The Eclair Affair

by Cressida McLaughlin

  ‘So you’re a bit of a nomad, are you?’ Charlie asked once she’d got to the end of her story.

  Oliver shrugged, his hands deep in his pockets. ‘Not really. I live in Bristol, which is a great base. There are lots of places I can get to easily, and Cornwall, Devon and Somerset have enough going on to keep me busy. Are you planning to travel with your bus, or stay in this area?’

  ‘I haven’t decided yet,’ Charlie admitted. ‘But I’m organizing a festival in Porthgolow. It’s a beautiful village, but it could – oh!’ Her eye snagged on a smart logo, pale purple writing on a slate-grey background. ‘Oh,’ she said again, and came to a halt.

  Ahead of her, next to a vendor selling Jacuzzis, was a sign that read The Crystal Waters Spa Hotel. Beyond it were three large pods made out of glass and wood, with cushioned benches running round the inside and circular tables in the middle, arranged with place settings for a beautiful alfresco dinner. She had seen something similar in her mum’s John Lewis catalogue. A few thousand pounds on a mini conservatory that you could place anywhere in your garden. She hadn’t noticed any at Crystal Waters, but she could see how they would fit perfectly with the surroundings.

  ‘You OK?’ Oliver asked.

  ‘Yes, fine.’ A man and woman were standing in front of the pods, wearing navy suits and crisp white shirts. She didn’t recognize either of them. After her initial surprise, her next emotion was disappointment.

  ‘Should we be heading back?’ Oliver pressed, touching her lightly on the arm.

  ‘Of course. Sorry, it’s just that Crystal Waters is in Porthgolow.’ She smiled at Oliver in an attempt to cover her strange reaction.

  She was about to turn away when Daniel appeared, shaking hands with the dark-suited man and woman. He was dressed casually, in a grey T-shirt, jeans and a battered leather jacket. Charlie had time to notice this before Marmite, perhaps encouraged by the familiar face, launched himself at the closest pod and the beautifully laid-out table within. Charlie froze, unable to think or move as her dog, his extendable lead whirring, set gleefully about his task, taking a matter of seconds to demolish the luxurious, and no doubt expensive, display.

  Chapter Two

  ‘Oh my God!’

  ‘What the hell?’

  ‘Whose dog is that?’

  The last exclamation, from the man in the navy suit, was surely unnecessary, Charlie thought as she raced forward and scooped Marmite into her arms, trying not to look at the pod’s now less-than-elegant display. Marmite licked her face, his tail wagging, as if he’d just achieved something magnificent. Navy Suit Woman stared at what was left of the dinner table, while the man, having found the answer to his question, strode towards her.

  Charlie shrank back, covering Marmite with her arms, but before the man could reach her, Daniel placed a hand on his chest and spoke to him in a low voice that didn’t carry. She scuttled back to Oliver’s side and saw that he was laughing silently, his hands over his mouth, his head bowed.

  ‘Not helping,’ she whispered, and had to bite down on her bottom lip so as not to be infected by his laughter.

  Navy Suit Man retreated, and Daniel approached her. His fingers were flexing at his sides and she wondered if that was some kind of calming technique, the same way Juliette had taught her how to take deep, even breaths that expanded her entire torso before reacting to a situation. She could do with a few deep breaths right now.

  ‘Daniel, I am so sorry,’ she said instead. ‘I’ll pay for any damages, of course.’ She prayed that they amounted to tablecloths and a couple of plates, and that Marmite hadn’t smashed any of the cut-glass crystal or the glass of the pod itself.

  Daniel looked from her to Marmite, then Oliver. He frowned. ‘I know you’re determined, but I hadn’t expected sabotage. I can see I’m going to have to be on my guard from now on.’

  ‘Daniel, I honestly didn’t mean for that to happen.’

  His serious expression cracked into a grin.

  ‘Wait, you’re not—?’

  ‘We’re covered for accidents at these shows,’ he said. ‘It’s probably a good idea to have one pod empty anyway, so customers can imagine something that’s more to their style. Not everyone goes in for silver cutlery and Royal Doulton.’

  ‘Royal Doulton?’ Charlie murmured. ‘Shit.’

