The Little Shop in Cornwall: A heartwarming and feel good beach read

by Helen Pollard

  ‘I know, my lovely.’ Tanya wandered outside. ‘Shame that tarpaulin’ll have to come down. Millie did a great job. Her dad didn’t play merry hell?’

  ‘No. He…’ Claudia stopped.

  ‘He what?’

  Knowing it was hopeless to keep anything from her, and feeling that Jason deserved some redemption in Tanya’s eyes, Claudia told her about the previous evening.

  Tanya gaped at her. ‘He made you supper? While you were in the shower?’

  Claudia winced. ‘When you put it like that, it sounds kind of dodgy.’

  ‘I’ll say! But it wasn’t?’

  ‘No. He was trying to make up for his bad behaviour, partly.’

  ‘And the other part?’

  ‘I think he’s a nice bloke, deep down, who saw a worn-out woman and wanted to help.’

  ‘Hmmph. I’ll go for your first theory and hold back on the second, for now,’ Tanya said. ‘Do you want me to do a little… investigating?’

  ‘If, by that, you mean do I want you to ask the goddesses for intel, then no, I do not.’

  ‘What if he tries to do something weird again?’

  ‘It wasn’t weird. It was… spontaneous.’ Claudia smiled. ‘And yeah, a bit weird. But I was too tired to care.’

  Tanya cocked her head to one side. ‘What does he look like, this Jason Craig?’

  Claudia thought about it. It didn’t take long. Jason’s face, in all its incarnations – wary, furious, kindly – was right there at the forefront of her mind. ‘Tallish. Sandy-brown hair. Seriously-pale blue eyes.’

  ‘You noticed the colour of his eyes?’

  ‘It’s hard not to notice when they’re boring into you, flashing ice-fire.’

  ‘Point taken. He’s not like Lee, then?’

  Claudia thought about her ex-husband – gym-sculpted muscles, sharp suits and crisp shirts, dark hair slicked back, beard trimmed to within a micro-millimetre of perfection. In contrast, she had a feeling Jason Craig didn’t pay much attention to his appearance, something she did like about him. Hair often breeze-blown and a little unkempt; day-old stubble; the shirt and chinos combination he seemed to favour for work, T-shirt and jeans at other times.

  ‘Not a jot,’ she finally answered.

  Tanya winked. ‘That’s in his favour, then. Better watch yourself!’

  It had been a strange week, Jason decided as he drove home on Friday evening.

  His new job had been… challenging. Millie’s new school had probably been challenging, but how would he know? She told him bugger all, and the more he quizzed her, the less she said. He assumed he’d have heard about any major disasters.

  And talking of major disasters… He was grateful the storm hadn’t affected them, but it had affected plenty of others. Thinking of one local in particular, it had led to him coddling her with supper and tea.

  What was that all about? One minute he was giving her a roasting about peddling her wares to vulnerable teens; the next he was making her salad and brewing her tea and worrying about how exhausted she looked.

  His ringtone filled the car as he was pulling into the drive. His mother-in-law. Again.

  ‘Jennifer. How are you?’

  ‘We’re fine, thank you, Jason. I’m ringing to find out how Millie’s first week at school went. Oh, and yours at work, of course.’

  Always an afterthought with you, aren’t I?

  Recognising unspoken recrimination that he hadn’t reported back sooner, he started with, ‘My week’s been okay.’ No need to tell her you’ve been tearing your hair out. ‘Millie’s week has been okay, too.’ Probably. When she waited for more, he added, ‘You know how teenagers are. She hasn’t said much.’

  ‘I was hoping to chat to her myself.’

  You think you can do a better job than me at finding anything out? Good luck with that.

  ‘Let me get inside, then I’ll put her on the phone.’

  ‘She’s home alone?’

  ‘Only for an hour after school, Jennifer. She is fourteen.’

  A huff at the other end of the line. ‘It’d be good to speak to her, but it’d be much nicer in person. We haven’t even seen your new house yet.’

  More thinly disguised recrimination. Just what I need on a Friday night.

  Millie entered the hallway as he dumped his laptop case, saying, ‘If you’re free tomorrow, you could drive down, take a look around.’

