Walking away, Jason glanced back at the figure sitting at the edge of the cliff, her escaped hair flying around her face. He’d promised himself he’d be polite, less stand-offish, next time he saw her, and he had. More than that – he’d shared coffee; had a conversation.
Retracing his steps along the path, Jason sighed. He didn’t want to like this purveyor of New Age rubbish, but it was quite hard not to.
Chapter Four
A couple of days later, it was the other member of the Craig family that Claudia bumped into when she went down to the beach after locking up – she needed fresh air before thinking about yoga and dinner. This wasn’t something that Pudding approved of, since it delayed his dinner… but he thought any time was mealtime.
Sitting on a rock, staring out to sea, it wasn’t long before Claudia heard the scuffling of boots in the sand.
She smiled at Millie. ‘Hi.’ Sensing her awkwardness, Claudia patted the rock next to her. ‘Take a seat. Your dad not with you?’
‘He’s at home, glaring at his laptop, trying to get himself up to speed before Monday. He keeps shoving his hands in his hair, making it stick out on end. I decided to give him some space.’
‘Very wise.’
Claudia’s encounter with Jason earlier that week had left her feeling that although they had broken the ice a little, there was still a distinct layer of frost underneath. She wasn’t sure whether that was down to his natural reserve, his disapproval of her shop, or that he simply didn’t like her. It could be all three, she supposed. But he’d tried to be polite, which was better than nothing.
‘Is there anything you have to do before school on Monday?’ she asked Millie.
‘Nope, just turn up and hope for the best, I suppose.’
‘At least it’s not an exam year.’
‘Hmmph.’ Millie wrapped her arms around her knees. ‘You’re at the beach a lot.’
Claudia noted the not-so-subtle change of subject. ‘I think it would be more accurate to say I’m in my shop a lot and squeeze the beach into every other spare moment. I find it therapeutic.’
Millie gave her a curious look. ‘You mean like if you’re ill?’
Claudia smiled. ‘A lungful of sea air and negative ions never go amiss if you’re not feeling well. But I mean mentally. If I’m tired or upset or unhappy, I let the waves lull me into a kind of trance. I always feel calm and centred afterwards.’ She glanced sideways at her companion. ‘Want to try it?’
Millie shrugged her indifference. ‘Okay.’
‘Keep your eyes on the waves,’ Claudia directed her quietly. ‘Follow their white tips as they come in, as they crest; watch them foam as they fizzle out then swoop back to start all over again. Be aware of their rhythm. Listen to it. Try to block out anything else.’
Claudia didn’t hold out much hope – this was hardly an exciting pastime for a fourteen-year-old.
But, as with the stone-skimming, Millie persevered, and it was a good few minutes before she shifted uncomfortably on her rock and complained, ‘My bum’s getting sore.’
‘Mine too, and I’ve got more padding than you! Did you enjoy the waves?’
Millie allowed her a small, grudging nod.
‘I’m lucky,’ Claudia said. ‘I can hear the sea from my flat. Maybe you could download the sound onto your phone? It might help you sleep.’
‘Maybe.’ Millie stood. ‘I’d better get back to Dad. He’ll worry if I stay out too long.’
‘It’s a pity he’s stuck inside working on a lovely evening like this.’
‘Yeah. I suppose it’s not easy for him, starting at a new company.’
It was good that Millie had some sympathy for her father, Claudia thought, but she sensed their relationship wasn’t easy. It must have been hard, adjusting to being just the two of them.
‘It’s a long way from Edinburgh,’ Claudia said carefully. ‘Did you fancy somewhere new as much as your dad?’
‘Yes. Things weren’t good at school. I… I didn’t behave very well after Mum died, and my friends got fed up with me being weird. Gran and Grandad – Mum’s parents – live in Devon, so Dad suggested we move south to be nearer to them.’
Claudia’s respect for Jason went up a notch. He was putting himself through a lot of upheaval and self-sacrifice for his daughter’s sake.
‘I was glad to get away,’ Millie mumbled. ‘Only now we’re here, it’s a bit…’
‘Daunting?’
