Penny nodded. ‘So that’s it then?’
‘That’s it.’ Darby forced a bright smile and joked. ‘He can stew in his own juice, for all I care. I’ve got a thriving internet empire to keep me busy. Plus, at the moment, I am more or less powered by the beauty of mood-enhancing carbs, which, let me tell you, is a glorious place to be. Give me all the pasta, all the time. What more could a girl need?’
‘A man who makes you smile the way you’ve been smiling recently,’ Penny said, matter-of-factly. ‘You’re not fooling me. You’ve been really happy the last few months or so.’
Darby let her head fall back against the sofa cushions. ‘It’s nothing to do with him. It’s because I’ve dragged myself up and stopped feeling sorry for myself. Someone had to. I realised the only person who was going to save me was me.’
‘Hmm, yeah, nottotallybuying it. You really like him. In fact, I would say it’s love. You were never like this with the other lot. What do I know, though? I’m only your best friend who has been with you through the mechanics of three fathers to each of your children and other relationships. Need I go on?’
Darby corrected. ‘You’re pretty much myonlyfriend.’
Penny laughed. ‘You’re lucky to have me. You like him, Darbs. I think you should offer an olive branch. I really do. Don’t let this slip away.’
‘Don’t! I’m not doing this. He can come to me if he wants to. If not, then fine. I’ll survive. I always survive. You and I both know that.’
After she put the phone down from Penny, Darby tried to think about what it might feel like from Archie’s point of view. She couldn’t really get her head around it. From her side, they had got close very quickly and then it hadn’t taken much for him to blow hot and cold. She felt as if they had been an item and then, suddenly, just because he was a little bit cross about a video, he’d slammed the door. Then again, she tried to think about the whole video incident from his side of the fence: he was seriouslynotinto social media. Next minute, he was in a video that had not just a few views but many thousands.
If the way he had acted, however, was the way he dealt with things, did Darby want to be with him? Should she not give him a very wide berth? On the other hand, perhaps he had just wanted to cool off. It was very muddled. As per usual in Darby’s world. She now saw that even things around her channel were complicated. Was nothing ever simple? Everything in her life was far from straightforward. It seemed that that was always the case.
Slipping her phone into her pocket, she stretched out the stiffness in her shoulders and huffed. The house felt close, as if the walls had absorbed all her tangled thoughts and were pressing them back at her. Lola looked up from her basket by the door, tail thudding against the floorboards as if she’d read Darby’s mind.
‘Come on then, lovely girl. You and I need a walk.’
Once out and about around Pretty Beach, Darby felt slightly better. Breathing in deeply, she tried to let the fresh air unravelthe knot in her chest. Turning a corner, the view opened up and she nodded at the lovely sight of the sea. That was always a thing that helped. The beauty of the coast took her breath away. A gorgeous tide rolled in, all frothy white edges breaking against the shingle, gulls swooped and called overhead, and a few evening strollers ambled here and there.
Darby followed Lola’s lead, her mind looping back over Archie. It felt ridiculous that something so silly, so accidental, had unravelled things so quickly. But as she stared at the waves hammering the shore, she reconsidered everything. Maybe it washerfault. Perhaps she should have thought things through more. Perched on an old weathered bench painted sea green, with peeling edges and a view to die for, Lola flopped at her feet and stared at the horizon as if she, too, were mulling over life.
Darby folded her arms and stared out, wondering what she should do. All of a sudden, she felt the void of her mum no longer being with her more than ever before. It had been many years, over twenty, since her mum had passed away, but Darby had often thought that her mum would have known what to do in various situations that had put Darby to the test. This was no exception. Her mum would have been full of well-thought-through advice. Darby, rather, still had not a clue.
40
After a morning shift at work, Darby had decided to pop into a little café, Maisie’s on the laneway in Pretty Beach. It had been busy at work and she’d wanted to get herself something to eat, maybe vlog some of the gorgeous café and let herself decompress. After deliberating for a while at the counter, she’d been shown the Locals Only and had decided that would work very well to fill a hole. Homemade scones with clotted cream and jam worked for her.
Finding a seat in the far side of the café, she said hello to Holly from the bakery and smiled at a woman from work who was sitting chatting with a couple of friends. After settling in and whilst waiting for her food, Daisy from the bookshop, with one of her sister’s Annabelle, came in, ordered some food and sat at the table beside her.
‘Hi, how are you?’ Darby asked.
Daisy smiled. ‘Good, thanks. You?’
‘Good.’
Annabelle smiled. ‘You’re looking well.’
‘Thanks.’ Darby gestured to the counter. ‘I’ve treated myself to the LO.’
Daisy laughed. ‘We did, too. Who can resist fresh scones and clotted cream?’
‘No one.’ Annabelle chuckled.
‘How did you enjoy the Night Markets? I saw you in the beer tent, but I never made it over to say hello.’ Daisy asked.
‘It was lovely, yes, I enjoyed it.’
‘How are things going with you know who?’ Daisy made a silly face.
Darby brushed it off. ‘Yes, fine, thanks.’
Just then, Darby’s scones came and she was saved from having to continue the chat about Archie as Daisy and Annabelle settled into their conversation. Whipping out her phone, Darby took a quick video of the scone and its presentation, which she knew her subscribers would love. The scone had arrived on a white plate with a pretty blue pattern, the jam spooned into a little glass vessel and the clotted cream piled into a shallow Cornishware dish. The whole thing was peak Pretty Beach. Popping her phone on cinematic mode, she filmed, focusing in on the jam and cream and then her cup of tea. On a bit of a roll, she panned outside the window to capture the hanging baskets and bistro chairs and the ferry wharf in the distance. As she was zooming in on the ferry and wondering if its horn honk would be picked up by the microphone, Archie suddenly appeared in her scene. Nearly dropping her phone in the jam, she hastily put it down, shifted in her chair, tried to make herself invisible and spied him as he walked into the café. Tucking into her scone, she pretended she wasn’t looking in Archie’s direction and watched as he stood in the queue chatting. Wondering if she should do something, she pondered going over to speak to him, but instead sat like a lemon watching. Deciding she couldn’t take the knock-back if he was rude to her, and that tucked in the corner hadn’t seen her anyway, she concluded that she wanted it to stay that way.
