Chapter Two
CHAPTER TWO
After finishing a quick wipe of the surfaces and eating a bag of crisps she’d had in her handbag for the train journey, Eden needed some air.
She lingered for a moment at her phone on the table, hand hovering over it as she headed for the door, and then decided to leave it there. Nobody was going to be phoning her – at least, nobody she had the strength to talk to right now. It felt odd to leave the house without it but strangely liberating too. She could barely remember a life where she didn’t carry one everywhere she went – even around her flat – and yet there must have been one. Perhaps going without now would help her to connect to that girl again, if only for a short while. After all, wasn’t that what she’d been hoping to do by coming back here?
The path down the cliffs to the beach was steep, but she enjoyed the exertion, and having to concentrate on where she was walking helped to clear her mind. Yes, this was absolutely what she’d come to Sea Glass Bay for, and she decided as she clambered down that she would do this every day for the next six months.
It was midweek and the cove was a secluded one, out of the way of the main tourist spots further along the coast, and so while it had always been less lively, today it was quieter than Eden had expected. There were a few older couples snoozing away on deckchairs at the foot of the cliffs, some bodyboarders out at sea, and a young woman playing football with two small children, buckets and spades acting as goalposts while the children – perhaps five or six – squealed with laughter as they raced up and down the sand with the ball. Eden found a spot on the sand and settled there, closing her eyes to tune into the sound of the waves, matching her breathing to them and letting the sun warm her. It was as close to contentment as she’d had for weeks.
She’d zoned out when a sudden blow to the head made her eyes snap open, and she leaped up with a yelp. A colourful plastic ball rolled away from her, and as she looked up, the woman was running across the beach, the two children racing after her.
‘Oh God I am so sorry!’ she panted. ‘Are you all right? I didn’t…totally my fault. I didn’t realise I’d kicked it so hard!’
‘It’s OK.’ Eden forced a smile. ‘No harm done. You’d have to kick harder than that to damage this nut.’
‘Lucky the ball’s a bit flimsy too, not a proper football, eh?’
The woman scooped up the ball, and as the children arrived by her side, they stopped and studied Eden with a mixture of shyness and curiosity.
‘Hello,’ Eden said, with some shyness of her own.
‘What’s your name?’ the boy asked.
‘Eden.’
The boy nodded and the girl wrapped a hand around the woman’s leg. Eden gave them all a closer look. She’d have guessed the children were around the same age – twins? How old? She was a bit rubbish at this sort of thing. Six? Seven? Nine or ten? She felt stupid for not being able to tell. And was the woman their mum? She looked young – Eden would have said younger than her own twenty-seven – but certainly old enough to have children.
‘You on holiday?’ the woman asked.
‘Sort of.’
‘Ah…’ The woman stroked an absent hand over the girl’s hair, and the action was so natural and unknowing that Eden was now convinced she was their mother. ‘Well, sorry again about the ball. We’ll move a bit further down the beach so it doesn’t happen again.’
‘Sorry,’ the boy said.
‘Sorry,’ the girl added.
Eden couldn’t help but smile. They were cute, even if she didn’t know how to talk to them.
They began to walk away, but then the little girl turned around and ran back to Eden. She stopped a few feet short and pointed to the beach dress she’d changed into before coming out.
‘You look pretty.’
Tears welled in Eden’s eyes, springing from nowhere, so sudden and violent she was almost overwhelmed.
‘Thank you.’
The girl looked taken aback, confused by the reaction, but as she turned to run back to the woman, Eden called to stop her.
‘Hey. You don’t have to move down the beach for me, you know. You were here first, after all.’
The woman smiled and nodded, and Eden was glad she’d persuaded them to stay in their spot, because as they continued their game, she didn’t close her eyes but curled her arms around her knees to hug them close and watched. There was such joy in their squeals and laughter, and while she loved to hear it, there was a bittersweetness to the moment too. Not so many years ago it would have been her racing up and down this beach, carefree, careless of a tragedy in her future looming silently, invisibly, but far too quickly.
Before ten minutes had passed, the ball came flying in her direction again, but this time she was ready to catch it neatly before throwing it back. And now the woman started to collect the buckets and spades up as if to move, shouting an apology at Eden as she did.
Eden got up and went over.
‘Honestly, don’t move on my account. It’s been nice to see them having so much fun.’ She smiled at them both.
