Page 17 of The Seaside Cocktail Campervan

‘Yeah, and the cakes, wow …’

‘Worth going along just for that!’ Becky grinned.

‘Hah, I know. Isn’t Louise lovely, too.’

‘Yep, really warm and friendly. Village life is really working for you, isn’t it, Luce?’

‘Yeah, it is.’ Lucy gave a happy sigh.

‘No sign of any hunky single men around?’ Becky raised an eyebrow.

‘Hah, no, ’fraid not. Most of the blokes I’ve seen who live here are at least over sixty. But that’s fine by me, I’ve had enough of all that. I’ll stick to Mr Darcy and my books, thank you very much.’

Weirdly, the campervan guy, Jack, popped into her head right then. He was nothing like Mr Darcy, except maybe full of pride, and arrogant as a peacock.

They were now approaching Lucy’s cottage, where Becky had left her car.

‘Want to pop in for a quick cuppa or a cheeky glass of wine before you go?’

‘Yeah. Go on then. Just a small one, mind. Work day tomorrow.’

‘Of course.’

After such a nice evening, Lucy hadn’t wanted it quite to end. Though her cottage was lovely, it was just her and Daisy, after all. And some nights could seem rather long.

Daisy was delighted to see the pair of them. The little dog was soon out of her crate, barking happily and wagging her tail at their ankles.

Sat down a few minutes later, in the cosy front room, with a glass of chilled white to hand, Becky asked how the pizza venture was going.

‘Yeah, it’s coming along slowly but surely. I’m finding my feet. One booking at a time.’

‘So, are there other catering outlets at these bookings? Is there, like, a catering scene?’

‘Hah, yeah, a bit.’ Should she say something about the cocktail guy, and that weird fight starting up out of nowhere? Or would Becky just read more into it? ‘A few local businesses seem to turn up quite consistently. There’s a coffee place, a posh burger van, and … there’s this cocktail bar in a cute VW campervan.’

‘Sounds our kind of thing. Cocktails and a campervan.’

‘Yeah. And the guy there, well, we’ve chatted a little.’

Her friend’s eyebrows arched with interest. ‘And?’

‘What? No, nothing like that. He’s a right cocky thing, really. Anyway, at the last event, he waded right in when a few blokes had had a few too many pints and only ended up getting himself punched. Right in the face.’ Lucy didn’t add that it was over an incident at her pizzeria.

‘Ouch.’

‘Yeah. Trying to be the big guy, I think. Although I suppose I felt a bit sorry for him. He was left with a proper shiner.’

‘Crikey.’

‘That’s just a one-off though. It’s the only trouble I’ve seen at all. Most of the bookings and the guests have been lovely.’

‘Well, that’s good. Didn’t think serving pizzas was a dangerous occupation.’

‘Hah no, me neither. I just hope I can build the business soon, and make this all work out.’ Lucy could feel her old fears resurfacing, blurring into the joy of the evening.

‘Have faith my friend, have faith. Onwards and upwards.’

‘Yes.’ With a few bumps along the way, Lucy conceded.