  ‘I know. Didn’t take that into consideration when you were planning to set your dog on me, did you? You should always budget properly for attacks of vandalism. You’re lucky I’m such a generous guy.’ He glanced at Oliver, his smile slipping, and held out his hand. ‘I’m Daniel Harper, owner of The Crystal Waters Spa Hotel.’

  ‘Ollie, The Marauding Mojito.’ Oliver shook his hand. ‘This all looks pretty swanky.’

  ‘It did, until Charlie came along.’ Daniel ruffled Marmite’s ears. ‘Are you and your dog always this accident prone?’

  ‘No,’ Charlie said quickly. ‘And just because my dog’s a tearaway, doesn’t mean I’m clumsy.’

  ‘The first time I met her, the bus had had a bit of an accident,’ Oliver said. ‘It was actually pretty spectacular, the way—’

  ‘We don’t need to get into that,’ Charlie said, grabbing his arm. ‘I’m sure Daniel doesn’t have time to stand here gossiping.’

  ‘I just came to see how Mark and Ali were doing. I left Jasper in the car because I thought he might cause trouble.’ He glanced behind him, where Ali was crouched inside the pod, retrieving bits of broken crockery. ‘Clearly a precaution I needn’t have taken.’

  ‘Maybe our dogs should get together for a doggy date.’ She didn’t know why she’d said it – maybe to distract him from what Oliver had said about Gertie’s accident. She couldn’t cope with the two of them ganging up on her.

  ‘Doggy date?’ Daniel laughed, and Charlie felt her cheeks burn.

  ‘God, is that the time?’ she said. ‘I’ve left Juliette and Lawrence for far too long. Nice to see you, Daniel, sorry again about Marmite. Your pods are beautiful, by the way. I didn’t see them in the garden that time.’

  ‘They’re new,’ Daniel said. ‘Been installed a week.’

  ‘Great. Lovely. I’ll have to … drop in.’ She started to pull Oliver away.

  ‘I’m looking forward to your festival even more now,’ Daniel called, giving her a wave when she glanced behind her. She was unable to stop herself from waving back.

  ‘He’s in the village where you’re staying?’ Oliver asked, when they were out of sight of the Crystal Waters stand.

  ‘Yes, he is,’ Charlie said. ‘And he’s infuriating. He’s clearly only looking forward to my event because he thinks it’s going to be a disaster and he can watch me make a fool of myself.’

  Oliver’s brows knitted together. ‘Or because he wants to pay you back for destroying his beautifully laid-out display?’

  ‘Oh God, I hadn’t thought of that. Do you really think he’d act out some kind of retribution? He said he was insured!’

  Oliver shook his head. ‘I have no idea, but I’m glad that I’m going to be there.’

  ‘You are?’

  He gave her a warm smile. ‘If you’re having a festival in this idyllic seaside village, The Marauding Mojito needs to be a part of it. And you need to watch your back around that Daniel guy. There was something about him I didn’t trust.’

  ‘Are you really coming to my festival?’ Charlie asked.

  He nodded.

  She had her first official booking. It might actually happen: instead of her and her bus and an empty marquee that she’d forced Lawrence to promise to put up to make it look busy, she might actually have other food stalls there. One down, only about twenty more to go. ‘Thank you, Oliver,’ she said. ‘You won’t regret it, I promise.’

  She waved cheerily at Juliette as they approached the bus, and wondered what Oliver had seen in Daniel that made him wary. He was undoubtedly annoying, and he spoke his mind regardless of who it might offend. But untrustworthy? She didn’t know him well enough to determine that, so
how could Oliver pass judgement? And she couldn’t ignore the skip of happiness she’d felt when Daniel had said he was looking forward to her festival. He was coming, so she needed to try even harder to make it a success. She couldn’t look like an idiot in front of Daniel Harper twice.

  Charlie poured a generous measure of wine into her and Juliette’s glasses. ‘Here’s to a first successful fair for The Cornish Cream Tea Bus. Thank you so much for helping me today, you and Lawrence. I wouldn’t have managed a whole day by myself. Or, I would have, but—’

  ‘But you wouldn’t have been able to skive off with that delicious Oliver bloke.’ Juliette clinked her glass against Charlie’s.

