Page 36 of One Perfect Day in Lovely Bay
'You have to make a wish if you see one. That’s what we always used to say when we were up here when we were little.’
Cally closed her eyes for a moment and wished that a flat she could afford would come up in Lovely.
'What did you wish for?'
'Can't tell you.'
Logan laughed. ‘Ha. Right, I’ll get the chilli, shall I?’
‘Yes, I’m famished.’
As they sat and ate the chilli, they talked about everything and anything, discussed what a nice time they’d had and how good the weather had been. Cally had thoroughly enjoyed herself, and it showed all over her face. Her heart wasn’t far behind it. She’d needed a bit of time off from her three jobs and constant saving. She gestured in the direction of the main house. ‘I can see why you love it so much and why it’s a big part of the family.'
‘Some people think it’s too boring and too cold. Honestly, we’ve had visitors and guests who’ve said never again.’
‘I bet it’s chilly in the winter.’
‘Yep. We’ll have to come up. It’s magical when everything is white.
‘Aww, I’d love that. I really love snow.’
‘Autumn's good too. When the leaves change colour, everything is red and gold,’ Logan nodded. 'And, yes, winter. You haven't seen the estate until you’ve seen it in the snow, Cal. It's amazing but it is really cold. Speaking of cold, how are you holding up?’
'It is getting nippy but I don't want to go down yet.'
Logan stood up, pulled the chairs closer to the fire, began to rearrange their blankets and wrapped another one around both chairs and over their shoulders like a cocoon.
Cally snuggled into his side. 'Much better.'
They sat back, gazing up at the sky. Cally held up her finger and traced the constellations. 'I'm going to miss it up here but not Aunt Agatha and her stamps. Definitely not.'
Logan chuckled. 'I'm with you on that.'
‘You’re really lucky to have family. I've never had this before, you know? This sense of belonging to a place, to a family. It really is worth a lot if you ask me.'
‘Get used to it. The Henry-Hicks clan have kidnapped you.’ Logan joked. ‘Just wait, though, so far you’ve only seen the goodbits. We’ve got lots of old skeletons lurking in cupboards all over the place.’
Cally pulled the blanket over her shoulders and stared down at the silhouette of the main house and thought that the Henry-Hicks family didn’t have any bad bits as such. From what she’d seen nothing badeverappeared to happen to any of them. In a way, it didn’t seem fair.
Logan rubbed his hands together. 'We should probably think about heading back soon.'
Cally nodded, but didn’t make any move to get up. ‘I think I could stay here all night and just sit and dream.’
As she tucked her feet up underneath her and stared at the sky, she thought about the weekend with the Henry-Hicks family and how she was now part of it. She winced a little bit as she thought about Logan’s family and Alastair as he’d made his announcement. She couldn’t put her finger on it but she had a strange feeling inside that something was going to happen. That after they’d left the estate and made their way back to Lovely things were going to change. She brushed the thought away. Ridiculous. The Scottish air was doing funny things to her head.
21
Cally was back in Lovely Bay sitting on a bench by the river doom scrolling through her socials. She shook her head and dropped her phone in her lap. She was meant to be deciding on Birdie’s job offer, but for some reason or another, something kept stopping her from completely making up her mind. She’d gone over it so many times she had decision overload. Truth be told, despite feeling in Scotland as if the job was the right path for her to take, a little part of her didn’t want to make the choice and so she’d stalled. A section of her brain told her to stay in her lane and keep safe. Stay down, Cally de Pfeffer. Someone like you doesn’t deserve good things. Continue to do your three little jobs. Stay small. Wave at us from down there.
The feeling would also explain why, despite having looked at potentially every course in the country, from Land’s End to John O'Groats, she’d not pushed the button on committing to anything in that department either. The same scenario had happened when applying for jobs before she’d received Birdie’s offer; she’d looked at all sorts and had been surprised that her qualifications and work experience qualified her for quite a few different opportunities. However, none of them had taken her fancy enough for her to actually go for gold. She sighed andrubbed her temples. The constant back-and-forth in her mind was exhausting. On the one hand, the job offer represented everything she'd been working towards - stability, security, a chance to prove herself. On the other hand, she wondered if it was right.
‘Come on, get a grip,’ she muttered to herself.
She stared at the river for ages, waved as Clive went past on the riverboat, and watched as a woman walked along on the path in front of her and juggled a pram with a baby, a toddler, and a dog on a lead, all at the same time as chatting on her phone. A multi-tasking mum right there in front of her eyes. Opening the email from Birdie again, she then whipped out a small wire top notebook she kept in her handbag and made a list of the pros and cons of the job the old-fashioned way with paper and pen.
By the time she’d got to the end of the list and had sat and pondered for a bit longer, it really was a no-brainer. The job offer was just too good to turn down. The only thing on the cons list that made her think twice was putting all her eggs in one basket and doing a full-time job for the person in Lovely Bay you had to keep on the right side of. If anything ever went badly wrong with Birdie or they fell out, Cally was well aware that she’d be toast in Lovely. Or six feet under.
The list in her notebook stared at her as she reiterated all the pros of the job; there were many. The rational part of her brain knew that accepting Birdie's job offer was the logical choice. The benefits were undeniable - a steady income, healthcare, paid leave - all things she'd dreamed of having in the back of her mind. Yet, despite thinking she’d wanted an opportunity for years, a peculiar, nagging voice told her just to continue on as she always had. Stay in your lane.