  Millie shot daggers at him. Jason kept his fingers crossed that it was too short notice.

  No such luck.

  ‘That would be perfect! What time?’

  Arrangements made, he tossed his phone onto the hall table with a clatter and faced his daughter. ‘Nothing I could do about it, kiddo. She’s like a dog with a bone. Might as well get it over with.’

  Millie’s answer was a toss of her hair and a ‘What’s for dinner? I’m starving.’

  Claudia did manage to reopen on Saturday, after all – by which time she was exhausted and emotional.

  She’d taken on board what Tanya had suggested and advertised a crystal workshop. If nothing else, it would show her regulars that it was business as usual. She already had a few bookings via her website and expected more when customers saw the posters around the village, but it was less about numbers and more about promoting interest in her wares.

  The noticeably low footfall in Healing Waves was a different matter, though, and when Sarah brought her a toasted panini at lunchtime, she said as much.

  ‘We’re the same.’ Sarah petted Pudding, who was curled in his basket on the counter, looking as forlorn as his mistress. ‘Could be that word hasn’t got round yet that we’re up and running, I suppose.’

  Claudia sighed. ‘And we have Hester’s Cauldron opening “soon”, whatever that means.’

  ‘It means next Saturday,’ Sarah told her. ‘Libby phoned Evie this morning to say that a new sign’s gone up. “Hester’s Cauldron. Grand opening. All will be revealed!” and next Saturday’s date.’

  ‘“All will be revealed”?’ Claudia let out a breath. ‘Well, at least the entire village will be put out of its misery.’

  ‘You’ll be put out of yours sooner if you don’t eat that panini before you fade away,’ Sarah said sternly.

  Claudia dutifully took a bite. It oozed warm houmous and roasted veg – her favourite – but she was too tired to enjoy it.

  ‘Have you seen Millie since she painted the tarpaulin?’ Sarah asked.

  ‘No. I saw her dad on Wednesday, but not Millie.’ Before Sarah could ask about Jason – no way would she admit to her that he’d made her supper – Claudia went on, ‘I hope she’s okay after her first week at school.’

  ‘Poor kid.’ Sarah gave Claudia a knowing look. ‘I presume you armed her with crystals?’

  ‘She already had her amethyst, but I added sodalite.’

  ‘Good girl. Well, I’d better get back. Not that we’re snowed under.’

  ‘Thanks for the sandwich, Sarah.’

  ‘You’re welcome. But I expect you to get it eaten!’

  Sunday morning found Claudia on the beach, but it wasn’t doing its usual job of calming her.

  She was exhausted by all her hard work and the thought of what was still to do. She was angry at the storm that had been so disruptive. She was beginning to get a tad anxious about Hester’s Cauldron’s opening. She was worried about Millie. And she was confused by the girl’s father – one minute, a raging torrent of prejudice against her; the next, a man who could show empathy and kindness. Claudia didn’t have the time or energy to get her head around Jason Craig right now.

  Time for a little sea therapy.

  Picking out a stick from the debris still gathered at the tideline, Claudia chose a large patch of smooth sand and began to draw long, bold lines, her strokes fuelled by emotion.

  ‘Hey.’

  Absorbed in her task, Claudia hadn’t noticed Millie approach. ‘Hey yourself. How are you? How’s school?’

  ‘Okay.’ But Millie didn�
�t look okay. And there was something different about her.

  Ah. No purple streaks. Claudia gestured at her hair. ‘I like it.’

  ‘Hmmph. Dad paid for Jenny at the salon to do it, so I wouldn’t ruin the new bathroom. It’s boring. So’s school.’

  ‘Even your first week?’

  ‘They make fun of my accent. And everybody wants to know everything about me and they’re all, like, “What about your dad?” and “What about your mum?” and then I have to tell them Mum died and they don’t know what to say and they talk about me behind my back.’

  Claudia’s heart went out to her. A new start, and already she was having to explain her past, bringing the pain back… not that it had ever left.

  ‘Loads of kids have one-parent families,’ Claudia said gently. ‘But a bereavement is less common. I should think they’re sympathetic but don’t know how to say so.’ She smiled encouragement. ‘Dazzle them with just being you, and they won’t care about it, after a while.’

