Page 16 of The Summer That Changed Us

Too late now, Katie was already finding glasses.

‘I’m not normally a day drinker,’ said Robyn, accepting a glass, nonetheless. ‘But then this isn’t a normal day.’

‘To new friends!’ Grace said, raising her glass.

‘New friends,’ the other two chimed in, chinking their glasses together.

Grace directed them to the dining table and the three of them sat, Grace facing out towards the sea, still captivated by the view.

‘What made you want to move away from where you lived with Myles?’ Katie asked.

‘The last few months have been traumatic, but at least now the legal stuff is sorted out. Or I thought it was.’ She hesitated, remembering the letter she’d just opened from her solicitor. If Austin and Olivia were contesting the will, the stress could be far from over. ‘Because Myles and I lived and worked together, every aspect of my normal life just vanished overnight. Our house is full of echoes of the life I’ve lost. I thought some time alone in a neutral space without being surrounded by painful memories might help me find some peace.’

‘I’ll drink to that,’ said Robyn, taking another sip.

Katie gave a heartfelt sigh. ‘Gosh. Me too. To peace.’

There was a moment then when all three of them said nothing, seemingly lost in their thoughts, then Robyn reached into her pocket for something.

‘I’ll add these to the vase, if I may?’ She held her hand out to show them pieces of green and blue glass, smooth like stones.

There was a cylindrical glass vase in the centre of the table half filled with stones just like it and Robyn placed hers gently on top of them.

‘Is that sea glass?’ Grace asked, thinking how beautiful all the colours were.

Robyn nodded. ‘I picked these up this morning from the beach.’

‘Let’s see!’ Grace leaned forward to reach the vase and ran her fingers through the stones; most of them were no bigger than her thumbnail, but the colours were glorious: some pink, white or orange, but most were blue or green and every shade in between.

‘The beach is known for it locally,’ said Katie. ‘I’ve never collected it myself, but my aunt loved it, there are bags of it in my cottage.’

‘It’s very relaxing,’ said Robyn, ‘just wandering across the beach, picking up the sparkly bits. It’s good for the soul, I think.’

Anything that was good for the soul had to be a winner as far as Grace was concerned.

‘Why don’t we do it together one day this week?’ she suggested, topping up their glasses. ‘Robyn could give us tips on how to find the best bits and I’ll see if I can fill that vase before I leave.’

She was feeling quite impressed with herself; she’d only been here five minutes and already she’d met two lovely locals. She hoped they’d say yes, it would give her something to look forward to.

‘Why not?’ said Robyn, I don’t have much else to do at the moment.’

Katie looked thoughtful for a moment but then nodded. ‘Relaxing sounds good to me, but could we do it on Thursday? That’s my day off.’

Once the arrangements were made, and the bottle was emptied, Katie and Robyn made their excuses and set off via the beach which, they told her, was a far quicker route into town than going by road.

Grace waved them off from the terrace and hobbled back inside to tidy up. It took her a few minutes to realise that she was humming. She’d have a bath, she decided, to ease her tender muscles and then she was going to ring Zoe to fill her in on her morning. About flashing her fandango al fresco, about her two new friends and most importantly, how for the first time since Myles died, she could feel a bit of her old self returning and it felt bloody marvellous.

Chapter Six

Robyn hurried back towards home and the harbour. What an unexpectedly lovely morning it had turned out to be after getting that bad news from Our Eco Life magazine. Grace and Katie: an architect and a shop owner. Robyn had really enjoyed meeting them; she felt inspired and uplifted and part of something new.

She could hardly wait until Thursday. She’d pick their brains about her job situation; they might have some good suggestions. He’d felt a bit guilty when she bumped into Katie that she’d never shopped in Auntie Small’s. As a rule she was a firm believer in supporting local businesses, but she usually picked a multipack of knickers up from the supermarket when they did a big shop. And as for bras … she’d had a spell of not wearing anything at all, and at the moment was simply wearing soft crop tops or vests with hidden support. The window always looked lovely, if a bit above her budget. Claudia could obviously afford it though, she thought, and then chided herself for being uncharitable. Claudia had bought a feeding bra; it wasn’t as if she’d splashed out on expensive lingerie.

As usual, her heart lifted when Admiral Cottage came into view. The entire house would probably fit into Grace’s living room, but she wouldn’t swap it for the world. It was hers and Finn’s domain, their port in a storm, the perfect size for two. She went in by the kitchen door and the smell of baking greeted her.

Finn looked up and grinned. ‘Just in time to witness my triumph.’

He was spreading frosting onto a carrot cake with a palette knife.