Chapter Six
CHAPTER SIX
The following day, Eden woke later than she’d meant to. She’d struggled to get to sleep, and though she wasn’t entirely sure why, it didn’t take a genius to guess that perhaps family matters had been on her mind. It hadn’t helped that her dad hadn’t sent a reply that evening, and though she knew he often took a while, that was on her mind too. When she woke, there was a reply, one he must have sent when he’d got up.
I’m glad you messaged. I don’t know what’s going on, and I’m sad you don’t feel like you can be here with us and you don’t want to say where you are, but I understand. Please know you always have a home here and we love you. Keep us updated. Dad
Eden wiped away a tear as she read it. She’d have to phone him soon – she realised it wasn’t fair not to. And while she felt undeserving of his concern, she was glad of it. He still loved her, after all she’d done. She couldn’t quite believe she deserved that either, but the thought made her happy.
Thanks, Dad. I love you too. I’m OK here. I’m kind of working on myself, and I need to figure some things out. I will see you soon, I promise. I’m actually starting a new job today – at a local pub, believe it or not. I’ll phone as soon as I can. E x
Livia had told Eden it was probably best to wear something she didn’t care about for her first shift at the Darling Dolphin, but Eden hadn’t brought much like that with her to Sea Glass Bay. So she wore some expensive jeans and a blouse she’d bought on Oxford Street because she figured if she was doing this, she might as well make a good impression.
‘You look lovely!’ Livia said, admiring the blouse as Eden went to the bar. ‘That colour really suits you…Is it silk?’
‘Yes.’
‘Hmm…’
Livia might have had thoughts on Eden’s choice, but, if so, she didn’t voice them. Eden supposed she’d sort of ignored her advice and that she might well spill something over the blouse before the night was out, but it didn’t worry her.
‘Is Ralph going to show me the ropes?’ Eden asked, searching for his huge frame.
‘He’s in the kitchen, but I’ll get you started. Come on…’ Livia lifted the hatch that opened to the area behind the bar so that Eden could get to it. ‘First thing’s first – I’ll show you how to use the till. It’s not complicated – if I can use it, then any old idiot can.’
‘What about a young idiot?’
Livia laughed. ‘It’ll be fine. Look – there are big fat buttons with almost every drink already programmed in. We don’t get asked for much fancier than a gin and tonic. If there is the odd thing not on here, we have a few random buttons here…’ She gestured to a big square that simply said ‘cocktail’ and another that said ‘fancy cocktail’.
‘I like the logic there,’ Eden said with a grin.
‘That was my idea. I couldn’t see the point in pricing everything up differently when we only do a couple of basic-level cocktails. So push your buttons for what the order is…for instance, a pint and a Guinness and a lager dash, or whatever, and then total up. Dead easy.’
Livia moved to where the steel drink measures were kept and began to talk Eden through those. But before she’d got halfway, they were interrupted by a nervous cough from behind them. Eden turned to see a slight woman of perhaps forty standing at the bar.
‘Debs.’ Livia smiled. ‘You’re after Ralph?’
‘Yes, he said he had some’ – the woman shot a furtive glance Eden’s way – ‘you know…’
‘Right,’ Livia said cheerfully. ‘He’s doing the menus with the chef, but he put some stuff out for you. Come through and I’ll get it for you.’
Livia left the bar area, gesturing for Eden to wait, and the woman followed her to the kitchens. A couple of minutes later – minutes where Eden was slightly panicky at the thought of getting a customer while her friend was missing, they came back out. The woman – Debs – had a basket on her arm.
‘I don’t know what we’d do without—’ she began, but Livia put a hand up.
‘Don’t think anything of it, Debs. We look after each other, right? And it would only go to waste.’
‘Tell Ralph I said thank you.’
‘I will, but he’ll only say he doesn’t need any thanks.’
Debs hurried out of the pub, leaving Livia to return to Eden.
‘Sorry about that,’ she said, coming back to the business side of the bar.
‘Is she all right?’ Eden asked.
Livia smiled at her puzzled look. ‘Yes, she is now. At least, she will be for a day or two.’
