Chapter 26
Frankie let Ed take the lead as they wandered through the crowds.
The fact he seemed to know most of the people there helped, as did his outrageous amount of charm.
More than once she watched as he teased someone from offering a coin to offering a note and they always surrendered with a laugh, some grudging, but most not.
He didn’t do it to everyone, she noticed, only those she supposed he knew enough about to gauge whether they could afford it.
Whether he got a ten-pence piece or a ten-pound note, he greeted every donation with the same level of grateful thanks and he’d already got close to his hundred-pound target before they’d even reached the café.
They pushed open the door to find the place packed.
Maud was still holding court behind the counter, showing no signs of fatigue even after being on her feet all day.
A twinge of nervousness ran through Frankie at being in a relatively confined space with so many people, but she didn’t want Ed to worry about her.
Perhaps her star power could do a bit of good and get a few more pounds in the collection bucket.
If it got too much she knew she’d only have to say and he’d take her home.
Knowing he had her back made it easier for Frankie to hold her head high and put on a smile.
Ed caught Issy’s attention and asked if she minded them doing the rounds and she told them to go ahead. ‘Don’t stand right by the door though, I don’t want people feeling like they have to contribute.’
‘Of course not.’ A chair scraped behind them and a couple stood and began putting on their coats. ‘How about we sit over there? We’ll just leave the bucket on the table while we have a coffee and if anyone wants to tip up they can.’
‘Sounds good to me. I’ll bring your drinks over.’
Issy came and cleared the table then hurried off with the dirty cups.
Frankie took off her coat and sat down with a grateful sigh.
She was tired, she realised, and her feet were aching from tromping up and down all morning.
Her attention immediately went to Ed and she wondered how his leg was doing.
Taking up position next to the table, Ed raised his voice.
‘Ladies and gentlemen. Sorry to interrupt your lunch but I just wanted to let you know that some of us are doing a splash-for-cash on the beach at three o’clock to raise money for the volunteer lifeguards who do such a brilliant job keeping our beach safe every summer.
Every single penny will make a difference so if you’ve got a bit of spare change in your purse or wallet and you’d like to donate, we’ll be sitting here for the next few minutes.
’ He rattled the bucket once then set it on the table and sat down opposite Frankie and stretched his leg out with a wince.
‘Are you sure you’ll be all right going in the water?’ she asked, gesturing towards his leg.
‘Trying to get out of that bath?’ he replied with a wink, then his expression softened into a sweet smile. ‘I’m fine, honestly. I’m used to it.’
They were interrupted by a man about Ed’s age who dug into his pocket as he approached their table.
He shuffled some coins in his hand and selected a two-pound one, which he pushed into the slot in the lid of the bucket.
‘Worth every penny to see you in the drink, mate,’ he told Ed with a cheerful grin. ‘Three o’clock, you said?’
‘Yup,’ Ed replied. ‘See you there?’
‘Too right you will! I wouldn’t miss it for the world.’ Chuckling to himself, the man walked off.
‘Friend of yours?’ Frankie asked, arching her eyebrows.
‘Since we were tiny,’ Ed replied with a laugh. ‘His parents live a couple of doors down from mine.’
A couple more people stopped at the table to drop money in the bucket on their way out, though they seemed more interested in staring at Frankie like she was a sideshow exhibit than in the fundraising.
Knowing they weren’t being intentionally rude, Frankie smiled and thanked them for their generosity and they went off grinning like she’d given them a gift.
Issy arrived with their coffees and Frankie took a quick sip of her creamy cappuccino, eager for the caffeine hit to boost her waning energy levels.
As tempting as it was to slope off home after they’d done their fundraising stint, she was determined to stick it out and be there to cheer Ed and the others on.
An older man approached and popped a five-pound note in the bucket. ‘The lifesavers do such a brilliant job, Ed. Good on you and your brothers for doing something to raise money and awareness.’
‘It was all Rick’s idea,’ Ed replied. ‘I’m just there making up the numbers.’ The man laughed and patted his shoulder then moved off.
It wasn’t the first time Frankie had heard that kind of self-deprecating remark from Ed and it was starting to annoy her. ‘You shouldn’t put yourself down like that.’
His eyes widened in what she could tell was genuine astonishment. ‘I wasn’t, I was telling the truth. Rick deserves all the credit for making today a success.’
‘Hmm.’ Frankie gave him a look but let it go. They were having such a lovely day that she didn’t want to spoil it.
A voice called out across the café. ‘Oi, Frankie! You going in the sea, are ya?’
She whipped around to see a red-faced man who looked to be in his mid-forties watching her.
He had a smile on his face she recognised well as nothing friendly.
Worse, he had a table of mates grinning like hyenas.
She knew this type well, full of gob and bravado in front of their mates and always happy to take someone down a peg or two as a way to make up for their own inadequacies.
Give her a room of polite gawkers over a wanker trying to show off any day.
‘Ignore him,’ Ed snapped. ‘He’s a dickhead.’
It was clear to Frankie that Ed was genuinely annoyed and if she didn’t do something the situation might easily escalate.
She glanced over the room and her gut clenched as she realised pretty much everyone was watching and waiting to see how she’d respond.
Someone raised their phone in the air and she thought she might be sick.
Ed stood and reached for the bucket. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here.’
Frankie shook her head. ‘No, it’s fine. Sit down and let me handle it.’ She’d been humiliated by a man in public once before and at least he’d had the excuse of being unwell. The one grinning at her was nothing more than a pathetic bully.
