by Georgia Hill
The cold air stilled. A dust mote spiralled down. Millie watched it, trying to decide what to do. She contemplated going to him, holding him close, kissing him until their breath was spent. She longed to forget all this was happening. To pretend the only thing that mattered was her and Jed. Then the image of the opening day at Blue Elephant swam into her vision. Of its slick wooden tables and top of the range coffee machines. If she didn’t fight for her business, it would be worth nothing and she certainly wouldn’t succeed in selling it. And if she had to fight Blue Elephant then she would have to fight Jed too. Hardening her resolve, she reached for her coat.
As he went to her she held out her hand to ward him off. ‘Don’t touch me. Don’t ring me. I don’t want anything more to do with you.’
Tears pouring, she stumbled out, ignoring his protests.
Chapter 13
‘I’m really worried about Millie,’ Eleri said, as she put down one of the building plans she and Alex had been poring over.
Once again they were sitting in the shabby little study at the Lord. Alex had collected her and they’d spent all morning discussing ideas for the hotel.
‘I tried talking to her yesterday but she refuses to discuss it. I know he’s doing all this for the best but she won’t even have his name mentioned.’ She sighed, a look of concern flickering across her eyes. She shook a heavy lock of hair off her face, heedless of the effect this had on Alex.
He turned down the radio, which had begun to blast out Slade’s Merry Christmas Everybody. ‘It’s completely unlike him to deliberately hurt someone,’ he agreed. ‘And I know he loves Millie very much. I just don’t understand any of it.’
Eleri wasn’t about to give up on the conversation so easily. ‘There must be a way we can help them find each other again, Alex. Everything will sort itself out in the end, but can’t we nudge them in the right direction? Millie’s so sad. Has Jed said anything to you?’
‘Not a dickie bird.’ Alex pursed his lips. ‘And it’s not like him. We’re awfully close, he usually tells me everything, sometimes more than I want to hear.’ He gave a short laugh. ‘But this time he’s not said a word. Not that he’s been around very much. Whatever he’s doing for Blue Elephant, they’re getting their money’s worth. I hardly see him. He’s off on another buying trip soon too. Back to South America.’ He shook his head. ‘I really don’t know what we can do, Ri.’
Eleri bit her lip. ‘Nothing at the moment, I suppose. We just have to trust to what fate has in store for them. I hate seeing Millie so unhappy, mind.’ She blew out a frustrated breath. ‘It’ll all work out for the best in the end, cariad,’ she added, more confidently. ‘I’m positive. I’m just getting impatient.’ Reaching for her mug, she drank her remaining coffee.
Alex gave her a curious look. ‘How are so sure of everything? I’ve got to be honest, with Jed showing no signs of giving up working for Millie’s rival business, their situation isn’t looking terribly peachy to me.’
‘I read my cards. They told me.’
‘Cards. What cards?’
‘Tarot cards. I asked them if all will be well between Millie and Jed and it will. Eventually.’ Eleri wrinkled her nose. ‘It just takes time sometimes. And patience. Can be frustrating to watch from the sidelines, mind.’
‘Tarot cards?’ Alex drew himself up. ‘I don’t hold with that nonsense.’
Eleri smiled at him, fondly. ‘Now then, of course you wouldn’t. Virgo aren’t you?’ At his blank look, she added, ‘Birthday in September?’
‘Yes. How on earth did you know?’
‘The most logical of astrological signs. Scorpio rising too, I would imagine.’
Alex laughed and stood up. He collected their empty mugs. ‘Astrology as well? I don’t believe in that either.’
‘Well, of course you don’t, bach,’ Eleri said serenely. She gazed at him, unblinking. ‘What about you take me to lunch and we can discuss it?’
‘Ah. Yes.’ Alex cleared his throat nervously. ‘Actually, I was about to suggest that. Not to talk about astrology or anything, but we could discuss a plan of action for Jed and Millie.’
‘Of course. And maybe we could use the time to get to know one another better too?’
The top of Alex’s ears turned pink. ‘Um. Yes. That would be splendid.’
Chapter 14
‘Zoe!’ Millie ran across the café and hugged the thin girl who had just come in.
Eleri looked up with interest. It was the first time in weeks that Millie had been so animated. She was curious to see who had sparked it.
