Secret Evenings in Pretty Beach

by Polly Babbington

  Lottie chewed on the side of her finger. ‘Yep, I can certainly fit you in, anytime.’

  Lottie, Sallie, and Dimitri sat around drinking and chatting about living in Strawberry Hill Lane and discussed further the home restaurant idea. Sallie sat forward and put her chin on her hand.

  ‘You could start the pop-up at the Boat House if you like... just throwing ideas out there. Its occupancy rate is great but it’s sometimes free on a Friday - that would mean you could try it out somewhere else away from your home.’

  ‘That’s very kind of you, but I won't be able to afford to pay for anywhere. Which is why we were talking about the outbuildings.’

  ‘Oh, I wouldn’t want money! I’d be doing the Pretty Beach way. The offer is there if you want to have a think about it. You could give it a go there, cut your teeth on it so to speak.’

  ‘So kind of you Sallie, thank you. It’s definitely a thought and a very kind offer.’

  ‘It’s tiny in there but you’d get five tables of two probably,’ Sallie replied.

  Dimitri was smiling and Sallie continued, ‘At, what, sixty pounds a head that would be a nice little bit of income, would it not?’

  ‘You are not wrong, Sallie,’ Lottie said calculating it all in her head and smiling.

  Dimitri raised his eyebrows and nodded his head enthusiastically up and down and poured a little bit more of his Greek brandy into his tea.

  ‘Ladies. I think we have a winner. It would be perfect,’ Dimitri said.

  Sallie nodded and got up from her chair. ‘Right, I have to get going. I’m meeting one of Ben’s friends at the house. He’s going to have a look at the steps out the back and advise us whether we’re going to need to get an engineer in.’

  ‘Sounds serious!’ Lottie replied.

  ‘I don’t think so. My way of thinking is that the house has been there long enough, right? But I want to get it checked out before we start and while we don’t live there.’

  ‘So what, you’ve got an engineer coming over?’

  ‘Not as such. Ben’s friend Connor Bally - he used to be an engineer. We couldn’t get anyone else for weeks so he’s just going to have a look for us. See if there’s anything really bad with that huge crack in the steps.’

  ‘Right, I see. Yes, good to get it looked at before you do any more work,’ Lottie agreed.

  ‘Oh, and by the way, I nearly forgot! We’re having a little gathering at the house and we’d love you two to come. Not a housewarming as such because it will be months and months before we move in at the rate we’re going, but we wanted to celebrate the purchase. Just a few friends and I was going to pop some invites into the neighbours,’ Sallie said as she got up to leave.

  ‘Lovely. Sounds marvellous. It’s such a wonderful little street. Luckily all the neighbours are nice,’ Lottie replied.

  ‘Yes, I’ve heard that. I’ll get the invite to you when we’ve set the date.’

  Lottie put their cups in the sink. ‘I’ll walk out with you,’ she said, and led Sallie through the hallway, out the front door, and along the path to the gate.

  They walked along the pavement chatting about Sallie’s plans for Strawberry Hill House and when they arrived a few doors down at the house they saw a tall, dark-haired man leaning on the railings. Sallie quickened her steps and approached him, ‘Sorry, I’m not late, am I?’

  The man straightened himself up, revealing his full height and looked at Sallie and Lottie with piercing blue eyes. ‘Not at all. I was early. I saw the car and wondered where you were, though,’ the man said smiling.

  Sallie kissed him on the cheek and then stood back. ‘Connor Bally, this is my new neighbour, Lottie. Lottie Cloudberry. She lives at the house up there at the end,’ Sallie said pointing up the hill.

  Connor Bally held out his hand and Lottie Cloudberry took a quick breath in and steadied herself as she looked up at Connor and the piercing blue eyes.

  Chapter 5

  Lottie said goodbye to Sallie, turned around, and walked back up Strawberry Hill towards her house with her heart racing. What on earth had just happened? She hadn’t felt anything like it for years. If ever.

