Page 5 of Just the Beginning

Resisting the urge to lean back, Rick held his body still. ‘Have you tried speaking to them about it?’ Gavin had always been a bit of a fusspot, but he seemed to take offence at everything these days. He was a regular feature at the Monday morning outreach sessions Rick ran here at the community hub. The notebook resting at Rick’s elbow was testament to the man’s endless list of complaints, from kids hanging around on the benches outside his coffee shop, to a delivery van for the clothing store next door over-running the loading zone restrictions by five minutes one morning. Rick wondered sometimes how Gavin got any work done, because his face must be pressed up against the window 90 per cent of the time.

The Hub was one of Rick’s proudest achievements and he’d been over the moon when Issy had agreed to host it at The CosyCoffee Pot. He was sure it rankled Gavin that his direct rival had been chosen for the Hub, but it made sense to concentrate their limited resources under one roof, especially when Issy had already been doing the hard work. From weekly coffee mornings for new parents to her incredibly popular OAPs Friday lunch bargain, wherever she saw a gap in the community, Issy had done her best to fill it. With the support of the entire council, Rick had applied for a development grant from a government renewal scheme and they’d extended the Coffee Pot into a vacant premises next door to create the Hub.

‘You think they don’t know what they’re doing? They don’t care if their rubbish bags split open because Muggins here will clean it up!’ Gavin jabbed a thumb into his own chest.

Rick could appreciate the man’s frustration. The whole village had a seagull problem and the council had spent a considerable portion of their limited budget on installing spikes and other deterrent measures where they could. Not always easy when there was a balance to be struck with preserving the traditional look of the buildings that so appealed to visitors to the area. ‘What exactly do you want me to do about it, Gavin?’

‘Issue them with better bags instead of that cheap, thin rubbish!’

Rick clenched his jaw for a moment but managed to keep his voice even. ‘We changed the bags to be biodegradable because that’s what everyone wanted, remember?’ Gavin had been the one behind the bloody petition because Java Brava, the international coffee chain he was the local franchisee for, had been on a green kick after customers had put pressure on them to improve their environmental credentials.

Gavin scowled. ‘Well, that’s because we expected you to do the right thing, but you’ve done it on the cheap, just like you do everything else around here.’

Rick left that bait well alone. ‘I’ll send an email to the business mailing list reminding people not to put their rubbish out too early and I’ll arrange for the summer wardens to do an extra patrol to make sure everyone is complying.’ Reaching for his notebook, Rick opened it and wrote down a reminder on his to-do list. When he’d finished, he capped his pen and set it down then made himself smile at the still-glaring man opposite. ‘Is that everything for today?’

Gavin shoved his chair back with a snort. ‘I don’t know why I keep wasting my time, because it’s not like you ever do anything useful, unless it’s for one of your friends, of course.’ He cast a significant look around the room they were in, his upper lip curled in a sneer of disgust that took in Issy, who was standing behind the counter, sharing a joke with her grandmother.

Determined to ignore the provocation, Rick stayed in his seat and held a neutral smile as Gavin rose. ‘I’ll make sure that email goes out today,’ he said, but received only a brief glare before Gavin’s attention was drawn elsewhere.

‘Katrina! Come on, I need you back at the shop.’

Rick half-turned to see Gavin’s daughter clutching a book to her chest, a deer-in-the-headlights expression widening her dark eyes.

‘But it’s my morning for volunteering here, Dad.’

One of the advantages of building the Hub was that they’d been able to create a small library. The grant had covered enough to provide a starter stock, which they supplemented with donations and fund-raising events, but there hadn’t been enough to cover a salary. Issy had put her skills to work and recruited a team of volunteers to help her keep it running, including Kat, who was one of her closest friends.

Abandoning the café counter, Issy approached her friendand took the book from her hands with a smile. ‘It’s fine, Kat. I can keep an eye on things here if your dad needs you.’

The small brunette cast a glance over to where her father was waiting, one hand holding the door open, his brows drawn down in an impatient glower. Rick didn’t miss the brief hesitation, as though Kat considered standing her ground, but it was gone in a flash. Surrendering any thoughts of defiance, she bent down to gather her bag and cardigan. It was warm enough for most people to be in T-shirts or summer dresses, but Kat enveloped her small frame in the long woollen garment. ‘I’ll see you on Friday,’ she promised Issy before hurrying towards the door. She hadn’t reached it before Gavin released it and walked out, forcing her to make a grab for it before it shut in her face.

Clutching the saucer of a large cappuccino in two hands, Maud, Issy’s eccentric, flamboyant grandmother, teetered across from the counter and took the seat opposite Rick. Her short, bobbed hair had been dyed a fetching shade of candy-floss pink that matched her sequin-covered T-shirt and cropped trousers. No one was ever going to miss Maud in a crowd, that was for sure. ‘Well then,’ she said, nodding behind her towards the door. ‘What’s he got his knickers in a twist about today?’

Rick bit the inside of his cheek to ward off a grin. ‘Come on now, Maud, be nice.’

Maud snorted. ‘I’ve wiped and powdered your backside more than once, Frederick Penrose, so don’t come the high-handed Mr Councilman with me.’

The problem with growing up in a close community like Halfmoon Quay was everybody knew everything about each other. Deciding to fight fire with fire, Rick picked up his pen and tapped it idly on the cover of his notebook. ‘So tell me, Maud, did you come over here just to remind me you’re the same age as my granny, or did you have an issue that you wanted to raise?’

‘Cheeky boy.’ Maud’s smile told him she had taken no insult. ‘I want you to have a word with your uncle Davy. He’s driving me to distraction with all his stupid rules.’

Rick sighed. Davy was actually his great-uncle, but he didn’t think now was the time to give Maud another reminder of her age. He ran a hotel on Harbour Parade and accommodated a handful of full-time residents as well as regular holidaymakers. Privately, Rick thought it was all getting a bit much for Davy and he knew both his father, Jago, and his uncle Ryan had told him as much, but Davy wouldn’t be a Penrose if he didn’t have a stubborn streak. All he would say on the matter was that things were in hand and there was nothing to worry about. Still, whatever his private misgivings, Rick wouldn’t be a Penrose either if he didn’t back another member of his family to the hilt. ‘Is this about the cats again?’

The way Maud bristled, Rick knew he’d hit the nail on the head. ‘I can’t stop them coming in my window now, can I?’

‘But you could stop encouraging them by putting food out,’ Rick pointed out, not at all unreasonably to his way of thinking.

‘And let them starve?’ Maud placed a hand over her heart, her voice rising to an almost theatrical tone of outrage.

And this was why he should mind his own business sometimes. Thankfully, Rick was saved by the appearance of Issy at her grandmother’s back. ‘Nan, you do realise you jumped the queue, don’t you?’

Rick glanced over to where a couple of other residents were sitting on the comfortable chairs in the Hub and raised a hand in apology before turning back to Maud. ‘You know I can’t get in the middle of this. If you’ve got a problem with any of the rules at the hotel then you need to speak to Davy about it.’

Issy huffed a sigh before her grandmother could reply. ‘Tell me this isn’t about the bloody cats, Nan!’

Ignoring her, Maud fixed her fierce, electric-blue-eyeliner-enhanced gaze on Rick. ‘I think you should speak to him.’

There was none of Maud’s usual teasing or sass in her tone and Rick got the feeling the ongoing dispute between her and his great-uncle was merely an excuse. He nodded. ‘I’ll pop in later on my way home from work.’

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