Tess perched on the sofa and grinned at them both, glad that Eva and her son had finally managed to make it down to San Revelle for a visit. She’d been living at the cottage for over a month now and had been itching to show it off to her friend ever since she’d moved in. And she could use the distraction today.
‘Just wait till you see the pool,’ she said. ‘It’s like something out of a silent movie.’ Having Eva here would take her mind off her silly overreaction to her disagreement with Nate this morning.
‘There’s a pool?’ Eva’s eyes went wide with wonder. ‘You’re kidding.’
‘No, I’m not. I figured we could have a swim before lunch.’
Eva laughed, nuzzling her son’s nose as he continued to giggle. ‘What do you reckon, Carmy? Fancy a swim?’ She walked to Tess and gripped her hand, squeezed. ‘No wonder you look so radiant at the moment. This place is beautiful. Idyllic. I really wish I’d made it down a bit sooner. And you’re staying here rent free? How cool is that?’
‘Well, I am at the moment,’ Tess said, her smile dying. ‘Because Nate’s being annoyingly stubborn about it.’ She wrinkled her nose, remembering their ‘discussion’ again.
When the day came that their play dates came to an end, they would have established a firm friendship, just like they’d planned. But only if he stopped trying to ‘handle’ her every chance he got.
Next time he came round she was going to have it out with him. She’d conceded on a lot of stuff, but she was drawing the line over staying at the cottage rent free indefinitely—especially now she could afford to pay.
Although still in its infancy, Bay Banquets had already had a lot of positive interest in the area after she’d decided to keep her efforts local. She’d distributed her leaflets in the selection of cafés and art galleries in nearby Half Moon Bay and the other little towns dotted up the coast, and contacted a string of small local businesses that might be interested in using an events planner. She’d done an interview in the town newspaper to attract private clients and her website had gone live three weeks ago. She’d already sourced an amazing florist, and a couple of good-priced catering firms in nearby Redwood City, and checked out a selection of great hospitality venues. And last week she’d signed her first contract, with a wonderful couple of ageing flower children who wanted to renew their vows while paragliding in Big Sur! She grinned at the trouble she’d been having finding a minister willing to paraglide with them.
Sure, it was early days yet, and the turnover wouldn’t be enough to produce a decent salary until next year, but she could already see that she was providing a niche service in the area that hadn’t been filled. As long as she could offer original, efficient, well-planned events with a significant wow factor while also being rigorously cost effective, she could make Bay Banquets work.
She wanted to pay her way. It was as simple as that. It was important to her to be independent, or as independent as she could be. And it irked her that Nate didn’t seem to understand that, or didn’t want to understand that. But she figured it was up to her to make him.
‘Oh, so it’s Nate now, is it?’ Eva said, fluttering her eyelashes outrageously. ‘Do you get to see much of Firecracker Guy, then, now you’re living on his estate?’
‘A bit,’ Tess said, being deliberately evasive. She hadn’t mentioned her and Nate’s ‘friends with benefits’ arrangement to Eva, because Eva was a hopeless romantic and Tess knew she would blow it completely out of proportion.
‘How much is a bit?’
‘A bit’s a bit.’ Tess concentrated on stuffing the towels she planned to take to the pool into a tote bag. ‘He owns this place, so I do see him occasionally.’ Which was something of an understatement, but one she could live with. ‘And he’s been coming to all the scans and antenatal appointments.’
‘He has? But that’s wonderful.’ Eva said, her eyes going all soft and glowy.
Time to change the subject before Eva started getting mushy on her, too.
‘Here, let me take him.’ She lifted Carmine out of Eva’s arms, an evasive action guaranteed to get her friend’s attention. ‘Why don’t I go check Carmine’s nappy while you change into your costume? You did bring it, right?’
‘Affirmative.’ Eva whipped the striped one-piece out of the enormous bag she carried everywhere with her, and which seemed to contain everything bar the kitchen sink. ‘Although you could have mentioned the pool! I had visions of us swan-diving off the cliffs.’