‘Yeah. Dad wants me to make friends and do well at school.’
Not unreasonable wishes. ‘But?’
‘But I might let him down, mightn’t I? Anyway, see you later.’
Claudia watched Millie retreat in the fading light, a thin figure in black skinny jeans, the heavy boots looking ginormous in comparison, and sighed. But as she brushed off sand, she reminded herself that she didn’t know these people, and she shouldn’t interfere.
‘I’ve been asking around,’ Evelyn said over Sunday coffee. ‘But it’s got me nowhere.’
Claudia smiled. Evelyn was not one to be thwarted when it came to knowing what was going on in Porthsteren. Between her and Libby, who needed social media?
‘About what in particular?’ Claudia asked, since Evelyn inevitably had her gossip finger in several pies.
‘The new shop. I asked Ian again. All he’s heard is that it’s retail.’
‘Not a café, then.’ Claudia breathed a sigh of relief on her neighbours’ behalf.
Sarah patted her partner’s hand. ‘It’s driving Evie nuts. I’ve told her to put her energies into keeping our own business afloat, but…’
Claudia frowned at this seemingly throwaway line. ‘Is the Page Turner struggling?’
Sarah played with a button on her shirt. ‘Struggling is too strong a word, but I’d be lying if I said things were buoyant. Takings are down from the same time last year.’ She sighed. ‘Let’s face it, the second-hand book trade isn’t what it was. We had a thriving business for years, but then digital came in, and people prefer new over old. We’ve been in this position before, only this time we don’t have another rabbit in our hats.’
‘Rabbit?’
‘Opening the café to draw people in,’ Evelyn explained.
‘The trend for recycling’s helped the book side a bit,’ Sarah admitted. ‘But not enough. It’s the café that keeps us going nowadays, and we’re rather weather-dependent for that.’ She gestured around the terrace.
Claudia thought about the mystery surrounding the new shop. What if it was an independent bookstore? Somewhere selling shiny new books wouldn’t bode well for Sarah and Evelyn… although Claudia would have thought a shop like that would get enough business all year round, so why the six-month lease?
‘Could you increase the indoor café area? Decrease the books?’ Claudia asked, her heart sinking at the thought.
‘Then we’d be running a café and not a bookshop any more. It was our love of books that brought Evie and me together.’
Claudia remembered them telling her how they’d met at university, when Sarah was an exchange student. Love at first sight over the library stacks.
‘Is Healing Waves doing okay?’ Evelyn asked her.
‘I make enough to get by. I’m looking forward to the summer trade, though.’ Claudia smiled. ‘And no doubt by the time summer’s over, I’ll be grateful for a chance to catch up, clear out, restock.’
Sarah frowned. ‘You work long hours, running it on your own.’
‘Yes, but I’ll do whatever it takes, because I can’t imagine things not working out for me here.’
‘Hi. What’ve you got there?’
It was Sunday night, and Jason had decided that Millie had been holed up in her room for too long. He needed to know that she was okay before her big day tomorrow.
She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, a spread of cards across the duvet. ‘Nothing.’ Casting him a guilty look, she scooped them up.
‘I can’t take an interest?’
‘You’ll only be sarcastic.’
‘Why don’t you try me?’ He stepped closer, frowning. ‘You bought tarot cards?’
‘They’re not tarot cards.’ His daughter was immediately on the defensive. Actually, she was always on the defensive – it was just a question of degrees.
‘Look like it to me.’ He picked up the box. ‘Oracle cards. Same thing.’
‘No, they’re not. Claudia explained.’
Claudia Bennett. Healing Waves. I might have known. ‘Oh, she did, did she?’
‘Yes. Not that there’s any harm in tarot cards, but these are different.’ Millie glared at him. ‘You know I could have hidden these from you, right? I could have only used them when you’re out, or in bed.’
Jason sighed. She was right. ‘I don’t want you hiding things from me, Millie, but you know I hate this kind of thing.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Alright. Tell me about oracle cards.’ Perching on the bed, he prepared to listen. Opening his mind was a step too far, but you couldn’t have everything.