  Millie pointed to the sand. ‘You’re drawing?’

  Drawing. Claudia’s head told her to leave it at that. But Millie had that permanent air of grief and anger – such a maelstrom of feelings for a young girl.

  Don’t do it, Claudia, Jason won’t thank you.

  But it might help her. And it can’t do any harm.

  Jason doesn’t want you meddling.

  I won’t be told what to do by any man, if I think something’s right.

  He’s not just any man. He’s the girl’s father.

  While Claudia’s head and heart battled it out, Millie frowned at her silence.

  Claudia’s heart made a snap decision. ‘It’s a sort of therapy,’ she said, cautiously. Her heart may have won, but her head warned her to be careful. ‘I draw a picture representing something I’m upset or angry about, then I wait for the tide to come in and wash it away, imagining the negative emotion being dissolved and carried out to sea.’ Millie looked curious enough for Claudia to break her stick in two and offer half to her. ‘Want to try?’

  With her usual indifference, Millie took it, saying, ‘It’s not like there’s much else to do around here. What should I draw?’

  ‘Maybe something you’d like to let go of, or lessen the pain of?’

  You’re leading her, Claudia.

  Claudia turned back to her own efforts – clouds and jagged lightning strokes, a pictorial representation of the storm that had caused her so much trouble. From time to time, she looked over at Millie, who had started out uncertain but was now furiously dragging her stick through the sand. As the minutes ticked by and whatever idea she’d got in her head developed, she became almost manic. When she stood back, her face was fiercely angry – way beyond the sullen scowl Claudia was used to.

  ‘All done?’ Claudia moved to Millie’s side, glancing at the angry monster before her – a devil’s face with horns and evil intent in its eyes. For a sketch in the sand, it was petrifying.

  Millie swallowed hard. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Okay. Now we let Nature do her work.’

  They sat side by side, cross-legged, to wait.

  ‘What’s yours?’ Millie asked. ‘Or shouldn’t I ask?’

  ‘It’s the storm.’

  ‘You’re still mad at it?’

  ‘Yes, even though it was just an act of nature and it wasn’t directed at me personally. I need to accept that and let it go.’

  ‘Do you want to know about mine?’ Millie murmured.

  ‘Only if you want to tell me.’

  There was a long pause, filled by the sound of the waves and the occasional screech from a seagull or dog barking.

  ‘It’s Mum’s cancer,’ Millie said, so softly that Claudia barely heard her.

  Claudia looked sideways at her. ‘That’s how you see it?’

  ‘Yes. Like a monster that swept into our lives and took her away.’ Millie’s voice hitched. ‘I need to let go of my anger – that’s what the counsellors said. But I can’t, even though I know it’s like your storm – just nature, something that couldn’t be helped.’

  Claudia struggled for what to say. ‘I can understand you seeing it like this.’ She pointed at the remarkable picture in front of them. ‘But letting that anger go would be such a good thing, Millie. Your mum would understand you feeling this way, but she wouldn’t want you to hold onto it for too long.’

  The first wave licked at the far end of Claudia’s drawing, smoothing out the top of the lightning strike. The next wave touched the tips of the devil’s horns on Millie’s.

  A tear formed in the girl’s eye.

  Claudia shuffled closer until their crossed knees touched and took Millie’s hand in hers. ‘Let go, Millie. The monster did what it did. Let go now.’

  And there they both sat as the tide came in, Millie’s face streaming with tears, her hand squeezing Claudia’s so tightly, it hurt. Claudia said nothing, struggling to concentrate on her own drawing while acutely aware of the terrible grief shaking through the young girl next to her.

  Chapter Eight

  Jason should have been seriously unhappy when he walked along the beach towards Millie and Claudia, only to find his daughter wracked with sobs.

  He wasn’t. He was relieved. Millie hadn’t cried since the first few weeks after Gemma’s death. He knew she kept it all inside, but he’d found no way to shift it.

  It seemed Claudia had found a way, though. He expected to feel an element of jealousy over that, but all he felt was gratitude.

  ‘Hey there,’ he said lamely.

  Millie looked up from her seated position, hugging her knees with her arms.

