by Cathy Cole
“Slow down, Eve,” Becca said, holding out her hands. “Is this a job or a favour?”
“Both.” Feeling agitated, Eve stood up from the table. “I have to go back to Heartside.”
“But I’ve ordered breakfast!” Becca protested, frowning. “Aren’t you hungry?”
In normal circumstances, Eve would have left the café and grabbed something to eat on the way back to town. She knew she couldn’t do that any more. With the smell of a cooked breakfast wafting temptingly on the air, she sat down again.
“So what’s this show then?” Becca asked as two plates of steaming eggs and bacon were delivered to their table.
Eve explained as best she could about the Heartbeat Café show. “June’s a really busy time for weddings, and this could earn really well for Rhi’s dad,” she said. “I owe him for the hotel bill so this job could go a little way to paying him back.”
“Could be fun,” said Becca. She took a gulp of tea. “Tell you what. I’ll come and help. I’d love to see all those dumb brides waving their money around for a bunch of stupid overpriced frocks. Weddings! Who needs them?”
“I think they’re lovely,” Eve felt moved to say.
Becca raised her eyebrows. “Seriously? All that frilly Disney stuff is for little girls, Eve. Not grown-ups.”
Eve bridled. “Speak for yourself. I’d like a fairy-tale wedding one day.”
Becca shook her head. “You’re crazy, you know that? Completely la la.”
The eggs and bacon were starting to taste like ashes in Eve’s mouth. Why did Becca have to laugh at everything that was important to her? The differences between them were enormous. She forced down the last piece of toast and gulped down the cooling dregs of her tea.
“I have to go now,” she said, and unplugged her phone. “There’s a lot of work to do if tomorrow is going to be a success. I’ve left most of the details way too late.”
“Like I said, I’ll come with you,” Becca said, wiping her mouth on a paper napkin. “I could use a laugh.”
Eve had a sudden vision of Becca among her friends, with her dirty bandana and stained T-shirt. What would Rhi make of her? What would her schoolfriends say if they could see Eve now in this grubby little café with someone like Becca, so completely different from anyone else she knew? “No,” she said hastily. “I need to do this by myself. Thanks, but you go back to the cottage. I’ll see you later, OK?”
Becca frowned. “Is everything all right?”
“Everything’s fine.” Eve forced a smile, grabbing her handbag. She felt glad she’d put on nice clothes this morning. “Can you lend me some money for the bus?”
Becca handed over two pounds. “What time will you be back?”
Eve glanced out of the window. A bus was rumbling down the road towards her.
“I have to go,” she said hastily. “See you.”
She ran out of the café, waving at the bus, determined not to look back in case Becca was watching. Would Becca wait for her at the cottage? Did Eve even want her to? It would be so much easier if Becca just vanished from her life all together, the same way that she had appeared. Then Eve wouldn’t have to figure out her feelings.
FIFTEEN
“Rhi, it’s me,” said Eve as she stepped off the bus in Heartside Bay. It had been impossible to hear herself think, let alone make phone calls on the way in to town. Now at least there were no wheezing engine noises, old men coughing or babies crying. Just the wind and the cry of gulls overhead.
“Eve!” Rhi sounded relieved. “Oh my gosh, it’s so good to hear your voice! We all thought you’d left the country or something. Can you still do the wedding show?”
“Of course. I’m really sorry I haven’t been in touch but I’m in town right now.”
“Great, Dad’s at the Heartbeat Café this morning, probably freaking out. Send him a message to tell him you’re coming, will you? He’s been impossible all week, worrying about this weekend. I’ll text you his number.”
Eve felt a fresh wave of guilt. She seemed to be messing up a lot of people’s lives at the moment.
“Break’s over in a couple of minutes so I can’t talk for long,” Rhi said. “Where have you been staying? I asked everyone I could think of, but no one knew where you were.”
