Chapter 44
CHAPTER 44
Beau was in the Old Town, sent by Tamar on an urgent mission to the cheese shop on the High Street. He was clamping his bike to some railings and could hear a bit of a commotion going on nearby. It sounded like a child having a tantrum. Then he realised what the child was shouting: ‘Bob! Bob!’
He looked round and saw Cassady across the street.
‘Cassie!’ he cried in delight and then saw that Juliet – with Hettie strapped to her front – was standing there, holding tightly to Cassady’s hand to stop her from running across the road to him.
Beau raced over and scooped the little girl up, holding her in the air and twirling her round. She squealed with excitement and he didn’t care if her mother had sacked him with no warning or apparent reason, he was still overjoyed to see his pal.
‘You don’t come anymore,’ Cassady was saying. ‘I miss you.’
‘I miss you too, smelly,’ said Beau. ‘But I live here now.’ He finally turned to Juliet, who looked extremely uncomfortable. ‘Hello,’ he said.
‘Hi, Bob,’ she said.
‘How are you?’ he asked. He was going to be nice. There was no point in holding a grudge; he had a fabulous new life now. Tamar was in it. Even if he didn’t quite know what to do with that situation.
‘I’m good. It’s nice to see you.’ She reached up her hand up to brush a strand of hair out of her eye and Beau saw she was wearing his ring. He’d finished it a couple of weeks before, working in secret at Olive’s studio because he didn’t want to explain to anyone what it was, and he’d sent it to Gwen, with Cassady’s drawing, asking her to give it to Juliet.
‘You’re wearing my ring. Well, Cassady’s ring.’
‘I love it,’ said Juliet. ‘It was so kind of you to make it. Wasn’t it, Cass?’
The little girl nodded and buried her face in Beau’s neck.
‘Cassady is a very talented designer,’ he said. ‘A chip off the old block.’
He smiled at Juliet then kissed Cassady on the head and put her down on the pavement. She grabbed his hand and held on to it tightly, swinging his arm back and forth.
‘I was going to ask Gwen to contact you,’ said Juliet. ‘I want to start making these rings for the shop. I’ll give you thirty per cent commission on each one we sell.’
‘Oh, wow. That’s so nice of you, but you don’t have to – it’s Cassady’s design, not mine.’
‘But you saw the potential,’ said Juliet. ‘Anyone else would have thrown her drawing in the bin. You kept it and made the ring. I would never have known about it.’
‘Well, that’s incredibly kind.’
‘I’m sorry how it turned out, er, Bob,’ she said. ‘It was difficult, I’ll explain it to you one day. I can’t at the moment.’
‘That’s okay,’ said Beau. ‘I’ve moved down here and I’m doing my thing and it’s all going really well. And I’m not distracted by this monster.’ He leaned down and tickled Cassady, who giggled with delight.
‘That’s great. You’re very talented.’
‘Thanks. That means a lot coming from you. Anyway, what brings you here? Hastings doesn’t seem a very Juliet kind of a place.’
‘My mum has moved down here recently,’ she said. ‘We come down to see her a lot.’
‘Get out. My mum lives here too. I’ve moved back in with her. Where’s your mum’s place?’
‘She’s in a specialist care home, on Frobisher Road.’
‘That’s practically round the corner from our house,’ said Beau. ‘Come and have a cup of tea later. I’ll text you the address.’
‘Oh, I’m not sure I’ll have time today. I’m just over here to buy some treats for my mum; after we drop them off, we have to get back to town.’
‘Well, why don’t you go and do your shopping and I’ll hang out with Cassady for a bit? You can text me when you’re ready. There are lots of fun things to do here.’
‘Yes!’ said Cassady, jumping up and down with excitement.
To his surprise, Juliet agreed. Beau took Cassady straight down to the amusement park, where there was a carousel with a Cinderella pumpkin carriage on it.
‘I can’t tell you how much I’ve been wanting to have a go in this,’ he said as they climbed in.
They both enjoyed it so much they had another go, then they went in some cups and saucers that went round and round, which made them both feel sick, and finally they went on a small rollercoaster, called the Hungry Caterpillar, which whizzed – quite slowly – through a giant fibreglass apple.
He was just wondering if it would be a very bad idea to buy her some candy floss when Juliet texted to say she was ready to go and was waiting for them at the bottom of the High Street.
‘It was lovely to see you, Cassie,’ Beau said to the little girl as they walked over, holding hands.
‘Can we play again soon?’ she asked. ‘Will you take me in the Cinderella carriage again?’
‘Whenever you want. Every time you come to see your granny.’
They found Juliet, and Beau gave Cassady one last hug.
‘I’m going to text you our address anyway,’ he said to Juliet. ‘If you can’t come today, come next time. There’s no reason why we can’t be friends, Juliet. I don’t hold grudges – and I love seeing Cassady.’
Juliet smiled, but he noticed it wasn’t one of her open, generous smiles. Weird, like all of it.
‘Oh,’ he said. ‘One last thing – I should have told you at the start. Bob isn’t my real name. It’s Beau. You misheard me at Olympia when I first met you and it seemed rude to correct you, so I just went along with Bob. It seemed easier. Sorry.’
‘It’s fine. Gwen already told me. Bye, Beau.’
Beau watched them walk away, really hoping she would get in touch next time they were down, but even if she didn’t, Hastings and St Leonards was so small they were bound to bump into each other again.
It was one of the things he liked about living there.