Page 23 of Just the Beginning

‘Like open our own interior design business one day.’

Anya couldn’t believe her ears. ‘You can’t be serious!’

Chloe looked her square in the eye. ‘I’m deadly serious. Maybe not today, but certainly in the next couple of years. I deal with all the house sales in this area, remember. I see the people who are buying up places left, right and centre. All those rich London folks looking to snap up a holiday home by the sea but with no time to do it up when they’re only down a couple of weekends a month. I’ve already put a load of business Dad and Matt’s way for the repair works. There’s a gap in the market, and I reckon we could fill it.’

Anya shook her head. ‘But where would we even start? Between working at the hotel and looking after Freya I don’t have time. I mean, I can make a few bits and pieces – cushions and throws and that kind of stuff – but that would just be the odd hour here and there in the evenings.’

‘Like I said, I’m not looking to rush into anything, but I’m also not going to spend the rest of my life working for someone else, not if I can help it. We focus on the website for now and see where that takes us and in the meantime we can make plans.’

It all sounded completely mad to Anya, but Chloe had given up so much for her. It can’t have been easy for her to move back in with her parents, even if that move had only been from the summer house at the bottom of the garden. She’d taken so much from everyone; now it was time to start giving back. ‘Your dad did mention something about converting one of his old sheds into a workshop for me. We could speak to him about it and share it, if you like.’

‘That’s a great idea!’ Chloe leaned in to hug her again. ‘Penrose Stokes Design starts today!’

Anya shook her head. ‘Not Stokes. I don’t want anything to do with Drew tainting this. I’ve been seriously thinking about going back to Duncan.’

Chloe tilted her head as she considered it. ‘Penrose Duncan Design… I like it! What about Freya?’

Anya glanced over to where Matt was helping her daughter build sandcastles. Though the pair of them looked completely absorbed, she kept her voice low as she said, ‘It’d be easier if we both had the same name, but I’m not sure how she will feel about it in the future.’

Chloe tugged her legs up and curled her arms around them as she rested her chin on her knees. ‘Hmm, that’s a tricky one. I agree it’d be more straightforward if you both had the same name, and if you’re going to change it, better to do it now before she goes to school in September. I don’t see any harm in it, and we can sort the paperwork out for you at the firm. I don’t blame you for not wanting to be associated with him any more.’

‘That’s an understatement,’ Anya said, shooting her cousin a wry grin. It felt good to talk about it, to even make a little joke, something she never would’ve believed possible. Changing their names would be another step along the path to taking control of her life. ‘I’ll give it some serious thought and let you know. I’ve already decided to be completely honest with Freya about everything once she’s of an age to understand. If I do go ahead and change both our names, I’ll give her the choice to change it back if she wishes. Whatever happened, Drew was Freya’s father and I won’t deny her a connection to him.’

She knew what it was like to grow up with questions. After what she’d been through, Anya had much more sympathy with her mum over the decision not to have any contact with Anya’sdad after he’d walked out on them. Or maybe it hadn’t been her decision and her father hadn’t tried to keep in touch. She simply had no idea. Lisa had refused to speak about him and Anya had never found the courage to ask. She wouldn’t put Freya in the same position, regardless of her own feelings on the matter.

‘All I can say is you’re a better person than me,’ Chloe said, stretching her legs out as she closed her eyes and turned her face up to the sun like a flower opening in bloom. ‘If I was in your shoes I’d erase everything about that arsehole and pretend he never existed.’

Anya shook her head but didn’t say anything. Chloe was far more generous and thoughtful than her, but Anya was determined to change. She’d been selfish and self-absorbed, cocooning herself away from the world, caring only about her little gang of three. But this was a fresh start, an opportunity to make the best of everything, including herself. She’d been someone’s daughter, then someone’s wife, and now someone’s mother. Who was Anya Duncan without any of those labels?

She had no idea, but it was high time she found out.

13

By the time he’d packed everything away and headed home for the day, Rick was ready for nothing more than a hot shower, the takeaway he’d just picked up and an early night. The forecast for Sunday was even better, so he could expect another busy day. Not that he was complaining, far from it. Given this was only the start of the season, with any luck it might be their best year yet. He paused by the back door to wash the sand off his feet with the garden hose. It was a futile task trying to keep the floors completely clean, but they all did their bit to minimise the mess.

Leaving the bag with his dinner on the side, Rick headed upstairs and stood under the pounding hot water until the ache in his back and arms eased. He’d just reheated his food and was carrying it up to his sitting room when the front door opened and his parents walked in.

‘Oh, you’re not coming out tonight, then?’ his mum asked by way of greeting.

Rick frowned. ‘I didn’t know we had plans.’

‘There’s a band on at the Smuggler’s Den, I mentioned it to you earlier.’

So she had. ‘Sorry, it completely slipped my mind. You guys go and have a good time, I’m going to eat this and have an early night.’ He was also going to try and get hold of Liam and invite him and Caroline for Ma’s birthday meal, but he decided to keep that to himself for now. He didn’t want Mum getting her hopes up.

‘All right, love.’ She turned to Jago, who had shut the door and was toeing off his work boots. ‘Do you want the shower first, or shall I go up?’

Jago slid an arm around her waist. ‘We could always share one, good for the environment and all that.’

‘Well that’s definitely my cue to leave,’ Rick said with a laugh as he ascended the stairs. ‘Just try not to flood the en suite like you did last time!’ he called to them over his shoulder.

‘There was a blockage in the drain, and you know it, Frederick Penrose!’ his mother exclaimed in a tart voice.

‘If you say so!’ Rick stepped onto the landing and hurried quickly to the peace of his sitting room at the far end. He adored his parents and he was glad they were still clearly in love with each other. He did wonder sometimes if the reason he and the twins were all so resolutely single was because the example their parents had set them was such a high one. It was something to ponder on as he forked chicken fried rice into his mouth with one hand and flicked through his various streaming subscriptions with the other. He settled on a new action film on Netflix, which looked interesting enough without needing much in the way of concentration to follow it, put his feet up and ate.

Forty minutes later the protagonist was in all kinds of trouble and Rick was already anticipating how he’d manage toturn the tables on the bad guys. Though it was tempting to watch through to the end, he paused the film and reached for his phone to call Liam. It rang half a dozen times and Rick was just about to hang up when his brother answered. ‘Hey, stranger!’

‘Hey, yourself. How’s things?’

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