‘But she hasn’t,’ Charlie replied. ‘So what are we going to do about it?’
‘We? So you think we can try working as a team, now?’
The heat in Charlie’s cheeks went up a few degrees. ‘The reputations of my events and your hotel rest on the outcome. We could do with working together to come up with a solution.’
‘I think you’re right,’ Daniel said. ‘What do you suggest?’
Charlie sighed and leaned against the bus. It was easier being next to him than facing him. ‘You definitely have to have yoga on Saturday?’
‘Belle has been booked and paid for, and she’s got clients for every day that she’s here. I’m not sure anyone would be too happy about us cancelling it.’
‘And I can’t cancel the food market, because it’s a sure thing, now. I’ve got vendors invested in it, and I’ve promoted it on social media. We could move Belle further down the beach, but it’s still going to be noisy and busy. We don’t want to risk any yogis being squashed. Not even Belle,’ Charlie added, with only a slight trace of bitterness.
Daniel laughed. ‘She’s not your cup of tea?’
‘She simpers,’ Charlie replied. ‘I mean, she obviously runs a very successful business and Juliette is beyond happy that she’s here but I just—’
‘You don’t think she’s on your side.’
‘Oi.’ She slapped him on the arm. ‘You’re not being helpful. We need to fix this, for both our sakes.’
‘OK,’ Daniel said, suddenly serious. ‘How about we … no, I’m not sure that will work. We could maybe …’ Charlie glanced at him, but he was shaking his head. ‘Oh, I know!’ He grabbed her arm and Charlie jumped, feeling the fizz of electricity at his touch.
‘What? What could we do?’
‘How about, just for Saturday, we have the yoga up in the gardens of Crystal Waters? There’s lots of space around the pool, they’ll still have the spectacular views, and they’re far enough removed from the market for neither to impact on the other. There.’ He spread his hands wide. ‘Perfect solution.’
Charlie stared at him. His expression was smug, satisfied, but there was something else, too. That laughter bubbling just under the surface. Slowly, realization dawned on her.
‘Oh my God,’ she murmured. ‘Oh my God, Daniel.’
He raised an eyebrow.
‘It was always going to be up at the hotel on Saturday, wasn’t it? You were never going to be in the way of my food market.’
‘It was an easy assumption to make, when they appeared on the beach this morning for a week-long residence. I can see how you could have jumped to the wrong conclusion. I had expected a visit from you earlier, actually. I was looking forward to seeing you.’
Marmite squeaked and hid behind her legs, but a quick glance showed her that Jasper was still lying patiently at Daniel’s feet. Her dog was making something out of nothing, as usual. Charlie wondered if he’d learnt that from her.
‘You purposely didn’t tell me,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘You let me think this, let me get worked up about it, when all along you were planning on having it at the hotel on Saturday.’
‘All’s well that ends well. You need to stop assuming that everyone’s against you.’
‘How can I, when you keep doing stuff like this? I bet you organized Rose and Frank to put on that little show outside my bus, just so you could set me straight and feel superior about it. You’re trying to show me who’s in charge, but do you know what?’ Her eyes blazed into his.
‘What?’ he asked. ‘Tell me.’ He leaned towards her, his breath tickling her cheek. ‘I’m all ears.’
They were only inches apart. He smelt good, woody and citrusy. She pushed the thought away.
‘I’m not against you, Charlie. I thought I’d made that clear the other night, but if you want to keep believing it, there’s nothing I can do.’
She couldn’t look away. Daniel’s eyes were dark pools of intent and his lips were so close … She knew how kissable those lips were …
‘Hey, Char! Hi, Daniel.’ Juliette’s voice broke the spell and Charlie jumped backwards, turning to her friend as if she’d been starved of her company.
‘Jules! How was it?’ Juliette looked happy, her skin glistening, her cheeks bunched into a smile.
‘Brilliant. You have to give it a go, Charlie. It’s the most wonderful, uplifting feeling, and Belle is a great teacher. Oh, and I meant to text you earlier, but I got caught up on the bus. She found out that they’re running all her sessions at the hotel on Saturday, so you don’t need to worry. The food market is safe! But Daniel’s probably told you that anyway. Want to go up to the house together?’
