‘You should do the interview,’ Clare said. ‘Tell them about why you came to Cornwall. The surgery and all that. Brings a human story to the whole thing.’
‘I’m not sure if I’m ready to talk to a newspaper about it.’ Ellie mulled the idea over for a moment: she wasn’t sure if it felt comfortable. ‘Can’t one of you do it?’
‘We can if you want.’ Petra squeezed Ellie’s hand. ‘No pressure. I do think it would be a better story coming from you, but you shouldn’t do it if it makes you uncomfortable. It is super personal.’
‘It’sreallypersonal. I’m not sure I would have wanted to talk to a newspaper about my divorce so soon after it had happened,’ Mara added. ‘Just have a think about it, Ellie. I don’t mind talking to them about the wild swim. They don’t have to know that one of us had cancer. We’re fundraising for cancer support – that’s a common enough cause.’
‘Okay.’ Ellie took a drink of wine. ‘I’ll think about it.’
‘And, by the way, I had a chat with Mark and he said he knows someone who would run a monthly bus for women up to the clinic in Truro, if we want to organise that. Saves us taking turns to drive,’ Petra added. ‘We can set aside some of the fundraising money to cover that for a year, if we do well.’
‘Sounds good,’ Clare added, and the rest of the group murmured their agreement.
‘Coming through, coming through! Take care, it’s hot.’ Simona bustled her way to the table and placed a large tray down on a woven blue-and-white mat. ‘Mushroom and spinach pizza and garlic bread, to soak up the wine.’ She went over to a wooden dresser at the side of the room and took out a stack of plates with a pretty, old-fashioned floral pattern. ‘Here we are. Help yourselves. I’m just going to get knives and forks.’
She busied herself in the kitchen and returned to the table with a bundle of napkins as well as the cutlery. ‘Okay. Dig in, everyone.’
‘This is so kind of you, Simona.’ Ellie smiled up at her new friend.
‘Yeah, thanks, Sim,’ Clare added. ‘You didn’t need to feed us.’
‘Ah, well, it’s what I do best. No one goes hungry in this house,’ Simona said, cutting the huge pizza with a sharp knife and laying the slices on the old farmhouse crockery. ‘And, as I say, I’d have to roll you all out of here if we drank much more wine on empty stomachs.’
Ellie thought about all the family dinners that must have taken place at this table: all the good food, the conversation and the happy times. It was a world away from her childhood, where it had just been her and her mum. As she looked around the table, she felt thankful to be included in this group of women, each one with their own story. It was a nice feeling.
Her phone buzzed again. This time, it was Toni.
Sorry, just got your text. I’ve been in Morocco and the phone service was terrible. Good time to chat now?
‘Sorry, ladies. I’ve just got to make a call.’ Ellie stood up and picked up her phone. ‘I won’t be long.’
She wandered out to Simona’s coat-filled hallway and sat on the bottom of the stairs, feeling pleasantly tipsy, and pressed Toni’s picture on her phone.
‘Hey. It’s me,’ she said, not knowing where or how to start.
‘Hey, you! Howareyou, girl?’ Toni’s voice made Ellie smile. ‘We’ve all been so worried about you.’
‘I’m okay,’ Ellie began. ‘Toni? I wanted to ask you… Did I push you away? All you guys? I didn’t mean to, if I did. I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I spoke to someone recently, and he said I could be kind of an ice queen. Do you think of me that way? An ice queen?’ Ellie declined to mention that the person who had used the phrase was Rowland Hyatt. Toni would ask her a thousand questions about Rowland if she did, starting with whether they were getting back together.
‘Oh my gawwwd, Ellie. Please don’t apologise when you’re the one who’s recovering from cancer.’ Toni was one of those people who found it impossible to be totally serious at any time, but Ellie thought this was as grown-up as she’d ever heard her. ‘Yeah, you can be hard to read. And I’m sorry if I kind of didn’t know how to talk to you about this. But I’m here for you, okay? We’re all here for you.’
‘Thank you.’ Ellie choked back a sob.
‘Totally. So, tell me: what’s the man situation like in Cornwall? And what’s the shopping like? Come on. The important stuff, yah.’
Ellie knew Toni was joking; it was her way. But she also knew that Toni cared about her.
‘Okay.’ Ellie started telling her about Magpie Cove. About Marilyn, and the beach house, and the Wild Sisterhood and all the rest of it. It felt good, and Ellie wondered how close she had come to letting her friendship with Toni and the rest of them slip altogether. Ironically, it seemed that by letting one group of people into her world and her heart, it had made it easier for her to mend the bonds she had with her other friends.
Not for the first time, Ellie thanked whatever fate it was that had brought her to Magpie Cove. And when she put the phone down, promising to call Toni later for a longer chat, she replied impulsively to Rowland’s text, which read:
Dinner, drinks and dancing at one of Cornwall’s finest establishments. Wednesday night. Dress code: Sexy Ice Queen.
Ellie shook her head. Rowland definitely wasn’t holding back. She tapped out a reply and pressed Send before she could persuade herself not to.
Love to. Come and get me at seven. IQ xx PS… I assume that’s just the dress code for me?
He replied immediately.
Good. Yes, I will be the James Bond to your Xenia Onatopp.
She chuckled to herself. It was time to live, and she should say yes to every opportunity. Even dinner and dancing with Rowland, a man with questionable taste in films.
I’m impressed you didn’t say Octopussy, she replied, smiling to herself.
Believe me, I thought about it, his text came back, and Ellie laughed aloud.
