Jake nodded. ‘I like to think so. Hi, Mum, Effie and I are entering.’
Jan glanced up at them, her eyes swinging from Jake to Effie and back again, something hopeful gleaming in them. ‘Jake, you know the rules,’ she warned.
‘But it’s Eff’s first year. It’s only fair she has a go.’
Jan cast her eye at Jake’s bucket. ‘You’ll have to leave that behind. I don’t want to be accused of favouritism.’
‘Oh, come on, Mum, just this once. Anyway, I was planning on letting the kids win. They’ve already had a head start.’
Jan considered the entry lists. ‘Oh, go on, but I made sure your dad hid the eggs really well,’ she said as she wrote their names on the list. ‘Meet back here at four for the grand reveal.’
‘Three hours?’ Effie asked as they walked away, ‘How many eggs are there?’
‘Lots. Mum takes this very seriously. It’s always been run by the family. My grannie did it before her. Come on, let’s get out of here, time to go hunting!’
‘Who painted all these?’ Effie asked as she plucked an egg out of a flower pot. It was chipped and slightly worn, but the purple dots still showed against the yellow background.
‘Mum and Grandad. I spent school holidays helping him touch them up. Mum now does it. Think my great-grandparents were involved as well.’
Effie dropped the egg into her bucket along with the others she’d found. Judging by the scant few rattling around in the bottom, the village children must’ve swept through already. ‘That’s really sweet. It’s nice to have something like this in the family. Will you carry it on one day?’
Jake paused. ‘I hadn’t really thought about that. Gosh. I mean, it’d be a shame to let it stop. Mum has a few years in her yet, but she definitely dropped enough hints about settling down and getting involved in village life. I don’t know . . . it’s . . . a lot. Do you fancy an ice cream?’ he asked, changing the subject.
‘Sure, I think we’ve earned one,’ Effie said as she followed him down to the harbour where an ice cream van was doing a steady trade. ‘What are you having?’ she asked as they perused the menu.
‘A ninety-nine with chocolate sauce and sprinkles,’ Jake said.
‘Ooh chocolate sauce? Hmm . . . I’m a raspberry sauce girl.’
‘Do you want sprinkles?’
‘Why are you even asking?’ Effie feigned outrage.
Jake paid for the two ice creams and they wandered down the harbour wall to where it was a bit quieter. Perching on it, they kept one eye on the seagulls as they tucked into their ice creams.
‘First Mr Whippy of the season,’ Effie groaned happily, ‘so, so good. Oi, shoo, shoo, Mr Seagull. So, I take it your mum wants you to settle back here then? What do you want?’
‘Yeah, she does. Jason runs a surf school in Newquay, so he’s still on Cornish soil. Has a girlfriend but no sign of a ring yet, even with baby Cara on the scene. Mum is desperate for a wedding.’
‘Was she disappointed when you split up with your fiancée?’
Jake considered this. ‘I don’t know. I’m not sure she ever liked Tara that much. Thought she was a bit flash. And she was. But she knew what she liked and what she wanted, you have to admire that.’
‘What happened?’ Effie asked gently, curious to know what had really led Jake back home, what had really gone on between them.
‘I think I grew out of it to be honest. Everything became more about the brand than who we were. It didn’t feel equal. To start with, it was about the two of us, but as commissions came in I was relegated to being the cute boyfriend, I stopped having a personality of my own in a way. Tara’s just overtook everything.’ He gave a hollow laugh. ‘People loved us together but all that did was drive us apart. We met at university, one of those couples who got together in freshers’ week and were then inseparable. I know! So annoying,’ Jake chuckled as he licked his ice cream.
Effie’s heart caught as she watched the fond memories scudding across his face. She felt a sharp pang in her chest from not having found love at university like everyone else seemed to.
‘After graduating we tried to settle down, act like grown-ups, but we both desperately wanted to see the world. So, that’s what happened. Tara started off with a blog and slowly opportunities to endorse products and places came in. I’m not going to lie, it was fun, so much fun, but after a few years, well, it was a job. Yes, the locations were pretty, but the hours were long. People don’t see all that. Early mornings, outfit changes in little Italian alleyways, catching all sorts of flights. Twenty-four hours to fit in three cities, make it look like we were there for a week. Still, we earned enough to buy our own place in Bristol.
‘I thought that would slow things down for both of us. We were successful and comfortable. We’d come back to the UK and within weeks, get itchy feet again. I know Tara’s contacts helped me develop my photography following, and I am grateful for that, as I wanted less and less to do with being in front of the camera but sometimes I’d have liked to have earned it on my own merit.’ Jake turned to Effie and gave her a long look as he considered what to say next.
He paused to lick chocolate sauce off his fingers. ‘Mum’s been great. I think because she finally has me home. I never thought I’d end up back here. I always wanted to see what was over the horizon.’
‘Cornwall can seem very small and far away from the rest of the world when you’re younger,’ Effie said, her voice strained as she tried to sort out her own feelings on Jake’s reveal. ‘I’m sorry your relationship didn’t work out. It couldn’t have been easy.’ She didn’t ask the questions she really wanted to: was he still in love with Tara? Were they actually over for good? She couldn’t help but feel he was holding something back from her.
Jake shook his head. ‘No, it wasn’t. It’s tricky to have to pack up and start again. Find my feet.’
