The second thing she’d managed to do was meet with Esme and get officially organised over the Christmas weekend. The plan was, Esme would deal with the majority of it… the bookings, the hotel sleeping arrangements, the catering, the agenda. She was going to hire in temporary chambermaids and a chef so she wasn’t having to do everything. It meant Olive was left with the easy task of planning the cocktail masterclasses, incorporating the Christmas recipes.
They both wanted to make sure it was fun. They wanted everyone to have a good time so it was something they would consider doing again in the future. Olive reckoned it would be a nice boost to the Salters’ income and, if that was the case, it would be well worth doing more frequently. All in all, the Gingle Bells retreat weekend sounded like it would be wonderful.
Olive was excited about the whole thing. It was the project she’d needed to put the spring back in her step. Knowing her health wasn’t in the awful state she’d thought it might be, somehow she was able to look forward to the event and Christmas much more.
Hopefully, tonight the rest of her uncertainties would vanish. The following Monday evening had come round all too quickly what with medical appointments getting in the way. She was meeting Tony by the Sunken Gardens once the Oakley West evening entertainment had begun.
Monday evening entertainment was a guy playing the piano. He came every week and was a delight to listen to, but Olive wished he would learn some new pieces. It was only possible to listen to the same piece of Beethoven so many times and remain happy about it. So, without the slightest bit of guilt, she slipped out of the musical muchness of a muchness to go off on her mission.
It felt weird to not be doing this with Veronica and Randy. She was so used to them being her sidekicks and they’d probably tell her off for doing it without her. But she’d agreed to do this with Tony, and if for some reason Richard and Skylar were heading down there for their dates (she really hoped not, unless it was an innocent explanation), she didn’t want anyone else knowing about the blossoming romance. If Richard hadn’t felt comfortable enough for his own mother to know about them dating, then it was too early to let the gossip wagon continue any further, even if it was the best bit of news she was holding on to.
Plus, Olive didn’t want the duo of their trio to know about her new purchase. If they knew she’d given in to advice they’d all want a go. Doing as the instruction manual had told her to, she switched the machine on and mounted it in the correct way, ready for the off. There were plenty of places to store her new machine at Oakley West, but she wasn’t going to leave it hanging about for other residents to come and tinker with. They would think it was Oakley West property and all want a go.
There were certain technicalities to get her head round. It was so entirely different to driving a car it was going to take some getting used to, but she hoped she would be able to fathom it enough to at least make her way to where she was meeting Tony.
It said on the information sheet that it was suitable for most terrains, so it should be able to handle the plush carpets and grass she might cross. Fortunately, most places were flat, other than the slopes down to the promenade, and she could always get Tony to do that bit if she was too worried. She asked him to meet her at the top of the slope just in case, and then they needed to decide where they were going to hide for their vigil.
Like all the best covert operations Olive had undertaken, this one required a rucksack with supplies. She packed extra layers in case it got cold, a thermos, snacks, and, as ventures with Randy and Veronica had taught her, it didn’t hurt to include a Stanley knife because there might be an unexpected need for one. Having prepared as much as possible, she was ready for the off, if she could work out how to go.
It was nowhere near as easy as putting one foot in front of the other. The controls would take some getting used to. She practised while it was still off, hoping that, somehow, a dummy run of sorts would help her out.
When she felt she was all set to go, she revved up the engine, although there wasn’t much of a rev involved, more of a purr, and she shot off at such a speed she almost overbalanced herself.
Stop. Slow down. Don’t go crashing.
They were pretty good mantras to go with. Getting used to a new way of getting around wasn’t going to be easy. She wasn’t used to hand controls and it was easy to feel like she might topple over. Not feeling entirely comfortable with heading out of the building, she decided to practise going along the wide hallway on her floor. She hoped none of the other residents spotted her, as they’d all be wanting a go, but she didn’t feel confident enough to rush out. It was a bit stop-start as she got used to the controls, but after several tries, she seemed to be getting a good rhythm.
Corners were the tricky bit, making sure she turned in the correct way so she ended up heading in the right direction and not into a wall, and stopping at the right time was also an art form. All in all, it was far trickier than the YouTube videos she’d studied led you to believe, but then the only ones she’d seen had young whippersnappers driving and they had no need for one at all, other than laziness. They should have had someone like her on there, giving a real-life demo and tutorial.
Sensing she was beginning to adjust and get used to her new toy, Olive braved heading to the lift. Once she’d managed to stop in the right place to press the call button, then manoeuvred herself into the lift, she knew the trickiest part was over and she’d manage getting down to meet Tony without a problem.
Heads turned as she whizzed through the lobby out into the open air, and she would have waved if she hadn’t been concentrating on keeping hold of the controls and not crashing. It was kind of imperative she didn’t crash so early on.
Outside it was a bit too dark for Olive’s liking and she’d not thought to read through all the instructions to find out if there was a light to switch on. Fortunately the street lighting was enough to light her way far enough to reach Tony.
