The Cornish Guest House Read Online Free PDF Page A

eyes, flecked with amber, sparkled and his brown hair was tousled from the wind. He stooped down to kiss her on the lips; he was very tall so there was a long way to go. ‘Good day – since I last saw you?’
    She laughed. He’d been back home briefly after the lunchtime customers had gone and had only left again around four.
    She snaked her arms beneath his waxed jacket, enjoying the warmth of his body through the cotton shirt. ‘We called on the new people who’ve moved to The Stables. The place is going to be amazing when it’s finished.’
    Robert buried his face in her hair and whispered in her ear, ‘Not as nice as Bag End, though?’
    ‘Never!’
    They ate round the kitchen table that they’d picked up at an auction. Neither Liz nor Robert had brought much furniture with them when they’d moved, and they both liked old pieces that seemed to fit with the character of the place. Rosie chattered about school. Mandy, apparently, had been off sick for the third day in a row – ‘I think she’s just making it up now,’ she said unsympathetically. George, meanwhile, had received a detention for swearing.
    ‘He only said “Jesus!” under his breath when Mr Mills said we had to learn two lots of French vocab for a test. He’s ridiculously strict.’
    ‘Well, you shouldn’t swear in front of the teacher,’ Liz said firmly, before smiling. ‘But I agree that’s pretty draconian.’
    Robert’s mobile phone rang when they were clearing away the dishes and he answered it in the front room where the signal was better. It seemed that one of the waitresses had called to say that she was unwell so they were a person down.
    ‘I’m sorry,’ he said to Liz, ‘we’re only half-full but you know what Loveday’s like—’
    ‘It’s fine, honestly.’ Liz enjoyed stepping in to help when needed as it gave her a chance to see the gang and catch up on the news. ‘I’ll run and check Pat’s free.’
    The old woman’s cottage, The Nook, was only a few doors up, next to Liz and Rosie’s former home. Liz had to rap loudly on the canary-yellow front door because Pat was rather deaf, and soon she herself appeared over the top of her china ornament display in the little window that looked directly on to the street.
    On spotting Liz, her snowy head bobbed out of view and she shuffled off to let her in. Pat was well into her eighties and had a special place in Liz’s heart, having been kind enough to mind Rosie almost every evening for years when Liz had worked regularly at the restaurant. She didn’t know how she’d have managed without her.
    ‘’Course I’ll come!’ Pat said, offering a prickly cheek for Liz to kiss. ‘I could do with a change of scenery. I’ve got some of those choccy bickies that Madam likes.’ She was already hobbling down the narrow hallway to find her coat and bag. ‘Tell Rosie to put the kettle on and I’ll be there in two shakes of a blanket.’
    *
    Liz changed into a white blouse and her old black waitressing skirt, then she and Robert left the pair in front of the TV and walked quickly up Humble Hill before turning left into winding South Street. It was dark now, and the old-fashioned streetlights had come on, though they’d be switched off later as a money-saving measure. There was no one about, which was lucky because they were rather late. It was difficult to go anywhere in the village without seeing someone you knew and feeling obliged to stop for a chat.
    Liz noticed that the mannequins in Seaspray Boutique had been stripped and were standing naked, bald and sad in the window. Audrey, the owner, must have done it only recently, as they’d been fully clothed at the beginning of the week. The shop wouldn’t open again now until March or April when the models would be flaunting the new season’s looks.
    A Winkle In Time was on the right, almost at the bottom of the road, which was too narrow for cars to go up and down so you had to park elsewhere. A former sea captain’s