  ‘Delicious?’ Charlie frowned. ‘He’s not unattractive, but …’

  ‘But?’

  ‘He seems too chirpy, somehow. As if he’s a cartoon character rather than a real person.’

  ‘Says Charlie Quilter, queen of Glass Half-Full. You don’t have the right to say that anyone’s too chirpy.’

  ‘Hey! I can be miserable. I was a mess after I found out about Stuart. And then, with Hal …’ She glanced out of the pub window, watching the waves, distorted by the warped glass.

  ‘But you make the best out of everything,’ Juliette said. ‘You’ve had some horrible stuff happen recently, but you’re not in your pyjamas watching Friends reruns, you’ve started up your own business. If you and Oliver got together you’d be a positive force to be reckoned with. If he asks you out for a drink, will you say yes?’

  Charlie nodded, absent-mindedly stroking Marmite, who was snuffling happily on the seat next to her. Oliver was good-looking, and kind – he’d sought her out twice, first to help and then to say hello. But maybe that was his nature, being friendly with other traders; one of those people who managed to build a community despite doing something transient. But she would like to see him again. He was good company – and now they had travelling food businesses in common.

  ‘I saw Daniel today,’ she said, deftly changing the subject, although her feelings about him were even less straightforward and, by the look on Juliette’s face, she wasn’t the only one. ‘He was promoting Crystal Waters, though I don’t think he was supposed to be there, he just popped in and … what is it about him, Jules? I get that he’s smug and overconfident, but that wouldn’t normally be enough for you to be so utterly opposed to someone.’

  ‘He’s selfish, and he’s shitty about everything.’

  ‘But is he really like that? What has he done, other than run a luxury hotel on the cliff and not spend a huge amount of time in the village? Marmite rushed in and destroyed a very expensive display, and he would have been well within his rights to be furious with me, or at the very least get me to pay for the damages, but he just teased me. That doesn’t fall under the banner of “shitty about everything”, so what has he done to you?’

  ‘It’s what he hasn’t done that’s the crime.’

  ‘What hasn’t he done, then? God, Jules, don’t be so exasperating!’

  ‘He didn’t use me for his marketing, OK?’ Juliette made a low growl in the back of her throat, shook her head and offered Charlie a weak smile. ‘Sorry, but it makes me so mad. Still. It was just after we’d moved here. I heard that he was going to rebrand everything, so I put myself forward. It was a huge contract, very well paid, and it was stuff I could really do well. I was excited about it. Coming up with a new logo, revamping their website. Daniel wanted a complete overhaul and we had this meeting, and I basically thought it was a done deal. And then, a week later, I got this terse, professional email saying that he’d gone with someone else, that he was very sorry but he wouldn’t be using me.’

  ‘Wow.’

  ‘Maybe I’m making more of it than I should be. But we had finalized everything, even the work schedule. I was waiting for him to sign the contract. It was mine, and then suddenly it wasn’t. I’d turned down a couple of other clients in order to take it on, and then I got this email. His apology was so formal, so cold, especially considering how friendly he’d been at our meeting.’

  ‘He never gave you a proper explanation?’

  Juliette shook her head. ‘And he’s been so … distant since then. He knows what he did was awful, but he won’t try and bridge the gap. And he lives here, but Myrtle never sees him in the shop and he doesn’t drink in here. Everything for his hotel comes from elsewhere. He could promote SeaKing Safaris, do some kind of deal with them for his guests, but he doesn’t. If Porthgolow isn’t good enough for him, then why is he running his hotel here? A place isn’t just its scenery, it’s all the people that make it.’

  ‘It is,’ Charlie murmured. Now that she’d heard Juliette’s explanation, she was puzzled. Daniel hadn’t given her an easy ride, but other than saying some hurtful things about Gertie before her transformation, he hadn’t been hostile. She wondered why he’d blown so hot and cold towards Juliette, especially when it was clear he valued his hotel and his reputation. It wasn’t her business, but Juliette was her friend, and she hated the thought of someone upsetting her. She would have to try and find out what was going on.

  The Newquay Surf Festival at the beginning of June turned out to be a hotbed of cream-tea lovers. At half past three, once the competition had ended for the day, Charlie’s bus was full of athletic men in wetsuits or tight-fitting T-shirts, a few in only swimming shorts and flip-flops. She would have to spend that evening vacuuming the sand out of the bus, but on this occasion it was worth it.

