‘Good morning, Mia!’
She spotted Jack Nelson up ahead and waved his way. Jack, like many of the older generation in Sunset Bay, had been close friends with Grandma Dolly, which was how Mia had come to know him. When Grandma Dolly had passed away, the townsfolk were devastated, but they’d supported Mia through it all, bringing pies and stews to the cottage. ‘We’re here if you need anything,’ they’d all told her with sincerity in their eyes while lingering on the doorstep. She often crossed paths with Jack early in the morning, their meetings always accompanied by his bouncy black Labrador. Willie honed in on his first victim of the day. He greeted everyone in the same frantic manner, and to Mia’s dismay he began bounding towards her with his hind legs kicking up the sand.
‘Willie! Down boy!’ yelled Jack, shielding his eyes with his gnarled hands. He brandished his walking stick in the air and wiggled it about with a fierce determination, as if that would stop Willie in his tracks, but it didn’t work and they’d both known it wouldn’t. Once Willie set his mind to something there was no stopping him.
Mia braced herself as the blur of black fur continued towards her, quickly closing the distance between them. His ears flapped and his tail wagged manically. ‘Willie, no …’ she whispered in horror as she braced herself for the inevitable impact. Given the speed Willie was running at, he’d send her flying if he didn’t slow down or stop, the latter being preferable, but her quiet wish went unnoticed and Willie took the final leap. His front paws slammed into her chest with such force that she flew back onto the sand and landed with an almighty ‘Ooof!’
‘Bloody dog!’ Jack roared, approaching as quickly as his little legs would carry him. ‘Never listens to a word I say.’ When he finally reached Mia’s side, he tugged Willie back by his collar and held a hand towards her to help her back onto her feet.
‘Oh, he’s fine!’ Mia laughed as she accepted Jack’s hand and returned to an upright position. She brushed her backside free of sand as Willie whined beside his owner. His strength tugged Jack’s hand back and forth as he tried his best to keep a tight grip on the collar to prevent another tumble. ‘He’s just happy to see me, aren’t you, boy?’ She gave Willie’s head a good scratch, unable to be angry as she looked into his chocolate-drop eyes, then tightened her long, brown ponytail and smiled at Jack. ‘Well, I’d better carry on,’ she said brightly.
‘Righto, Mia. I’ll be in for my breakfast soon!’ Jack patted his stomach then whistled for Willie to follow him. The two of them headed back towards town while Mia jogged in the opposite direction, smiling to herself. It might have only been a simple life in Sunset Bay, but it was a life that made her feel endlessly content.
***
Fighting against the temptation to stop and walk, Mia pushed herself onwards and jogged back across the stretch of sand, hurried beneath the pier and followed the uneven path that led back up to town with the rocks crunching beneath her trainers. When she arrived at Honeysuckle Cottage, she leant against the fence and allowed herself a few moments’ break while she waited for an oncoming stitch to pass. It seemed the delights of Dolly’s Diner were taking their toll on her fitness, no matter how often she exercised.
The street on which Honeysuckle Cottage sat seemed a world away from her childhood home in Richmond, London, which had been a three-bedroom, modern townhouse complete with garage and a large, neat driveway. Her mother, Marnie Chapman, was a stickler for tidiness and believed that everything had its place. Each and every item was dusted and polished to within an inch of its life. Mia didn’t mind tidiness at all, but there was something obsessive about how her mother handled the cleaning; quite obsessive was how Marnie Chapman handled everything, come to think of it.
In contrast, Honeysuckle Cottage was crammed and cramped with shelves full of knick-knacks, and rooms positively bursting with charm and character. Honeysuckle Row itself was a closed-in, quiet cul-de-sac, with three cottages either side of the road and two sitting snug at the bottom with the sea visible behind them.
Beneath the ground-floor windows, troughs filled with an abundance of wildflowers hung sweetly. They were wild, free, and vivid in colour, blossoming beautifully in the sunshine. She’d always preferred this to the identical, bland townhouses of the street she’d grown up on. The lack of order and neatness was more charming than untidy, exactly how you’d expect a cottage by the sea to appear.
After stepping inside, picking up a pile of post and discarding it on the rickety table beside the front door, Mia hurried up the stairs. The only thing she had on her mind was a cold shower. Afterwards, she dried her hair, tugged on her Dolly’s Diner uniform and smoothed it down against her thighs. She slipped on the white plimsolls and left the cottage, ready to begin another day in Sunset Bay. Leaving Honeysuckle Row, she headed towards the busier part of town, where the Cobbler’s Pub, Minnie’s Cornish pasty shop and the newsagents could be found nestled along the street.