Charlie forced a smile. She wished, with all her heart, that Juliette had sent that text. ‘I’ve got your car in The Seven Stars car park. I’ll drive you up the hill, unless you want to walk?’
‘A lift would be lovely. Did you have a good time with Ollie?’
Charlie nodded, aware of Daniel’s gaze on her. ‘I’ll tell you all about it at home.’
‘Great. I’m just going to go and say goodbye to Belle, then I’ll meet you at the car. Catch you later, Daniel.’
‘Bye,’ Daniel called. ‘There, you see,’ he said, once Juliette was out of earshot. ‘I wasn’t keeping anything from you.’
‘I need to get Marmite his dinner,’ Charlie said. ‘Please don’t scratch the paintwork of my bus.’
‘Wouldn’t dream of it.’ Daniel stood up straight. ‘Good to see you again, Charlie. Glad we’ve sorted things out. I’d hate for there to be any animosity between us.’ He squeezed her hand briefly, letting go before she could react, and led Jasper down onto the beach.
Marmite whimpered, as if he was upset at the German shepherd’s departure, despite clearly being terrified of him. Charlie let out a loud, exasperated sigh and took her dog back to the car.
Chapter Nineteen
Charlie tugged the hair out of her eyes and the wind whipped it straight back. She breathed in a huge, restorative gulp of sea air, and marvelled again at the sheer scope of the view. The water churned all around her except at her back, a mixture of deepest blue and frothy white, the blistering sun adding a sparkle that was almost blinding. Ahead of her in the sea sat The Brisons, large rocks that – Charlie remembered Hugh telling her – people swam out to in an annual race. She shook her head, wondering at the bravery of anyone who was prepared to get into such a tumultuous surf, and licked her strawberry ice cream.
‘Would you swim?’ she asked Juliette. Their bench was snuggled against the chimney that sat proudly on the top of Cape Cornwall, still here though the tin mine was long gone. Her friend seemed intent on devouring her mint choc chip cone in minimum time, perhaps because the wind seemed equally intent on flinging most of it into her face.
‘Not a chance,’ Juliette replied. ‘The sea is never flat here, because it’s where the Atlantic currents divide. I can’t ever imagine it being safe. Stunning to look at, though.’
‘God, yes. Do you think anyone would mind if I moved The Cornish Cream Tea Bus to Cape Cornwall permanently? I could do this walk at the end of every day, and spend hours looking out at the water.’
‘Everyone would mind!’ Juliette said, laughing. ‘You were lucky the National Trust allowed you to pitch up here for a single day, so I wouldn’t push them. And what about poor Porthgolow? Would you move the food markets out here, too?’
‘It might be easier,’ Charlie murmured. She had reached her cone and took a big, satisfying bite.
‘Why easier?’ Juliette asked. ‘I thought most of the villagers had accepted it now, and even Myrtle’s gone a bit quiet. Unless that’s because she’s plotting something dastardly.’
‘It doesn’t matter. Forget I said anything.’
The market had gone without a hitch at the weekend because, as promised, Belle and her yoga class had been at the hotel for the whole of Saturday, leaving the beach free for Charlie’s gang of food trucks. But she was still a
nnoyed at the way Daniel had let her get worked up about nothing.
She’d even seen him towards the end of the day, strolling along with Jasper and eating a cone of calamari, The Friendly Fish Stall’s trademark blue and grey design on the paper. They hadn’t spoken, but he’d noticed her looking at him through the window and given her a cheery wave, then a thumbs-up, and pointed in the direction of the hotel. Charlie knew what he was referring to, and it had taken her half an hour to calm down.
From now on she was going to keep her cool, which wasn’t easy when Cornwall was putting on the most glorious summer Charlie could remember, and she was spending most of it on board Gertie, rushing around, making hot drinks and warming scones in the oven.