  ‘Top coffee,’ said a man with mirrored sunglasses perched over his dark hair. ‘Your bus going to be in Newquay often?’

  She resisted the urge to say ‘as often as you want’, and instead told him about Porthgolow. ‘I’m organizing a festival on the beach. There will be other food trucks, hopefully a party atmosphere.’

  ‘Awesome. What’s your Insta? You anything to do with the Porthgolow Hideaway account?’ He pulled his phone out of his pocket.

  ‘That’s definitely not me, though I’d love to know who’s running it.’ They swapped details, and Charlie resisted the urge to scroll down his grid to see just how many surfing selfies he put up there. Judging by the way all the surfers strutted about with their pecs out, she was fairly hopeful. Charlie waved as he left the bus, Marmite looking at her quizzically from his crate.

  ‘You wouldn’t understand, puppy,’ she said quietly, as two wetsuit-clad women came down the stairs to pay, their long hair still dripping.

  Her customers lingered, all laid-back now the competition was over, and it was after six when she drove Gertie back to Porthgolow.

  The sun was kissing the cliffs, and the glass of Crystal Waters shone like an oversized diamond. Charlie thought of Daniel and what Juliette had told her. She wanted to know why he’d dropped her friend so quickly, and with no real explanation. And there was something else that was drawing her to him, something that she hadn’t felt for a long time, not since her relationship with Stuart had been good. But it had been a while, and it was only normal to crave some intimacy. Trust her to have those feelings about the most irritating man she’d encountered in months.

  When she and Oliver had parted ways at St Agnes Head, she had told him she would be in touch about her – much smaller – festival. He was fun and friendly, so why couldn’t she conjure up the same level of interest for him as she could for Daniel? Maybe it wasn’t attraction, but an inner competitiveness that didn’t want to see Daniel get the better of her. Perhaps, once she’d outsmarted him, she’d stop thinking about him.

  As she hopped down from the bus, she saw Anton push open the door of the B&B, his head down, his dark suit smart, but somehow too severe for the sunshine. The door slammed, echoing in the quiet. Myrtle appeared in the doorway of the pop-in, and their eyes met.

  ‘Been at the bank, has Anton,’ Myrtle said, as Charlie crossed the road to greet her. She reasoned that any contact with the older woman, however frosty, was a step closer to getting her on side. ‘Bet they’ll be as tight as bleddy always.’<
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  ‘Stella and Anton aren’t doing well?’ Charlie asked, dropping her voice.

  ‘Got some fancy ideas about revamping the B&B, but it isn’t going to compete, is it?’ She gestured towards the cliff. ‘Not with pools and spas and eight-course menus.’

  ‘Not everyone can afford Crystal Waters,’ Charlie said. ‘Of course there’s room for them both in Porthgolow. I would have thought a cosy, affordable B&B would be busier than the spa, if I’m honest.’

  ‘Shows what you know,’ Myrtle said, giving her a wry smile. ‘Think your festival’s goin’ to fix it all? Perk this village up till it’s shiny and new as Daniel’s boots?’

  Charlie folded her arms. ‘It’s a start. And it’s more than anyone else seems to be doing.’

  ‘Don’t see the need for it meself. Do what you will, maid. I’m too old to stand in your way.’

  It wasn’t the most gracious acceptance Charlie had ever heard, but she was touched, nonetheless. ‘Thank you, Myrtle. I won’t let Porthgolow down, I promise.’

  Myrtle’s benevolent expression evaporated, but Charlie couldn’t resist hugging her.

  ‘Get off,’ she muttered, squirming in Charlie’s embrace. ‘Idiot cheel.’

  Charlie released her, ‘Goodbye, Myrtle, see you later!’

  ‘Make sure you warn ’em all ’bout Crumblin’ Cliff, up above Reenie’s place,’ the old woman called after her. ‘You fill Porthgolow with cars, it’s an accident waitin’ to happen.’

  Charlie waved to let Myrtle know she’d heard, and then went back to Juliette’s to get the dust-buster and rid her bus of the surfers’ sand.