Eve paused, uncertain how to explain the past few days. “I met an old friend,” she said at last. “I’ve been staying with her for a while. There was no electricity at her place so I couldn’t charge my phone. I charged it this morning in a café.”
“But you’re OK?”
The warm concern in Rhi’s voice made tears prickle in Eve’s eyes. She wasn’t used to all this crying. “I’m fine,” she said briskly, determined not to break down on Heartside Bay’s High Street. “You’d better get back to class before someone confiscates your phone.”
“See you at the Heartbeat right after school,” Rhi promised. “Dad is in desperate need of help.”
Eve sent Mr Wills a message as soon as Rhi texted her the number. Shouldering her bag, she did her best to smooth her hair into some kind of order. It still felt salty and rough, completely unlike her usual silken tresses. Catching a glimpse of herself in a shop window, she was surprised at how young she looked without her usual make-up. How tired too.
The Heartbeat Café was a five-minute walk from the bus stop.
“Eve!” called Mr Wills from behind the bar as she walked in the door. “Thanks for coming.” Eve waved nervously and walked over to him. She could feel him looking at her, taking in the bags under her eyes, her salty hair and unusually dirty shoes. As his eyebrows quirked into a frown of concern, she moved behind a chair where the mud on her legs wasn’t so visible.
“I’m glad that you’ve come, Eve. Shouldn’t you be at school? Are you up to this?” Mr Wills asked. “With your father and everything? Rhi has told me the details. It sounds like you’ve been having a hard time. And if you don’t mind me saying, you look very tired.”
Eve set her chin. “I’m really sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused, Mr Wills, with not being in touch … and the hotel bill. I’m so grateful for your help. The least I can do is make your wedding show a success.”
Mr Wills looked at her and Eve forced what she hoped was an encouraging smile onto her face. “Well, if you’re sure,” he began. “To be honest I’m not sure what to do myself. I’ve had suppliers calling me all week, dresses arriving for the models, requests for tickets, entries for the designer competition you arranged, you name it.” Mr Wills waved at the empty room a little helplessly. “I really hope you have a plan to decorate this place, or this will be the biggest flop of my fledgling career.”
Eve smiled genuinely this time. “Actually, I’ve had a great idea that I think will really catch people’s attention. Let’s sit down and talk.” She had thought it all through on the bus on the way in to town. People came to Heartside Bay to get married for one main reason. The whole reason the town existed in the first place.
“We should have a beach theme,” she said. “Striped awnings, deckchair seating, sand on the runway, wooden seagulls and fluffy clouds hanging from the ceiling, beach-type snacks for people to buy from the bar.” She wrote this down on a pad of paper Mr Wills had pushed across the table towards her. “Candyfloss would be good. And cupcakes and cups of tea in old china tea sets will make the whole theme come together beautifully. I’m sure we can find old teacups in a charity shop. Oh, and a wind machine to blow the fabric around, like a sea breeze.” She moved her hands in the air to demonstrate. “It’s a very attractive effect. I’ve seen it used in fashion shows. Do you have many entries for the dress designs?”
“Eve,” said Mr Wills, “where have you been staying?”
Eve was thrown by the sudden question. “With a friend,” she said, hoping he wouldn’t ask anything else. “I have the perfect prize for the best dress design too. An opportunity to
have the winning design made up by one of our local dressmakers. It’s great publicity for the dressmaker, so I’m sure they’d give us a good price. What do you think?”
“I think you need a good night’s sleep and a square meal,” said Mr Wills.
Eve wished people would stop being kind to her. It made everything so much harder.
“I had a good breakfast this morning, Mr Wills,” she said. She could still feel bacon fat coating the back of her tongue. “I’m fine. Now if you’re happy with all of that, I’ll make some calls and pull this whole event together. There’s a lot to do so I’d better start doing it.”
She grabbed her bag and headed for the door before Mr Wills could ask any more questions.
The sharp sea air gave her a much-needed boost. She hadn’t enjoyed the pity she’d seen in Rhi’s father’s eyes. No one pities me, she thought fiercely. This is going to be the best wedding show Heartside Bay has ever seen.