When she approached Dolly’s Diner a short time after, she eyed the white exterior and tried to picture it years ago, back in 1951 when it had first opened its doors to the public. Grandma Dolly had told the tale of Dolly’s Diner’s birth numerous times throughout the years Mia had spent with her.
The diner had begun life in Sunset Bay as an abandoned petrol station which had gone out of business when the owner had upped and left. Apparently, Grandma Dolly had passed by the station plenty of times and the more she’d looked at it, the clearer the vision in her mind had become. Grandpa Robert had been in love with Grandma Dolly since the first day he’d set eyes on her, when they’d passed each other by chance on the beach. They’d quickly grown fond of each other’s company.
Grandma Dolly had been fascinated by the original American diners, so much so that her life’s dream had been to open up her very own in Sunset Bay. There’d been no way on earth that she’d have been able to afford the premises herself as she’d only worked part-time in the newsagent’s, but little did Grandma know that Grandpa Robert had friends in quite a few places.
One night, as they’d been returning from a dance over in the next town with a bunch of friends, Grandpa Robert had stopped the car in the petrol station’s car park and switched off the engine. Grandma Dolly always laughed and said she’d readied herself to give him a swift slap if he’d gone there to try something ‘rude’ with her. Grandpa Robert had climbed out of the car, walked around to open the passenger door and held out his hand for her to take as she’d stepped out, in true gentlemanly fashion. He’d pulled a key from out of his pocket and slotted it into the keyhole. He’d pushed the door open wide and stepped inside, beckoning for Grandma Dolly to follow him. Inside, he’d got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. After she’d cried out a very emotional ‘yes’ in reply to his proposal, he had slipped the engagement ring onto her finger and slipped the key into the pocket of her cardigan. He’d bought the premises for her. It had taken a while for Grandma Dolly to transform the place into the vision she’d had in her mind, but she’d managed to get there with the help of her beloved. They’d married quickly and moved into Honeysuckle Cottage as soon as they’d been able to.
As Mia approached the diner now, she spotted the familiar figures standing outside talking among themselves happily. Her heart sang at the sight of them. Even if she’d been able to choose, she wouldn’t have been able to pick a better bunch of friends to work alongside. They each brought their own unique personalities to the diner and without them it wouldn’t be the same.
‘Morning, gang!’ she called cheerily with a little wave. They were all there. Marco and Cal, the cooks, and Pollyanna, the waitress. They were a small team but they worked brilliantly together and surprisingly slid through the busy periods with ease. ‘How are we this morning?’ Her fingertips were already touching the key in the pocket of her dress, eager to get inside. ‘Ready to rock and roll?’
‘Aren’t we always?’ Pollyanna giggled as she adjusted the mint-green bow nestled among her blonde curls. Th
e bow matched the colour of their knee-length dresses perfectly. ‘Can I pick the first track on the jukebox?’ she asked sweetly, clapping her hands together in a prayer pose and pouting her rosebud lips. ‘Pretty, pretty please?’
‘Go on then.’ Mia laughed as she pushed open the door. ‘Are you both okay?’ She directed the question towards Marco and Cal as they passed her by.
They nodded. Cal offered her a grin which, even after being audience to it a billion times, made her knees go weak. The man was indescribably handsome, there was no denying it. If he’d worked out front rather than behind the scenes in the kitchen with Marco, she’d never be able to get a thing done, she was sure of it. His deep-green eyes, mocha hair and chiselled jaw formed a very attractive man, a man who could easily distract a woman just by merely being present. It wasn’t only his appearance that drew Mia in, though. Beneath the dreamy exterior, Cal was a genuinely nice man. He was caring, sincere, loyal and ridiculously childish sometimes, which made her laugh endlessly. She caught a whiff of his aftershave as he slipped by and managed to catch herself before audibly inhaling.
