going to buy anything, are they?’
I imitated his deep voice. ‘It’s all about the numbers, Dennis, and fishing where the fish are.’
He rolled his eyes.
‘I do not sound like that.’ His hands rested on his hips. ‘Do I?’
I chewed the inside of my cheek, then turned away, hoping I hadn’t offended him too deeply.
‘So all the books you buy are new? You buy a lot of hardbacks, which are expensive, aren’t they?’ he asked, and I nodded in response.
An idea popped into my head and stopped me in my tracks. I spoke it out loud before I had to think it through.
‘I wonder if I should consider selling second-hand books?’
It wasn’t something I’d ever considered really. I always thought charity shops were the place for second-hand books, but with our nearest charity shop being three villages away, people seemed to hang on to them.
‘I wonder if people would buy them though. I suppose they might, depending on the condition. Or would it put people off buying new books if they could buy second-hand books cheaper? That’s my worry.’ I was wittering now, randomly blurting my thoughts.
‘Look at you thinking like a businessperson.’
I narrowed my eyes at him.
‘You could do a bit of market research,’ he suggested. ‘I’m not sure I’d want to buy a book when you don’t know what someone else had been doing while they were reading it. Specially some of those saucy ones you ladies read. Maybe you could find out, whether people would still buy new. And whether they’d buy something that was second-hand.’
‘Market research? I could probably ask my friends what they thought.’
‘Well that wasn’t really what I had in mind. Business decisions have to be made on more than gut feelings. It’s all about the data.’
‘It’s definitely something to think about, Dennis. I could maybe have a second-hand section at the back or something.’
‘Pre-loved.’
‘Sorry.’
‘Pre-loved sounds much more romantic than second-hand.’
I laughed. ‘Blimey, Dennis being all romantic.’
‘Not likely. No time for romance in my life.’
‘So you don’t have a special someone in your life then?’ Gosh, I really should engage my brain more before I let my mouth open. I blushed. He must think I’m being way too direct.
‘Nah. No time for all that malarkey. Too busy at work. I work long hours and I can’t imagine anyone would want to put up with that.’
‘Maybe the right person would.’
‘I don’t have the time to find the right person. I’m busy. I fly around the world. I don’t need anyone, despite what Nan says.’
‘What does Vi say then?’
‘Oh, you know, the normal. I haven’t met my soulmate yet. That I shouldn’t work so hard. That money isn’t everything. Blah, blah, blah.’
‘Maybe she’s right.’
‘Nah. I’m fine as I am. Quite happy on my own. Pleasing myself. Doing what I want, when I want.’
He looked out towards the sea and I could see his Adam’s apple bob when he swallowed.
‘Wouldn’t you like someone to do things with though? Go on holidays and stuff like that?’
I felt like I was projecting my own feelings into this question. There were times that I would love someone to do things with.
‘I’ve got mates I can do that with. Couple of guys from work are my holiday pals. We head off to Dubai or Las Vegas a couple of times a year and have fun, playing golf, hanging out in the casinos and bars.’
‘Sounds exhausting.’
‘Not having to consider anyone else. Just myself to worry about and not having anyone worrying about me. Suits me just fine.’
It seemed that we were both pondering what he’d said when he cut into my thoughts.
‘What about you, Nancy?’
‘What about me?’
‘No one special in your life? Who are your holiday companions?’
‘Definitely not a special someone. I’ve spent a long time focusing on my work. Being a teacher, despite what everyone thinks, is not a nine-to-three job with tons of holiday time. It’s a vocation. You are everything to some of the kids. Their parent, their mentor, their social worker, their doctor. It’s exhausting and then when you do get home, you have marking to do and lessons to plan. And targets to meet and grades to achieve so the school looks good. It’s an awful lot of pressure and it was starting to affect my mental health. Yes, I did get summer holidays off, but that was when I’d throw myself into this passion project. I spend my spare time doing this.’ I swept my arm around me.
‘So, no Caribbean holidays for you then?’
‘God no! You won’t find me contributing to the air pollution of the world. If more people stopped flying we wouldn’t be having the global warming issues the world is experiencing.’
‘And we’d all be a little more miserable too.’
‘Not necessarily. There’s nowhere nicer than Cornwall in the summer. It’s as hot as the Caribbean at times and probably just as beautiful too. I mean, why would you ever want to be anywhere else?’
I spotted a bottle lid poking out of the sand.
‘Interesting…’
‘Not really, just life. I don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything. And, when the opportunity came along for me to start the bookshop, when Aunty Theresa left me some money, I jumped at the chance. It had always been a dream of mine, and she’d left me a note saying life was short and that you should spend it doing something you love.’ I reached down and picked up the bit of blue plastic. ‘Did you know that bottles and bottle tops in particular take longer to break down than many other plastics?’
‘I did not know that. Thank you for enlightening me.’
I swung round towards him, ready to reprimand him for making fun of me, but he was standing still, staring at me.
‘What?’
‘I was waiting for your next jibe, that’s all.’
He held up his hands in surrender.
‘None coming. I am grateful to you for explaining all of this to me. I suppose despite visiting here when I come to see Nan, it was stuff I never considered.’
‘Well, raising awareness is important to me. I don’t really have time for proper holidays any more because I’m busy doing this. Mum and I sometimes go and hire a lodge in the countryside from time to time, but when you live here in Driftwood Bay…’ I took a deep breath and stood and appreciated my surroundings: the golden sand beneath my feet, the gentle waves lapping at the shore, the autumn sun brightly shining low in the sky, the boats in the harbour in the other direction and the pretty pastel houses around the harbour ‘…why would you want to go anywhere else?’
Dennis looked around him and sighed loudly.
‘I don’t think I ever really appreciated it before.’
Dennis was a little bit of an enigma to me. Despite spending time with him talking about business, I didn’t really know an awful lot about him.
‘Why are you here, Dennis?’
‘Because Nan lives here?’
‘No, I don’t mean that. You said you were here for a month. Why are you here? Why not in Las Vegas, or Dubai or somewhere else exotic? And why are you helping me?’
Dennis dropped to the sand and patted the space next to him, placing all the paraphernalia he’d been carrying on the other side of him.
‘I fucked up.’