She marched towards the theatre on the pier. She had a wind machine to find.
Later in the afternoon, wind machine and tea sets sourced and delivered to the Heartbeat Café for the fashion show, Eve stood on the corner of her street and stared up at her house. The curtains were drawn. It had been almost a week since her father’s dramatic arrest, and interest had clearly waned. There wasn’t a reporter or a police officer in sight. She felt for the key around her neck, squeezing it tightly for reassurance.
I haven’t left you, Daddy, she thought. I haven’t forgotten.
Her throat clenched in longing at the thought of a hot shower, and a change of clothes. She’d left her suitcase at the cottage with Becca. Would they have turned the water off in the house? She needed to get inside to find out for herself. Then, clean and restored, with any luck she would find something from the kitchen cupboards to eat and locate the secret compartment in her father’s study. You mean the world to me, Evie.
She set off up the road towards the gates – then stopped. A police officer had appeared in the window of the house, talking into a walkie-talkie. In the background, Eve could see people lifting things off shelves and bagging them up. Feeling dismayed, she ducked into a large bush and wondered what to do. She couldn’t even walk up the driveway without being spotted by the people inside. How was she ever going to retrieve her father’s laptop?
If they’re still looking, they haven’t found it yet, she tried to tell herself. It didn’t feel very reassuring.
“Hello miss. What are you up to in that bush?”
Eve’s heart leaped into her mouth. An officer in a police community support bib was looking enquiringly at her.
“I … dropped my phone, sorry…”
She made a show of feeling around on the ground. The officer was watching her with sharp eyes.
“How old are you? Shouldn’t you be in school?”
Eve cursed under her breath. This was all she needed – a nosy police officer asking questions. She switched on her brightest smile.
“I’ve been away,” she said. “I’ll be back in school next week.”
“Away where, exactly?”
“Visiting family.” Eve wished her shoes weren’t so dirty. She could see the officer sizing her up.
“Don’t they have showers then, your family? You look like you’ve been living in that bush, love.”
“The bus broke down, I had to walk the last couple of miles,” Eve lied, improvising in some desperation. “Not the right kind of weather for suede shoes, is it? I don’t think these will ever recover.”
The officer looked at her feet, then back at her face. “Do you have a particular interest in the Somerstown house, miss?”
“No,” said Eve, backing away down the road. “Like I said, I just dropped my phone. I … I must be going. I’m expected at my friend’s house. I’ll be back at school on Monday, officer.”
“You do that,” the officer called after her as she fled down the road. “Don’t let me catch you around here again.”
Eve ran until she reached the beach, collapsing on the sea wall to catch her breath. She wanted to weep with frustration. She’d failed her dad again.
SIXTEEN
Eve’s feet had never hurt so much in her life. The back of the shoes chafed at her heels with every step she took. Wearing them without socks had been a mistake.
She got off the bus in the waning light and stared a little forlornly at the long stony track that would take her back to the cottage. Would Becca even be there? What would Eve do if she wasn’t? She felt hollow at the thought. She’d missed her today. Her good sense and her humour, her companionship, her green eyes and the way her chestnut hair framed her face like a picture. Becca would have known how to get inside the house without anyone seeing. Eve vowed to herself that she would talk to Becca about the laptop. If Becca was there.
If Becca had gone, there would probably be no food in the cottage because she would have taken it with her. It was a long time since breakfast. Eve would be lonely and hungry. A poor combination.
Eve gritted her teeth and started walking. With every step she took, a bolt of pain shot up her legs as the backs of her shoes rubbed against her blisters. To take her mind off her discomfort, she thought about Becca. All the confusion she had been feeling seemed to melt away as she got closer to the cottage.
If she’s there, I’m going to kiss her, she thought with a sudden rush of bravery. I’m going to tell her how I feel about her. She didn’t want to lose the only good thing in her life right now. Her heart would break altogether, she was sure of it.