  Since her husband Charlie had passed away from a heart attack years before, there had been one measly date with a friend of one of the mums at school and that hadn’t ended at all well. She’d gone to a restaurant in Seafolly with the guy and regretted it from the moment she’d sat down. He’d gone on and on about how much he loved going to the gym and lived life for his two-week holiday to Marbella every year. There had even been mention of a tanning bed to keep his tan topped up and his Spanish looks to the fore. Lottie had thought to herself that she didn’t know what was worse - a man who worried whether or not his looks were Spanish or someone who loved going to Marbella.

  There had also been one brief fling with a friend of Dimitri’s sister who had come down to Pretty Beach for Christmas one year and ended up getting a job at the new hospital in Newport Reef. The fling had been quite nice, lovely in fact. He’d been sweet and kind, but he’d wanted to get serious pretty quickly and Lottie had promptly bailed. She had not been interested in anything more really than going on dates every now and then, and a man wanting to get serious had not been on the cards for her.

  As Lottie walked up to her house and heaved open the old door, her mind wandered to relationships. There’d been no one apart from those two men in ten years and she hadn’t been intimate with anyone at all in all that time. The more that time had gone on, the more she had actually started to think that there was something wrong with her.

  In the early years after Charlie, she’d supposed that it had been normal not to want to be in a relationship and was part of the grieving process. But as the years passed and various people had floated in and out of her life, she had begun to accept that she would never be in a partnership, and would never be part of anyone else ever again.

  Lottie had accepted her singledom matter-of-factly and had got on with it in the knowledge that she would be on her own for the rest of her life quite happily. She’d come to the conclusion that she was content in her tiny little life on Strawberry Hill Lane with her three boys, her step-dad, and her tight little circle of friends. She’d come to accept that a love life was something that would never be on her radar ever again. Until now.

  Lottie walked through the hallway and opened the door to the kitchen and stood by the Aga and rubbed her fingers across her top lip deep in thought.

  Dimitri looked up from his phone. ‘Goodness, are you okay?’ Dimitri asked in Greek.

  Lottie was staring out the kitchen window, lost in thought, thinking about Charlie and the last ten years. Dimitri got up from the table, walked over towards the Aga and touched Lottie on the arm.

  ‘Lottie, what’s happened? Are you okay? You look like you’ve had a shock. You’re ghostly white,’ Dimitri said.

  Lottie shook her head. ‘Oh yes, what? Sorry. I just suddenly started thinking about Charlie and, you know, the last ten years and everything that’s happened. It came on just like that as I walked up the hill. I haven’t thought about it all for a while and then bam, there it was right in the centre of my forehead.’

  ‘I thought as much. Sit yourself down, I’ll make you another cup of tea. You look terrible.’

  ‘No, I’m fine. I don’t feel terrible. I feel okay. I’ll go and get on with the garden. I need to get the greenhouses ready and I’ll go and have a look at the outbuildings for this idea. I need to clear my head.’

  ‘What brought all that on then? Did Sallie say something that triggered you thinking about it? Thinking about Charlie?’

  ‘No, not at all. I don’t know. I guess it just came out of nowhere.’

  But Lottie Cloudberry knew exactly what had happened. When she had looked up into the eyes of Connor Bally the gate that had been kept tightly shut on her heart for a very long time had opened up a smidgeon and let in some light.

  Chapter 6

  Lottie slipped on her navy-blue floral
gardening clogs, opened the door to the boot room off the kitchen, pulled her waxed jacket from the rows of coat hooks laden with all her wet weather gear, and yanked open the back door. She peered out at the grey skies, opened up her umbrella, and stepped out onto the back porch.

  Carefully stepping over the puddles she made her way down through the garden, past the beds she kept for wildflowers and poppies in the summer, and continued through the archway laden with climbing rosebushes. She made her way past the three huge old greenhouses on the left which were all tidy and lined with her masses of seedlings, plants, cuttings, and gardening gear.

