They’d both forgotten him. Best to slip away, leave them to it. The pub was fully booked for lunch and there was a lot to do before service began.
After he loaded his crates onto thePeter’s Bounty, he left the sea wall, but not before stopping in the pub doorway to glance back at the little girl screeching with delight as she showed her mother the creature in her bucket.
Far along the beach, beyond the crabbers, he spotted Tom and Lou walking under the cliff line. Like the twin-tracking GPS that he was, Monty was acutely aware of his brother strolling along past the beach waterfall, arm-in-arm with his girlfriend, a trail of smoke from his cigarette behind him. Every now and again Tom threw his head back, laughing.
He remembered that Tom hadn’t sluiced the boat down. Another task for Monty to add to his list of jobs that day. His brother’s behaviour was getting more out of character with each loved-up day that passed. Still, Monty smiled for him, even if he did blow out a sorry sigh for himself.
A delighted shriek from Radia, now lifting a second crab, drew Monty’s attention once more to the holidaymakers, just as the child’s beautiful, shy mum lifted her eyes to his. He caught her startled glance and ducked sharply inside the pub.
Chapter Seven
Jude Crawley, Big House Weddings Inc.’s bride-to-be, had been on a Zoom call about the wedding with Minty Clove-Congreve for over half an hour and they still weren’t finished, even though Jude had her mum and dad visiting from the Borders and she wanted to catch up with them more than anything.
Elliot emerged from their bedroom ready for his shift in his veterinary scrubs and she couldn’t help getting distracted by the sight of him tying his long black hair up into a knot.
‘So what do you think, Judith?’ Minty repeated, snapping her out of her thoughts.
‘Hmm?Sorry?’
‘Boutonnières? Sea holly and yellow gorse?’ Minty said, making Jude’s mum coo in agreement as she unpacked groceries behind her at the kitchen counter. ‘For the seaside theme,’ Minty pressed.
‘Right, yes. That sounds lovely,’ Jude replied, while her dad handed her a steaming mug of tea and settled beside his daughter on the sofa.
They’d arrived by car that morning and the novelty of having them here was still very strange and fresh for everyone. What they needed was a proper catch-up.
Minty was nowhere near finished. ‘And there’s the freeze-dried petals for confetti, from the estate’s camellia grove, yes? Tasteful. There’ll be no paper confetti canons at a Big House wedding. Do you want dark pink or pale pink petals? I’ve a good stock of both.’ Minty didn’t wait for an answer, bowing her platinum-blonde twenties bob to her checklist. ‘Pale pink will match the driftwood signage across the estate.What Bridemagazine calls it shabby seaside chic, you know?’
‘Ooh, lovely,’ called Jude’s mum, who’d been rather side-lined in Minty’s planning fervour. At six-hundred miles away in the Scottish Borders, she’d been the first to concede there wasn’t a lot she could do. But she was here now. ‘And we’ve brought the ingredients for the cake,’ Mrs Crawley added, coming to stand behind Jude, leaning into the camera.
Minty looked concerned. ‘It’s such a lot of work, making your own wedding cake. Are you sure you have time for it?’
‘We’re a baking family,’ her dad replied, his hand on Jude’s. ‘Always knew I’d make my girl’s wedding cake one day. Couldn’t imagine her cutting into some stranger’s cake on her big day.’
‘Leave it to us,’ Jude reassured her. ‘You’ve got three bakers here, the one thing we can guarantee is a beautiful cake.’
Minty wrote on her pad. ‘I’ll have someone collect it on the eve of the wedding.’
‘And you’ve got a seamstress booked, to take up the hem on my dress?’ Mrs Crawley was looking at Jude now.
‘Yep, all arranged. And Elliot’s just got Monty Bickleigh to agree to be his best man, so he’s sorting the stag.’
‘Have you made plans for your hen party?’ her mum asked.
‘Just drinks and nibbles here.’
Jude didn’t mind surrendering the wedding plans as long as she held the reins over the hen do. That, at least, would be low-stress and simple, just her and her favourite people, including Daniel, her best friend from back home. He was coming down by train and chaperoning Jude’s grandmother, who’d insisted they get first-class tickets for the journey, saying she was too old for any kind of travel that didn’t involve decent seats and free gin and tonics.
‘And the naked waiter’s booked?’ Elliot shouted wickedly, so Minty could hear, as he grabbed his backpack and made for his fiancée to kiss her goodbye.
Everyone laughed except, conspicuously, Minty, who grimaced. She’d been invited to the hen do but said she had far too much to do at the Big House, including sorting out the florist and the balloon-arch lady.
Jude hadn’t been keen on the whole balloons idea but Minty had roped the poor woman in anyway and she was coming all the way from Ilfracombe to give her a demo, so it was too late now.
‘See you tonight,’ Elliot told Jude and his in-laws, and was gone out the door.
‘Cheerio, Elliot,’ Mrs Crawley called in his wake.
‘We’d better be getting on with the cake,’ Mr Crawley reminded everyone. ‘The oven’s already coming to temp.’
