A Home In Sunset Bay

by Rebecca Pugh

  ‘So …’ Laurie replied. She licked her lips before continuing. ‘I can’t believe I’m nervous. You’re my little sister, for goodness’ sake.’ She laughed at herself and shook her head. ‘I’m being silly really. I know, out of everyone, you’re the one person who won’t judge me.’ She raised her eyebrows questioningly at Mia, waiting for confirmation it seemed.

  Judge her? Mia swallowed. What on earth had she done? Immediately, a million outrageous scenarios began to race through her mind. ‘No, of course I wouldn’t.’

  ‘Okay. Well, that’s good to know.’ Laurie looked away for a moment but just as quickly turned back. ‘I took a six-month sabbatical from work.’ She blurted the words out in a splash of momentary courage.

  Mia blinked. Out of all the things she’d been expecting to hear, that certainly hadn’t been one of them. ‘Oh.’ She frowned.

  Laurie laughed. ‘Weird, huh?’

  Mia shrugged. ‘Not really.’

  ‘I had to do it. I had no choice.’

  Mia waited to see if Laurie would continue. Thankfully she did. ‘I needed a break.’ Her shoulders rose and fell quickly in a shrug. ‘And you know Neil?’

  Mia nodded. The last she’d heard about Neil was that he was endlessly lovely and everything their mother could have wished for in a partner for Laurie. Marnie had painted a perfect picture of the man, but apparently he wasn’t so perfect after all. She motioned for Laurie to continue.

  ‘I found him in bed with another woman.’

  Unsure of how to react to that piece of news, Mia stayed silent as she tried to form a sentence. She tried to figure out what was going on in Laurie’s head but was unsuccessful in doing so. Laurie’s face remained impassive but her eyes told a different story. ‘Sorry, Laurie. That’s bloody awful. Has he been in touch? Has he tried to contact you at all?’

  Laurie shrugged carelessly. ‘What can I do? It’s already happened so I can’t change anything now, can I? I just have to move on. Get over it.’ She turned and stared out towards the end of the pier and sea beyond, stretching out into the distance. ‘He was texting constantly at first, but they’ve dwindled now. As much as he kicked up a fuss, I really don’t think he was that concerned he’d hurt me. But, onwards and upwards. I don’t want to hear from him, so it’s definitely for the best. I hope he lives a very miserable life.’

  Mia stared at her big sister, who looked like she’d lived a thousand years and hated every single second of them. She tried to summon up the right words, words to comfort and soothe, but after being apart for so long she found it difficult to know the right thing to say. ‘And that’s why you’re here?’ she ventured after a while. ‘Does Mum know about this?’

  ‘No.’ Laurie’s body tensed. ‘And I’d rather she didn’t know just yet, just in case she calls you and starts asking questions. I’d like to keep it between us if that’s okay with you? I just … I just can’t face how I know she’ll react. She’s going to go mental, Mia.’ Laurie snorted out a laugh then placed her head into her hands and groaned. ‘Bloody hell. What have I done?’

  Mia stared, horrified, as Laurie began to sniffle and, with shuddering shoulders, cried. ‘Hey, hey …’ she said, as she rose from the seat and went around the table to kneel by Laurie’s side. She had no idea how to deal with this. It was a situation she hadn’t seen coming, but she was going to try her best. No matter how much time they’d spent apart, she couldn’t bear to see her sister cry. It was physically painful to watch. ‘Don’t cry. I won’t say a thing to Mum, I swear to you.’ She bowed her head as the crying continued, rubbing her hand gently across Laurie’s back. ‘Listen. Come back to the cottage and I’ll make some dinner for us. It’s quieter there, and at least you can cry without an audience.’ She glanced across at the three small, wide-eyed children standing beside their mother in the queue, watching Laurie with undisguised fascination. She smiled at them then turned away. ‘Come on.’ She tugged Laurie out of the plastic chair and they left the pier.

  Back in Honeysuckle Cottage, Mia checked on the lasagne in the oven and ran a hand through her hair. She peered around the door frame at Laurie, who was sitting snuggled on the sofa beneath a blanket.

