Page 80 of Eden's Comfort Kitchen
‘Cait…it’s not your fault.’
‘Then it’s not yours either. Stop punishing yourself because every time you do that, you punish me and Dad too. I’ve been angry when I’ve called because I’ve been hurting and I’ve needed you, but I see now my anger only made things worse. I’m sorry for that.’
‘You had every right.’
‘Maybe, but that doesn’t make it better.’
Eden’s eyes filled with tears. ‘I’m so glad we’re talking about this.’
‘Me too. So does this mean you’re ready to come home, or at least back to Essex?’
‘Well, that’s the other thing I want to tell you – I’ve decided to stay here for good.’
‘In Sea Glass Bay?’
‘Yes.’
‘Wow…I never saw that coming.’
‘I can imagine,’ Eden said with a watery smile, assuming that her dad had told Caitlin where she was. ‘But if you get some time off work over the next few weeks, I’d love you to come and visit. And Dad too, of course. I’m making a new life here, one I love, and I’ve made so many new friends, and I want you both to see how amazing it all is.’
‘If that’s really true, then I’m glad.’
‘It is. So you’ll come? I get if you don’t feel like you want to, but?—’
‘Of course I want to! You want me to talk to Dad? Or would you prefer to call him yourself with his invite? I know he’d love to hear from you, and he’d be happy to know you’re doing so well.’
Eden watched a fat tear drop onto the kitchen table in front of her and soak into the wood. And then another one. Before she knew it, they were coming thick and fast, and she had to sniff hard to pull herself together enough to answer.
‘I’ll call him,’ she said. ‘I’ll do it right now.’
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
A meeting that had involved every single person who’d ever known Bilbo or had anything to do with the community café resulted in agreement that after his funeral, and as more of a celebration of his life than a wake, their next community dinner would be a picnic on the beach. Anyone who wanted to come was invited, and anyone who wanted to contribute in any way was welcome. It would be about so much more than food. They’d be coming together to remember a man who’d been such a huge personality that his absence would be felt for many years to come, and who would have wanted his legacy to be happiness, not sorrow.
Eden, Ralph, Livia and Julia, along with Bilbo’s family and friends, took on the task of organising. It was a far bigger event than their usual dinner, and they’d need all the help they could get. But there was a sense of excitement too, of anticipation that it was going to be special, an event unlike anything Sea Glass Bay had seen before.
Caitlin and her dad were coming. Eden wondered if they might find it weird, attending what was essentially a wake for a man they’d never met, but they’d both wanted to support her through it when she’d told them what she was helpingto organise, recognising that it mattered to her, that this community was now an important part of her life.
The weather couldn’t have been more perfect if Eden had ordered it. Julia said as much as they loaded the van they’d borrowed from Ralph to transport their supplies to the beach. They had so much stock that they’d been forced to store it wherever they could find space: at the ice-cream parlour, at Eden’s house, in Ralph’s storerooms, at the scout hut and one or two other places. Now they had to remember where it all was and collect it, and that task was proving trickier than any of them had anticipated. They were currently loading up the items Eden had been keeping in her kitchen for the past week. Livia and the children were doing their best to help, though it could have been argued that the children were slowing everything down – not that anyone for a moment would have asked them to stop. In fact, it was entertaining to listen to their conversation as they worked.
‘I can carry way more than you,’ Levi said to Nancy, at which point she looked faintly outraged and tried to pile another stack of paper plates onto the pile she already had in her arms. Predictably, all she succeeded in doing was making sure she dropped the lot.
‘See what you made me do,’ she grumbled as Levi laughed at her.
‘I told you I could carry more.’
‘Grandma!’ Nancy whined. ‘Tell him! He’s laughing at me!’
Eden wanted to laugh too – not because she thought Nancy’s predicament funny but because they were both so damn cute. Of course, she realised that was the last thing she ought to do, and it was quite a battle to keep her face straight as she went over to help pick everything up.
‘Don’t worry about it,’ she told Nancy. ‘You win some, you lose some. Levi won this time, but you might win next. The main thing is you’re trying.’
‘But Levi laughed at me!’
‘Yes, but you can be bigger than that, can’t you? People will laugh at you sometimes when you’re trying to do something and it’s not working, but you don’t have to let it upset you or let it stop you.’ Eden put the stack of plates into Nancy’s arms again, along with the extra one. ‘There, see? You only needed some help because your arms were already full. If you’d picked all these up at first, you’d have carried them easily. When your arms are too full, all you have to do is ask. Someone will always help, but they won’t if they don’t know you need it.’
Nancy smiled and then trotted off to the van with a new purpose in her stride.