‘Come and meet Eleri.’ Millie brought Zoe over and introduced her. ‘You’ve just missed the rush. We’ve had another women’s networking event in here this morning.’
Zoe’s pierced eyebrow rose. ‘Can’t see Granddad enjoying that.’
Millie laughed. It was a croaky sound, as if she was out of practice. ‘He doesn’t. Avoids the place until the coast is clear. He’ll be in later, though. He’s taken Daisy and Trev for a walk while the place was seething with dolled-up women. Turns out they’re not too keen on dog hairs on their business suits. Come on, let’s all sit down while we’ve got a minute. Chocolate brownie? Or a slice of Ri’s Bara Brith with salty butter. It’s really good.’
Zoe groaned and collapsed onto a chair. ‘Oh, it’s good to be home. Can I have both, please? I’m starving. Dying to hear all about your travels, by the way. Dead jel.’
‘You can have anything you like, my lovely, including a potted history of the last three months. Large latte to go with them?’ At Zoe’s nod, Millie began to go into the kitchen. ‘No, you sit down too, Ri. You haven’t stopped all morning. I’ll get the food together. Cold outside, isn’t it? It’s made your nose go all pink, Zo.’
Eleri sat opposite Zoe and smiled at her. ‘It’s good to see Millie cheerful again.’
‘What’s happened?’ Zoe started in concern. ‘Last time I heard everything was sweet.’
As Eleri gave a brief explanation, Zoe’s frown deepened. ‘It’s all been going on here, hasn’t it? Had no idea. Been a bit wrapped up in uni life, I suppose. Sean hasn’t said anything either. My boyfriend,’ she added, at Eleri’s questioning look. ‘Not that he might be my boyfriend for much longer.’
‘What’s all this about the silent but otherwise delightful Sean?’ Millie asked as she nudged the kitchen door open with a foot. She carried a laden tray over to their table. ‘Got some left-over finger sandwiches here too. The networkers don’t eat very much. Egg and cress and smoked salmon with cream cheese. Oh and some honey-glazed mini sausages.’
‘Perfect,’ Zoe sighed, as she eyed the food greedily. She pulled off her over-sized beret. ‘Picky eaters don’t sound like your sort of customer, Mil.’
‘They’re not really,’ Millie answered, as she sat down. ‘But it’s business.’
‘Place busy?’
‘Ish.’
‘Can’t believe you’re selling up,’ Zoe said, through a mouthful of food. ‘Clare’s parents still buying?’
‘Allegedly.’ Millie sipped her coffee moodily. ‘It’s taking forever to go through, though.’ Putting her mug down she sighed.
‘You’ve just missed the Christmas lights switch-on, Zoe,’ Eleri said, in an attempt to lighten the mood. They look so pretty in the high street. All white, they are. And there are mini trees up on every shop too. Looks really festive in town now. We had quite a crowd in here that night, didn’t we, Mil? Stayed open late. Served soup.’
‘Curried parsnip and Tessa’s walnut bread,’ Millie added. ‘And it’s carols around the big tree on the prom next week. You’re back early, Zo,’ she said, changing the subject. ‘Term hasn’t finished already, has it?’
‘Got ill. Iller than a very ill thing. Chest infection that wouldn’t go away. Campus doc was worried it might turn glandular so she sent me home two weeks early. I’ll miss all the parties,’ Zoe said gloomily. ‘Just my luck. Might be the universe punishing me, though.’
�
��What for, bach?’ said Eleri.
Zoe pushed away her plate with a cavernous sigh. I two-timed Sean.
Chapter 15
‘Oh,’ Millie said, obviously trying to sound neutral.
‘Who with?’ Eleri asked. She was beginning to like Zoe. She watched as the girl divested herself of coat, scarf and fingerless gloves.
‘Jason. A boy in my nineteenth-century literature class. We bonded over Jane Eyre,’ Zoe said, dreamily. She nibbled a sausage. ‘These are yummy, Mil.’
‘Ah, Bronte will do it every time.’ Eleri broke off a piece of Bara Brith and ate delicately.
‘I’ll say it did. It’s even worse than that, though. Jason loves Mrs Gaskell too.’
‘I got round to reading North and South,’ Millie said. ‘Eventually. That John Thornton. I completely fell for him. The moody mill owner. So hopelessly in love.’
‘Jason is like Mr Thornton. Proud. Intelligent.’ Zoe gave a sigh.