  She watched as Laurie sipped slowly from the mug of hot chocolate she’d made them both when they’d arrived earlier. Despite the sympathy for her sister Mia certainly felt, she couldn’t ignore the frustration at herself for inviting Laurie back to the cottage. She supposed it was in her sisterly nature to take care of her, especially in her time of need, but Mia had her own grievances, too. She’d allow them to eat first before she got her own issues into the open. She couldn’t believe during their time on the pier Laurie had completely sidestepped the main issue that had been sitting between them since Grandma Dolly’s death. Was she doing it on purpose, Mia wondered? Well, she’d find out soon enough. Back to the oven she went, willing the time to hurry along.

  Once the table was set, she served up two overgenerous heaps of steaming lasagne and placed them onto the table. She called through to Laurie to let her know it was ready and settled herself down on the closest chair. Laurie was there within seconds and dug in right away, her hunger taking Mia by surprise. Mia watched for a moment then began to tuck in to her own plateful, relishing the sauce and pasta mashing together in her mouth, wholesome and comforting.

  ‘I had no idea you could cook like this! It’s delicious.’ Laurie scooped up another mouthful and shovelled it into her mouth greedily, licking any lashings of sauce from around her lips before repeating the process. ‘I’m guessing Grandma Dolly taught you everything you know?’

  Mia nodded and finished her own mouthful before answering. ‘She did. We spent many a day here in this kitchen.’ She cast a fond eye around the small but warm room with the low ceiling. ‘Cakes. Bread. Homemade pasta. She taught me loads.’

  Laurie smiled. ‘That’s lovely. And thanks. For … Well, for this. And the hot chocolate. You didn’t have to do it, but I really appreciate it.’

  Mia felt herself stiffen. Although Laurie’s words were nice to hear, she couldn’t shake off the frustration. Laurie was avoiding the topic and it was getting on her nerves. She began to push her lasagne around her plate with her fork, suddenly not as hungry as she’d been minutes before. ‘Grandma Dolly was great, Laurie. Forgive me for saying this but,’ she shrugged, ‘you missed out on a lot, and that’s the truth.’

  She watched Laurie’s throat constrict. Her eyes glistened sadly. ‘I know I did,’ she admitted quietly. ‘I wish I’d spent more time here, too.’ Laurie glanced up hesitantly. ‘Mia, can I ask you something?’

  She nodded. ‘Go on.’

  ‘Well, you seem angry with me, but I’m not sure why. I mean, what have I done wrong? I know we grew apart and that is partly my fault. Work took over, the hours were crazy, but you stopped speaking to me, too. Am I missing something here?’

  Mia let out a harsh breath of laughter. ‘Of course you haven’t done anything wrong, Laurie. You’ve never done anything wrong in your life. You’re perfect in every way.’ Her fork clattered against the plate as she dropped it. The dripping sarcasm had come through loud and clear in her snide comment. ‘What? Has it somehow slipped your mind? What you did to me?’

  ‘What on earth are you talking about?’ Laurie dropped her own fork and stared back at Mia in confusion. ‘What the hell have I done to you? Why would I be trying to fool you? I’ve told you why I’m here. I’ve left my job for six months, I’ve lost my partner to some red-head, I’ve told you everything. I haven’t tried to fool you with a single thing. Honestly Mia, you’re going to have to be a bit clearer here because I haven’t got a clue what you’re talking about.’

  Mia glared. ‘Oh, really?’ she spat back, emphasising her words by slapping her hands against the surface of the table. Laurie jumped at the sudden noise. ‘You haven’t got a clue, huh? No idea whatsoever? Do I need to jog your memory, Laurie?’ She was yelling now.

  ‘Yes!’ Laurie shouted back with just as much
rage, also smacking the table with her hands. It was childish but she was getting frustrated with Mia’s vague accusations. ‘Tell me what it is that I’m supposed to have bloody done to you!’

  Nostrils flaring, her temper rocketing through the roof, Mia forced her chair back and pointed a finger Laurie’s way. ‘You are a liar, Laurie Chapman! You know exactly what I’m talking about, so stop pretending!’

  Again, Laurie copied Mia’s movements and pushed her own chair back, its legs screeching against the tiles. ‘I am not pretending,’ she hissed. ‘Will you please stop this? You’re acting like a child and I don’t have the strength to deal with it. Plus, this lasagne is really bloody nice and I’m starving!’

