Christmas in Cockleberry Bay - Nicola May Page 0,2
A massive divorce settlement had gone in her favour and, with regret, he had had to let the house go. Rosa was disgusted that the very same woman who had stolen money from her Corner Shop last Christmas had lucked out in this way, but was also incredibly grateful that Bergamot had moved out and left the Bay long ago so there would be no onward chain.
It had originally been Josh and Rosa’s plan to move to nearby Polhampton Sands. However, Josh had quickly realised that it made no sense to move out of the Bay as Rosa didn’t drive, and if he wasn’t around it would mean her travelling backwards and forwards by bus or taxi to help run the café or the Corner Shop, and see her friends. Rosa was delighted at their final decision to stay in Cockleberry Bay. She loved it here. Far removed from the deprived area in the East End of London in which she had grown up, this vibrant seaside town was somewhere she was now more than happy to call her home.
Gull’s Rest had a cornflower-blue front door with a silver starfish knocker that Rosa had insisted on adding, and, with its beachfront location, offered magnificent sea views from every angle, upstairs and down. After living in the compact flat above the Corner Shop in the main town, being in this place, with its large living space and underfloor-heated wooden floors felt like living in a mansion. The back garden was perfect for a young family and dog, too, with its lawn leading down a small hill to an orchard of apple and pear trees.
On viewing the property, Josh had randomly got excited about the greenhouse that the old owners had left, and had been insistent that he would grow tomatoes, chillies, peppers and cucumbers – in his whispered words to his wife, ‘as long as my cock’. None of which had yet materialised. Although her husband of two years had said that moving to the new place would allow him to slow down and help her with their Cockleberry businesses, he had just taken on a contract in New York for the old firm he had worked for previously, with Carlton, his mate and work colleague.
With Little Ned being so young, the married couple had discussed the pros and cons long and hard, but in the end the ever-resilient Rosa had been fine about Josh going. A few weeks in New York would earn him a particularly good income, which in turn would buy him time at home. A lucrative contract like this would see him through for the next year at least, and with their café share and his many investments, the Smiths would be in a more secure financial position than ever.
If Rosa was completely honest, the thought of spending quality time alone with Little Ned, their son, quite appealed to her. It would surely be easier only to have to think about feeding the pair of them, and if she wanted to go to bed as soon as the baby was sleeping, she could do so, guilt-free. The other bonus was that she and Josh had a lot more to talk about on their Skype calls, and as long as he was back in the middle of December as planned, she could count down the last days until his return with the Advent calendar she was intending to purchase.
Considering how busy life was with a young baby, Rosa knew the few weeks would fly by. Josh was a good man. A hard worker and great provider, and that was one of the reasons she loved him. He made life easy. Not that she wasn’t a hard worker herself; far from it. Yes, Titch now had the Corner Shop, and Rosa’s newly discovered brother Nate was managing the café, but Rosa still very much had a hand in the running of both businesses. And now, as well as trying to concentrate on spending as much time with her son as she could, she was dedicated to making a success of Ned’s Gift, the charity she had set up in her great-grandfather’s name; the same Great-grandfather Ned Myers who had originally bequeathed her the Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay. The very man towards whom, despite never meeting him, she felt so much admiration and gratitude. It was in his memory, and with Josh’s complete approval, that she had named their first-born Benedict Christopher Smith (‘Little Ned’).