EIGHT
‘Wow. Okay, this beats standing on the street outside a Soho bar.’
Fee and Ellie stood at the edge of the cliff, looking down onto the little coastal village of Morven. There was a waist-high fence a few feet before the edge, and large terracotta plant pots dotted the perimeter of the pub garden, planted with palm, bay and olive trees.
‘It’s lovely,’ Ellie agreed. The view was stunning. Morven was the next coastal village along from Magpie Cove, and The Lookout pub sat on top of the cliff, with a view of the whole bay. The sea was flat and calm, bathed in a pink-violet light from the sun, which sat languorously on the horizon. ‘Shall we go in?’
The party was under way already, it seemed, and people had spilled out into the garden, sipping champagne and cocktails in the warm evening. The clink of glasses and the hum of laughter and conversation filled the air. Through the wide, open bifold glass doors, the bar glittered with fairy lights that reflected their gold glow on the long steel bar. The weathered wooden tables held large vases of summer flowers: blowsy pink Cornish roses, creamy sweet peas and bold purple rhododendrons jostled with out-of-season lilacs. Their seductive scent hung in the air like the memory of a childhood in the Cornish countryside. It made Ellie want a house with a huge flower garden.
‘You came!’ Lila embraced Fee and Ellie in a hug, carrying a champagne glass. ‘Sorry. I didn’t spill on you, did I? I’ve done it twice to other people already.’
‘You’re fine!’ Ellie grinned. ‘Happy birthday! This is my friend, Fee.’
‘Hi, Fee.’ Lila kissed her on both cheeks. ‘I get a bit affectionate when I’m tipsy,’ she explained.
Fee laughed. ‘No trouble at all. What a lovely night!’
‘I know. I love it up here.’ Ellie gazed out at the view, which, even from inside the bar, was remarkable. ‘Anyway. My fella Nathan’s here somewhere, I should introduce you. And there’s a ton of food by the bar, just help yourselves!’ She waved at a tall man with a mass of tumbling dark curls at the other side of the room who was beckoning to her. ‘Nathan! Oh, he wants me to go over there. I’ll be back! Enjoy!’
‘Food?’ Fee raised her eyebrow at Ellie.
‘As if you had to ask.’ Ellie followed her to the groaning table where what looked like an entire festival’s food allocation had been arranged. By now, she had had to accept that her previous macrobiotic, vegan diet was a thing of the past, at least temporarily. Ellie was chagrined to admit that she hadn’t been a vegan for particularly ethical reasons; it was more that her friends had recommended a particular diet on the basis of health, and she’d started it. Actually, Ellie knew that their recommendation was less health-based than coming from a desire to be thin. She had certainly been thin for many years, eating that way. But she had also been hungry.
Now, as she gazed at the table of salads, pies, tarts, crusty bread, pâté, cold meats, cheeses, pickles and chutneys, she felt a brief guilt, followed by a very hungry growl from her stomach. She took a plate and began loading it up. The guilt was meaningless, she rationalised. Her body needing food to heal, on the other hand, was very meaningful.
‘Look at the size of these!’ Fee sighed happily as she stood alongside Ellie, spooning fat green marinated olives onto her plate. ‘Oooh! Manchego!’
‘Evenin’.’ Mark approached the end of the food table, reaching for a plate just as Ellie reached for a bread roll. Her arm knocked his, making him drop his plate, but he managed to catch it before it hit the floor.
‘Oh! Goodness! I’m so sorry!’ Ellie had tried to catch the plate at the same time as Mark. He had kept his grip on it, and her hand had clutched his wrist by accident.
She let it go instantly, as if it was hot. ‘You’ve got it. Right,’ she muttered.
‘Hello,’ Mark repeated, smiling at her panicked reaction.
‘Hello.’ Ellie laughed nervously. Fee shot her an amused look. ‘That was… sorry, I don’t know what happened then.’
‘I’m gonna let you finish choosin’, I think.’ He looked at the plate of rolls and back to her, clearly finding the whole episode funny. ‘That bread roll’s waitin’. Careful, now.’
‘Watch out for those sausages,’ Fee giggled. ‘They might be slippery. You don’t want to end up with one down your dress. Hi, Mark,’ she grinned, before walking off and sitting down at a nearby table.Don’t leave me alone with him, Ellie willed her friend, glaring at her, but Fee laughed and made a kissy face at her.
Not helpful.
‘Well, that was embarrassing.’ Ellie cleared her throat. ‘So, how’s things?’
‘All right.’ Mark cut a piece of deep-filled chicken and ham pie and put it on his plate, spooning on some Greek salad to go with it. ‘How’re you?’
‘Fine. When I’m not throwing plates at people.’
‘To be fair, I caught it. Disaster averted.’ He shot a shy smile at her. ‘How’s the beach house?’
‘Really nice. I love waking up to the sound of the waves in the cove.’ Ellie broke a piece off the bread roll she had reached for and put it in her mouth. It was warm, yeasty and utterly delicious. She looked around for some butter.In for a penny, in for a pound, she thought. Until she and Fee had ended up in Magpie Cove, she hadn’t eaten bread or butter for about ten years.
It was a revelation how good it was.
‘Oh, God.’ She moaned with pleasure, then caught the surprised expression on Mark’s face. ‘Oh. Sorry. It’s just that this bread is really, really good.’
‘You really like your food, then.’ He was watching her with an amused look.