  Mia glanced down at Laurie’s plate, then back up. ‘Why can’t you just admit it, Laurie? Why do you have to pretend and play games? You’re the one who’s being childish, running off from your problems. Again. You can never stand and face anything can you? At least I stay and deal with things, unlike you. I’m more of an adult than you’ll ever be, and I’m supposed to be the little sister!’

  Laurie rubbed at her temples. ‘Seriously, Mia. What are you talking about? You’re making no sense! Running off from my problems again? What do you mean? When I have ever run off before now?’

  Mia let out a scream of frustration and threw her hands into the air as she hurried away from the table and into the centre of the kitchen. She spun back round. She wasn’t finished yet. ‘Have a good, hard, long think, Laurie. Anything ring a bell? Anything at all?’

  Mia watched as Laurie’s face screwed up with concentration. A few moments of silence passed until her head shook from side to side. ‘No. I can’t think of anything. Will you just tell me? Please?’

  Mia chewed the inside of her cheek before she took a deep breath. ‘The diner?’ she shouted. ‘Grandma Dolly’s Diner? The will?’ Mia wasn’t sure what it was but the fact that Laurie was doing such a good job of pretending she didn’t know was beginning to unnerve her. ‘Well?’ She tried to remain angry, but something was wrong. She could tell.

  Laurie’s head shook again. ‘Nope. No idea what you’re talking about, Mia.’

  Mia pursed her lips. ‘You’re obviously lying.’

  Laurie rolled her eyes. ‘Mia, I swear to you, one hundred per cent that I don’t know what you’re talking about. I am genuinely flummoxed. And what are you talking about the diner for? That has nothing to do with it.’

  Pacing the kitchen, Laurie’s words brought Mia to a halt. ‘What do you mean? Of course it does. It has everything to do with it.’

  Laurie shrugged. ‘How, exactly, does the diner have anything to do with this?’

  Mia laughed although it was empty of amusement. She took a good look at Laurie who, she had to admit, looked completely confused and not at all on the same page as Mia. ‘You’re kidding?’ Her eyebrows rose as she took a step closer. ‘You don’t know?’ Her voice was quieter now, less full of rage and more disbelief.

  ‘Oh, my God! Know what? What am I supposed to know?’

  ‘The diner,’ she muttered. ‘You don’t know about the diner?’

  Slumping back into her seat, Laurie closed her eyes. ‘Again, what am I supposed to know about the diner?’

  Mia fell down onto her own seat and frowned before fixing Laurie with a look full of concern across the table. ‘Well … it’s half yours.’

  A deathly silence fell upon the kitchen as Mia’s words landed upon Laurie, who suddenly turned pale. They stared at each other, both still and steady, the raging and shouting from moments ago seeming to have happened in another lifetime. Silence surrounded them both.

  Mia swallowed. It sounded monstrously loud in the silent kitchen. She tried to gauge what Laurie was thinking but it was impossible. She wasn’t saying a word, wasn’t even blinking, but just staring at Mia with a strange expression on her face. She looked mortified. Confused.

  ‘You really didn’t know?’ Mia ventured after a while. One of them needed to say something and from the look on Laurie’s face, it wasn’t going to be her. She looked like she was about to fall off the chair. The plates of lasagne had long since gone cold between them so Mia picked them up and scraped the food into the bin with her foot on the pedal to hold open the lid. ‘But how? How didn’t you know?’ She turned and leant up against the counter, a deep frown furrowing her brows. ‘I don’t understand.’

  ‘Trust me, neither do I. No one mentioned anything at the funeral about a will. Mum said Grandma Dolly had left everything to you and that was that. She told me there was no point in going to the reading.’

  Mia could remember it clearly, how she’d been the only one there. She’d felt angry on Grandma Dolly’s behalf that no one else had bothered to turn up but what could she have done? Their mother had come up with some ridiculous excuse that she and their father wouldn’t be able to make it, what with the long drive down and work, and their mother had reasoned the same with Laurie, too, that she’d be too busy to make it. They’d all been there for the funeral, but of course nothing of the will had been mentioned then. It would have been rude to bring it up during such a sensitive occasion. Mia had been told of Grandma Dolly’s wishes in regards to the cottage and the diner during one of their chats in the cottage garden one evening, but Grandma hadn’t mentioned Laurie having anything to do with it at that point. Mia had only been made aware of Laurie inheriting the diner when she’d been sitting in the office listening to the will being read out. She’d been shocked to find out that Laurie had been included, but she’d called their mother immediately and told her to tell Laurie. Their mother had told her in turn that she’d let Laurie know and tell her to phone Mia back, but Laurie hadn’t called. So Mia, after months of waiting to hear, forgot about it. If Laurie wasn’t going to show any interest then so be it. She’d take on the diner by herself. After all, she’d been right there alongside Grandma Dolly and learnt from the person who did it best. She’d been ready to take it on before she’d even been aware that she’d be expected to do exactly that.