  She carried on down the flagstone path, past the long rows of the vegetable patch, through the herb garden at the end, and to the fruit trees which Dimitri liked to refer to as the orchard. He was probably right; there were a good few apple, pear and plum trees there, and she thanked her lucky stars that the owners before had planted cherries all along the right-hand side to add to the abundance of soft fruit that flourished in the summer.

  Lottie walked down past the glistening cherry trees following the path to the end of the garden. An old timber garage with huge double doors nestled into the right-hand corner opened out onto the lane at the back, and on the left, the old outbuildings which she’d assumed had been used back in the day for storage, coal and the like, were lined up together on the left.

  The whole of the facing wall of the first building was covered in a woody wisteria plant and an overhanging willow tree touched the roof with its branches. That would be the first problem with having the home restaurant out here; the tree would need to be cut and trimmed to add more light.

  Lottie put her umbrella down, leant it up against the side of the wall, and pulled down the handle on the door of the first building. She hadn’t even entered any of the buildings for years and couldn’t remember whether they were locked or not.

  Lottie felt the lock turn as she pressed down, the hinges creaked and whined as she pulled the door open, the wind blew and a smattering of raindrops fell down onto her head from the tree branches above.

  She walked into the vast old building with the high roof and flagstone floor and sighed. Dimitri was right in some ways, it did definitely have potential, but he must have forgotten what a bad state it was in.

  Dimitri had also forgotten that he wasn’t quite as sprightly these days and wasn’t able to do as much as he once had. To get the place ready to host guests would be a huge amount of work - and far too much for Dimitri and Lottie to do themselves.

  The old, once-white brick walls now wore years of dirt and dust. The timber struts of the ceiling were in a state of disrepair and weeds grew up between the fence outside, and the windows along the left filling the place with an impending sense of doom and gloom. Lottie stood right in the centre of the room and tried to imagine the place filled with people. People sitting there who had paid a lot of money for dinner. She shook her head. No, they wouldn’t want to sit here in this. Surely not?

  But as Lottie looked around and decided to forget the whole idea she calculated again twenty people at sixty-five pounds a head. Even taking into consideration revenue versus profit she knew that from the food side of it she could make it work. It was just the venue side of it where, at the moment, she had come unstuck, but that could be solved.

  The income would be a lot more than working a crappy part-time job she hated and having to potentially sit strapped to a chair for an hour of power to fulfil the business degree of a twenty-something who didn’t have a clue how to behave in the real world. Lottie shuddered at the thought as she looked up at the ceiling and decided that she never again wanted some rubbish little part-time job in her life.

  Lottie stood there and examined the large room and wondered if the electricity even worked. She walked over to the old-fashioned light switch and flicked it down. Nothing. Dimitri was correct on that then, it didn’t work. She then crossed the room, opened a side door to another smaller narrower room with some old units and an old tin sink with two taps coming directly out of the wall. She turned the tap on the left, assuming it was the hot one, and nothing happened. She turned the one on the right, the plumbing screeched, it sounded as if something might burst, and eventually, a tiny brown trickle came out landing in the dusty old sink. She sighed and turned it off again. So there was another job there too.

  She stood back and looked at it all. On top of the utilities, the whole thing would need to be spruced up and painted. The electricity would need to be fixed. There would probably need to be some form of heating. She’d need a fridge, a cooker, and a dishwasher at the very least and it would need a new toilet and sink. She shook her head. Back to square one. There was no way she wanted the outlay of all that before she knew whether or not a home restaurant would be a success.

  Walking back out of the old building, Lottie pulled the door shut behind her and her mind wandered back to what Sallie had said earlier about using the Boat House cottage. That could be an option if she was going to try and give this new business idea a go.

  And then she thought about what had happened when she’d walked down the hill to Sallie’s house and bumped into Connor Bally, and her mind moved further on to how she could manage to get an introduction to him again.