‘What does that mean?’
Livia shook her head. ‘It’s nothing…it’s just…’
‘I didn’t like to pry,’ Eden said, catching on that Livia was reluctant to say more.
‘You didn’t. I’d be curious too. It’s my fault – I said too much in the beginning, and it’s natural you’d want to know the rest. But it’s not fair to Debs to say – I don’t think she’d appreciate it.’
It had been a long time since Eden had felt nervous at work. In the job she’d left to come here, she’d been confident in her knowledge and skills. She’d been good at it and knew she was. But this was something entirely different. Livia kept reassuring her that it was all perfectly straightforward and that anyone could do it, and how she’d have picked it up by the end of the night, but Eden was still unfamiliarly apprehensive as Livia let her loose on her first patron. She’d pulled a pint that seemed more head than beer, apologising so profusely that whatever complaint the customer might have wanted to make didn’t come. Perhaps he’d felt sorry for Eden, because he’d only smiled and acknowledged that everyone had to start somewhere and took his drink without making a fuss.
‘There you go,’ Livia said, smiling. ‘You’ve broken your duck. It’ll get easier from here.’
It did get a little easier as the hours ticked by, so long as the customer wanted something straightforward. Whenever she got asked for something a bit odd, or something she hadn’t come across before, her gaze went straight to Livia, who seemed to have a second sense for it and came to her aid as soon as she could. It hadn’t taken long for Eden to start enjoying the work, as Livia had promised she would. The customers were mostly pleasant, and the time flew by so quickly she could scarcely believe it when she looked at the clock to see her shift already halfway through.
‘You’re doing really well,’ Livia said during a rare breather. She poured herself some lemonade and looked up at Eden. ‘Want one?’
‘Is it OK?’
‘Oh yes, Ralph doesn’t mind us having a drink. I don’t take the booze unless a customer tells me to get one for myself – don’t want to take the Michael. But it’s all right to have a soft drink whenever you like.’
‘I’m sweating – I’d love one.’
Livia gave Eden the glass she’d just poured and then got herself another. As she looked up from the tap, she smiled at someone coming into the pub.
‘Hey, Liam. Come to get your mum’s parcel?’
The young man nodded as he made his way to the bar. He didn’t look very old – perhaps eighteen or nineteen at most, skinny and full of nervous energy.
‘Ralph will be in the kitchens,’ Livia continued. ‘Just go on in and give him a shout.’
Just as Debs had done earlier, Eden watched him go through the doors to the kitchens beyond. She sipped thoughtfully at her lemonade, hoping not to get a customer until he came out again. She couldn’t deny her curiosity had been piqued. What was going on here?
A few minutes later, he came out with a carrier bag – not down at his side as it might be with shopping, but wrapped around something and cradled in his arms. He nodded at Livia and then left the pub. Eden looked to her new friend, wondering if she might offer more of an explanation this time, but she didn’t seem to have noticed. Instead, she popped her empty glass into a tray ready to be washed with the next load and went to top up the bar snacks.
An hour later, an older woman – perhaps in her sixties – came to speak to Eden at the bar. Livia was serving a customer with a large order and didn’t notice.
‘Sorry…’ the woman began. ‘But…well, someone told me you were giving out…you know…parcels to people. Of stuff you don’t want. I just wondered if there were any left.’
‘Parcels of what?’ Eden asked, immediately realising that her question had been far too blunt for the situation. The lady was clearly embarrassed that she was here at all, and Eden probably hadn’t helped her feel any better.
‘Um… food…’
Eden frowned. ‘You want to order…?’ she began, but then the pieces of the puzzle slotted together. The parcels she’d seen people leaving the kitchens with that night – they must be what this lady meant. So that was it? Food? Were they paying for this? Was it a takeaway service? If so, why all the secrecy? Eden quickly decided the takeaway theory made no sense.
‘Hang on a minute for me,’ she said, sidling over to Livia and speaking quietly.
‘Food parcels…I send her to the kitchen, right?’
‘Huh?’ Livia looked up from measuring a brandy.
‘The food…is that what everyone’s been coming in for? I mean, the people you sent to the kitchens?’