‘Drop-dead gorgeous?’ Eleri put in, a twinkle in her eye.
Zoe nodded. ‘Obvs. More gorgeous than a very gorgeous thing.’ She sighed again. ‘And so principled.’
‘Not all that principled if he’s going out with someone who’s already got a boyfriend.’ Millie’s voice was sharp.
Zoe looked shamefaced. ‘It wasn’t like that, Mil. He knew I had Sean at home.’ She traced a brownie crumb around her plate. ‘It was me. I seduced him. Over Wuthering Heights and too many vodka shots.’
Eleri caught Millie’s eye and managed to keep a straight face. ‘Vodka will do it as well,’ she said. ‘What are you going to do then, lovely?’
‘Do I have to do anything?’ Zoe had a hopeful note in her voice.
‘No – ,’ Eleri began.
‘Yes you do.’ Millie rose abruptly. ‘Of course you have to do something. You have to decide who you want. Sean or this Jason bloke.’ She glowered down. ‘You have to decide what you want in life and then stick by those decisions, however hard that might be. I expected better of you, Zoe, I really did. Poor Sean. He’s been like a lost soul without you. He really misses you and you had to do this to him. Tessa’s one of my best friends and Sean is very dear to me too. I’m ashamed of you. I really am.’ She turned on her heel.
Zoe stared open-mouthed as Millie stomped into the kitchen. Her face crumpled.
Eleri put a hand out. ‘Take no heed, cariad.’
‘I’ve never seen her so angry,’ she said, on a hiccough. ‘I thought she’d be more understanding.’
‘Now then, don’t take on so. It’s herself she’s angry at, not you. You just happened to be in the firing line today. Drink your coffee, I’ll go and see if she’s okay a little later.’
‘She’s changed. Millie never used to be like that.’
Eleri stared at the resolutely shut kitchen door. ‘She’s just going through some stuff, that’s all.’
‘Well, she doesn’t have to take it out on me.’ Zoe got up. Taking a holly-patterned serviette, she wrapped her uneaten cake into it. ‘Tell her I won’t bother her again.’
She slammed the café door shut with such emphasis it shook the entire building. It broke the bell, which dropped off and landed on the wooden floor with a discordant jangle.
Eleri stared at it, feeling the waves of anger revolve around the room. ‘This won’t do,’ she muttered. ‘This won’t do at all.’
Chapter 16
‘Millie!’
Millie turned around. It was gloomy on the beach this early in the day. The winter damp seemed to get right into your bones. If she didn’t have to walk Trevor, she wouldn’t be here at all.
It was Jed. She nodded at him. ‘I thought I’d told you to keep away from me.’ She wrapped her overcoat around her defensively.
He jogged up to her, his face pinched with cold. ‘You did.’ He thrust his hands into his puffa. ‘Jeez, it’s cold.’ He glared up at the just-lightening sky. ‘Arthur thinks it’s going to snow.’
Despite herself, Millie laughed. She followed his gaze to the east and to the star-shaped light that had just burst through the grey clouds. ‘Arthur says that every winter.’
Jed smiled into her eyes. ‘So he does.’
‘When were you talking to him?’
‘Oh, you know, we have a chat every now and again. I pop in to see how Daisy’s getting on after her operation.’ He bent to acknowledge Trevor’s ecstatic welcome.
‘That was ages ago.’ Millie staggered as a great gust of icy wind whipped off the surf and caught her unexpectedly.
Jed gave Trevor’s ears a thorough rub and straightened. He shrugged, ‘I’ve become very fond of them both. Biddy too.’
‘Biddy?’
‘Yeah.’ He clapped his hands together to rid them of the sand from Trevor’s coat and put them back into his pockets. ‘Biddy’s had an amazing life. Dined with kings.’
Millie snorted. ‘So Biddy says.’ She pulled her pink woolly hat down over her frozen ears.
He gave her a keen look. ‘It’s not like you to be cynical.’
‘No? Well, maybe lately things have happened to change that.’
‘You’re organising their wedding, aren’t you? On the beach? I can’t think of a better place to get married.’ He came close and followed as Millie, too cold to stand still, began to walk back to the promenade.
‘Well, they’ll have to get married properly in a register office as well. I can’t do the legal bit at the café.’
‘Oh,’ Jed said. ‘That’s interesting. I hadn’t realised.’
