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“Well, I hope it won’t be like it was last year,” Heather Jenkins said as she doled out biscuits to the Sunday school. “All the men running off to the pub.” She clucked her tongue. “Disgraceful.”
“I suppose that is always a risk,” Mia said, trying to sound like she didn’t care one way or another. “I mean, unless you’ve got any good ideas of how to stop that.”
“I should say I have...”
“Excellent!” Mia interrupted, sloshing tea into her saucer in her excitement. “Then you must join the committee.”
“Oh, well.” Heather turned to fussing with the cake plates. “I don’t know about that. I mean, I’m very busy at the moment.”
“Lot on your plate,” Mia said, sympathy oozing out of her mouth, even while thinking of the note cards resting at the bottom of her bag. “I’m sure. And isn’t the Mother’s Union cake competition coming up soon? I heard you won last year.” Mia took an excessive bite of her lemon cake, praying Mrs. Jenkins would get the hint before she actually had to repeat what Ditsy had written on the card.
Nothing.
Mia swallowed her cake. “It must have been something special to beat Mrs. Davies’s lemon cake,” she went on, staring Heather Jenkins in the eye.
Mrs. Jenkins broke. “What do you know?” she whispered, glancing across to make sure the vicar and his wife were still occupied shaking hands by the door.
“I know you didn’t bake the winning cake,” Mia whispered back. “I heard someone swapped the labels before the judges arrived, and I’d bet anything I know who you swapped yours with.” Mia took another telling bite of lemon cake.
“What do you want?” Heather ground out between clenched teeth.
“I want you on the festival committee.” Mia had thought long and hard about who she needed most. Heather Jenkins would bring most of the rest of the Mother’s Union. And there was no one else in town more capable of getting things done than the Mother’s Union. “And I want the people you’ll bring with you.”
Heather gave a sharp nod. “Fine.” She gave Mia an appraising look. “Maybe you’re not as daft as your father, after all.”
Deciding not to examine that comment too closely, Mia left Heather to her teas and set about finding April Havers. After all, everybody knew April’s husband was the best electrician in town, and they’d need electricity down on the beach if they wanted bands to play. And it just so happened Ditsy had two note cards with April’s name at the top. Mia smiled. Magda was going to be so proud of her.
* * * *
Tuesday morning was slow at the A to Z shop. Mia, driven to distraction by her attempts to formalize the actions from the minutes of the last committee meeting, found herself reaching for Ditsy’s book once more–for entertainment rather than guidance, she told herself. Reading R: Relationships require respect, responsibility–and retaliation! she held in a hysterical laugh as she considered her relationship with the local community. None of them respected her, but they’d let her take on a huge responsibility, and if she failed? She was sure they’d all be ready to retaliate.
She slammed the book closed. It really wasn’t that funny.
“What are you reading?” Magda asked, slipping in through the front door. “Sounds hilarious.”
“An old, out of date and very unhelpful book of Ditsy’s.” Magda raised an eyebrow, so Mia pushed it across the counter toward her.
“An A to Z of Love. Interesting.” Magda glanced up. “And Ditsy gave it to you?”
“I know. Feel free to read and mock me.” Mia slumped onto her stool and propped her elbows on the counter.
Magda flicked through a few pages, and stopped somewhere near the end. “Q: The quest for true love may be littered with dragons or magic, but the prize is always worth the adventure.”
“See what I mean?”
“Actually,” Magda said, shutting the book again, “That’s quite helpful.”
Mia raised an eyebrow. “How so?”
“My own quest appears to have reached a dragon,” Magda said, somewhat cryptically.
Mia thought it through. “Kevin?”
Magda sighed. “I should know better than to date a colleague.”
“Yes, you should.” Mia tried not to imagine blond, beautiful Magda turning her attentions to Charlie. As if Becky wasn’t enough to worry about.
“It was just... He asked. And it’s my personal rule to give every opportunity a fair shot, you know?”
“Sounds tiring.” Although Mia had to admit, possibly better than her policy of giving nothing a chance, just in case.
“But practical.” Magda patted the book. “I know the right man is out there somewhere. So I just need to keep looking.”
“But Kevin is not that man.”
“No, he is not,” Magda, a heavy emphasis on every syllable. “Which is why I need your help.”
Mia wasn’t sure she was really the right person to go to for any sort of relationship advice, but she liked Magda, so she said, “Sure. What can I do?”
“He wants to go on another date. Tonight at the Fox.”
“And you want me to...” Mia trailed off. “No, I don’t understand. What do you want me to do?”
“Come with me. If there’s two of us, he won’t get any sort of ideas.” Magda pulled a face at the word ‘ideas.’ Much as Mia disliked the thought of being relegated to spinster chaperone, she knew she couldn’t leave Magda alone with Kevin and his ideas.
“Fine,” she said, already regretting it. “What time?”
“Eight.” Magda bounced on the balls of her feet. “You are a true friend. Thank you.”
“No problem.” It wasn’t like she’d had any real plans for the evening anyway. Well, no plans beyond obsessing about the festival and concentrating on not thinking about how Charlie was still avoiding her. “A night out might do me good.”
“Take your mind off things,” Magda said, with a sympathetic nod. She flipped the book open again and pointed to the page. “See? S: Love is often found in the most surprising places.”
“Check O,” Mia suggested. “I’m pretty sure it tells us love is obvious. I’m telling you, that book is not to be trusted.”
Magda shrugged. “Or maybe it’s just saying love is different for everyone. For me, it could be quite surprising. For you, utterly obvious.”
The look she gave Mia cut closer to the bone than Mia wanted to admit, so she reached out and shut the book again. “Well, you have to admit, Kevin would have been a surprise.”
Magda looked thoughtful. “But maybe not the most surprising possibility.” She left with a contemplative look on her face, and Mia hoped Ditsy’s book of crazy hadn’t just inspired Magda to go off and try and seduce Reverend Davies.
But if it had, it was one too many problems for Mia to deal with. She turned back to her pile of notes from the last committee meeting and resumed her attempt to make one coherent list of things to do.
After all, apparently she was the responsible one in this relationship.
* * * *
The walk to the cottage always did wonders for clearing his mind, Charlie had found. Something about the sea air and the breezes that always hit as he reached the crest of the cliff side path made it impossible to worry, or fret, or even think about anything except the beauty of the Aberarian coastline.
Inside the cottage, however, was a different matter.
Maybe it was because it had been bought to be his home with Becky, or because he’d spent all morning hiding in the kitchen, avoiding Mia and her committee meeting. Kevin, preparing all the breakfasts on his own while Charlie peered through a tiny gap in the kitchen doors, had despaired of him.