  Chapter 7

  A week or so later, Lottie opened the job seeker app on her phone, hit search, and scrolled all the way down. Nothing apart from a waitress job in Newport Reef at the Yacht Club, and a housekeeping job at Seashells Cottages on the other side of Pretty Beach. No doubt that was old Suntanned Pete getting his staff up and running for the upcoming season. She’d known Pete for years and she was sure he’d give her a job in a split second if she asked him to, but she didn’t want to be changing beds and cleaning toilets if she could do something else - she’d done enough cleaning up and looking after her three boys over the years.

  Lottie walked over to the Aga, leant up against it, the warmth spreading through her jeans, and gazed out the window when her text pinged. She opened her phone to a text from her new soon-to-be neighbour Sallie.

  Hi Lottie.

  I hope you don’t think I’m being pushy, but I have a couple staying in the Boat House for a four-day stay the week after next and I’d love it if I can use you for the dinner/menu.

  I usually give them a choice of only two - curry or casserole or similar, then add a side. It’s really simple.

  Let me know if you would be able to fit me in with your regular meal deliveries. If not, I’m going to pull out and tell the couple I won’t be able to offer it this time as I’m so busy.

  Thx. Sallie x

  Lottie read through the text and started to type back.

  No drama. I’d love to help you out. On the menu for that week is Thai curry, cod and chorizo cottage pie, cheese stuffed mushrooms, or lasagne, all with homemade bread and vegetables.

  Lottie watched the little blue dots flashing and waited for Sallie’s reply.

  You’re an angel, thank you so much. I’ll email the couple and then shall I text you?

  You can put it through via my website if it’s easier.

  Didn't know you had one.

  Trust me, it’s basic but you can order through it etc.

  Rightio. Send me the address and I’ll pass it on and they can order via there.

  Will do.

  Also. I have a funny odd available spot in the Boat House cottage for a Saturday night in a few weeks’ time. I’ll need to check the exact date. I’ve a week-long booking but they’re leaving on the Friday now to go to the airport... meaning the cottage is free for the Saturday night. Just saying if you wanted it for the pop-up we talked about. The offer is there if you’d like.

  I might have a think about it. Thank you so much.

  You’re welcome Just let me know.

  Lottie put her phone on the table and leant back against the Aga. It was like someone was telling her to do the home restaurant thing. How many times would she get the opportunity to use one of the most iconic locations in
Pretty Beach to launch a business? Maybe she would give this whole crazy idea a go.

  Chapter 8

  Lottie walked into her living room and looked up at the beautiful gilt-edged mirror over the impressive antique white fireplace. What did she really have to lose by starting a pop-up restaurant? It really was no different to the many other occasions she’d cooked umpteen times before. Even if she only did it once at least she would know that she’d given it a go.

  Lottie had always cooked and loved entertaining and could remember the first time she’d watched fairy cakes baking in a cooking lesson in school. She’d been astonished at what had taken place in front of her eyes when the mix had gone into the oven. Magical things had happened with flour and sugar and eggs and she’d been messing around with recipes and food ever since.

  Lottie Cloudberry had cooked and baked her way through her teens, the mixing and chopping and stirring gently nudging her through life. It had seen her through sad times, happy times and all sorts of occasions she hadn’t expected. When other people downed a bottle of wine or cried down the phone to their friends, Lottie had found cathartic therapy by standing in a kitchen fussing around with food.

  She’d cooked for her friends when she was young and then all of a sudden, when she was barely out of her teens, she’d met Charlie and after a whirlwind romance, moving into the huge house on Strawberry Hill, and supposedly living happily ever after, she’d also cooked her way across her twenties. She’d cooked and baked her way through little babies and toddlers, through grief and death, and everything else in between.

  Lottie had hosted dinner parties for twenty as if it was something she did every day and could quite possibly do it with her eyes shut. She’d catered a Christmas dinner for eighteen for a friend one year, for twenty-six on another, and cooked from scratch an Italian night for thirty to raise funds for the school. But charge people and make it all more real? Make it into a bonafide business? Would she really be able to pull that off?