Livia looked at the woman standing awkwardly at the counter and then back at Eden.
‘Yes,’ she said finally, perhaps realising there was no point in keeping it a secret. ‘Could you take her to the kitchen to see if there’s anything left?’
‘Where do I find…I don’t know where I’m supposed to look.’
‘Ask one of the staff – they’ll show you where we keep the tubs.’
Understanding the need for discretion, Eden went to the front of the bar and gestured for the woman to follow her.
‘I’m sorry, this is my first night working here,’ she said cheerfully. ‘I’m not sure what’s what yet, but hopefully someone on the kitchen staff can help us.’
‘That’s all right. Thank you. I wasn’t going to come, but someone said…’
The woman trailed off. Eden didn’t push for anything more.
The kitchens were like any industrial food area – mostly white tiles and stainless steel, full of heat and steam and people in chef’s whites yelling at one another. Eden asked the woman to wait while she searched for Ralph. Unable to see him, instead she went to the nearest member of staff.
‘Can you tell me where the spare food is?’
‘None left,’ the man said.
‘Oh…’ Eden’s gaze went back to the woman, waiting at the doorway and looking as if she wished the floor would swallow her up. She went back over. ‘He wants to know how many portions you want and what you’d like.’
The woman gave a nervous smile. ‘Oh, only one if you have it. I don’t mind what it is.’
Eden’s mind went to the specials board in the bar. ‘Lasagne? Would that be all right? Or a pie?’
‘If you’ve got a pie, that would be lovely, thank you.’
Eden went back to the cook and lowered her voice. He spun to look as she began to speak, as if outraged that she was there at all. ‘If you put me a pie with the bits together in one of the takeout trays, would I be able to pay for it out of my wages later?’
‘You want a pie? Right now? Put a ticket in the queue.’
‘No, I don’t want…’ Eden frowned. ‘Not for a diner. Can’t you just do it?’
‘No, I can’t just put you a meal together just like that! You’ll have to wait.’
Eden cringed as he raised his voice, certain that the woman must have heard him.
‘Not even just this once?’ she asked, and as he began a reply, she glanced quickly towards the doors to see the woman slip out.
‘Great!’ Eden said, throwing the cook a look of disdain and going after her.
But the woman had moved quickly, and by the time Eden was back in the main bar, there was no sign of her. She’d obviously heard the altercation and perhaps understood what was going on. Either way, it must have made her feel like a nuisance, and she’d probably decided it wasn’t worth it.
As the night went on, Eden couldn’t stop thinking about her. It must have taken courage for her to come here and ask for food like that, especially as it seemed she’d come on a recommendation and hadn’t been before. She wouldn’t have known what to expect or what sort of reception she’d get, or whether she’d be sent away empty-handed – which wasn’t exactly how it had happened but near enough. What kind of need must have driven her to that course of action? And she hadn’t wanted much – just one meal. Were her own cupboards really that bare that she couldn’t make something out of what she had in? The notion pulled at Eden’s spirits, dragging her down, so that she struggled to enjoy the last hour of her shift in the way she’d enjoyed the first few. And the idea that Eden herself might have handled it badly and made it worse hardly helped her feel better.
Eventually, Livia rang the bell for last orders and then, gradually, the pub began to empty. Ralph appeared and poured himself a neat whisky, which he drank as he cashed up.
‘Where have you been hiding?’ Livia asked him as she emptied the drip trays down the sink.
‘Away from you, nosy parker,’ he said with a laugh.
‘Charming.’ Livia grinned. ‘I don’t have to come here to be insulted, you know – I can go home and get that from the kids.’
‘Kids won’t pay you for the privilege, though.’
Eden mopped the floor, listening as their banter went back and forth and wondering if she’d ever have a relationship like that with Ralph. She supposed not – Livia had told Eden earlier that she’d been born and brought up in Sea Glass Bay, and so she knew almost everyone in some capacity or another. Not only was Eden a newcomer, but she wasn’t planning to stay forever. Ralph seemed like a decent enough boss, but she didn’t suppose he’d want to waste time getting to know her in the circumstances.
