sudden jolt of pain.
‘Sarah and Mike growing up?’
‘You’ll have to drop round and see them. They miss playing with Shadow now your dad isn’t walking past every evening. How’s Tom doing? Have you heard from him?’
Ellie rolled her eyes. ‘Once in a while, I get a really huge email from an internet café, somewhere in the middle of nowhere.’ She shrugged. ‘At least he’s still in Australia, I guess, so he can’t get into too much trouble.’
Felicity laughed. ‘He said he was going to enjoy seeing how long it took you to track him down.’
‘He worked so hard to bring us up when Mum died, I guess he’s earned the right to regress now. But I’m holding him personally responsible for the grey hair I found this morning.’
‘Grey hair?’ Felicity snorted, back on safer ground and feeling her tension ease. Maybe Ellie was still Ellie. ‘I doubt that. You look great. Come round for dinner. It would make a change to share a bottle of wine instead of pretending to leave some for tomorrow.’ Felicity leant forward, compelled to ask. ‘How does it feel to be home again?’
‘Good, I guess. I feel as though I need to be here now.’ Ellie’s smile was a little too bright. ‘And thanks, dinner would be great. Don’t think I’ve gossiped for ages.’
‘Saturday, then. Dan’s heading out with the trawler on Friday and will be away until Wednesday, unless they pull in a big catch before then.’ Felicity hoped her smile held. ‘I’ll cook a roast, comfort food.’
‘Lovely.’
‘Okay, so what do you need from the council?’
Ellie’s voice dropped. ‘Is it possible to get into the main chamber to see what I need to bring on Monday for my presentation? Thought it would be prudent not to trespass. O’Sullivan might grab any excuse to have me ejected from the building and locked up.’
‘Our lord mayor would love the excuse. But I wouldn’t mind being locked up with the developer who breezed through here half an hour ago.’ Felicity waggled her head. ‘If all else fails, we could call for volunteers to seduce him.’
Ellie laughed outright this time. ‘Your man’s been away at sea too long! Just remember what that developer is doing, in tandem with our saintly mayor.’
‘Yeah, yeah, but there’s no harm in window shopping. And if you do see O’Sullivan, duck for cover. Mentioning your name just about gives him a stroke.’
‘Maybe that would be a good way of getting rid of him.’
‘Ellie, be careful what you wish for.’ Two people were now waiting patiently in the queue. ‘The doors are unlocked to the main chamber, so help yourself. I’ll see you tomorrow at the bowls club. We’ll all be there by four. I’ve got some spreadsheets for Ron too.’ She slipped the last line in triumphantly.
‘Really?’ Ellie frowned. ‘Don’t do anything that could get you caught, Flick.’
‘Of course not. The meeting will be fun. We’ll see you there and don’t forget dinner on Saturday.’
‘Thanks. Should be good. Enjoy your day now.’
Felicity watched Ellie go and called the next customer forward. Keeping the worry from her face wasn’t easy. If the protest against the development took up all Ellie’s time, maybe she wouldn’t uncover the other issues plaguing Half Moon Bay. Dan was already muttering about the ramifications of rocking the boat. The fishing industry was a tight-knit community. Piss one off, you pissed them all off. But she couldn’t turn a blind eye any more. Dan had been doing that for two years too long already. She needed to do something.
8
Ellie wasn’t in the mood to confront Lord Mayor O’Sullivan today. She kept her ears tuned for his voice as she strode down the corridor. O’Sullivan had been a councillor at Half Moon Bay for many years, but that didn’t mean he should now be running the show as the mayor.
The conversation from a nearly closed door had her feet tripping over themselves.
‘Of course, Lord Mayor, naturally we understand
‘Sarah and Mike growing up?’
‘You’ll have to drop round and see them. They miss playing with Shadow now your dad isn’t walking past every evening. How’s Tom doing? Have you heard from him?’
Ellie rolled her eyes. ‘Once in a while, I get a really huge email from an internet café, somewhere in the middle of nowhere.’ She shrugged. ‘At least he’s still in Australia, I guess, so he can’t get into too much trouble.’
Felicity laughed. ‘He said he was going to enjoy seeing how long it took you to track him down.’
‘He worked so hard to bring us up when Mum died, I guess he’s earned the right to regress now. But I’m holding him personally responsible for the grey hair I found this morning.’
‘Grey hair?’ Felicity snorted, back on safer ground and feeling her tension ease. Maybe Ellie was still Ellie. ‘I doubt that. You look great. Come round for dinner. It would make a change to share a bottle of wine instead of pretending to leave some for tomorrow.’ Felicity leant forward, compelled to ask. ‘How does it feel to be home again?’
‘Good, I guess. I feel as though I need to be here now.’ Ellie’s smile was a little too bright. ‘And thanks, dinner would be great. Don’t think I’ve gossiped for ages.’
‘Saturday, then. Dan’s heading out with the trawler on Friday and will be away until Wednesday, unless they pull in a big catch before then.’ Felicity hoped her smile held. ‘I’ll cook a roast, comfort food.’
‘Lovely.’
‘Okay, so what do you need from the council?’
Ellie’s voice dropped. ‘Is it possible to get into the main chamber to see what I need to bring on Monday for my presentation? Thought it would be prudent not to trespass. O’Sullivan might grab any excuse to have me ejected from the building and locked up.’
‘Our lord mayor would love the excuse. But I wouldn’t mind being locked up with the developer who breezed through here half an hour ago.’ Felicity waggled her head. ‘If all else fails, we could call for volunteers to seduce him.’
Ellie laughed outright this time. ‘Your man’s been away at sea too long! Just remember what that developer is doing, in tandem with our saintly mayor.’
‘Yeah, yeah, but there’s no harm in window shopping. And if you do see O’Sullivan, duck for cover. Mentioning your name just about gives him a stroke.’
‘Maybe that would be a good way of getting rid of him.’
‘Ellie, be careful what you wish for.’ Two people were now waiting patiently in the queue. ‘The doors are unlocked to the main chamber, so help yourself. I’ll see you tomorrow at the bowls club. We’ll all be there by four. I’ve got some spreadsheets for Ron too.’ She slipped the last line in triumphantly.
‘Really?’ Ellie frowned. ‘Don’t do anything that could get you caught, Flick.’
‘Of course not. The meeting will be fun. We’ll see you there and don’t forget dinner on Saturday.’
‘Thanks. Should be good. Enjoy your day now.’
Felicity watched Ellie go and called the next customer forward. Keeping the worry from her face wasn’t easy. If the protest against the development took up all Ellie’s time, maybe she wouldn’t uncover the other issues plaguing Half Moon Bay. Dan was already muttering about the ramifications of rocking the boat. The fishing industry was a tight-knit community. Piss one off, you pissed them all off. But she couldn’t turn a blind eye any more. Dan had been doing that for two years too long already. She needed to do something.
8
Ellie wasn’t in the mood to confront Lord Mayor O’Sullivan today. She kept her ears tuned for his voice as she strode down the corridor. O’Sullivan had been a councillor at Half Moon Bay for many years, but that didn’t mean he should now be running the show as the mayor.
The conversation from a nearly closed door had her feet tripping over themselves.
‘Of course, Lord Mayor, naturally we understand
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