1
Cally de Pfeffer liked nothing better than revelling in her new life in Lovely Bay. It wasn’t just the fact that Lovely was so pretty with its sweet winding streets, huge towering lighthouse, shell-shaped roof tiles, rows of gorgeous shops, and lines of pastel bunting. Oh no, there were many other aspects about living in the third smallest town in the country that she loved. She also liked things such as the riverboat and using it to get around. It was definitely one of the nicer modes of transport she’d used: it sure beat the dirty old bus she’d taken to school back in the day. Add on top of good transport and beautiful aesthetics, the friendly local community, Lovelies, as they were known, and setting up anew in the sweet little town by the sea had been one of her better moves in life.
Strolling along quickly with a bit of a hustle to her steps and her nose tilted up to the warm breeze, Cally smiled at the beautiful day as she made her way down towards the River Lovely. Lovely itself was oddly quiet all around her and she couldn’t quite work out why. Maybe Lovelies had some knowledge she didn't yet know about that the ever-changeable Lovely weather was about to turn. On her way to meet Logan for a coffee, she kept her fingers crossed that that wasn't goingto be the case. She’d much rather stick with sunshine and warm breezes, thank you very much.
A few minutes later, as she turned the corner, she slowed her pace as one of the River Lovely jetties came into her line of sight. She smiled to herself as she spied Colin, the skipper, standing by the little hut on the jetty, looking out in the direction of the bay. The riverboat bobbed and clanged around beside him and the sunshine glinted off the top of the water. By the looks of it, Colin and the boat were waiting for a train to come in from the nearby Lovely train station and for its passengers to make their way over to the boat.
Approaching the jetty with a wicker shopping basket in the crook of her arm, Cally pulled her phone out of her pocket in order to pay. She walked briskly across the old, weathered boards, and pointed her phone in the direction of the new little payment gadget slotted just next to the entrance to the hut adjacent to the gangplank.
Colin smiled as he came out of the hut. Cally raised her eyebrows and gave a little wave as she pointed to the payment machine. ‘Hiya. How are you? The new machine is working well. How are you getting on with it?’
Colin laughed. ‘I know. It’s been good. Bit of a palaver to get it fitted but I got there in the end. They don’t just call me a pretty face, you know, our Cally.’
Cally felt all the warm and fuzzies at being referred to the local way, whereby an ‘our’ was automatically put in front of her name. When she’d first heard Lovelies address each other as such, she’d thought it a bit odd, old-fashioned, and, to be frank, strange all around. Now, she clung onto it with a passion, so very happy to be considered and recognised as a Lovely. It was the little things about living in the town that made all the difference.
Cally bantered, ‘Oh, I know you’re more than just a pretty face. You got it working in the end. Was it too much of a faff?’
Colin rolled his eyes. ‘Not too bad. It wasn’t going to beat me.’
‘Too funny,’ Cally said as she walked onto the boat. ‘Well, as long as you got there in the end.’
‘I did, indeed.’ Colin gestured with a nod of his head in the direction of the station. ‘Just waiting for that lot and we’ll get going.’
‘Thanks.’
Once settled at the top, with her basket tucked up on the seat beside her, Cally sat waiting for the riverboat to depart. Lost in a world of her own for a bit, she stared over to the other side of the water, watching Lovelies doing their thing. A couple strolled along the river path hand in hand, two dog walkers chatted as they trailed behind their pups and a jogger looking very fit made Cally consider for a moment her intention to take up some exercise. The same intention she’d had for what felt like ever but had ultimately resulted in the fact that she’d never actually found the time. If truth be told, she’d never been that bothered and had little to no inclination.
As the boat finally pulled away, she settled in. The engine puttered, water swished against the bottom, and the river path began to slide slowly by. She heard Colin call out from the deck below. ‘Next stop Lovely Harbour, then the bay. Stay on for the marshes and all other stops.’
Cally smiled, put her sunglasses on, squinted down in the direction of the bay, and marvelled at the weather. After working all the hours all week with early starts and late finishes, she was looking forward to meeting Logan, walking along by the harbour, getting a coffee, and doing not much with her day at all. Taking it easy was what she was going to do. No irritated retail customers, no cartons in the chemist, and no decluttering for people who didn’t have the time, inclination, or effort to do it themselves. She was thoroughly looking forward to the gentle art of doing nothing. Bring that right on.
Edging closer to the stop for Lovely Bay, she took in the queue of people on the jetty waiting to get on and realised that, unlike the side of Lovely she’d come from, the beach area was busy. Picking up her basket, she slipped her phone in her pocket, held on tightly to the railing and made her way down the stairs to wait to get off. As Colin steered in the boat, she peered and shaded her eyes to see if she could spot Logan waiting for her. As she spied him, her stomach jumped, and her heart flipped. With a bag over his shoulder, sunglasses on his head, and a blue short-sleeved shirt, he was leaning on a railing watching the boat approach. When he saw Cally, he raised his hand and waved. As Cally waved back, she thanked her lucky stars that their two very different worlds had collided. It had been on the very boat she was standing on when the bottom of her bag had given way and spilt its contents all over the deck. Logan had been sitting on the back of the boat when her things had fallen all around him, a raw chicken breast landing at his feet. He’d been swift in his role as knight in shining armour. She’d liked that part a lot. He was her kind of knight, indeed.
Once the boat had docked and she’d made her way off, she walked up to him and kissed him on the cheek. As he put his arm around her shoulders and squeezed the top of her arm, she still couldn't quite believe that she and him were a thing. She’d take it for the team, though. She wasn’t going to complain. Hottie patottie and then some.
Logan held up a brown paper bag. ‘I have goodies from that bakery I was telling you about.’
‘Excellent.’ Cally mirrored his movement with her basket. ‘I have goodies, too.’
‘Ha. How was the boat?’
‘Quiet the top end, busy down here.’
Logan nodded in agreement. ‘I know. The sunshine brings out the beachgoers, right?’
‘I thought the same as we made our way along the river.’
‘Enjoy the trip?’
‘I did. I sat and looked out at the world going by. I needed it after the week I’ve had.’
Logan pointed down the river. ‘It never ceases to amaze me how nice the River Lovely is, and on a day like this, it doesn’t disappoint. The colours are something else.’
‘Agree.’ Cally looked over her shoulder and took in the full view of the river. ‘I’ve had worse places to commute to and from.’
‘Tell me about it. How were the chatbot horrors this morning? Behaving themselves?’
‘Oh, you know, the usual whining culprits. Someone was complaining that she was a technophobe and couldn’t work out how to start a return - while she was speaking to me on the app via the wifi on a plane. But she’s a technophobe. Course she is. You can’t make it up.’
