‘You might be right about that. Although Mum never went to the pub without having had a long walk first. It was one of her favourite things of all – a winter walk, a carvery dinner at the pub and a brandy by the fire before they’d leave for home. And in the summer months she’d walk the perimeter of the farmer’s field beyond the pub and then settle in the garden with a gin and tonic, always –’
‘Long,’ Etna laughed before he could add the word himself. His mum always liked her gin served in a highball glass pre-filled with ice, with a squeeze of lime juice and a twist of lime added.
‘You and Mum got along well.’
‘I was very fond of her. And she could talk, I loved that. We’d spend our evenings talking about anything and everything. I miss her.’ She looked to him. ‘I know you must too.’
Linc’s mum had been gone eleven years but some days it felt as though she’d been in his life a lot more recently. He was glad about that because it meant his memories were still there, as vivid as ever, of the mum he’d nursed right up until the very end when she’d died peacefully with her husband and her children, Linc and his brother Zach, at her bedside.
Etna put on a smile. ‘Listen to us, all melancholy…I’ll think about your suggestion I take a break, how does that sound?’ He nodded his approval. ‘And while we’re nagging one another, I want to know when you’re going to get that guitar out for me.’
‘All in good time, promise. I did have a brief play yesterday but you were still in the tea rooms.’
Linc had been playing the guitar since he was in primary school. He rarely used sheet music, instead playing tunes by ear. He’d played all through high school, even formed a band with some of his crazy mates and performed in school concerts. And with his life so messy over the last few years, playing the guitar had been a real escape. He’d come home from work, have dinner, and then while away the hours thinking up new tunes, playing favourites, disappearing into the music instead of his own thoughts. He’d brought his guitar here to the Cove and it was still a means to get away from anything going on in his head.
‘I’ll hold you to that, young man,’ Etna smiled, picking up her folder again, ready to go.
‘The windows are open all the time in summer, I wouldn’t want to upset the neighbours.’
‘Ppffft…don’t you worry about anyone moaning about music, they’ll probably enjoy it as much as birdsong.’
He walked her out and at the bottom of the steps that led up to her flat, she stopped. ‘I’ll give your dad a call later, have a bit of a chat.’
‘Good, he’ll appreciate it.’ Linc locked the door behind them. ‘While you’re at it, can you reassure him I’m fine? He’s texting me daily as if I’m twenty years younger and a wayward teen.’
‘Don’t knock it,’ her voice trilled as he tugged on the work boots he’d left outside. ‘He worries about you and wants to see you happy.’
He gave Etna a kiss on the cheek, sent her off to the tea rooms and made his way along The Street, across the field behind the bus stop and up towards the waffle shack.
When Linc reached the shack, a stunning wooden cabin set at the perimeter of the village green space, the place was busy. On the veranda out front was a family of four, each with waffles piled high with all sorts of things. One waffle looked like it had bacon on top, another had what could be chicken. Linc held the door open for a girl carrying out three plates filled with sweet waffles and toppings that made his tummy growl in hunger.
A tall man introduced himself as Daniel and Linc took a seat at one of the two remaining tables inside the shack while Daniel finished taking payment from a customer. He called over to a boy emerging from the kitchen and then took off his apron before coming to meet Linc properly.
After they’d shaken hands again Daniel, tall with dark brown cropped hair and thick eyebrows that settled into a more relaxed expression now he’d taken a break from the mayhem, told him, ‘Etna has a lot of good things to say about you. First off, welcome to Heritage Cove.’
‘Cheers.’ Linc waited for the trio of giggling tween girls to leave the counter armed with their takeaway waffles in cardboard trays. ‘Popular place.’
‘Luckily for me,’ Daniel admitted. Shirtsleeves rolled up to reveal strong arms, he didn’t look the type to run a waffle business but he certainly seemed to be in his element. ‘I launched right before Christmas and I wondered if it was a novelty and business would recede but so far it’s the opposite. Which is why I need to do some work with the outside, provide a more attractive seating area for my customers.’
‘Which is where I come in.’
‘Exactly.’
The boy behind the till needed more takeaway waffle trays and Daniel darted off, grabbed a bag full of them from a cupboard by the kitchen, left the boy to stack them and came back to Linc. ‘Harvey’s pretty happy with the way you’ve taken to the work at the bakery, so there’s your second reference.’ He broke off to briefly speak to the young girl who’d gone back behind the counter and was busily scooping out ice-cream onto a golden waffle and then beckoned Linc to follow him through to the back.
‘I can come back another time if it helps,’ Linc offered as they went through to the compact kitchen space.
‘It won’t be any quieter,’ Daniel assured him as he pulled a bowl of batter out from the fridge. ‘Luckily I’m good at multitasking.’ He made up a few more waffles that his staff came to collect and then, after ensuring he could take five minutes at least to show Linc the space that needed work, they left out of the back door to the waffle shack, the heavenly sweet scent lingering and following after them.
They were standing in a particularly overgrown and shabby area with only a couple of rubbish bins at the far end. ‘This is the part of the business that I’ve been attempting to bring up to the same standard as the rest since I opened up last year. It might look like I haven’t done anything at all with it but I’ve tried to make a go of clearing it on several occasions, but whatever’s growing here is a nightmare to get rid of.’
The space didn’t show that Daniel had made any progress given the thigh-high weeds and brambles swaying in a slight breeze that didn’t detract from the harsh rays of the sun above on what was the most glorious day since Linc had arrived in the Cove.
Daniel pointed to the boundary, barely discernible, with a rickety fence at one end and absolutely nothing the rest of the way along. ‘I’d like to turn this into a proper seating area. As you probably saw on your way here, plenty of customers take their waffles outside and sit on the field to eat, which will always be fine by me – it attracts new customers when they’re spotted – and I have the veranda, but that’s a squeeze and when it’s busy I need extra tables. I’m already turning down bookings for parties, and I don’t like doing that.’
‘I always thought waffles would be more of a winter thing.’ Linc remembered Etna telling him she’d had some freebies last year by way of an apology from Daniel for some of the “misdemeanours in his youth”. Etna hadn’t told Linc exactly what had happened; discretion was certainly her thing – she always had been able to keep a secret. Knowing this, he’d been tempted to tell her everything he had going on in his life but he wasn’t sure how she’d react, so given he was living under her roof he’d decided to keep quiet. That way she wouldn’t feel forced to reprimand him, lecture him or tell his dad what he was up to. He wasn’t ashamed of it himself but others might see it differently and he could do without the judgement.
‘They’re an all-year-round thing,’ Daniel explained. ‘Business has taken off in a way I never expected. I thought I’d have a lull, particularly in summer, but good weather, bad weather, it doesn’t matter – people want those waffles. I’d kind of hoped in a way that things would quieten down a little so I could go on holiday with Lucy, my girlfriend, but there’s no way we’ll be doing that this year.’ He spoke more quietly. ‘I’ve got a couple of really good staff, but they’re young, and I’m not sure I’m quite ready to trust them to be in charge of the shack in my absence just yet.’