‘Yes, it’s not legally binding unless – ,’ she stopped and shook her head. ‘Why am I standing on the beach at eight in the morning discussing Biddy and Arthur’s wedding plans with someone I told to stay away from me?’
‘Maybe it’s my inherent charm?’ Jed tried a winning smile but his teeth were chattering too much from the cold.
‘Maybe it’s your middle-class over-confidence?’ Millie retorted.
He winced. Putting out a hand to stop her as she tried to go, he added, ‘I’ve come to say goodbye.’
That checked her. She wheeled around. ‘Goodbye? Why, where are you going?’ She took two steps nearer. ‘Jed, are you leaving Berecombe?’
‘Only temporarily. Hopefully. I’ve got to go on another buying trip.’ He bit his lip. ‘It might get a bit hairy.’
‘What? A coffee buying trip? For Blue Elephant?’ Millie didn’t bother to hide her disdain. ‘The only hairy thing that might happen is you having to put up with economy instead of business class.’ She tried to go. ‘Take your hand off me, Jed. I thought I’d made myself clear, I don’t want anything more to do with you.’
‘I just wanted to see you to say goodbye, Mil. Just in case – .’
‘What? That you have a hissy fit and get thrown off the plane because they’ve run out of champagne?’ She turned again and stomped, as best she could, through the soft sand, whistling to Trevor to follow.
The dog stayed at Jed’s knees and whimpered, staring up with troubled eyes. Jed blew out a breath. ‘Tell your mistress I just wanted to say goodbye in case, well, in case something happens. Will you do that, Trev?’ He bent to caress the dog one last time. ‘Oh and tell her I love her, won’t you?’
Trevor’s only response was a short bark and then he scampered after Millie.
‘I really love you, Millie,’ Jed added, forlornly, as they disappeared. ‘That’s all I wanted to say.’
Chapter 17
Eleri found Zoe in the shelter along the prom a few days later. The girl was huddled up in a parka, her nose hidden by a multi-coloured scarf and she was staring at her phone.
‘Hey Zoe. We haven’t seen you in the café recently.’ She sat down next to her. ‘It’s freezing out here, girl. Why don’t you come to the café for a hot chocolate? We’ve got some old-fashioned jam roly-poly on the go too. It’s lush with Millie’s homemade custard.’
Zoe huffed and buried herself deeper into her scarf. ‘I don’t think I’d be welcome. What with me
and my two boyfriends.’
‘Now then, don’t take on so. You know Millie’s unhappy. She’s really sorry she snapped at you.’
‘She could apologise herself.’
‘Yeah, she could. She’s been a bit preoccupied, though.’
Zoe shuffled a bit, but Eleri could sense her softening.
‘What’s happened?’
‘Jed’s had to go back to South America and Millie worries about him being over there.’
‘Thought they’d had a bust-up?’
‘Ah come on, Zoe. You know that just because you split with someone, doesn’t mean you stop caring about them.’
‘No. Suppose.’ Zoe stared gloomily at an elderly couple walking their terrier along the prom. Even though it wore a cheery red jacket, the poor thing looked frozen. She said as much to Eleri.
‘Maybe it needs somewhere to warm up? If only this town had, oh I don’t know, a dog-friendly café doing really great organic food and specially made dog biscuits …’
‘Come off it, Eleri.’
Eleri chuckled. ‘I will if you come and talk to Millie. She wants to see you. Tell you what – the café’s missing a Christmas tree. If you come and get one with me, the hot chocolate’s on the house. Oh and it’s Ri to my friends.’
Zoe’s mouth emerged from her scarf. ‘Can I decorate it?’
‘With the work me and Mil have on, you’ll have to. And we’ve got all these Christmas cards to go up somewhere.’ Eleri sighed dramatically. ‘Just haven’t had a chance to do anything Christmassy at all. Needs an expert touch, mind.’
‘Oh, I’m really good at that sort of thing.’ Zoe sat up. ‘I did the lights last year.’
Eleri stood up. She reached out a hand. ‘We’d better go and get this tree, then, cariad.’
As they walked along the prom, heads down against the wind, Zoe tucked her arm into Eleri’s and pulled her closer for warmth. ‘Ri,’ she asked. ‘Is it true what they say? Are you really a mermaid?’
Eleri’s giggle skittered into the air and drifted up into the silvered sky.