She loved it, of course, but when, after spending the day serving customers in the Cape Cornwall car park – a spot with arguably as beautiful a view as Porthgolow beach – Juliette had suggested a walk to the top and an ice cream before the long drive home, she had jumped at the idea. Now the heady sea breeze and churning waves were putting everything in perspective. Charlie needed to stop focusing on the minutiae, worrying about matters she couldn’t control – namely Daniel – and focus on herself.
‘I know what this is about,’ Juliette said. ‘It’s not Myrtle who’s bothering you, is it? Could it be something to do with a rather intimate conversation I saw you having next to the bus with a dark-haired hotelier the other day?’
Charlie pressed her fingers to her lips. ‘You noticed that?’
‘I might have been high on yoga, Char, but I’m not an idiot. I could see there was something going on, but I was waiting for you to tell me. Then there was the food market, and you’re always out and about on Gertie, or you’re shut away in the kitchen baking up a storm, and I hardly ever see you. I’m glad I could help today, it’s been fun; and, more importantly,’ she nudged Charlie’s shoulder, ‘we get a chance to catch up. Which, I think I remember telling you, was part of the reason I wanted you to stay.’
‘I never meant for us to be ships that pass in the night, Jules. This whole thing has taken off in a way I didn’t anticipate. God, can you imagine if I’d actually called it The Café Bus? What a lame name.’
‘Cornwall gave you the perfect inspiration,’ Juliette said. ‘The Cornish Cream Tea Bus is becoming legendary. Did you hear that group of girls earlier on? The ones who all had hot chocolates with cream and marshmallows? One of them said, I swear to God, “We’re on the ACTUAL Cornish Cream Tea Bus. I can’t believe it!” It was as if they’d found the Holy Grail or something.’
‘She was only giving it the reverence it deserves. Gertie is legendary. It just took a bit of a spruce-up and some good, hard baking for people to see it.’
‘And long may it continue,’ Juliette shouted. Her words were swept up and carried away by the wind.
They gazed in silence at the view. The dark hulk of a boat, a liner or trawler, moved slowly along the horizon; black birds flew below them, arcing round the curve of the cape, heading north.
‘Choughs,’ Juliette said, pointing. ‘Did you see their red beaks? They’re pretty rare. Apparently this is one of the only places you can see them in the whole of England.’
‘When did you turn into an expert birdwatcher?’ Charlie asked, standing so she could watch the progress of the birds until they were nothing but dark specs against the cliffs.
‘I read the Cape Cornwall info leaflet while I was waiting for a batch of scones to cool.’ Juliette grinned. ‘Now, tell me what’s happening with Daniel.’
‘Nothing’s happening,’ Charlie said, sitting back down. ‘He’s infuriating me, that’s all. I need to ignore him and get on with it.’
‘What was Hal’s phrase?’ Juliette said. ‘The only journey you can control is your own. He used to say that a lot when I was worried about leaving you and everyone else in the Cotswolds and moving down here. He was right, of course, but how is Daniel infuriating you? It’s obviously affecting you, and I know that, after what Stuart did …’ She squeezed Charlie’s hand.
‘We barely know each other,’ Charlie replied quickly, ‘so it’s not – not like that. I’m over Stuart.’
‘I know you are, but I’m not so sure what he did to you hasn’t had a more lasting effect. Betrayal’s a horrible thing, Char.’
‘But Daniel’s not …’ She sighed. ‘He winds me up, that’s all. He gets involved with stuff. At first it seemed supportive – he must have gone to a lot of trouble to organize the bonfire and fireworks on the solstice at such short notice. But then there was the yoga. He deliberately didn’t tell me that he was moving it up to the hotel on Saturday. He let me worry about it and then smoothed everything over, cool as a cucumber. And when I thought he’d been bad-mouthing my event and went up to confront him—’
‘He did what?’
‘But I don’t know if he did bad-mouth it. He says it was all a misunderstanding. Words that got twisted by Rose and Frank who overheard him, but I’m still not sure.’
‘What do you mean?’
Charlie waited until a couple with an English sheepdog had strolled past, and then told Juliette what had happened at the hotel, admitting everything except their kiss in the hot tub. It had barely lasted for more than a couple of seconds anyway, so – she kept telling herself – it didn’t really count.
