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Over at the table, Magda was watching them with concern in her wide hazel eyes. Ditsy’s face, Charlie noticed, showed only fascination. Was she enjoying this train wreck of a reunion?
‘What does it matter now?’ Charlie lowered his gaze from hers and stepped away, heading for the kitchen and solitude. ‘Enjoy your lunch.’
‘Charlie!’ She grabbed hold of his hand before he could escape. ‘Can we talk? After? Please?’
He shook his hand free and carried on beating his retreat, murmuring, ‘Sure’ and ‘Whatever,’ as he went. It was enough, it seemed, because Becky gave him one of those wide, wide smiles he remembered most from her bedroom before she turned and glided over to the window table.
‘Well that was a mistake,’ Magda muttered under her breath as she passed him, fetching drinks for their surprise customers.
‘I know,’ Charlie groaned and stepped into the kitchen, letting the door swing shut behind him.
Chapter Three (#ud6f620ce-0275-57ce-b758-cfdffdf8eed5)
It would be much easier, Charlie mused while reorganising the main fridge for the third time, if he could just fall in love with Magda. Assuming she fell in love with him too, of course. Charlie rested his head on the cool metal of the fridge and wondered why there had been no portents in the sky that morning about just how bad this day was going to be.
Becky.
The woman who was supposed to be the love of his life. The very reason he was battling to stay in business in Aberarian. The reason he owned a house that could have fallen down by now, it had been so long since he’d visited it.
And now she wanted to talk. Fantastic.
He’d thought they’d said everything they could possibly need to, the night before she left. They’d talked about the job offer from Tony, about how she didn’t feel the same ‘home’ feeling she’d expected when they moved to Aberarian. She’d told him that maybe it wasn’t time for her to be there yet, whatever that meant.
Charlie had known what she was really saying, though. It wasn’t Aberarian that couldn’t live up to her expectations – it was him. He’d asked her to stay, to give them a real chance at the future they’d dreamt of together.
And when he’d woken up the next morning, she was gone.
Really, what else was there to say?
‘Are they still out there?’ he asked when Magda returned to the kitchen, plates in hand. In forty-five minutes, Becky and Ditsy had only managed starters and two bread baskets. Charlie was starting to worry it would be dinnertime before they finished lunch.
‘Still deciding on main courses,’ Magda confirmed. ‘And waiting on more drinks. She also wanted me to ask you, and I quote, “Why you’re not using the darling water jugs and glasses we sourced from that charming glassblower down the coast.”’
Charlie shut his eyes and pretended he couldn’t hear Becky saying those words in his head. She’d want to make it clear to Magda exactly who she was, of course, without having to come out and say it. She’d assume, rightly, he wouldn’t have told the young Polish girl about his humiliating abandonment, so all she needed to do was make it obvious she had been there first, that she had history with him. Just enough to warn Magda off, in case she was getting any ideas.
Except the only ideas Magda would be getting were about her crazy boss hiding in the kitchen and when to call in the mental health professionals.
‘What are they talking about, anyway?’ Charlie asked. ‘What can possibly be taking this long?’ He couldn’t ignore the niggling part of his brain that kept asking, if Becky wanted to talk with him so much, why was she spending hours chatting with Ditsy instead? She’d never seemed to have much time for long conversations with her aunt before.
Maybe she’d changed. Maybe she wanted to come home now, and live the future she’d always dreamt of.
Charlie wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about that.
‘Well, you know I don’t like to eavesdrop on the customers,’ Magda lied, ‘but I did happen to overhear…’
Charlie decided this wasn’t the occasion for a lecture on professional ethics. He needed to know why Becky was back, before she blindsided him. ‘What?’
‘She’s here on business. Apparently her company has got some plan for something in Aberarian, and she’s heading up the project with her boss.’ Magda paused, seeming uncertain about whether to add the next bit. ‘From what she said to Ditsy, it sounds like she’s planning on hanging around.’
Charlie banged his head on the fridge door as he stood up. ‘Why on earth would she… Wait. So she’s not here to…’
‘To win you back? Not so far as I can tell,’ Magda said, smirking.
‘I was going to say, “make my life a misery,”’ Charlie lied. Work. She’d come back here for work. Of course she had.
‘Oh, well. I wouldn’t rule it out.’