When Millie had finished, Jason couldn’t say he felt any better about it. Okay, they weren’t tarot cards, but all this drivel about the cards sending you messages and answering your questions?
He reached out to pick one up, but Millie slapped his hand away.
‘You can’t touch them. I already cleansed them.’
The image of his daughter running a pack of cards under a tap flitted across his brain. ‘You what?’
‘You have to cleanse them, so they’re attuned to your energies. That’s what this is for.’ She waved a pink crystal at him.
‘I see. Well. I’ll leave you to it.’
Her expression betraying relief that her father wasn’t going to blow a gasket, Millie turned back to her new acquisition, picking up the little book that came with the cards and leafing through it.
Jason managed to get all the way down the stairs and out onto the decking before he released the breath he’d been holding, and a squawk of suppressed rage with it.
What the hell did that woman think she was playing at, spouting this kind of crap to his daughter – a bereaved young girl in desperate need of comfort – and taking her pocket money into the bargain?
Millie might have thought he’d taken it lying down, but Claudia was going to find out exactly what he thought about it.
Jason’s first day at work did not go well. It would have helped if people realised that, as he was new and not psychic, they should pass vital information on to him so he didn’t look totally incompetent in front of the client. Since he couldn’t take his bad mood out on his new colleagues – yet – he’d built up a shed-load of pent-up anger by the end of the day.
Getting away from a site meeting earlier than expected, he figured he could finish his working day at home, where he couldn’t kill anyone with a look or by any other means. Driving along the Porthsteren beach road, he had to pass Healing Waves, and having already planned to tackle Claudia…
He’d parked up and barged through the door before he could stop himself. Thwarted by the presence of another customer, he reined in his impatience, hovering by the oracle cards, frowning with deep disapproval, then moving on to pick up the mermaid hugging the dragon again. For pity’s sake.
The minute the customer left, he approached the counter. ‘I’d like a word.’
Claudia’s mouth turned down at the corners, presumably in response to his tone of voice. ‘How can I help?’
‘You can help by keeping your bizarre ideas away from my daughter. Stop trying to influence her, and stop selling her weird stuff. That child has been through a traumatic time, and she’s still struggling to find her way through it. I don’t want her head filled with mumbo-jumbo.’ He swept his arm around the shop to make his point. ‘Do I make myself clear?’
‘Crystal clear.’ Claudia returned his gaze, her golden eyes cooling. ‘Have you quite finished?’
‘That depends on whether you’ll do as I ask.’
He could see it on her face – whether to remain polite or whether to let him have it.
She opted for the latter.
‘Then let me be clear. I don’t do the bidding of someone I barely know. I don’t do the bidding of anyone at all unless their request is reasonable and polite. And I don’t do the bidding of a person who is on my property, insulting my business. If you don’t like Healing Waves, feel free to stay away. As for Millie, all I’ve sold her is an inexpensive necklace and a pack of oracle cards. She asked me about them, so I explained. That’s what one does with customers. I wouldn’t call it influencing her.’ She jerked a thumb sideways. ‘Are you going to have a go at next door’s for selling paperbacks to her, or are you reserving all your obnoxious disapproval just for me?’
Taken aback by the vehemence of her defensive outburst, Jason muttered, ‘I’d hardly call paperbacks the same as this stuff.’
‘Depends on the subject matter, doesn’t it? And what you mean by “this stuff”, I’m not sure. Have you had a proper look around before shooting your mouth off?’
‘I’ve seen enough.’
‘You’ve been in here twice, for a couple of minutes, and you’ve only seen what you want to see, to prove the opinion you hold.’
She was making him sound like some prehistoric, small-minded bigot, when he was only looking out for his daughter. Jason didn’t like it.
‘I don’t call it unreasonable to not want Millie involved with tarot cards or believing rocks have magic powers.’
Claudia gave him an exasperated look. ‘I don’t sell tarot cards, but not for the reasons you think. They’re oracle cards. As for the amethyst, would you complain if Millie had bought a necklace with wooden beads instead? Can’t you just see it as jewellery?’
