After a light breakfast, she picked up her bag, her camera tucked inside it. Popping the strap over her shoulder, she set off for the day.
Her phone rang, and she grimaced at the name that flashed up.
‘Hi, Brendon,’ she chirped. ‘Everything okay?’
‘It will be once I know what you’re up to.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I want a top job doing on this. It could bring in a lot of income for the company.’
Ava held in her sigh. ‘I’ve only just arrived. I spent yesterday finding out what work they required and I’m now off to take some photos.’
‘Well, make sure you do an excellent job. This could be the start of other projects for you.’
Which you’d get the money for.
‘I’ll do my best, Brendon. I always do and?—’
‘Yes, yes. Off you pop, then. I’m not paying you to chit-chat.’
The phone went dead in her hand before she could respond. She groaned loudly. The cheek of the man. He couldn’t even give her more than thirty seconds, and never a compliment on any occasion. Still, she was almost outside Ruby’s cabin now. She pressed on the door handle, smiling when the bell tinkled to announce her arrival.
Ruby was sitting at the table at the back of the room, surrounded by tubs of coloured beads in containers. Ava had caught her with her tongue sticking out of her mouth in concentration before she looked up.
‘I said I’d stop by and here I am,’ she said.
‘Morning,’ Ruby cried. ‘So good to see you. Do you have time for a drink?’
‘I’ve just had one, so can I take a rain check?’
‘Sure.’ Ruby stood up and stretched. ‘This plays havoc with my back if I stoop for too long. The perils of getting older.’
Ava smiled. Ruby was the same age as her. She and Eliza Broadhurst had taken her under their wing when she’d first arrived. Each summer Ava was added to their twosome, and three never seemed to be a crowd.
‘Are you settling in?’ Ruby asked, popping lids onto plastic containers.
‘Yes, thanks.’ Ava’s hand went into one she hadn’t closed yet. ‘These are a beautiful colour. Do you take orders?’
‘I do. Would you like me to make you something?’
‘Yes, please.’
‘Consider it done. So, tell me about yourself. How has life treated you, and what brings you back here?’ She pointed to the chair across from her.
Ava sat down. ‘Where to begin. I’m divorced with a daughter, Georgia. She’s eighteen and the best thing to come out of the relationship.’
‘Well, there is that, and similar to me. I’m divorced, too, and I have a daughter. Poppy is nine. Her dad, Kevin, you might remember him? Idiot who sometimes hung around with Jack and Dan, always talked about poo and other disgusting things. Lived on a farm just outside Somerley.’
Ava laughed. ‘Idoremember him. He used to follow you around like a puppy.’
‘We were childhood sweethearts. Not anymore. He had an affair, so I booted him out four years ago.’ She went over to the counter and pulled out a photo of a young girl cuddling a teddy bear. She was the spitting image of Ruby.
‘Oh, she’s gorgeous. Does she get to see her dad often?’
Ruby scoffed. ‘He’s living down south. Comes “when he can.” I think it’s because I make it awkward for him, but it wasn’t nice what he did.’
‘I can imagine,’ Ava humoured. ‘I caught my ex out with another woman.’