A light was glimmering ahead, coming from the direction of the cottage. Suddenly Eve couldn’t feel the pain in her feet any more. Becca hadn’t left. Everything was going to be all right.
Someone was waiting a little further down the lane, silhouetted by the firelight flickering through the cottage windows. Eve’s heart thrilled. She quickened her weary step, suddenly desperate to hold Becca in her arms.
She stopped dead. It wasn’t Becca.
“Lila?” she said in astonishment.
Lila swung round. “Eve!” she said in relief. “You’re here!”
Eve felt utterly disorientated. Of all the people, Lila was the last person in the world she wanted to see right now. How had she found her?
“What are you doing here?” Eve asked warily.
“I tracked you down.”
Anger blazed in Eve’s heart. “Not enough to track my father down like a fox, you’ve come for me now? Leave me alone.”
“Please Eve, just listen to me,” Lila begged. “I’ve been riding that bus up and down this road for hours, trying to figure out where this cottage was that you told Rhi about. Then I thought of asking at the shop on the road and the shopkeeper guy told me it was down this way. I’m not here to make trouble. I’m trying to make peace.”
Eve tried to push past Lila so she could get to the cottage. Where was Becca? “I have nothing to say to you,” she snarled.
“Well, I have plenty to say to you,” Lila replied, following her. “What can I do to prove that I’m on your side, Eve? I’ll do anything!”
Eve hesitated. “Anything?”
“Anything. Name it and I’ll do it. Just give me a chance!”
Eve folded her arms. She felt safer that way. Then she looked Lila up and down, slow and cool. “I need you to break into my house,” she said.
Lila looked shocked. “Why?”
I’ve started this now, Eve thought. I have to finish it.
“My father is innocent,” she said out loud. “And there’s a laptop hidden in the house that will prove it. Help me to fetch it. Then I’ll know where your loyalties lie.”
Lila’s face whitened. “I can’t do that.”
Eve’s only hope was fading before it had even got off the ground. “I knew you were a liar,” she said coldly. “You aren’t on my side at all
.”
“I am! I’m here, aren’t I? Doesn’t that tell you anything?”
“Then prove it,” Eve shot back.
“Eve, do you know what you’re asking?” Lila pleaded. “My father’s a police officer, I know how this works. It’s called ‘perverting the course of justice’. It’s breaking the law.”
Eve couldn’t let this opportunity slip through her fingers. “My father is innocent,” she said stubbornly. “I can’t let him go to prison for something he didn’t do.”
Lila took a very deep breath. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this, but I’ll do it. I’ll help you. Satisfied?”
“Tomorrow night, six o’clock, my house,” Eve persisted. “Promise me you’ll be there.”
“OK.”
“Promise!”
Lila threw her hands in the air. “I promise!”
Eve wondered why she didn’t feel happier now she had extracted Lila’s promise to help her. It was probably because she was tired.
The cottage door creaked open. Eve swung round. Becca was standing there, looking quizzically at Lila and then at Eve. Eve’s stomach swooped.
“Hey,” Becca said. “What’s going on?”
Moments earlier Eve had pictured herself kissing Becca. Now she just felt uncomfortable and strangely guilty. “Nothing,” she said hurriedly. She started guiding Lila away from the cottage and back towards the track, the road and the bus. “Just … stuff.”
“Eve?” said Lila, looking at Becca. “Who is that?”
“No one. Just go,” Eve hissed at Lila. “Tomorrow, six o’clock. GO!”
“No one, am I?” said Becca a little caustically as Lila disappeared over the ridge and out of sight.
Eve realized what that must have sounded like. “I didn’t mean it like that,” she said lamely.
“So how did you mean it?” Becca enquired.
Eve couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Why hadn’t she introduced Becca to Lila? You’re ashamed of her, said the little voice in her head. She looked dumbly at Becca, willing her to understand what she didn’t seem able to voice out loud.