Page 31 of The Beach Cottage
“Don’t call Dad. He’s busy. He says not to call him at work because he can’t take time off to talk.”
“Fine. We don’t have to call him if you don’t want me to.”
She started the car and followed Sam’s directions to a small fibreboard house with chipped paint and a red tile roof. Sam leapt from the car as soon as it was parked in the driveway.
Penny stepped out of the car, leaving the door ajar. “Are you okay now?”
Sam nodded. “I take good care of myself.”
“I’m sure you do, but here. I’m going to give you my phone number just in case you need to call someone for help. We all need help sometimes.”
She scrounged around in the car to find a piece of paper and ended up with a petrol receipt. Then a working pen — there was one in the glove box. She wrote her phone number on the receipt and handed it to Sam. “Call me if you need anything, okay? I’m usually just down the road at the refuge. I wrote my full name down on the paper too, Penelope St James, so you can show your dad and let him know you spoke to me.”
Sam smiled for the first time. “Okay. My name’s Samantha Norton.”
“Norton? Do you know Betsy Norton? She runs the flower shop in Kellyville.”
Sam squinted, her nose wrinkled. “No. I don’t know anyone by that name.”
“Oh, okay, just a coincidence then, I suppose. I’ll see you later, Samantha Norton.”
Penny waved goodbye as the car pulled out of the driveway, then waited to make sure the girl went inside the house. Her heart was troubled. No doubt Sam’s father was doing the best he could to take care of his daughter and work at the same time, but someone should be looking out for her when he couldn’t do it. Besides that, Sam’s hair was knotted and greasy, her face dirty, her clothes too small and stained. She wished there was something she could do to help without overstepping.
If she could get in touch with Sam’s father, perhaps she could offer to help the girl. But how to phrase the offer without offending or appearing to be a stalker? She still didn’t know where Sam’s mother might be — although from what the girl had told her, it didn’t seem like she was still in Sam’s life, for whatever reason.
With a brief pause at the intersection, she turned onto the main road and headed for Kellyville. She was meeting Bea and Evie at the café. Perhaps they’d have advice about what she should do.
The smell of coffee and baked goods greeted Penny as soon as she stepped through the retro timber-and-glass front door of the café. A bell tinkled overhead, and she smiled as Bea hurried to greet her. She kissed her cheek, a tray balanced on one hand.
“I’ll be right with you just as soon as I’ve served the table outside.”
“Good to see you!” she called after Bea.
Evie was already seated at a small round table near the back of the café. She was reading a book, but put it down as soon as Penny sat.
“There you are,” Evie declared with a grin. “I’m looking for a book for next month’s book club selection. This one is absolutely breathtaking. I think we have a winner. How’s everything?” She got up to kiss Penny’s cheek, then sat again, crossing one long leg over the other. Her red hair was perfectly curled, her green eyes glinted, and she wore a long blue silk shirt with black pants underneath.
“Everything’s good. Well, okay, not good.” Penny swallowed. She wasn’t being entirely truthful, but did it help to bleed all over her friends? She’d never been one to do that. She always put up a veneer of strength and resilience even when she didn’t feel it. Although with all her high school girlfriends back together, for the first time in years, she wanted to spill, to tell them everything on her mind.
Bea sat down with them, puffing slightly. “There, I’m done for now. I only have two customers, and they’re satisfied. But if anyone else comes in, I’ll have to jump up and wait on them. Sorry!”
“That’s fine,” Evie replied. “Don’t mind us—we’re happy to chat patiently. Aren’t we, Penny?”
“Of course. Very happy.”
Bea hurried off to get them each a coffee and a plate of goodies to eat, then sat again.
“Phew. You make me tired just watching you,” Penny exclaimed.
“This job is harder than I thought it’d be.” Bea wiped sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.
“But do you like it?” Evie asked. “That’s the real question.”
“I love it.” Bea sighed. “I’m getting used to the physical exertion. I think that over time, I’ll be better at it, and then it will all come together beautifully. Right now, I’m constantly reacting to things I didn’t realise I had to do — paperwork, licences, timing for ordering supplies, vendor requirements, that kind of thing.”
“I know what you mean,” Penny said. “I remember that when I started the refuge, it took me a while to figure everything out. I’m still not very good at it.”
“What are you talking about?” Evie asked. “You’re amazing. I don’t know how you manage it all.”