The flat pavements were fine to negotiate, but crossing the road was another matter. She made sure there was no traffic at all before crossing, the kind of gap needed if a troupe of toddlers were about to cross the road, then she lined herself up so she was going up verges rather than crashing into a solid kerb. It had been some time since she drove. When her last car had given up the fight for life she was in her seventies and she’d decided not to get another. Not because she hadn’t felt able to drive, but she was using the car so little by that point, there seemed no reason to keep paying out for the upkeep. She’d forgotten how much concentration was required when in charge of a vehicle. She was more alert than she had been for ages. But already she knew she’d made the right decision. The expanse of path that would have taken her the best part of ten minutes and left her breathless, she was able to cut through with ease. Once she was more confident – and her confidence was already growing – life would be a lot easier.
‘Oh, Olive. Only you.’ Tony greeted her with a laughing smile.
The response was what Olive had been hoping for. Feeling brave, she circled Tony a couple of times to show off her new toy. ‘What do you think?’
Tony shook his head in what Olive had to hope was disbelief. ‘I think you’re destined to spend your life as a trendsetter. Aren’t you supposed to wear a helmet with one of those things?’
Olive parked herself so she didn’t make them both dizzy. ‘I guess they were all wearing one on the YouTube videos. I’ll have to get one, although it might entirely ruin my street cred.’
‘You’re the only eighty-four-year-old I know with street cred. And you’re definitely the only person I know who owns a Segway.’
‘Want a go?’ Olive offered, dismounting.
‘Of course.’
Olive gave Tony a quick tutorial on how to operate her new granny mobile. It was easy enough for Tony to get it pretty much straightaway with a few practice runs along the path to the promenade.
Tony came to a halt by Olive. ‘You’ll definitely have to get a helmet and you should re
ally get knee pads and elbow pads as well. Richard would have a hernia if he saw you shooting along without any protection.’
‘Consider it on order. Now, would you mind driving it down the slope? I don’t feel confident enough to tackle that just yet. We’ll just have to walk it down if you don’t feel brave enough either.’
‘My pleasure,’ Tony said before moving in the right direction. He was obviously a natural. ‘Just don’t tell Esme. I don’t think she’d class any of this as recuperation.’
Olive reached the top of the slope ready to follow on. At least going downhill wasn’t one of the things making her breathless.
‘Here we go,’ Tony said, starting his descent.
And with a great big wwwwhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee all the way down the slope, Tony acted like one of his teenage boys going for the ride of his life.
And as fortune would have it, there was no crash landing. Only every youth frequenting the beach, who shouldn’t have been there at that time of night, stopping their chatter to gawp at a middle-aged man and old lady laughing more in ten minutes than they had in their entire lifetimes.
Chapter Twelve
If Tony and Olive had been going for incognito, they’d definitely have blown it. Never had more noise been made with an entrance to the beach. Even though their huts were several hundred yards along the promenade, there was every chance, if someone was squatting in Olive’s hut tonight, they’d have heard their arrival.
‘We’re never going to make super sleuths,’ Olive said, laughing some more.
Tony had dismounted the Segway, his laughter too frequent to allow him to keep his balance. ‘Look, I think we’ve scared them.’
The group of teens, who’d been huddled round an illegal campfire (they weren’t allowed on the beaches), were all gathering their things ready to leave.
To be fair, Olive reckoned a couple of adults turning up looking like they might be mall cops would put her off hanging around for a teenage-angst soiree. ‘Maybe our trespasser will put the noise down to them. Because, if not, we’re likely to have scared them off as well as those youngsters.’
Because it was dark, and the lighting wasn’t so great, it was hard to see the youths as they sloped off. However, call it familiarity, but Olive was pretty certain she recognised three of the figures.
They were heading away from them and, if it was Tony’s boys, she wasn’t about to point them out, but the moment Tony mounted the Segway again, she knew he’d spotted them too.
It was such a shame Olive wasn’t able to request a backie. Tony didn’t have to go far to reach the group, though, and Olive soon caught up. The conversation had obviously got past the ‘Dad, you’re so emmmbarasssssing’ stage and moved on to what the boys were doing there.
‘We always come here after football practice,’ Noah said, probably annoyed at his dad for showing him up in front of his mates. He might have reached eighteen, but there was still room for a parent to embarrass his child.
‘Does your mother know?’
‘Does Mum know you’re out?’ Noah said, quick to pick up on the fact that Tony was also bending the familial rules.
‘Not exactly.’
‘Not exactly?’ Noah parroted.
‘Not exactly, as in no. Perhaps we could all keep this on the down low. Your mum doesn’t need to know anything. Just as long as you lot aren’t getting yourself in trouble.’
‘Says the man Segwaying down a slope at a hundred miles an hour. Can we have a go?’ Aiden asked.
‘It’s not mine… this is Olive’s.’
Olive wasn’t keen on letting lots of people try it out. Its purpose was to get her about, and if too many people mucked around with it, it would soon get broken.