  He dropped down to sit beside her and gently used his sleeve to wipe her face, a mess of mascara and goodness knew what else she insisted on hiding her pretty face with.

  ‘Dad.’ Only one word, but as she buried her face in his sweater and sobbed, it meant a great deal to him.

  He cradled her head against his chest, looked at Claudia and mouthed, ‘Thank you’ – the sincerest thank you he’d ever said.

  Claudia smiled in acknowledgement, silently stood and moved away along the beach, leaving him alone with his daughter.

  When Millie’s tears eventually dried up, he said, ‘Do you want to talk to me about it?’

  ‘Do I have to?’

  He stroked her hair back from her face. ‘Not if you don’t want to.’

  Relief flooded her features.

  ‘Did you talk to Claudia about it?’ he asked.

  ‘She said I didn’t have to, but I did, just a bit.’

  Jason suppressed disappointment that Millie could talk to Claudia but not her own father. There wasn’t much he could do about that, although it complicated his feelings about the woman even more.

  He touched the blue crystal around Millie’s neck. ‘This is different to your purple one.’

  ‘It’s sodalite. Claudia gave it to me for doing the painting.’

  ‘That was good of her.’ Jason hid a frustrated smile. He’d ranted at the woman on Monday, and by Tuesday she’d already gone against everything he’d said by giving Millie another crystal.

  Unfair, Jason. If she gave it to her as a pretty necklace, a thank you for a kind deed, that’s not a problem, is it? If, on the other hand, she filled her head with…

  ‘I’ve been wearing it under my shirt at school,’ Millie confided. ‘We’re not allowed jewellery. But Claudia said it might help work out who’d be a good friend.’

  Oh, for pity’s sake. ‘Has it worked?’

  Millie gave him a look that only a fourteen-year-old daughter can give a father. ‘Duh! I won’t know yet, will I? I’ve only had it a few days. Give it a chance.’

  She might as well have said, ‘And give Claudia a chance, while you’re at it.’

  They walked home in silence. Millie was emotionally exhausted.

  As they neared the house, she asked, ‘Can I go to Claudia’s meditation session on Tuesday evening?’

  Jason could hardly object to medi
tation, could he? The counsellors had told them both to try it, but neither of them had got very far before Millie refused to attend any more and Jason quit in solidarity. After her breakthrough this afternoon, though, perhaps it might be helpful.

  ‘You can try it, if you like. I could drive you down, then pick you up after.’

  He worried that she might ask him to go with her. But all she said was, ‘Okay. Thanks’ – a response he accepted with relief.

  The following evening, Claudia was flipping the sign to ‘Closed’ when Jason appeared.

  ‘Hi. Sorry. I’m just closing. Did you want something?’

  Despite his recent apology, Claudia thought that was highly unlikely, considering his attitude to her shop and the contents therein.

  ‘I do, actually. Do you have time for a quick chat, maybe a stroll along the beach?’

  Intrigued, she said, ‘I could do with a little stroll.’

  She locked the door and they made their way down to the sand, where Claudia immediately pulled off her sandals. Jason must have come straight from work – he was dressed in smart chinos and a shirt and tie. He loosened the tie, but he didn’t go as far as taking off his shoes and socks. Ah, well, she thought. Baby steps.

  ‘I wanted to thank you for yesterday,’ he said. ‘Whatever you did with Millie, I’m grateful.’

  ‘I thought you might be furious,’ Claudia admitted.

  ‘Quite the opposite.’ Jason sighed. ‘I don’t know if this had anything to do with it, but Millie’s grandparents – Gemma’s parents – came down from Devon on Saturday to see the new house.’

  ‘Millie mentioned you’d moved to be nearer to them.’

  ‘Let’s say it was a consideration in the move. They’re good people. Millie should have that connection with them. But they can be intense. Millie was really stressed by the time they left. Anyway, whatever it was, Millie’s bottled things up for too long. I’m glad she let it out.’

  ‘Then I’m glad I could help. I know you’re not overly keen on my… interests.’

  Jason scuffed his shoes through the sand. ‘Usually, I’d say “Each to his own”. But after what Millie’s been through…’