Chapter Fourteen
Effie had expected everyone to turn and stare, especially as they were thirty minutes late, however, to her relief, everyone just carried on with what they were doing.
Children kicked balloons like they were footballs, adults stood in huddles, glasses of fizz in hand, chatting.
Effie took in the beautifully decorated hall.
Bunting hung from the rafters, photographs of Alf at various stages of his life were dotted around the hall and a sea shanty band was putting their own twist on hits from the past sixty years.
A group of women was enjoying themselves dancing and even Effie found herself tapping her feet to the beat.
‘See, not so bad,’ Jake whispered as they made their way over to where generous platters of food had been laid out.
Effie followed him, taking the paper plate he handed her. ‘No, not so bad.’ She turned to him. ‘Thank you, Jake. If you hadn’t shown up, I would probably still be sitting in my flat.’
Jake piled some sandwiches onto his plate. ‘It’s nothing, Effie, honestly, and if you really hadn’t wanted to come, I wouldn’t have forced you.’
‘Really?’
‘Of course not. Not everyone enjoys socialising. Especially if it means meeting a whole village. I know what this village is like.’ He raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re definitely stronger than you give yourself credit for.’
Effie watched as Jake made his way along the buffet table, loading his plate with sandwiches, sausage rolls and crudités. Effie selected a couple of egg and cress sandwiches and followed him. ‘Usually, people see me not wanting to go somewhere as a negotiation point.’
‘That’s not right. If you don’t fancy something, then a no should be a no,’ Jake said with a shrug, as if it were a no-brainer.
Effie hadn’t thought it was possible, but she swooned a little more.
What on earth was happening to her? This was Jake, the annoying man who’d taken some dodgy photos of her swimming.
A man who called her a mermaid, then a seal.
It must’ve been her desperation to get the shop painted that had addled her brain.
There was no other explanation for it. Her inconvenient crush was down to him being attractive, kind, helpful.
Oh gosh, Maddie had been right, she was developing a crush.
Grabbing some potato wedges, Effie tried to put having a crush on Jake out of her mind, but her eyes homed in on him, as if she was attuned to his every movement.
He was waiting for her at the end of the savoury section.
She grabbed a mini quiche and followed him over to where Alf was sitting on a large chair that looked like a throne, Scruff at his feet.
‘You came!’ Alf beamed at them.
Jake broke a potato wedge in half and snuck it to Scruff.
‘Oi, he’s been spoiled today, thinks it’s his birthday.’
‘Happy birthday.’ Jake seized Alf’s hand and gave it a shake, before leaning in for a quick hug.
Not quite as at ease with physical affection towards people she didn’t know well, Effie waved awkwardly. ‘Happy birthday, I hope you’re enjoying your day.’
‘I am! I can’t wait to see what Lola has whipped up for the cake. I asked for three tiers. Lemon, chocolate and Victoria sponge. I’m going to have a slice of each.’
‘That sounds like a very good plan,’ Jake agreed.
‘You two should circulate, introduce yourselves to people, especially you, young lady. Everyone is really excited about the bookshop.’
Effie gave him a nervous smile. ‘That’s great, hopefully we’ll get lots of business.’ She knew she had to network, but glancing around the busy church hall, she knew she’d need a glass of fizz to take the edge off her nerves.
‘We better find somewhere to perch and eat this.’ Jake gestured to his plate. ‘See you later, Alf.’
Alf gave them both a salute and Effie followed Jake over to a couple of spare chairs. Jake waved at a woman with wild curly hair who was holding a chubby baby on her hip.
‘My mum,’ he explained. ‘And that’s Cara, my brother’s daughter. They’ve popped down from Newquay for the weekend. I stayed with them for a few weeks before coming back here. It was like I was building up to coming home.’
‘Where did you live before?’
‘Bristol. It’s where I went to uni. Where I met Tara, my ex, and where we planned to get married and grow old together,’ Jake explained with a hollow laugh.
‘Oh. What happened?’ Effie asked, alarm bells ringing but noticing he still referred to her as an ex. Maybe the phone call meant nothing. Anyway, it wasn’t like there was anything going on between her and Jake.
Jake sighed. ‘I don’t want to spoil today by getting into all that. It’s in the past. Or at least I’m trying to leave it there. I reckon everyone in here is dying to ask as well.’
Her mind swirling with questions she couldn’t ask, they finished their food in silence, Effie taking in the people of Polcarrow, her new neighbours. Effie knew she had to bite the bullet and get on with introducing herself to everyone.
‘Shall we get a drink and circulate?’ Effie asked.
‘Are you sure?’
Effie nodded. ‘Yes, I feel a better now I’m here.’
‘Sure, why not, sounds like a good idea.’ Jake took her empty plate, and they made their way over to the drinks table. ‘What do you fancy?’
Effie looked over the selection. Fizz was celebratory but always gave her a headache. There were soft drinks, beer and bottles of local cider. ‘Cider, please,’ she said to the man behind the table.
‘You must be the bookshop lady,’ he said as he passed her a bottle. ‘I’m Steve, pub landlord, not seen you in yet.’
‘Erm, sorry, no, I’ve been busy,’ Effie flustered as she took her drink from him. She wasn’t comfortable enough to go into pubs alone.
