Page 20 of The Winter of Second Chances
With love,
Mari
Annie flicked through the pages. September seemed to be mostly battening down the hatches for the onslaught of winter: checking the paint is good on the outer shutters of the old tea room, and cleaning them of dead bugs and general dirt that may have gathered between the panes and the shutters. A general tidy-up around the garden:
Cut back any of the tender herbs you might want for drying. The woody herbs will be fine to harvest as you wish throughout the winter, though you might want to pull the sage and thyme tubs up to the porch for shelter. Cut back the lavender when the flowers have begun to dust the pebbles like lilac confetti.
A quick skim through the October pages offered further general maintenance tips about cleaning out the range and checking the fuse box, and gave the arrival dates for deliveries of oil and logs:
Sweep out the log store ready and make sure the roof hasn’t sprung any leaks; wet logs are of use to neither man nor beast.
A large chunk of the October notes was devoted to Halloween, which Annie determined to read nearer the time. But for now, she decided to treat herself to a pub lunch. With a fancy for a glass of wine, or three, Annie left the car outside Saltwater Nook and decided to tackle the hill.
The tide was in and white horses lathered themselves over the tips of black rocks which sat just below the surface of the waves. Beyond them, markers showed the edges of the safe swimming zone.
A few couples walked with their dogs, one or two runners passed Annie by as she walked, and she said hello to all of them, starting as she meant to go on and assuming that these would become familiar faces in the months to come.
Beyond the path that led up the hill, two fishermen had set up camp on the beach, sheltered by cliffs which arched over as if their middles had been hollowed out by a giant ice cream scoop. The fisherman in the blue knitted jumper and orange waterproof trousers stood up from his stool as Annie drew nearer, and waved.
‘Halloah!’ he called. ‘Are you the young lass who’s looking after Mari’s place?’
‘Yes,’ Annie called back. ‘I’m Annie.’
‘Good to meet you, Annie,’ said the fisherman. ‘I’m Ely, I expect we’ll be seeing a lot of each other over the next few months.’
Annie laughed.
‘So, you’re the man responsible for my well-stocked freezer!’ she said.
‘That I am,’ he said. ‘Plenty more where they came from if Neptune smiles favourably on us.’
Ely smiled and waved once more before resuming his seat on the tiny stool that didn’t look equipped to cope with his bulk.
Annie walked on, the sharp incline of the hill becoming visible via glimpses through the trees and brambles which clung to the rocky cliff face.
‘Hello there!’ A tall woman with an infectious smile, alabaster skin and unfeasibly rosy cheeks came from behind Annie and tapped her on the shoulder. ‘Couldn’t help overhearing your convo with Ely,’ the woman went on. ‘We were walking behind you, trying not to eavesdrop but ended up, you know, eavesdropping!’ She was wearing a long-sleeved striped top underneath a padded gilet, skintight jeans and floral wellies.
‘I’m Samantha,’ said the woman. ‘And this is Tom.’
Tom smiled warmly and held out a hand for Annie to shake, his other hand still holding Samantha’s. Annie wondered how long they had been together. Was hand-holding one of those things that eventually got lost in the business of married life, along with kissing during sex and putting the loo seat down? She wondered if she and Max hadeverheld hands when out walking? Maybe they hadn’t been one of those couples.
‘We own Willow Bay Stores,’ said Tom. ‘Whatever you need, we stock it,’ he said proudly. Tom was as long and lanky as Samantha. He wore a Barbour jacket over a check shirt, tucked into his jeans. His dark skin and jet-black hair contrasted with Samantha’s pale complexion and blonde curls; they looked more like a celebrity couple than shopkeepers.
‘And we do parcel drop-offs and collections,’ added Samantha.
‘Good to know,’ said Annie. ‘I’m Annie. You probably heard, I’m looking after Saltwater Nook for Mari over the winter.’
‘She’s an amazing lady,’ said Samantha.
‘Absolute legend!’ added Tom.
‘How are you settling in?’ asked Samantha.
‘Good, I think. I literally just finished unpacking, so I guess the verdict’s still out. I’m just off to one of the pubs to get some dinner.’
‘Oh!’ said Samantha. ‘The Sunken Willow stops dinner at three o’clock, you’ll never make it in time!’ Samantha looked stricken.
‘And The Captain’s Bounty doesn’t start serving till six o’clock,’ added Tom.
