‘What about the anchor? Should I give her that too do you think?’ He tried to hide his disappointment, as he really thought that would have been an excellent feature for the garden.
‘Not necessarily. That obviously belonged to mystery Mr P, but the photos are personal, aren’t they?’
‘Yeah, you’re right,’ Robin replied, feeling justified in keeping it. ‘Right, let’s eat.’
As the two of them dined, the late evening sun shone its final rays over the bay, to finally give way to a panoramic sunset.
‘Such stunning views, I can see why you bought this place,’ Jasmine remarked, in awe as she gazed out of the window.
‘I know, but the cottage is nearer to the sea. I prefer that location.’
‘Are you tempted to keep it then?’ she asked, a touch taken aback at hearing this. She observed his expression, he seemed to be brooding over the answer. It suddenly occurred to her that she didn’t want another neighbour. She wanted Robin to stay.
‘I–I’m not sure. It was bought as a business venture, but the more I’m there, the more I’m lured.’ Was he ever, especially having her as his next-door neighbour.
They looked at each other, no words exchanged, just a contented stillness. Jasmine experienced a serenity she hadn’t felt in a long, long time.
The rest of the evening continued with the same easy pleasant ambience and time flew by. So much so, Jasmine looked startled at her watch when the taxi she’d booked had buzzed through to the flat to take her home.
‘Thanks so much for a lovely evening,’ she said, as they both made their way to Robin’s door.
‘My pleasure,’ he replied. They stared at each other, not quite knowing what to do next.
‘Well… good night.’ She smiled hesitantly.
‘Good night, Jasmine.’ He smiled back. ‘Text me when you get back home.’
‘I will, bye.’
Closing the door behind him, he lent on it and exhaled. He was falling under Jasmine’s spell. But what did she think of him? Was he about to have his heart broken all over again?
Chapter 13
The vicar’s prayers had been answered and a glorious sun shone in a cloudless blue sky for the Tea by the Sea charity event. An area of grass ran along part of the bay before sloping down into sand dunes. Opposite it stood a row of pretty white cottages, with colourful front lawns divided by picket fences, a medieval church and a village hall. There was a cobbled square containing a large stone cross. The grass area was large and flat, making it the perfect place to set up the tables, chairs and the tea tent. Various stalls containing cakes, books and bric-a-brac had also been put up. Jim, the local farmer, had supplied his shepherd’s hut for Bunty, as arranged at the church committee. She had dressed it up with bunting and made the interior as cosy as possible, whilst adding an air of mystique. Well, she’d covered the table with a silver cloth and lit a few tea lights. The ‘crystal ball’ looked surprisingly good, considering she’d kept to her word and tipped a goldfish bowl upside down and filled it with fairy lights. Her fortune teller costume really finished the whole effect off nicely. She had an array of bandanas to choose from but opted to put her hair up in a bun, not wanting to seem her usual self. She wore large, gold hoop earrings, a long, black dress and a red shawl. She added more rings and bracelets and her make-up was a touch bolder: brighter lipstick, heavy eyeliner, lots of blusher and black nail varnish. All in all, Bunty was quite pleased with the result.
Ned had made sure he’d taken enough photographs of her and the gypsy caravan for the church website. He was going to have enormous fun choosing from all the pictures he’d snapped of everyone involved in the event.
‘Well, Bunty, you certainly look the part,’ grinned the vicar.
‘Yes I do, don’t I?’ She gave a toss of her head, enjoying how her earrings swung dramatically with the motion. ‘Just you wait, vicar, we’ll soon have that church roof repaired,’ she quipped with a nudge.
‘Hmm, let’s hope so.’ With a faint smile, he turned and moved on.
Down of the beach, Jim had also brought Melvin, his cute little donkey, for the children to ride on. Poor old Melvin was carted out twice a year for Samphire Bay, once for the outdoor Christmas nativity and this Tea by the Sea occasion. He took it in his stride and plodded on. Today Melvin wore a jaunty straw hat, out of which poked his ears.
Trish was in the tea tent getting more flustered by the minute. She rather envied Bunty sat down nicely in her gypsy caravan without all this commotion. Already dreading the busy day ahead, she promised herself a sit down and decided she’d get a ‘reading’ from Rosy-Lee, despite her original reservations.
Meanwhile Jack and Robin had showed their support by buying plenty of cake and sat scoffing them at one of the tables.
‘So, how did the big date go then?’ asked Jack between mouthfuls of Bakewell slice.
‘I told you, it wasn’t a date,’ Robin said, before swilling the rest of his tea down.
‘Yeah, yeah, course it wasn’t. So, how did the friendly-meal-with-your-neighbour go then?’
Robin couldn’t help but grin. In spite of Jack being a pain in the backside a lot of the time, he did enjoy the banter they’d always shared.
‘It was good.’ he said with a nod.
