Page 59 of The Bookshop at the Cornish Cove

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Wow! Coming from a loving, close family, I could not imagine how that must have felt. Poor Dennie. However, while what happens to you in life does shape your future, it still didn’t give him permission to walk all over people and not have to deal with the consequences.

As the hours ticked by, I tried to concentrate on my shell painting but I couldn’t stop thinking about what Dennie had written. After I’d finished a couple of the commissions I’d committed to, and tidied everything away, I gently shook Dan awake.

Once we were back at the lodge, I fell into bed, so weary, but once again my sleep was restless, this time dreams of a sweet little boy on the steps of a grey, daunting-looking building, waving at a car that drove away, the occupants laughing as they fled, taunting me.

35

I woke the following morning to the aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the sizzling of bacon frying in a pan. I rubbed my eyes, grabbed my dressing gown, and was trying to tie the belt on it as I walked into the lounge area. I couldn’t believe that Dan was already up and dressed, looking bright eyed and bushy tailed.

I peered at the clock. It was eleven o’clock. My heart gave a little skip as I realised that it was so late, but then calmed again when I realised that I had nowhere I needed to be. Dan handed me a mug of coffee and a plate with a bacon sandwich and then flung himself on the sofa next to me, the movement spilling scalding hot coffee in my lap and all over the food.

‘Watch it, Dan. You are such a twat!’

‘Yeah, but I’m your twat!’

I screwed up my face.

‘Ew! That sounds very wrong.’

‘Yeah, it definitely sounded better in my head.’

‘Anyway, why are you looking so bloody pleased with yourself this morning?’

‘Nancy, just because you are a miserable old bitch at the moment it doesn’t mean we all have to be miserable, you know.’

‘Jeez, thanks. And you said I wasn’t moping around any more.’

‘Yeah, that was just to make you feel better, sister dear.’

I laughed.

‘It worked.’

‘Yeah, I knew it would. Well… guess who I got a text from.’

‘Mum?’

‘Sabrina.’

‘You could have at least given me three guesses, you dope. So I suppose she’s forgiven then. You’re now back together. You’ll move back in with her as always and then in six months’ time, we’ll just go through it all over again. You’re so selfish. You don’t think about how your relationship affects all of us, you know.’

I took a bite of coffee-tasting bacon sandwich and raised my eyebrows. It was actually quite nice.

‘For your information, sister dear, I told her to leave me alone and not contact me again. I said that I’ll be in touch with her when I’m ready to pick my stuff up from the house.’

I sat up straight. That definitely grabbed my attention.

‘Shit. You’re joking, right?’

‘Does this look like a face that’s joking?’

‘No, it looks like the face of a baboon’s bum. Specially that little dimple there.’

I poked him in the chin. Why on earth did we resort to this daft behaviour whenever we were together?

He pushed my arm away with his. ‘Geroff! This is serious.’

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