Page 28 of The Seaside Cocktail Campervan

‘Yeah, I’ve only been here a few months, but it’s perfect for me. It’s a pretty spot and I love my little cottage.’ It really was beginning to feel like home. ‘What about you? Where’s home?’ Surely, he didn’t base himself out of Ruby?

‘Ah, I lodge with a mate at his house in Glenton, a village near Alnwick.’

‘Oh yeah, I know it. It’s just inland, isn’t it? Not too far.’

‘Yeah, I rent a room there. And … sometimes, well, I choose to just roam free with the campervan and my two-man tent. Not really a four-walls kind of guy.’

‘Oh, I think I’d find that strange. I like my home comforts too much.’

‘Nah, it’s not strange at all. It’s kind of grounding. Sitting out under the stars in the middle of the hills, or waking up to watch the sun rise over the sea. It’s pretty amazing.’

Lucy nodded. Put that way, it did have some appeal.

‘And it’s not like I do it all the time. Just when the whim takes me, if I don’t have work lined up for a day or two. Drive, park up, climb a mountain, swim in the sea or a lake. The world’s a pretty cool kind of place.’ He had an aura of boyish wonder about him as he spoke.

A family passed by with a toddler in tow, loaded up with buckets and spades, fold-up chairs and a picnic box. The little boy dropped his blue plastic spade, and Jack swept it up and caught up with him. ‘Hey, little guy. Ah, excuse me …’ he called out.

‘Ah, thank you!’ The mother stopped, taking the toy spade from Jack. ‘What do you say to the man, Archie?’

‘’Fank you.’

The lad and his clan trooped on. Beach days. Sunny times. Family times. It was lovely to see. Lucy was filled with a delightful warm feeling.

Jack and Lucy soon reached Ruby; her shiny red paintwork was gleaming in the sunshine.

‘Right, just give me a couple of mins. I’ll grab a clean T-shirt, and then I’ll fix you a fabulously refreshing drink.’

‘Sounds good to me.’

‘Does Devil Dog need some water?’

‘Hah, stop calling her that! She’ll take offence. And yes, I’m sure she’d like some.’

Jack thoughtfully fetched that first, opening up the cab and climbing through to reappear with a large plastic bowl. Daisy was straight in there, lapping it up. Jack disappeared for a further minute or so, and then the side hatch opened up, so he could chat to Lucy while he prepared their drinks. He was now sporting a khaki-coloured top, with a logo saying Seize the Day on it.

‘So, what would madam like today? Wait … let me think. Fresh lemon and lime juices, squeezed over crushed ice, with soda water and a sprig of mint?’

‘That’ll do nicely.’ Lucy couldn’t help but grin.

‘Except I don’t have any ice ready, sorry. No electric hook-up out here. And I hadn’t imagined I’d be making cocktails at the beach today.’

‘Oh that’s okay, I’ll let you off this time.’

‘There’s a couple of cold beers in a cool bag. If you’d rather have one of those?’

‘No, that’s fine. The lemon-and-lime soda sounds good.’

Jack pulled two fold-up seats out of the campervan, then set about making Lucy’s drink, slicing and squeezing the zingy green and yellow fruits into a tall cut-glass tumbler and pouring over soda water from a bottle. He topped it with some fresh mint leaves, left over from a function last night, and passed the glass to her, then grabbed a cold beer for himself.

‘I think we need a sea view,’ he suggested. ‘A view from the dunes, perhaps?’

‘Okay.’ So, after taking a big and delicious sip from her glass – quenching her thirst – they each carried a chair and their drinks, with Daisy close at Lucy’s heel. The trio walked a little way back down the lane, soon diverting into a sandy track on the dunes.

They set up their seats in a slight dip in between the marram grass mounds, sheltered from the sea breeze, yet still having the full panorama of Embleton Bay. That sweep of golden sand arced before them, metallic light glinting off the gentle summer waves of the North Sea. The cries of kittiwakes and herring gulls. The rhythmic sounds of the surf.

Why had Lucy never thought to bring a chair down with her, and set up base with a book and a cooling drink? Hmm, on pleasant days, she might well do that from now on.

‘So, when did you move out here, then?’ asked Jack, as they gazed out to sea. ‘Such a cool spot.’