‘I’m Nancy,’ the girl said with a mixture of shyness and eagerness.
‘Hello, Nancy.’ Eden glanced at the boy, but when he missed his cue, the woman spoke for him.
‘And this little…’ She roughed the boy’s hair, and he grimaced, squirming out of her reach. ‘This is Levi.’
‘Cute names,’ Eden said. ‘So are you on holiday?’
‘No, we live here. School’s out today, teacher training day, so I’m the entertainment.’
Eden looked at them again. ‘How old are you then? Let me guess…about thirty-seven?’
Nancy started to giggle, and Levi groaned.
‘Six!’ Nancy laughed. ‘We’re six!’
‘Both of you?’ Eden asked. ‘No, I don’t believe it. I was going to see if you wanted to go to the pub later.’
Nancy’s giggling grew even more uncontrollable, and Levi wore a broad grin.
‘We can’t go to the pub!’ he said.
Eden frowned. ‘Why not?’
The woman started to laugh too. She turned to Eden. ‘How long are you on holiday for?’
‘Actually, I sort of…well, I’m sort of on holiday, I suppose, but technically…I’m here for about six months. Does that count as a holiday?’
‘A decent one, as far as I can tell,’ the woman said. ‘Are you here with your family? Friends?’
‘On my own. I’m staying at the cottage up there…’ Eden pointed at the cliffs, and the woman’s eyes widened.
‘Four Winds?’
‘Yes, you know it?’
‘My great-uncle and aunt used to live there. This was years ago, mind…He died just before I got these two, and my aunt died not long after. They had once promised…’ She looked suddenly wistful but then seemed to shake it. ‘Never mind that. It’s a great spot, isn’t it?’
‘Lovely,’ Eden agreed. ‘I suppose you must know it well.’
‘I spent a lot of time there as a kid, of course, but haven’t been in since it was sold.’
‘Who bought it?’
‘Not a clue. Someone from outside the bay, I think.’
A sudden idea occurred to Eden. She’d wanted to be alone, but something about this woman suddenly made her feel more open. And this woman had a connection to the house, so surely she’d like to see it again after so many years of it being gone from her family? It was in her power to do a nice thing for someone, and wasn’t that part of the change she wanted for herself too?
‘Would you…? What I’m trying to say is, if you wanted to come and look around for old times’ sake, I’d be more than happy. I haven’t got much in the way of drinks or anything – just arrived today and not been shopping, but you’re welcome to snoop.’
‘Oh, I wouldn’t want to…’
‘You wouldn’t be.’
‘Livia…’ The little girl tugged at the woman’s hand. ‘Where are we going?’
Eden smoothed away a frown. So this wasn’t their mum?
The woman – Livia – smiled at Eden. ‘It’s really lovely of you to offer, but maybe another time.’
‘Well, you know where I am,’ Eden said. ‘And I’m not just saying it – you’d be really welcome to pop in any time. And it’s not like I’m going anywhere soon.’
Livia looked at the twins. ‘Right, you two. I suppose we ought to be wrapping up this game anyway. Your gran will be expecting us for tea.’
There was a groan from both of them, and they were still complaining about cutting their game short as Eden watched them pack up. When the last thing was in a bag, Nancy came racing over to Eden. She held out a pink-and-biscuit seashell.
‘I found this.’
‘It’s lovely,’ Eden said.
Nancy put it on the sand next to her. ‘It’s for you.’
‘Thanks!’ Eden said, those strange and unwanted tears pushing up into her throat again. ‘Don’t you want to keep it?’
‘No, I have one. Livia says to only take one from the beach each time or the creatures will have nowhere to live.’
‘Perhaps I ought to leave this one for the creatures then? Because with your one and this one it’s two.’
Nancy shrugged, and before she could find a suitable reply, Livia called her from across the beach, and she raced back to her family. All three waved at Eden before making their way up the steps to the clifftop.
Eden watched them go with a faint smile. And then her attention was caught by the sight of a man walking the promenade in formal trousers and a shirt. At this distance, she couldn’t make out his face but there was something oddly familiar about him. In the next moment, he got into a car parked in one of the spaces overlooking the beach and started the engine, and Eden dismissed the incident almost as soon as he’d pulled out of the space.
Closing her eyes, she let the sound of the waves rolling in soothe her. Already, she felt more at peace than she had in a long time.