Page 29 of Summer in Sunset Harbour
‘I wouldn’t press her too hard,’ she said. ‘You don’t know what she might have been through.’
‘That’s what I was thinking. I’m happy enough for her to not be disruptive.’
A young waitress came over to their table. ‘Are you guys okay over here? Anything else?’
Hilda looked up and smiled. ‘No, thank you, Rachel. We’re—’ Her fingernail tapped the plate again. ‘Actually, no. We’ll have two slices of treacle tart with cream and two more coffees.’
‘No problem.’
As the waitress went off to get their order, Josie gave Hilda a wide-eyed stare and a shake of the head. ‘Are you feeling all right? That much sugar will give us both a heart attack. I only just got through that fudge cake.’
Hilda grinned. ‘Go on, live a little. Don’t worry, we’ll burn it off walking back up that hill.’
Josie neededto stop in at Nat’s place to make a few requests regarding the campsite, so she left Hilda down in the town where her friend said she planned to do a little trinket shopping. With her legs now hardened to long periods of activity, Josie hiked up along the coast path, enjoying the dramatic scenery, passing the fork that led up to the campsite and continuing on to another that led back up to the road through Nat’s field.
The old man was outside, tinkering with his carvings, one of which had gained a couple more songbirds since Josie had last visited. All sunglasses and beard, Nat hummed quietly to himself as he hacked away at the driftwood with a chisel, seemingly navigating by feel alone. As she approached, Josie found herself looking around for Robinson, and feeling a twinge of disappointment that he was nowhere to be seen.
‘Campsite lass? That you?’ Nat called while Josie was still a dozen yards away. Nat grinned. ‘I can tell by you’s footsteps.’
‘It’s me,’ she said.
‘How you doing with the old girl down there?’
‘If you’re meaning the campsite, then it’s getting there. You know I managed to tame your treehouse people enough to get them to work for me. Well, with me.’
‘Ah, resourceful, I knew you was,’ Nat said. ‘Hil said as much. Not sure I’d have agreed if you’d been the townie slacker I’d expected.’
‘Um, that’s good to know. Anyway, I have this list of things that we need to do, and things that I need your permission to do, since it’s technically your campsite—’
Nat waved a hand. ‘As you wish, maid. Anything you need, just skim the cost off me cut of the profits.’
‘Ah, but I can’t do that because I don’t actually have any money to get these things in the first place.’
Nat chuckled. ‘Ah, maid. See the cabin over there, see the door, no hinge, all that? There’s me income. Can’t you ask old Hil to lend you a quid or two?’
Josie grimaced. While no doubt Hilda could afford to hire someone to repair the boiler or pay the website setup costs and newspaper advertising fees they would need just to let anyone know there was a campsite here, she hated to ask.
‘The most pressing thing is probably the hot water and the rewiring for the shop cabin and the play barn. If you could just—’
‘Aha,’ Nat said, clicking two crusty sunbaked fingers with a dull thud. ‘The lad knows his way around a spanner. I’ll send him over when he gets back.’
‘Robinson? He’s not here?’
‘Nope. Gone back up to the smoke. Visit his ma, do a few odd jobs.’
‘Right.’ Josie nodded. ‘Well, thanks for letting me know. If you could send him over—’
‘Maid’s divorced, ain’t ’e?’ Nat said abruptly, still peering skyward as though talking to someone hovering above him.
‘Um, yes.’
‘Nice lad, is me boy. Level headed, can fix anything.’ Nat grinned. ‘I mean, I can’t see what kind of state you’re in, but Hil reckons you’re a decent catch. You’s have a nice voice, soothing, like.’
‘Um, I need to go—’
‘And a bit of gumption, some meat on you’s bones, judging by all that strimming Hil says you’ve been getting into. Reckon I should have a word with the lad, see if we can’t get a bit of a date on the go.’
Nat began to chuckle to himself. Josie, certain there was little more to be gained from her visit, began to retrace her steps.