‘Oh boy,’ Juliette said, when Charlie had finished.
‘It’s like he’s got me on this piece of string. He keeps reeling me in and then letting me back out again. I just feel so … hopeless around him.’ And exhilarated, and hot in a way that had nothing to do with the Cornish summer.
‘You like him,’ Juliette said.
Charlie sat up straighter. ‘I do not.’
‘You’re not talking about Myrtle like this. Analysing what she’s doing or why she’s doing it.’
‘That’s because she’s not behaving like Daniel! She’s just someone who’s lived here all her life who isn’t ready to embrace a shinier, busier Porthgolow. She’s not toying with me like he is.’
‘Why do you think he’s doing it?’ Juliette asked. Her voice was light, her dark eyes sparkling.
‘I should never have said anything.’
‘Oh come on, Char. Don’t be mad with me. I’m just telling you what I see. You like Daniel, and he likes you. He wouldn’t have gone to all the effort on that first Saturday just to please Myrtle.’
‘A lot of the villagers are against his fancy hotel, too, you know.’
‘And when has he ever given the impression of caring about that? He always does his own thing – I thought to the point of selfishness, until you coaxed the real reason for that marketing mix-up out of him. Which is another point towards my argument, by the way. He talks to you, and not just the odd pleasantry or quip. He puts his heart on his sleeve for you. He invited you into the hot tub, for goodness’ sake! I mean, talk about being obvious. Do you want me to write you a list? How does Daniel like you, let me count the ways … One, he—’
‘OK, OK, there’s no need for that. I get it.’
‘Do you like him as much as you like Oliver?’ Juliette asked. ‘I’m guessing more, considering how much you’re angsting over him.’
‘Shouldn’t we be getting back? We’ve got a long drive ahead of us, and what if Ray, Benton and Marmite have overwhelmed Lawrence and turned him into puppy chow?’
‘If Ray and Benton are involved, it’ll be cat food. Marmite will only be allowed the scraps.’
‘I’m going to have to come back here with Marmite. He’d love it.’
‘It is magnificent isn’t it?’
They took a few, final moments to drink in the view, and then started the descent, navigating the stone steps cut into the scrubland. Behind them, the tall chimney glowed red in the late afternoon sun. Charlie would have to see about bringing Gertie back here, too. It was a popular spot, and the more she got her bus out and about in Cornwall, the more word of Porthgolow and the food markets spread.
‘So what are you goin
g to do about Daniel?’ Juliette asked, once they’d tackled the steepest part of the walk and were on gentler ground. ‘Putting aside that you like him, you can’t let him make you feel hopeless. You have to beat him at his own game.’
‘I thought if I ignored him, he might go away.’
‘Daniel Harper is the kind of person you need to stand up to,’ Juliette said firmly. ‘And action is what you’re good at. Don’t start being passive because he’s got you on the back foot.’
Charlie nodded. Juliette was right. She needed to show Daniel that he wasn’t in charge – not of her events or her emotions. He had his own business to run; there was no need for him to get involved with hers.
They reached the car park and found a man and woman peering in the window of her bus. They were both grey-haired, and wearing light coats and walking boots covered in sand.
‘I’m so sorry,’ Charlie said, ‘but we’re closed for the day. I’ll be back in Porthgolow tomorrow, and at the food market there on Saturday.’
‘Do you do tours on it?’ the woman asked. ‘Travelling round an’ suchlike?’
‘I’m getting around the county, but I’m not running tours at the moment, though that is something I’m planning in the future. Look me up online and you can keep up to date with where The Cornish Cream Tea Bus will be next.’
‘Righto,’ the woman said, ‘Thanks for that.’ They headed towards the ice-cream van.
‘You know your tours?’ Juliette said, once they were on board and Charlie was settled in the cab.
‘You mean the ones I haven’t even started work on yet? Schools break up soon and I want to make the most of the summer crowds.’
‘You need a trial run,’ Juliette said. ‘You’ve not done it before. You watched Hal endless times, but you can’t tell people all about the Cotswolds while you’re driving round Cornwall. That would really confuse them.’
The Cornish Cream Tea Bus Page 19
