but, none the more for that, there had been no mistaking the intimacy behind the hug I had seen and I resolved not to take up too much of their time so they could be alone together before Sam had to open the pub.
‘So,’ said Hope as she handed out the croissants and cereal bars that she had commandeered from Sam’s breakfast cupboard, ‘tell me some more about last night. I can’t believe you managed to book the Sea Dogs at such short notice.’
Between us, Sam and I filled in the details and Hope nodded along, for once quietly listening without interrupting with what I had already guessed was her own trademark brand of enthusiasm. I didn’t think that she was rude when she butted in, she was just full of energy and eagerness. One of life’s natural half-full types. I envied that a little.
‘And I know I had my doubts about the evening turning a profit,’ Sam said to me. He had aired his views quite vociferously once we had worked out the projected costs. ‘But having cashed up, I’ve discovered I was wrong about that too.’
At this point, Hope couldn’t help adding a few well-chosen words.
‘Will you listen to this!’ she giggled, clapping her hands together. ‘You might not realize it, Tess, but getting this man to admit to being wrong about anything is no mean feat. Bravo my friend,’ she winked mischievously at me, ‘bravo.’
I couldn’t help but laugh along. What fun this girl was!
‘Yes,’ said Sam, ‘thank you, you two. As I said, the evening did turn a profit – not a huge one, as I decided to give Harry and Delilah a few quid, but it made a bit.’
‘So, it didn’t end up costing you, after all?’ I said, firing his blunt words back at him.
‘No,’ he smiled. ‘Well,’ he added, rubbing his leg, ‘nothing more than a bit of extra discomfort for having been on my feet for so long.’
I had completely forgotten about his leg. I hadn’t factored in that he had spent more hours than usual standing up because I didn’t realize it would make a difference.
‘Foot,’ Hope automatically corrected.
‘What?’ Sam frowned, still massaging his thigh.
‘You were on your foot for so long,’ she said. ‘You haven’t got feet.’
‘Oh, very good,’ said Sam, with a snort of laughter.
‘So,’ said Hope, turning her attention back to me, ‘what’s next?’
I reckoned the pair knew each other very well indeed to be able to talk like that.
‘Next?’ I frowned, tearing a croissant in half.
‘Yes,’ she nodded, ‘don’t tell me you haven’t thought of anything. I bet you couldn’t sleep last night for mulling over what form of entertainment to suggest next.’
I had nodded off thinking about a certain performance, but not the sort she was suggesting.
‘Well,’ I said, trying not to blush, ‘I was wondering, what with it being the summer solstice soon, if it might be worth considering having some sort of celebration on the beach.’
Sam hadn’t reckoned much to the idea of a jello-shot-fuelled beach-style party in the pub, but the celebration I had dreamt up for the solstice was a much quieter affair.
‘Oh, yes,’ Hope said keenly, ‘I like the sound of that.’
Why was I not surprised? I think I could have suggested anything and she would have loved it.
‘I thought,’ I quickly carried on, in view of such a receptive audience, ‘that as there would be longer to get organized, that maybe it could be a slightly bigger event, an amalgamation between the pub and the café. Perhaps with something set up here, right in the middle, to bring the two businesses together.’
‘A traditional solstice beach party, with a Caribbean twist,’ said Sam, looking off into the distance.
Now even he was getting into the swing of it.
‘We could have cocktails,’ Hope added. ‘With little umbrellas on sticks.’
‘And mocktails,’ Sam countered.
‘The curried crab your mum made last week was such a fascinating fusion, Hope,’ I said. ‘I bet she’s got lots of other clever combo recipes tucked up her sleeve, hasn’t she?’
‘Absolutely,’ Hope agreed.
‘But what about the weather?’ frowned Sam. ‘That isn’t guaranteed, is it?’
‘Is anything in life guaranteed?’ Hope laughed. ‘We can’t let a little thing like the weather stop us, Sam.’
‘Worst-case scenario,’ I said, quickly thinking of a backup plan, ‘if it rains, we’ll have the first half of the party in the café and then walk to the pub via the beach, or start in the pub and walk to the café. There’ll be some way around it, but