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‘No. It doesn’t. It was me and Trev on – at our wedding. You know the rest. Even though it was a long time ago, sometimes I get – echoes? Does that sound mad?’

Roo wrinkled her nose. ‘Not at all and it isn’t so long ago. But you’ve come so far since then. We both have.’ She held her arms wide and said, ‘Ta da! Who would have thought we’d own our own business and have our own office?’

‘True. Even if it is crumbling around our ears.’

‘Moving here was a big deal for both of us and we deserve to celebrate our achievements.’

Zennor had to smile. Roo was right. It had been a huge deal to give up her teaching career to launch Kernow Entz. Zennor had once harboured dreams of being an actor and singer, and briefly in her late teens, she’d been in a soul band. However, it was clear it would never have paid the bills so she’d trained as a music teacher and helped friends find gigs and work on the side.

It was only after she’d found the inner strength to split from Trev three years before that she’d found the courage to leave teaching and go into business with Roo. At that point, Roo already had two kids and Zennor had moved into her own flat.

‘Shall I call Mikey and ask him to come round and fix the windows, that dodgy handle on the loo and the back door? It’s sticking again and I don’t think that would be great if we had a fire.’

‘Don’t forget those eighties ceiling tiles in the kitchenette,’ Zennor said. ‘I don’t think they’re even legal.’

‘I’ll mention fire regs to him. If that doesn’t get him round with a bunch of hunky tradesmen, nothing will.’

‘Hunky? Since when did St Ives have any hunky tradesmen? Most of them seem to have their trousers halfway down their bums. Anyway, a lot of them seem to be busy at the Surf Club.’

‘True. It’s in a worse state than this place,’ Zennor said. ‘It upsets me to see it, even if I don’t go there so often these days.’ The St Eia Surf Lifesaving Club had been around since the early 1970s when Matt’s grandad, Harry, had helped found it to improve water safety in the area.

Since then, generations of youngsters – and adults – had learned how to save lives and help others in difficulty. Its volunteers also covered a number of local beaches where there were no professional lifeguard services.

‘Well, I heard a rumour from one of the other parents it’s going to be refurbished. Have you seen the email from Dawn about the Surf Club barbecue on Friday? Rumour has it that’s when the committee are going to unveil the plans.’

Roo’s kids were in the Nippers, a programme where the younger children could learn how to be safe in the water and move up to youth lifeguard training and competitions if they wanted to.

‘No, I haven’t. Maybe it’s in my spam. I haven’t been back there for ages. Maybe they’ve taken me off the mailing list because I let my membership fees lapse.’ Actually, Zennor couldn’t remember the last time she’d been to the Surf Club, which was sad when she’d hung out there so often in her youth, training as a lifeguard and taking part in the swimming races. She balked momentarily. That was over ten years ago now and it felt like another life.

After her wedding, she’d kept away from the club because Matt was still a member and she dreaded bumping into him, but even once he’d moved away, there was so much going on in her life – and marriage – that she’d hardly had time to drop in. Besides, Trev hadn’t been into the place at all.

Maybe it was time to put all that right.

‘Why don’t you come along and rejoin? It’ll be a good night out and we both need a bit of fun.’

She smiled at Roo. ‘Thanks. Maybe I will.’

Friday morning came around fast. At six thirty, she was showered and dressed, and had already shooed away Eric the seagull, who often woke her by pecking at the sitting-room window. She was sipping a coffee on her tiny balcony and enjoying the view from her second-floor flat that looked out on the town’s famous beaches. She’d bought the one-bed flat since her split with Trev – after all, there was no way she could have afforded to buy him out of their detached house that was worthy of being featured on Grand Designs. In the early morning light, the few people on the beaches below looked like ants crawling over the clotted cream of the harbour sands, Porthmeor surf beach and chic Porthminster beach.

Humming to herself on her way to work, Zennor found the contortionists’ reply to a message she’d sent earlier in the week. By the time Roo arrived, out of breath and grumbling about the nursery-school run, Zennor had already sent the acrobats a contract.

During lunch, Zennor was able to watch a couple of her old mates from the Surf Club catch a few waves on Porthmeor. She then headed back to the office with a bag of treats from the Digey bakery.

‘Hellooooo!’ she called, entering via the rear door. ‘I have naughty things in my bag that are gonna make your tongue tingle with ecstasy. Bet you can’t get a whole one in your mouth at—’

Roo was at her desk, as expected, but she was partly obscured by a tall figure with dark blond hair in black jeans and a white T-shirt that was straining across his broad shoulders.

‘Zen!’ Roo called in a panicked voice that set Zennor’s alarm bells jangling. ‘We have a visitor …’

The visitor turned around and locked eyes with Zennor. It was all she could do to hold on to the bag of pastries.

Matt Veryan was the last person she’d ever expected to see in her office.

CHAPTER FOUR

Roo rose to her feet with a shaky smile. ‘Matt has some – er – news for us, Zen.’

Matt nodded at the paper bag. ‘I do, and it’s very kind of you to bring treats.’