Charlie checked his watch. Two o’clock. Still prime late-lunch time. No escape just yet.
‘I need to talk to Mia,’ he said. Mia would make sense of it all for him. She always did. Even if she and Becky didn’t have the best history, Mia would listen and talk it through and understand.
That, Charlie decided, was why he and Mia were so good as friends. She never drove him crazy the way girlfriends always had.
‘And I need to get their drinks.’ Magda moved towards the doors out to the bar. ‘Are you going to sneak out the back like a little girl, or are you going to face up to the woman like a man?’
Charlie thought about it. ‘What are my chances, do you think?’
‘She’ll hunt you down, my friend. I’ve seen that sort of look in a woman’s eyes before. You’d be better off getting it over and done with.’
‘You’re right,’ Charlie said with a sigh. Then he considered. ‘But I’ll just wait until they’ve finished their meals. And post-lunch liqueurs.’ Becky was always more pliant and considerate after alcohol.
‘Maybe wait until they’ve paid the bill too,’ Magda suggested, pushing open the doors. ‘Just in case.’
Charlie groaned and yanked the fridge open again.
* * * *
Once they’d finished their drinks, Tony dragged them out of the Crooked Fox and down Water Street, which meant it was only when she was standing outside StarFish that Mia had a moment to wonder what Charlie would make of her having a lunch date.
Which was ridiculous, of course, because what did Charlie care who she had lunch with? He probably wouldn’t even notice if Tony kissed her over the bread basket.
Not that she thought he was going to, or anything.
Tony was, at present, far more interested in the menu hanging beside the door. ‘Doesn’t look bad,’ he said, sounding surprised. ‘Come on, then.’
Once inside, any concern Mia might have felt about Charlie’s feelings melted away at the sight of Ditsy and Becky sitting together. And any thoughts she’d had about kissing Tony followed shortly afterward, when Tony headed directly to their table and said, ‘There you are, Bex. Mia, let me introduce you to my colleague, Becky Thrower.’
Becky Thrower. Back again like the proverbial bad penny. Or bad credit card, maybe, given the designer suit and glossy, perfectly styled hair. Mia bit the inside of her cheek, concentrating on the perfect cutting comebacks for whatever jibes Becky chose to throw in her direction this time. She wasn’t a teenager any more. She could handle Becky.
But could Charlie?
She looked up to see him hovering in the open kitchen doors looking guilty, although Mia couldn’t quite figure out why. Stupidity, perhaps, for letting Becky into StarFish in the first place. At the table – and Ditsy better not think she wasn’t going to ask what the secret society social they’d got going on was all about – Ditsy was making expressive yet indecipherable eyebrow movements at Mia from behind Becky. Mia figured it was easier just to ask later, when there were less satanic goings-on to deal with.
‘Oh, Mia and I are old friends,’ Becky said with a tinkling laugh at the end.
If she included the first fourteen years of their lives in Aberarian, when they’d been inseparable best friends, perhaps. Personally, Mia tended to remember the following four years, after her father left, when Becky and her new friends had made life unbearable for her until she went to university.
Becky, however, obviously had a different recollection of events.
‘It’s so wonderful to see you again!’ Becky scampered out from behind the table and gave Mia one of those hugs where she didn’t need to touch her, and Mia refrained from slugging her because it wouldn’t look good for Charlie’s restaurant. ‘You’re just the person we need.’
‘Need?’ That sounded ominous. ‘For what?’
Becky shooed her over to an empty seat at the table, and Mia eyed Ditsy for some clue to what was going on. Ditsy, in turn, made more expressive movements, this time including her hands, which still meant absolutely nothing to Mia.
‘Tony and I have a business plan,’ Becky said, settling back down in her seat. Tony pulled up an extra chair beside her. Mia wondered how a round table could have a head because, despite the seeming geometrical impossibility, Becky was most definitely sitting at it. ‘The council have already agreed in principle, and we all think it could save Aberarian!’
‘Have you, now.’ Mia gave Charlie a significant look and he scurried off behind the bar to return with a very large glass of chilled white wine. Which enabled Mia to feel more kindly towards him when he pulled another seat up to the table. ‘So, this plan. Ditsy and Charlie are both already on board with it, are they?’