Thankfully, Ed wasn’t the type of man who felt he had to fight a woman’s battles and he subsided again, though his thunderous expression made it clear he wasn’t happy about any of this.
Frankie drew in a deep breath, set her shoulders back and stood. Tits and teeth. It was a crude saying, but that didn’t mean it didn’t work and she put on her best smile as she stepped away from her table and started walking towards the man who’d challenged her.
It was clear he hadn’t expected her to take him on and his nasty smirk began to waver at the edges as she drew closer. Frankie notched her smile up from stage school to shark sensing blood in the water.
That’s right, you prick, I’m not some scared little girl that can be messed with by the likes of you.
She stopped right next to his table and extended her smile to his little pack of minions.
‘I hadn’t planned on joining in with the splash-for-cash, but I might do it, for the right price, of course.
’ Frankie didn’t shout, but she knew how to project her voice and there was nothing more she thrived on than the energy of an audience.
She turned her back on the table and held her arms wide in appeal.
‘What do you reckon, ladies and gentlemen? Do you think our friend here has a point and I should do it?’
There was a ripple of laughter and several shouts of encouragement.
Frankie held up her hands as though in surrender.
‘Okay, okay, seeing as it’s such a great cause, I’ll do it.
’ That earned her a round of applause. ‘Now, as my friend here was the one who suggested it, I think it’s only fair he makes the first donation, don’t you?
’ There was more laughter as the audience spotted the trap she’d neatly set.
What they didn’t know was that Frankie wasn’t quite done yet.
She turned back towards the table of men, several of whom were grinning at their friend’s discomfort.
‘What do you reckon, folks? How much should he give?’
‘A tenner!’ a woman called from the back.
‘Twenty!’ the man at the table with the broadest grin said as he pulled his wallet out of his pocket. ‘And here, I’ll match it.’ He slapped a note on the table while his mate who’d started it went from red-faced to a shade closer to purple.
‘Shut your mouth, Dan,’ he snapped at his grinning friend.
‘That’s what you should’ve done, Aidan,’ another man at the table said as he too pulled out his wallet and counted out two ten-pound notes. The other two did the same and soon there was a little stack of notes and coins on the table.
‘Thank you so much!’ Frankie turned back to Aidan. ‘What do you say? A nice round hundred pounds has got to be worth it, don’t you think?’
Aidan glared at her for a moment then shoved his hand in his pocket and pulled out a handful of crumpled notes and chucked them on the table.
‘Pleasure doing business with you!’ Frankie swept the money into her hand and beat a retreat back towards where Ed was waiting at their table. It took her a while as several people nearby stopped her to press money into her hands.
‘My daughter loves you in Ton!,’ one woman said as she handed Frankie a tenner. She leaned closer and added, ‘Worth every penny to watch you put that Aidan Reilly in his place.’
Frankie grinned, but didn’t say anything as she accepted the money and moved on. She finally sank into her chair opposite Ed.
‘Have fun?’ he asked with an amused smile.
‘Very much so.’ Frankie opened her cupped hands and the money she’d collected spilled out onto the table.
Ed began to count it out but he had to keep stopping and starting as more people came over and added a donation.
A few wanted photos and Frankie obliged so it was probably ten minutes before everyone who’d wanted to chat to her had done so.
Frankie glanced across the café and wasn’t surprised to see the table where the five men had been sitting had been vacated.
She hoped Aidan wasn’t too cross with her, but perhaps he’d learned his lesson.
Issy came over and leaned down to give her a hug.
‘You were amazing!’ She pulled back and studied Frankie with a frown. ‘Are you okay, though?’
‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ Frankie was surprised to find it was the truth.
The adrenaline surge had helped her shake off her earlier tiredness and the positive response she’d received made it feel like she’d done the right thing.
She glanced over to where Ed was settling the money into a neat pile. ‘How did I do?’
‘Nearly three hundred and fifty pounds! Looks like I’ll be the one scrubbing your back later.’
‘And that’s my cue to leave.’ Issy laughed and turned away, then stopped and turned back. ‘Hey, it might be a bit big on you but I’ve got a wetsuit if you want to borrow one.’
Frankie had been so caught up in the moment that she hadn’t considered the logistics of actually going in the water. Though she’d never worn one before, a wetsuit had to be infinitely preferable to running into the sea in just a T-shirt and her underwear. ‘Oh, that would be brilliant, if I could.’
‘Just let me tell Nan and then I’ll run up and grab it for you.’
Ed tucked the money they’d raised into the slot of the bucket. ‘We’d better get this back to Rick and tell him what’s going on. He’ll want to spread the word, I’m sure.’
Some of her earlier nervousness returned, but she pushed it away. She’d made the choice to put herself out there so all she could do now was own it. ‘Maybe he can get someone to film it and post it afterwards. Do you know if the lifesavers have a Go Fund Me or JustGiving page for fundraising?’
Ed’s eyes lit up at the suggestion. ‘If they don’t, we’ll make sure there is one!’ He stood and pulled her to her feet. ‘You’re a bloody genius!’ He leaned down and dashed a quick kiss across her lips.
‘None of that in here,’ Issy said, approaching them with a carrier bag. ‘I run a respectable establishment, I’ll have you know.’ She offered the bag to Frankie with a smile. ‘I put some talc in there as well because they can be tricky to get into. Good luck and we’ll be there to cheer you on!’