Page 44 of Be More Capybara

‘And Nige.’

Nigel paused at the drawing room door. ‘Yeah?’

‘I’m glad you’re back.’

31

HELEN

Helen walked into the foyer of the Bay View Hotel. She hadn’t set foot inside the place for years, but it still looked the same as it did when she used to waitress here as a teenager. They must’ve redecorated since then, but no one had been brave enough to change the layout, which was a shame because it didn’t make the most of its potential, particularly the view over Dashford that gave it its name. Perhaps she should put in a speculative redesign proposal.

‘Good morning. Can I help you?’ the woman on the Reception desk asked.

‘Yes, I’m looking for the business networking group that meets here.’

‘Through those doors into the dining room.’ The woman frowned. ‘You’re Helen, aren’t you?’

‘Yes. How did you know?’

‘Picture me with a bad blonde pixie cut, thick black eyeliner and fewer wrinkles.’

Helen looked at the woman more closely. She laughed. ‘Katie?’ They’d worked here together when they were both studying at Dashford Comp.

‘One and the same! Though it’s Kate now - more fitting for someone our age.’ She walked out from behind the desk and hugged Helen. ‘You haven’t changed a bit.’

‘Still sneaking out the back for a snog with Billy?’

Kate laughed. ‘I’m amazed how I ever kept my job. But no, I married Billy eventually and then dumped him five years ago when he decided to cheat on me with the barmaid at the Fisherman’s - it’s like a bloody soap opera around here. I’d heard you’d moved back to Dashford, and Nigel’s around again?’

‘Yes. We go out for coffee occasionally.’ If two to three times a week could be called occasional, but she didn’t want to fuel any gossip.

Kate raised her perfectly sculpted eyebrows.

‘We’re just friends,’ Helen said.

Kate returned to her chair behind the desk. ‘I had a £2 bet with Sharon that you’d marry him.’

‘£2?’

‘It was a lot of money to me then. So if you do ever get him down the aisle, let me know so I can write to her to collect it. She’s in Sydney now, lucky beggar.’

There was a round of applause in the dining room.

‘You’d better head in there,’ Kate said. ‘Sounds like they’re starting. Good luck.’

‘You don’t sound too impressed.’

‘Let’s just say they’re quite demanding. Kevin, who leads it, thinks he’s Dashford’s answer to Alan Sugar. What’s your business?’

‘Interior design.’

Kate looked nervously at her.

‘Is there another interior designer who’s a member?’

‘I don’t think so, but I’ve noticed women don’t often come back for a second meeting. There’s a lovely women’s business group that meets on the last Thursday of the month in the bookshop. I’ll introduce you.’

Helen was poised to stand up and give her elevator pitch. She’d already listened to a mortgage advisor, an accountant, a divorce lawyer and a renewable energy expert give theirs.