‘Becky and I were just discussing it now,’ Ditsy broke in, before Becky replied. ‘I still have some… questions.’ And for questions, read reservations, Mia thought, Ditsy’s previous attempts at communication becoming clearer. ‘Basically, Becky and Tony want to turn Aberarian into a gambler’s paradise.’
Becky looked hurt. ‘Ditsy! You know that’s not it at all.’
‘Okay, you want to turn the Coliseum into a casino,’ Ditsy amended.
Mia felt a chill start at her fingertips and begin working its way through her veins and into her heart. ‘But the Coliseum is part of the town. Part of what makes us… Aberarian.’ It was her home, she wanted to say. When everything was so awful after her dad left, Walt would let her sneak into the cinema and stay there all day if she wanted to. The Coliseum was part of her.
‘The owner seems quite keen to sell,’ Tony said. ‘Apparently there’s not much money in antique cinemas these days. And the council’s desperate to get rid of the other empty buildings along that street. Should give us a nice slice of real estate.’
She’d shown him round, Mia realised, her anger rising. She’d actually shown Tony the bloody cinema and let him mock it.
‘Sorry I couldn’t tell you earlier,’ he said with a smile. ‘Only I promised Becky I’d let her do the talking on this one, to start with.’
‘Obviously we need to discuss it some more,’ Becky went on, ‘and there’s a meeting planned to fill the town in on what’s going on. But I’m sure you can see, Mia, how we could all benefit from attracting more tourists to Aberarian.’
The most damnable part of it was she was right, to a point. Aberarian needed more tourists to provide more business. But a casino… That would change Aberarian quite fundamentally. It wouldn’t be the town Mia loved any more.
‘I really do believe it will be good for the town,’ Becky said with irritating earnestness.
Personally, Mia believed the best thing for the town – and for her, and for Charlie – would be for Becky to leave forever. Why hadn’t Walt told her things were so bad?
‘You have to admit, Mia,’ Tony said, leaning across to touch her hand. This time, the rising of her heartbeat was because she was resisting the urge to punch him in his smiling face. ‘From what you showed me this morning, Aberarian does need help.’
‘I didn’t know you wanted me to give you a tour of things you could tear down,’ she said, pulling her hand away. She could see Becky giving Ditsy a knowing look across the table, and she wondered what part she’d played in their discussion even before she arrived at StarFish. ‘Why are we getting a sneak preview of the plans, anyway?’
Tony sat back. ‘Well, it’s always nice to have people on our side, going into town meetings.’
I will never be on your side. Any side with Becky on it was a bad thing to start with. And a side that wanted to tear down her cinema and turn her town into a mini Las Vegas? That was one she was going to have to fight. One way or another.
‘But I invited you to lunch,’ Tony said, his voice brighter and louder. ‘Charlie, do you have some sort of tasting platter? I’d hate to make myself a liar so early in our friendship.’
Charlie nodded and got to his feet, but when Mia looked up, his eyes were on her. She gave him a small smile, and he said, ‘I’m sure I can come up with something,’ and disappeared into the kitchen.
How was he coping with this? Mia wanted to follow him into the kitchen and ask. Find out if he was as horrified by all this as she was. Or if he was just so pleased to have Becky back he didn’t care what happened to the town… No. She wasn’t back for Charlie anyway, was she?
Mia’s stomach sank at the thought. As if the casino wasn’t bad enough on its own. What if Becky was here for Charlie? What would he do then? Move back to London with her once Aberarian was a thriving Welsh Atlantic City, and he could sell StarFish for a profit at last?
It didn’t bear thinking about. Only Becky Thrower could steal both Mia’s hometown and her best friend in one fell swoop.
‘So, Ditsy.’ Tony’s charming smile was in full evidence again. ‘You’ve lived here all your life, Becky tells me. Why don’t you tell me about how it used to be?’ Which was a sure fire way to set Ditsy talking for days.
Mia tuned out until the kitchen doors opened and Charlie came out, laden with several platters of food, which he proceeded to place in the centre of their table. Mia tried to catch his eye again, hoping now the others were distracted by food they might be able to slope off and discuss the situation in private – not just the Coliseum, but how he was coping with having his ex in town, and whether he’d put anything dangerous in her food.
But Becky had him cornered, making him describe each of the antipasti dishes he’d provided. Mia wondered if this was the food she was supposed to have been taste-testing later. Wondered if Charlie might now have better things to do with his Saturday night.