‘Any time, love, any time. How you doing? Not seen you for a while.’ Steve turned to Jake.
‘One of those beers, please. I’ve been away, just got back earlier this week. Been helping Effie with her shop.’
‘Ah, I see.’ Steve raised his eyebrows. ‘Well, off you go, enjoy yourselves, there’s plenty of food. I think Lola’s catered for the whole of Cornwall.’
Jake steered Effie away. ‘See that wasn’t so bad, was it? And we should definitely go to the pub. It’s got gorgeous views of the bay, especially at sunset. What do you think?’
‘Yes, that’d be nice,’ Effie said shyly, whilst trying to shush her brain for leaping to conclusions about it being anything other than a friendly drink.
She always did this, fell for men who showed her the tiniest bits of kindness.
She’d got it wrong before and was determined not to make the same error of judgement somewhere everyone knew everyone else’s business. Lola spotted them and waved them over.
‘How wonderful to see you, my lovelies,’ Lola cooed as she gave them both a kiss on the cheek.
‘I know it can be a lot to face the whole village, but this is the perfect opportunity for you to meet everyone in one go,’ she said to Effie before tugging on the arm of a handsome blond man, pulling him over to her side.
‘This is Tristan, local vicar and my fiancé.’ Lola shimmered with happiness as she glanced up at her beloved, who was beaming down at her as if she was the most precious thing on earth.
‘We’re getting married in May. So much to do! ’
‘But you have it all in hand, don’t you, my dear,’ Tristan said before turning to Effie and Jake. ‘Pleased to meet you.’ Tristan shook Effie’s hand. ‘Lola has been telling me a lot about you.’
‘Has she?’ Effie wondered what it was that Lola had been saying.
‘You’re our swimmer, aren’t you? I’m not brave enough to take a dip this early in the year,’ Tristan winced. ‘So full respect to you.’
Effie laughed self-consciously. ‘Does everyone know?’
‘Nothing stays private in Polcarrow for long,’ Lola warned.
Jake let out a knowing laugh at this observation. ‘Too true.’
Effie sucked in a breath, feeling suddenly very exposed.
They chatted for a few more minutes about the party, Lola gushing about how she couldn’t wait to see Alf’s face when she brought out the cake.
Effie filled them in on her plans for the bookshop, Jake discussed his photography plans, including making sure Alf had a record of his party as a keepsake.
‘Ah! I’ve forgotten my camera!’ Jake exclaimed. ‘Effie, are you OK if I leave you? I just need to go home and get it. I’ll be two ticks.’
Feeling a bit more at ease from the cider and from talking to Lola and Tristan, she nodded her head. ‘I think I’m going to be all right.’
‘Thank you, I won’t be long, promise.’ He gave her arm a quick pat as he made his way towards the exit.
‘Oh my!’ Lola exclaimed as her eyes followed Jake out of the hall.
‘Not matchmaking again are you, my love?’ Tristan warned.
‘Would I?’
Tristan turned to Effie. ‘She can’t help herself, but, I would say Lola’s got a pretty good track record. Freya and Angelo. Then, there was us, but I was smitten from the moment I saw her, just took her a few months to catch up.’
‘I’m so glad I did.’ Lola smiled up at him.
Their love for each other was so strong that Effie almost felt as if she was intruding.
‘How are you finding Polcarrow?’ Tristan asked.
‘It’s lovely, but I’ve not seen much of it, been so busy with trying to sort the shop out,’ she explained.
Lola slipped her hand out of Tristan’s arm. ‘In that case, let me introduce you to everyone.’
‘Everyone?’ Effie gulped, glancing around the room.
‘Yes, then I can fill you in on all the little bits and pieces you need to know as an incomer,’ Lola whispered as she slipped her arm through Effie’s and started to lead her around the hall.
First, Lola introduced her to Sue and Cathy, prominent members, and friendly rivals, in charge of the village committee. Cathy narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the idea of a bookshop opening, whereas Sue almost combusted with excitement on the spot.
‘A bookshop? In Polcarrow? That is amazing! You will be able to order things in, won’t you?’
Effie nodded. ‘Of course! Anything you like. We’re opening on Easter Saturday.’
‘Two weeks!’ Sue exclaimed. ‘That’s not long, but I’ve been hearing you’ve had some help.’ Sue signalled towards the curly-haired woman Jake had pointed out as his mum.
Joining them, she gave Effie a quick once-over before holding out her hand and pulling Effie into a hug. ‘I’m Jan, you must be Effie. I’m so pleased to put a face to the name Jake keeps mentioning. He’s such a good lad, so happy he’s home. So, tell us more about this bookshop? How’s it all going?’
As Effie chatted to her captive audience, she grew more and more at ease.
She enjoyed seeing people’s reactions to the bookshop, which were, thankfully, mostly excited and positive, peppered with questions about if she’d be running a book club, or what sort of books they’d be stocking, and wasn’t it nice that the village would have a bookshop rather than having to order from big business off the internet.
As Effie answered questions and discovered things about the village and its inhabitants, she began to relax, to feel herself start to gently ebb into the flow of village life. Coming to Polcarrow didn’t seem quite the disaster it had on Monday morning.