Actually, thinking about what she’d seen tonight, he was more than a good boss. He had to be a very good person. She wanted to ask him and Livia about what had been going on, but she wasn’t sure they’d welcome it – even though Eden herself had ended up getting involved. She felt as if her newness to the community made her a stranger and that somehow it waived the right to be involved in the things that went on in that community.
But as Ralph left them again to take the money from the till and put it somewhere safe, presumably in his flat above the pub, Eden’s curiosity got the better of her.
‘I didn’t manage to help that last lady who came in for the food parcels,’ she said to Livia as she squeezed the water from the mop. ‘We had none left, and the bloke in the kitchen…well, he wasn’t very helpful.’
‘Oh? Which bloke?’
‘I don’t know his name. Tall, cheekbones, sort of gingery hair.’
‘That’ll be Greg. He’s all right, just gets stressed, and when he gets stressed, he gets rude. You just have to make certain to catch him in a good mood if you want anything – although once service begins that’s a rarity.’
‘Next time I’ll be sure to ask someone else. You do that a lot – Ralph letting people have…Where does the food come from? Just so I know for next time. I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do.’
‘Sorry…’ Livia paused, studying Eden thoughtfully for a moment. ‘That was my fault – I don’t know why I didn’t mention any of that at the start of the night. Should have known someone new might come in and ask you. Most people who come know the drill. It’s usually the same ones.’
‘What is the drill then?’
‘It’s nothing complicated. Ralph just keeps his leftovers for anyone who needs them. Not for long, obviously – it’ll be stuff from the day before; he won’t keep anything that wouldn’t reheat safely. He always says he’d only be binning it anyway. I think it’s a brilliant idea.’
‘Is there a lot of need for that sort of thing?’
‘Oh, there’s a need, all right. That’s the thing about places like this – to outsiders it’s all pretty and everyone’s on holiday, but it’s not like that when you live here. I mean, of course it’s an amazing place and we’re all lucky to live by the sea and everything, but it can be tough making ends meet.’
Eden watched as Livia sprayed the bar and began to wipe it down. She and her mum both did two jobs. Was that because they found it tough to make ends meet? Eden would have thought the ice-cream parlour would be a little goldmine in a place like this, but perhaps that wasn’t how it really was. Perhaps even then it wasn’t enough – it can’t have been if they were forced to do all this extra work, could it?
‘Trouble is,’ Livia continued in between panting breaths as she scrubbed at a sticky spot, ‘a lot of people feel embarrassed about coming in here for Ralph’s bits. Which is a shame. Some of them try to pay a bit towards it, but we can’t take the money because of all the food rules – Ralph can’t be seen to be selling it. Quite honestly, we have to keep the whole thing on the down-low because we might get in trouble just for giving it away. The law is daft like that. But as long as we all keep it between ourselves, we might be able to help a few out. You’ve got to do your bit for your community, haven’t you?’
Eden leaned on her mop. ‘Yes,’ she said absently, a plan already forming in her mind. Wasn’t that what her mum had always said? And her mum did do her bit for her community, for many years. She’d baked and cooked for all sorts of charities and events. All that had only stopped when Eden had…
She didn’t want to think about that now because it still hurt to remember the pain she’d caused her mum. Yet another selfish and thoughtless act she’d rather forget.
‘What if…’ she began slowly. ‘What if there was a proper place they could go? One that wouldn’t have to be secret.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Like a subsidised café or something?’
‘That’d be great, I’m sure,’ Livia said briskly as she put the spray away under the counter. ‘Are you volunteering?’ she added with a grin.
‘I don’t know,’ Eden said, her mind racing with possibilities. She wouldn’t even know where to start, but the idea was suddenly so strong and so appealing, it was as if it had grabbed her around the neck and wouldn’t let go. She had some money, and she had time on her hands. Why couldn’t she do it? It would be something to take her mind off her own recent tragedy, to atone for her mistakes, and maybe, just maybe, if her mum could somehow see her from wherever she was, she might look at Eden making a difference for the first time in her life and be a little bit proud.