With the others gushing about the food, Ditsy leaned over to Mia and asked in a whisper, ‘Have you opened your damn letter yet? Only I had Heather Jenkins in the shop the moment you left, asking, and with Reverend Davies right behind her. And don’t think for a moment they’ll be the last.’
‘The letter from Mia’s father?’ Becky broke in, apparently paying more attention than they’d thought. Her voice oozed false sympathy. ‘I heard you talking about that. Poor you, Mia.’ She reached out and put a hand across Mia’s, and Mia almost expected the skin to sizzle. ‘It must be so hard. I assume he’s never been back to Aberarian since he left? I mean, how could he?’
Mia reached out to help herself to a chilli-stuffed olive. ‘No,’ she said, keeping a tight rein on her anger. ‘He’s not been home.’
Becky shook her head and turned to whisper to Tony in a perfectly audible manner. ‘It was such a scandal. The whole town spoke of nothing else for months, did they, Ditsy?’
Ditsy winced and stuffed her mouth with bread. Even Tony was looking slightly awkward.
‘Well, I’m sure Mia doesn’t want to rehash old history,’ he said in a cheerful tone. ‘These herrings are really rather good,’ he added, but Mia could tell Charlie wasn’t listening. He was focused entirely on Becky.
‘Oh, Mia doesn’t mind, do you Mia?’ Becky laughed. ‘After all, it’s been fourteen years now. And it’s certainly not anything she hasn’t heard before!’
‘Becky.’ Charlie’s voice was sharp as he broke in. ‘Stop it.’
Mia felt a warmth in her bones, watching Becky’s face turn hard just for a moment. Then she smiled again, the same, sweet, false smile Mia still sometimes had nightmares about. ‘Of course. Now, Charlie, why don’t we let these people get on with their day while you show me around the kitchen? I have missed this place so.’ She was already on her feet by the time she finished talking.
Charlie looked faintly horrified at the prospect, but he followed her all the same. Mia gave him a sympathetic look as he passed. It didn’t seem to help much.
* * * *
Becky pushed her way through the kitchen doors, auburn hair floating behind her, and Charlie followed in a trail of her familiar perfume, wondering why, every time he thought his life was settled, Becky Thrower showed up and mixed him up again. He was up to three times now, and starting to have the most horrible feeling this might be the time to break him.
The first time, he’d been young and stupid, and she’d been young and beautiful. They’d moved in together within three months, even though Charlie still didn’t know what she’d seen in him.
The second time, he’d thought it was over for good when she ran out after he proposed. She’d been staying with her mother for a fortnight when she’d shown up and declared they should get married, move to Aberarian and start a seafood restaurant together. And her enthusiasm, her energy, had bowled him over again.
And now, two years after she’d walked out on their dream life – leaving nothing but a note saying she just wasn’t ready – she was back again, wearing a classic grey suit and bright red high heels, looking every inch the professional woman come to talk business. Or stomp on his heart. It was hard to tell with Becky.
‘So,’ he said, letting the door swing shut behind him. ‘You remember the kitchen.’
Becky stood next the preparation space, much closer to the kitchen knives than he was really comfortable with, and leaned against his beautiful stainless steel counters. ‘Okay, let’s get straight to it. Where are the customers, Charlie?’
‘It’s halfway between lunch and dinner, Bex.’ Charlie was instantly annoyed with himself for using the nickname, but more irritated by her questions. ‘Not the most popular time for dining.’ Of course, it hadn’t been so late when she’d come in, but if Charlie was very lucky she wouldn’t remember that.
‘Perhaps. But your reservations book looks pretty empty too.’
‘You shouldn’t be looking at that.’ And why would you care? he wanted to ask. But mostly, he wanted her to leave him alone to figure out if he was angrier she’d left or that she’d returned. And what it was she wanted from him now.
‘Look.’ Becky leaned towards him, one hand open and reaching for him. ‘I’m honestly trying to help here. A casino would bring in a lot of business to this town. A lot of people looking for somewhere to take their wives out for a celebratory dinner after they beat the house. More tourists, more holiday-makers…’
‘Yeah. Give us more cottages turned into holiday homes left empty nine months of the year? How’s that going to help those of us who want to live here, and maybe take in a movie now and then?’