‘It’s what you’re telling her about them. Filling her head with all this spiritual healing nonsense. It’s irresponsible. Can’t you find a better way to earn a living?’
Jason knew he’d gone too far with that. He should never have come in here after the rubbish day he’d had. His legs wanted him to leave it there – he’d delivered the perfect line to stalk out on.
But Claudia’s eyes, now a very cool amber, held him like a fish on a hook.
‘Mr Craig. I don’t sell anything I haven’t personally experienced as helpful. Nothing “dark”, nothing “occult”. Open your eyes and take a look at the ordinary things I sell. Soap, candles, wall art. Bags, tunics. Ornaments – because that’s all they are, those fantasy figures you keep glaring at. Would you complain if they were squirrels or flowers? As for spouting spiritual healing nonsense, you are way off base.’ She took her strident tone down a notch. ‘I’m genuinely sorry for your and Millie’s loss. But Millie seems able to talk to me, and I have no intention of telling her she isn’t welcome at Healing Waves. I’ll leave that to you.’ She let out a long breath. ‘Before you rescue us both from this miserable conversation by leaving, let me ask you this. If Millie buys a necklace that I tell her might help with anxiety, and she wears it and believes it and feels less anxious – about her new school, say – then why, as her father, wouldn’t you be happy about that, whether you believe it or not?’
Jason opened his mouth, but a clever comeback escaped him. He was saved by the jangling of the doorbell heralding another customer.
Claudia stood her ground for a brief moment, then turned to the woman approaching the counter, giving him the opportunity to leave.
Safely back in his car, he allowed his head to drop down onto the steering wheel. Well done, Jason.
A moment after Jason had left, Sarah came into Healing Waves and waited patiently while Claudia served her customer, then said, ‘What was that all about?’
‘You have to ask? I’d’ve thought you and your customers heard every word!’
‘No customers this late in the day. Evie’s closing up. We heard a racket through the wall, then Evie saw Millie’s dad stomping off. Are you okay? Do you need tea?’
‘No, I’m not. And yes, please. Although it�
�ll take more than tea to rid myself of that conversation.’
Claudia flipped the ‘Closed’ sign, then followed Sarah to the Page Turner, plonking herself down on a stool at the counter and murmuring her thanks as Evelyn pushed Earl Grey towards her. Her hands were shaking, causing Jason Craig to go down another notch in her estimation. Claudia didn’t like anybody having that effect on her.
‘What did the shouty man have a bee in his bonnet about?’ Evelyn asked.
‘Apparently, I’m a bad influence on his daughter.’
‘Why? What did you do?’
‘Sold her goods he didn’t approve of. Oracle cards.’
‘Ah.’
‘She asked me about them,’ Claudia said, defensive. ‘I was very careful, but she was drawn to the pack. There’s no age censorship on them. How was I to know her father would go mad about it?’
‘He seemed so nice when he came in here,’ Evelyn said sadly.
‘You sell books,’ Claudia pointed out. ‘Which are harmless, in Jason Craig’s world.’
‘For all he knows, Millie could have been studying satanic rites back there!’ Sarah jerked her head towards the rear of the shop.
‘But she didn’t spend her money on them and take them home, did she?’
‘What’s he got against oracle cards?’ Evelyn wondered aloud. ‘I don’t understand.’
Claudia shook her head. ‘Neither does he. That’s the problem. He thinks they’re tarot cards, for a start, and he has a thing about those because he doesn’t understand them, either.’ She sighed. ‘He hates my shop. I don’t think he likes me much, either. He tried to be polite when I bumped into him last week on my walk, but I could tell it was a strain. Anyway, that veneer’s worn off.’
‘Nobody calls you a bad influence and gets away with it,’ Sarah said crossly. ‘Just wait till he sets foot in here again. I’ll—’
‘No, Sarah.’ Claudia’s voice was gentle but firm. ‘I appreciate the support, but I can handle this myself.’
The Little Shop in Cornwall: A heartwarming and feel good beach read Page 5