Bea studied her carefully as she wiped down the espresso machine. There was something so interesting about her. It was as though she was a small, injured bird in need of mothering, and an inner voice in Bea’s head pushed her to take her under her wing. She was pale and freckled, with long, wispy light brown hair that she’d pulled into a messy ponytail. Her large grey eyes were fixed on her phone screen. Her small lips were pursed, and she was busy tapping away at something.
She was thin and angular, and held herself in a way that made it seem as though she must always be uncomfortable. What was her name again? Charmaine, or something like that. Bea was usually good with names, but these days, there were so many of them — people who came and went from her life on a minute-by-minute basis.
She scanned the café, noticing that Janice, one of the bookshop staff, had stepped through their adjoining door and leaned against the wall to chat with one of Bea’s waiters, a handsome, if somewhat thin, teenaged boy with braces. She’d hired a couple of local high school boys to help out during the holidays, and it’d been such a distraction to Evie’s staff that they’d held a meeting about it to discuss what on earth to do.
Neither one of them were keen on the idea of admonishing their employees over what was undoubtedly a miasma of hormones swirling around their young bodies. In fact, Bea could vaguely remember the feeling herself. But there was work to be done, and she didn’t have the energy or the desire to do it all on her own.
Thankfully, at that moment, the boy noticed her watching and said his goodbyes, hurrying to clear a table. She was grateful she hadn’t needed to say anything to him. Other than, “Hey, could you stop flirting and clear a table?” she wasn’t exactly sure how to phrase her request. And the words, even in her head, sounded harsh and made her feel extremely old. When had she stepped over the line from flirter to admonisher?
She couldn’t pinpoint the moment when her youthfulness had vanished, but it’d probably been somewhere around the time her husband left her with a newborn baby to go on an extended business trip. She’d ended up seated on the floor at midnight in a puddle of tears with dirty nappies piled up beside her, a wailing infant in her arms and an intense dawning realisation that life would never be the same again.
Her entire world had changed in a flash. One moment she’d been a fun, flirty, university student. The next, she was a college dropout, married mother with dark bags beneath her eyes from lack of sleep. She’d realised that her life no longer revolved around herself and her new, handsome and charismatic husband, but around this squalling, fist-pumping, red-faced creature that never slept for long and couldn’t seem get enough milk to drink no matter how long she fed for. That had been twenty years ago. Life since then had certainly flown by. There was nothing like raising children to turn passing time into a pinwheel on a windy day.
She was jolted back to the present by the sound of a balloon bursting. A bevy of children scooted out the café door and into the brilliant sunshine ahead of a harried mother. Bea finished up with the espresso machine, then wiped her hands dry. The girls were coming to see her, and she was very much looking forward to it.
“The girls,” as she called them, were her lifelong friends from her school years. When her twenty-five-year marriage came to an end the three women had been her saving grace. Along with her father and brother, who had welcomed her back into their lives even though she’d spent years avoiding them and Coral Island.
Evie owned the bookshop next door and was the first to arrive. She shucked off a long black apron and waved to Bea as she marched through the café. “I’m exhausted! That was a big group. I’ve never seen so many readers in one place before. Dying for a coffee!”
“Coffee coming up. Any preference for cake?”
“Do you have mud cake? It’s one of those days. I think I’m hormonal.” She kissed Bea on the cheek across the counter, then spun on her heel to find a table.
Taya was next to arrive. She swanned in, her hair perfectly coiffed, a dark sleek bob that brushed her thin shoulders. She tugged a pair of designer sunglasses from her face and peered around the café until her gaze landed on Bea. Then she smiled widely, her red lips parting to reveal a set of straight white teeth.
“Darling, you look wonderful!” Beatrice squealed and rushed to hug her friend. “You’re back!”
“You knew I was coming,” Taya replied, wrapping her arms around Bea, then taking a step back to smile down at her. She was much taller than Beatrice and always gave the impression she’d had a glam team at her disposal to make her up before every event.
“You said you were, but I wasn’t sure I should believe you.”
“It was only a business trip. I’ll be doing a lot more of them from now on since I’m working with Dad. OrforDad, really. He says I should think of us as partners, but he’s the boss. He wants me to get to know the business from top to bottom. So, even though I’m only assistant manager at our local Paradise Resort, he’s taking me under his wing because he says I’ll inherit the whole company one day and he wants me to know everything about it first.”
“It makes sense. You’re perfect for the job,” Bea replied. “Grab a seat. Evie’s found us a table in the back. I’ll be there in a minute with coffee and cake. I want to hear abouteverything.”
“Time to party!” Penny burst through the front door with arms raised high.
Bea laughed. “You almost gave me a heart attack.”
“You must be on edge. Perhaps you should slow down a little. We don’t want you getting burned out.” Penny hurried to give her a kiss on the cheek. “Sorry I’m late. I had an emergency with a bilby that was hit by a car. Poor little thing. It had a broken leg, but I think we’ll be able to save it. Did I miss anything?”
“Only a big group of tourists, including a dozen children plus balloons.”
Penny grimaced. “Glad I was late now.” She laughed as she made her way to greet Taya and Evie. “Just kidding. I love kids. And balloons.”
Beatrice put together a tray of coffees and slices of cake on plates, then carried it to the table and set everything up between the friends. Then she slumped into a chair with a sigh.
“It feels good to get off my feet. Wow, that was crazy.”
“Amen to that,” Evie agreed, reaching for her cake. “Now, Taya, you’ve got to tell us all about what’s going on with you and the new man.”
Taya’s cheeks reddened. “You mean Andrew.”
“Yes,” Bea said. with a wink. “Come on—spill the tea.”
Taya pressed her lips together, then smiled. “We’ve decided to try dating.”
Bea squealed. Evie clapped her hands together.
