Page 9 of Eden's Comfort Kitchen
‘God, no! Mum’s just come to take over for a bit so I can have a break.’
‘Must be hard to run this place, just you two, I mean.’
‘It keeps us busy, but we don’t mind. After all, it’s only really this busy for a few months of the year, and the rest of the time it’s far quieter. We do the work now so we can bank the money and survive the winter – that’s how a lot of places round heremanage.’ She sat down on a chair at the table Eden had just vacated. ‘Got something nice planned for today?’
‘Not really…’
Eden wondered whether Livia would mind if she sat down again to join her or whether it would interrupt some well-earned downtime. But then Livia took the question out of the air and answered it for her.
‘You don’t have to leave on my account. Sit down if you like. How are you settling in at Four Winds?’
‘Well, I’ve got some food in now, so that’s a start.’
‘Sounds like a very good start to me. Have you come across the old beehives in the garden yet?’
‘Oh, the lady who owns the house now said there had been bees, but they’re not there now, and neither are the hives…at least, I don’t think so. Quite honestly, I haven’t thought to look. Maybe I should.’
‘The hives were still there last time I was there, but that was a few years ago. I don’t suppose they are now. The new owners probably got rid of those and the chicken coops if they didn’t need them.’
‘It’s a shame. I might have been a bit scared of the bees, but the idea is kind of cute. I definitely would have been excited to have chickens in the garden.’
Livia nodded. ‘The bees used to fascinate me. I used to watch my great-uncle doing all his bits through the window. I’d have got stuck in, but he never wanted me to get stung, and he didn’t have a suit that would fit me back then.’ She took a sip of her drink, her eyes somewhere far away. ‘Often thought I might get some hives of my own once I got my own house…’ She shook herself. ‘Like that’s ever going to happen.’
‘You live with your mum?’
‘Yes. Me and the kids and Mum, we all live together. I mean, it’s nice, but…anyway, you don’t need to hear about all that.’
‘You have a partner?’
‘Not now. You?’
‘No. So we’re both single.’
‘Two women in the prime of our lives with no partners – where did we go wrong, eh?’
Eden knew exactly where she’d gone wrong, but she wasn’t about to tell Livia. The more she talked to her, the more she wanted to be her friend, and telling her about the events that had sent her running to Sea Glass Bay was not going to make anyone want to be her friend.
‘Listen…’ Livia sucked up the last of her drink before putting the glass on the table and smiling at Eden. ‘If you’re at a loose end later, you could come up to the Darling Dolphin…the local pub. It’s a good night in there – would get you out of the cottage for a few hours.’
‘You’ll be in there?’
‘Oh, I’m there most nights.’
‘I don’t…I wouldn’t want to crash…I’m sure you’ll be having a laugh with your friends, and I wouldn’t want to muscle in…’
‘Oh no, it won’t be like that. I work there. I’ve always got time to chat in between serving customers, though.’
‘You work there as well?’
‘From time to time when Ralph gets busy. Ralph’s the landlord. It helps him out, and the money helps us and I like it. More like a social thing than a job really.’
‘Yes, but you must be exhausted doing a full day here and then going to work there.’
‘It’s a long day, but it’s not all the time. Ralph’s the same as us – far busier in the summer than the winter – mostly locals in the winter, and there aren’t so many of us once all the second-home owners and tourists go. I don’t mind – like I said, we get the money in where we can. You’ve got to round here; it’s the only way to survive for a lot of people.’
‘I feel lazy now.’
‘You have a job, though?’
