Page 32 of An Ill Wind in Seabury
‘Paula was such a character!’ said George, unable to keep a smile off his face. ‘That’s her, there.’ He nodded at the far wall,where a portrait captured Paula and Kate lounging side by side in a pair of deckchairs on West Beach.
‘That’s such a gorgeous painting!’ said Claudia, heading over for a closer look.
‘Lionel did it for me,’ said Kate. ‘And that huge photo above is the Chilly Dippers, our local cold swimming group. Paula was their founder, and they wanted a bit of a memorial for her in here.’
‘You’ve done her proud, Paula would love it,’ said George, noticing that Claudia was still gazing at the painting, her eyes heavy with sadness.
‘Anyway,’ said Kate, ‘that’s enough of our small town troubles. Claudia, what cake can I tempt you with?’
CHAPTER 12
CLAUDIA
‘Hey, are you okay?’
Claudia peeled her eyes away from the golden sand of West Beach and peered over her shoulder at George. She’d disappeared from The Sardine when her phone had started to vibrate, leaving him behind to wait for the large parcel of cakes she’d ordered.
‘Got the cakes, I see,’ she said, avoiding the question and forcing a smile onto her face as she nodded to the giant paper bag he was holding carefully against his chest.
‘Yep - one for pretty much everyone in town,’ he chuckled.
Claudia nodded and pushed away from the railings. She figured that if she was going to do a proper apology tour before she left Seabury, she’d probably get more forgiveness if her “sorry I was a butthead” was accompanied by a sweet treat.
‘Everything okay?’ said George again, cocking his head.
‘Just mother,’ said Claudia, waggling the mobile phone with a sigh. ‘I didn’t answer it. I figure I might as well wait until I’m on the train. Then at least I can report back.’
‘Mmm,’ said George, raising an eyebrow.
Claudia glanced away. She knew he hadn’t really been asking about the phone call. ‘I just… I was just looking at the beach… this is the same spot in that portrait of Paula and Kate, right?’
George nodded. ‘Paula spent a ton of time down on West Beach. Swimming, messing about with Kate and the Chilly Dippers. When she got really poorly towards the end, her hubby Ryan would bring her down, and they’d sit for hours all bundled up in blankets together, just watching the sea.’
George paused when his voice cracked, and Claudia swallowed, her own throat thick with sorrow for the loss of this livewire she’d never even met.
‘I’m sorry,’ she said, reaching out and taking George’s free hand again. It felt so easy and simple. ‘I didn’t mean to stir up memories.’
‘I like to remember her,’ said George with a little shrug. ‘Everyone does. She was a force for good and refused point-blank to put up with any sympathetic head tilting. She wanted to do things her way right up to the end… and she did.’
Claudia swallowed again and nodded. It sounded like Paula grabbed every single second of life… and it was time for her to start doing the same.
‘Ready to start today’s adventure?’ she said, giving George’s hand a little squeeze.
‘Yep, but would you mind if we take a wander down to All Things Woolly and start the great tour of apology there?’ he said. ‘I’m not sure if it’s Ewan or Connie in today, but I’d love for you to meet baby Melody.’
‘Sure!’ said Claudia. ‘I’d love that too. I tried to pop in yesterday, but I think I was a bit too early.’
‘Ah, so itwasyou,’ said George. ‘Connie said she heard someone knocking. She was out the back changing the baby, and you’d gone by the time she opened up.’
‘Lucky her,’ said Claudia, feeling a sudden pang of embarrassment. ‘At least she missed me in full dragon-mode.’
‘Give yourself a break,’ chuckled George, swinging their hands between them as they strolled along the seafront. ‘Like Kate said, you were having a bad day.’
‘Bad decade,’ said Claudia. Then she thought of Paula again and shook her head. ‘Anyway, I’m done with all that rubbish. It’s like you said last night, maybe it’s time to start chasing the big dreams again.’
‘I like the sound of that,’ said George, and his smile made her stomach do a little backflip. ‘You know. I kind of feel duty-bound to warn you about something before we go any further.’
‘Uh oh, that doesn’t sound good,’ said Claudia, a sudden pinch of nerves twisting in her stomach.