‘Can we, Olive?’
They weren’t the runaway delinquent teenagers on the beach that Olive had thought they might have been. The Salter boys were good, even if they did hang out at the beach without permission after football practice. She wasn’t sure about the other three boys with them, but she guessed they were all from the same team. They’d even been responsible enough to put the fire out when leaving the beach, but she wasn’t sure if she would trust any of them on a new piece of equipment she still needed to sort the insurance out for.
‘Have any of you been drinking?’ Olive hoped they hadn’t as she didn’t want to get the boys in trouble with their dad, but she was also wise enough to know the kind of behaviour teenagers might get up to when they were hanging out on a beach and avoiding their parents.
All six boys shook their heads to say no.
Good, that was one less thing for Tony to have to worry about.
‘Drugs?’ The word slipped out of Olive’s mouth with thoughts of what teens got up to. She really hoped not, otherwise the agreement not to tell Esme would be well and truly over.
‘Nope,’ Aiden said, with all the others agreeing.
‘Hmmm… okay, how many of you have got a driving license?’
A couple of the lads shook their heads.
‘I have,’ Aiden said.
‘Me too,’ another of the lads said.
‘No, you don’t,’ Noah said.
‘Yeah, I do.’
‘I don’t think provisional licenses count,’ Aiden said.
‘Full licenses only,’ Olive said, finally landing on a way to prevent all of them from wanting a whizz around and surely smashing it in one way or another. ‘So, Aiden can have a go, but on one condition.’
‘That I don’t tell Mum you’re getting Dad into trouble. I thought that was the condition.’ Aiden could be too smart for his own good at times.
‘The condition is that you let me and your dad hang out with you for a while on the beach.’
‘Soooo uncool,’ one of Aiden’s friends protested.
‘Hang on a second, sonny. Who’s the one with the Segway?’
‘And she’s invented the Gin Shack. She’s the coolest person you’re ever going to meet, Jack.’ Tony obviously knew the lads even if Olive didn’t. ‘So why do you want to hang out with them, Olive?’
‘We need a lookout place, don’t we? And there’s not exactly anywhere inconspicuous for us to hide ourselves unless we’re planning on pretending to be a couple of crabs hidden among the rocks. I figured, give us a couple of hoodies and we can make out like we’re one of the yoofs.’
‘What do you need a lookout for?’ Noah asked.
‘Olive thinks there’s someone squatting at her beach hut. We thought we’d try and see if we could catch anyone going in.’
‘So, will you help us out?’ Olive was hopeful that they’d join in rather than thinking they were just a couple of oldies out to cramp their style.
‘Yep, just as long as we’re all allowed to have a go on your Segway once we have our licenses.’ The boys’ negotiating skills were strong.
Olive was going to have to agree to them all having a go, but at least it might be over a few years rather than them all having a go this evening. ‘Deal.’
‘Right, let’s hide it for now,’ Aiden said.
‘I thought you wanted to have a go?’ Tony said.
‘Not after seeing you come down that slope. I’ll wait till there’s some daylight and I have a crash helmet on, thanks.’
Who’d have thought it would end up being the yoof being more sensible than their parents. It was bound to happen at some point, Olive guessed.
‘Where we staking out then?’ Noah asked.
‘We need to be further along the beach, near our row of huts.’
Down on the sands again, Olive now swamped in a hoodie, she did her best to swagger along, yoof-like. She was probably walking more like she’d had a hip replacement than she ever had. It turned out being hip meant strutting like she had a bad hip.
Still, they had to appear fairly inconspicuous and the only other way to do it was to pretend to be fishermen hoping for a late-night catch. At least this way they could huddle and chatter without drawing attention to themselves.
/> They’d picked a suitable spot, near to the steps up to the promenade in case they wanted to escape relatively quickly. Within five minutes, Olive cracked open her rucksack supplies.
It was unlikely a group of lads on the beach would have a thermos full of tea to share with their mates, but it could have been prep for jagerbombers as far as anyone else looking on would be able to tell.
It turned out she’d also packed enough snacks for them all to have something. It was possible she overprepared for these trips, but one could never have enough snacks as far as Olive was concerned, although she felt sorry for the lad who ended up with the pack of squashed chocolate raisins. They looked like they could have been something else appearing from Olive’s bag of tricks. When the rucksack was empty of anything else squashable, Olive used it as a cushion, the extra clothes she had inside providing a soft pad for her bottom.
‘How do you think they’re getting in your hut then?’ Noah asked.
‘There’s no forced entry. They must have a key.’ Olive bit off half her Twix finger in one go. She always ate too fast when she was nervous, and despite being round a bunch of strapping lads, she was still worried about her little beach hut being misused. She didn’t have a life partner any more, but if places could be legitimate partners for life, then her little beach hut was hers. It had been her constant companion for many years. It was reliable on a level no human ever could be. And while it would never beat actual interactions with the friends and family in her life, she had a bond with the place like it was part of her DNA.
Christmas at the Gin Shack Page 8