  ‘Mum has something to do with this.’ Laurie was up on her feet now, pacing the kitchen like a caged tiger and wringing her hands. ‘I just know it.’

  Mia rubbed her eyes tiredly. What a revelation. All that time, she’d thought Laurie had abandoned her and not cared, but the truth was, she’d never even known about the diner. It was crazy. She’d been tempted to mention it in the dwindling emails between them but had been too stubborn. She hadn’t wanted to beg Laurie to come and help her. She’d wanted her sister to make the decision for herself. Mia had thought that Laurie’s sidestepping of the subject, on the rare occasions they had spoken, had been intentional, but apparently Laurie hadn’t been sidestepping at all. She hadn’t even known. Mia shook her head to herself as Laurie continued to pace, chewing her bottom lip furiously.

  ‘Why didn’t she tell me?’ Laurie stopped suddenly and rushed up to Mia. ‘Why didn’t Mum mention anything? Are you certain she knew about it?’

  ‘Yes,’ Mia nodded firmly. ‘I told her myself, Laurie. On the phone. As soon as the reading was over. She told me she’d tell you. But …’ she shrugged. ‘Obviously she didn’t. I can’t believe that, for all of this time, you haven’t had a clue. It’s surreal.’

  Laurie closed her eyes. ‘You’re telling me.’ Then she opened them again. ‘But, why didn’t you tell me?’

  Mia blinked away. ‘I don’t know. I guess I was certain that you knew but just didn’t care. Mum ensured I knew about your big, important career and the crazy hours you worked. She basically told me you were too busy to have anything to do with the diner. That I was on my own with it.’

  ‘But that wasn’t her decision to make!’ Laurie yelled. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said seconds after, clearly trying to calm herself down. ‘I’m just … Urgh. I’m just so angry and confused. I don’t understand why she wouldn’t tell me, Mia. What’s wrong with her? Why wouldn’t she tell me something as monumental as this? I had a damn right to know!’

 
‘I have absolutely no idea.’ Mia returned to the chair and fell down onto it with a heavy sigh. She tapped her fingers on the table and thought long and hard, but it seemed she couldn’t think of a single reason as to why their mother would keep this information from Laurie. It was strange and she didn’t like it one bit.

  Chapter Ten

  The B&B Laurie was staying in wasn’t anything special, but the owner was a lovely, bubbly woman and Laurie, despite not wanting to make friends, was seriously warming to the woman.

  On the night she’d arrived, after being kicked out of the diner, she’d dragged her suitcase up the path and knocked timidly at the door. It had been late and she’d half-expected to be stranded in the darkness. After a few minutes had passed by, and a couple more knocks, Laurie had turned and begun heading back to her car. It had been hopeless really. But just as she reached the car, a voice had tugged her attention back towards the B&B.

  ‘Hi, lovey! Sorry, are you after a room?’ Debbie had bounced up and down on the doorstep, waving her hand in the air frantically. ‘We have space if that’s what you were after?’

  Laurie had turned, smiled and retraced her steps back up the path. ‘That’s great news, and exactly what I’m after. Thank you so much.’

  ‘Oh, don’t mention it.’ Debbie had ushered her inside and taken the suitcase from out of her hand. ‘Is it a double room or a single?’

  ‘Just a single will do. I’m a lone traveller.’ She’d laughed as she’d looked around herself and taken in the B&B. It wasn’t exactly the tidiest place she’d ever stepped foot in, with a mountain of children’s toys piled beneath the staircase, and a doll’s pram left halfway down the short hallway.

  ‘Ignore the mess if you can,’ Debbie had laughed, still holding onto the suitcase. ‘I’ll give you a quick tour and show you the room. How does that sound?’