Page 40 of Summer in Sunset Harbour
Josie wiped away a tear. ‘I couldn’t be prouder of you, Tiffany.’
Tiffany’s smile dropped again. ‘Do you want the bad news? Or, well, I suppose good, depending on your perspective?’
‘Slap me in the face with it.’
‘Dad’s song is at number one. Like, in the whole country.’
Josie couldn’t help but smile as she gave a disbelieving shake of her head. ‘Good for him.’
Tiffany lifted an eyebrow. ‘Him and that aristocratic troll posted a celebratory dance on TikTok.’ She pulled a phone out of her pocket. ‘Do you want to see?’
Josie put up a hand. ‘Absolutely not.’
‘It’s got two-million views already. Honestly, some people have no taste.’
‘Each to their own. Anyway, I’d better get to work. Today’s plan for little me is to make an inventory of the cabins and list of what needs to be replaced.’
‘Oh, I had a chat with Cathy in the pub. She said if you want to get a laundering service going on for the cabin linen, she’ll do you a deal, since you’re “a babe.”’ Tiffany lifted an eyebrow. ‘I assumed she meant you look good for your age, rather than that you’re an actual child.’
‘Um, that’s good I suppose.’
‘And she said she had some cousins looking for a place to camp for the summer holidays.’
Josie spread her hands. ‘The more the merrier.’
‘Did you know that Rachel delivered one of her children? Right there on the launderette floor.’
‘The things that happen in small towns, eh?’ Josie clapped her hands together. ‘Right, I’d better get back to it.’
‘Oh, and Robinson called. He asked if you needed any more wiring done.’
‘Ah, I think we’re good for now.’
‘Mum?’
‘What?’
‘He’s totally looking for excuses to come down here.’
Josie shook her head, turning away so as not to meet her daughter’s eyes. ‘He doesn’t need an excuse. His dad owns it.’
‘Come on, Mum. Just make it easy for him.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Oh, you do. You’re just being difficult. Come on, it’s the summer! It’s the time for romance!’
‘It’s still May. That’s technically spring.’
‘Oh, Mum….’
Josie left the reception cabin before Tiffany had a chance to corner her. The air was fresh, warm even, the ground a little damp after some overnight rain.
She found Geoffrey and Lindsay together, painting the outside of the play barn, laughing gently at some in-joke to which Josie wasn’t privy. Barney was down by the treehouses, hanging a rope swing between two of the platforms of the treehouse village. For several days last week, all five of them had got together to repaint the outsides of the treehouses, the sides blue and green, the roofs in polka-dot red and orange, like a series of mushroom houses clinging to the trees. Robinson had come down to help Barney build a couple of stairways leading up, and the walkways and barriers had all been repaired.
Josie carried on down to the clearing, where she stood for a moment, looking out over the cove and the cliffs below. Tiffany, working her magic, had got the council to commit to repairing the section of the coast path below the campsite, and even to cut a series of steps leading down to the secretive cove. While it was never going to be a top swimming beach or ideal for making sandcastles, it would make a good setting for a few beach barbeques and maybe a little fishing.
She was just thinking of going down for a wander on the beach when she heard Tiffany shouting her name. She walked back up through the campsite, unable not to feel a sense of amazement at how much it had changed from an overgrown wilderness into something that actually looked habitable.