When Cal had first arrived in Sunset Bay, Mia had spotted him sitting in one of the booths on a miserable Monday morning. He’d been staring into a cup of cold coffee wordlessly. She’d approached with caution and asked quietly if he wanted a refill, instantly wanting to back away from the gloominess surrounding him. She had no idea of what to say to a complete stranger who looked so sad. When he’d glanced up at the sound of her voice, she’d swallowed quickly, taken aback by the intensity of his gaze, his unwavering line of sight, not forgetting his ridiculously good looks. A slow smile had crept onto his mouth and he’d nodded, inviting her to sit with him when she returned with the coffee jug. It hadn’t been busy, Monday mornings never saw the staff rushed off their feet, so she’d agreed and they’d got talking. He’d had his heart broken by his childhood sweetheart, who’d apparently told him, after being inseparable since their teens, that she wanted different things and didn’t want to be tied down. Cal had moved to Sunset Bay on the recommendation of his parents who had lived there for almost thirty years. Bizarrely, after just half an hour of chit-chat with Cal, Mia had been captivated by him. She’d barely taken her eyes off him throughout the entirety of their conversation, even when she’d sipped at her own coffee that he’d poured for her with amusement when she’d taken the seat opposite. He’d been in desperate need of a job, and the diner had been in need of an extra cook to give Marco some relief on the weekends. As fate would have it, Cal had worked in a few eateries beforehand and had some experience. Turned out he’d just been being modest because he was actually a dab-hand in the kitchen, almost putting Marco to shame. He’d been there ever since, now a part of the furniture as well as a part of Mia’s life, too.
As they’d grown closer and she’d seen the other sides to Cal, the more sensitive side being one of her favourites, she’d quickly became attracted to him. There was something that pulled her towards him. His easy charm, his winning smile, his sense of humour? She wasn’t sure. Perhaps it had been a combination of all of those things. She’d spent hours at home, wondering if Cal could possibly feel the same way about her, obsessed over it almost, questioning every smile he directed her way, every accidental touch. He was nothing like the other men she’d had in her life, childish and commitment-phobes. He genuinely cared about her, worried for her, and when Grandma Dolly had passed away, he’d comforted her, made her hot soup on the cold nights and held her whenever she’d cried. That was when Mia had fallen in love with him, she was sure of it. When he’d scooped her up and held her tightly until her broken pieces had slotted back together. She’d felt like they’d had a connection and was sure it would lead to them finally becoming a couple, but then the rug had been completely whipped from beneath her feet and Hannah had stepped onto the scene. Her hopes had disappeared immediately. She’d taken one glance at Hannah and known she didn’t stand a chance. So she’d backed off, refused to ponder any more on the subject, except her heart hadn’t refused to step away so quickly. Quite honestly she’d been gutted, but in truth, she supposed it was safer this way, because then she’d never be able to get let down. She’d been let down before and it had hurt, by someone she’d trusted infinitely. She couldn’t go there again. She still had deep feelings for Cal, would still sometimes find him watching her and wonder what was going through his mind. She’d tried to put the thoughts of him to rest but they refused to be silenced, and so every time she saw him those thoughts grew wild and frantic with excitement. She was glad she had the diner to keep her busy, to keep her mind on other things besides him.
Pollyanna arrived in front of the jukebox and bounced up and down as she nibbled her bottom lip in thought. Her fingers prodded the buttons and within seconds the tune of a jaunty track filled every corner of the diner. ‘I love this song so much!’ Her shoulders wiggled in time to the music and she turned round with a beatific smile in place.
Mia stood behind the bubble-gum-blue serving counter setting up the till for the day ahead and placing all of the napkin and straw holders in a line, ready to be filled once the till had been dealt with. The sound of deep laughter travelled through from behind the kitchen doors as the men got to work inside, preparing the breakfast menu. Pollyanna, still jiggling about, bopped round the counter to arrive beside Mia and began refilling the waiting containers as she sang along to the catchy tune in a honey-sweet voice.
‘Ready for another day?’ Mia asked good-naturedly. She nudged Pollyanna with her shoulder, making the waitress smile. Despite Pollyanna being quite a bit younger than her, Mia adored the waitress’s company and found it difficult to be anything but cheerful when in her presence. It was all changing soon though because Pollyanna was leaving Sunset Bay to indulge in some travelling before heading off to university. A sadness arose whenever Mia thought too much about losing their much-loved waitress to the big, wide world.
‘I’m always ready for another day,’ Pollyanna replied gleefully with a playful bump back and an understanding smile. ‘And I’ll miss you, too.’
Copyright
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd.
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First published in Great Britain by HQ in 2017
Copyright © Rebecca Pugh 2017
Rebecca Pugh asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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E-book Edition © May 2017 ISBN: 978-0-00-820520-1
Right Here Waiting for You Page 18