Rebecca Pugh - A Home In Sunset Bay

The street on which Honeysuckle Cottage sat seemed a world away from her childhood home in Richmond, London, which had been a three-bedroom, modern townhouse complete with garage and a large, neat driveway. Her mother, Marnie Chapman, was a stickler for tidiness and believed that everything had its place. Each and every item was dusted and polished to within an inch of its life. Mia didn’t mind tidiness at all, but there was something obsessive about how her mother handled the cleaning; quite obsessive was how Marnie Chapman handled everything, come to think of it.

In contrast, Honeysuckle Cottage was crammed and cramped with shelves full of knick-knacks, and rooms positively bursting with charm and character. Honeysuckle Row itself was a closed-in, quiet cul-de-sac, with three cottages either side of the road and two sitting snug at the bottom with the sea visible behind them.

Beneath the ground-floor windows, troughs filled with an abundance of wildflowers hung sweetly. They were wild, free, and vivid in colour, blossoming beautifully in the sunshine. She’d always preferred this to the identical, bland townhouses of the street she’d grown up on. The lack of order and neatness was more charming than untidy, exactly how you’d expect a cottage by the sea to appear.

After stepping inside, picking up a pile of post and discarding it on the rickety table beside the front door, Mia hurried up the stairs. The only thing she had on her mind was a cold shower. Afterwards, she dried her hair, tugged on her Dolly’s Diner uniform and smoothed it down against her thighs. She slipped on the white plimsolls and left the cottage, ready to begin another day in Sunset Bay. Leaving Honeysuckle Row, she headed towards the busier part of town, where the Cobbler’s Pub, Minnie’s Cornish pasty shop and the newsagents could be found nestled along the street.

When she approached Dolly’s Diner a short time after, she eyed the white exterior and tried to picture it years ago, back in 1951 when it had first opened its doors to the public. Grandma Dolly had told the tale of Dolly’s Diner’s birth numerous times throughout the years Mia had spent with her.

The diner had begun life in Sunset Bay as an abandoned petrol station which had gone out of business when the owner had upped and left. Apparently, Grandma Dolly had passed by the station plenty of times and the more she’d looked at it, the clearer the vision in her mind had become. Grandpa Robert had been in love with Grandma Dolly since the first day he’d set eyes on her, when they’d passed each other by chance on the beach. They’d quickly grown fond of each other’s company.

Grandma Dolly had been fascinated by the original American diners, so much so that her life’s dream had been to open up her very own in Sunset Bay. There’d been no way on earth that she’d have been able to afford the premises herself as she’d only worked part-time in the newsagent’s, but little did Grandma know that Grandpa Robert had friends in quite a few places.

One night, as they’d been returning from a dance over in the next town with a bunch of friends, Grandpa Robert had stopped the car in the petrol station’s car park and switched off the engine. Grandma Dolly always laughed and said she’d readied herself to give him a swift slap if he’d gone there to try something ‘ rude ’ with her. Grandpa Robert had climbed out of the car, walked around to open the passenger door and held out his hand for her to take as she’d stepped out, in true gentlemanly fashion. He’d pulled a key from out of his pocket and slotted it into the keyhole. He’d pushed the door open wide and stepped inside, beckoning for Grandma Dolly to follow him. Inside, he’d got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. After she’d cried out a very emotional ‘yes’ in reply to his proposal, he had slipped the engagement ring onto her finger and slipped the key into the pocket of her cardigan. He’d bought the premises for her. It had taken a while for Grandma Dolly to transform the place into the vision she’d had in her mind, but she’d managed to get there with the help of her beloved. They’d married quickly and moved into Honeysuckle Cottage as soon as they’d been able to.

As Mia approached the diner now, she spotted the familiar figures standing outside talking among themselves happily. Her heart sang at the sight of them. Even if she’d been able to choose, she wouldn’t have been able to pick a better bunch of friends to work alongside. They each brought their own unique personalities to the diner and without them it wouldn’t be the same.

‘Morning, gang!’ she called cheerily with a little wave. They were all there. Marco and Cal, the cooks, and Pollyanna, the waitress. They were a small team but they worked brilliantly together and surprisingly slid through the busy periods with ease. ‘How are we this morning?’ Her fingertips were already touching the key in the pocket of her dress, eager to get inside. ‘Ready to rock and roll?’

‘Aren’t we always?’ Pollyanna giggled as she adjusted the mint-green bow nestled among her blonde curls. The bow matched the colour of their knee-length dresses perfectly. ‘Can I pick the first track on the jukebox?’ she asked sweetly, clapping her hands together in a prayer pose and pouting her rosebud lips. ‘Pretty, pretty please?’

‘Go on then.’ Mia laughed as she pushed open the door. ‘Are you both okay?’ She directed the question towards Marco and Cal as they passed her by.

They nodded. Cal offered her a grin which, even after being audience to it a billion times, made her knees go weak. The man was indescribably handsome, there was no denying it. If he’d worked out front rather than behind the scenes in the kitchen with Marco, she’d never be able to get a thing done, she was sure of it. His deep-green eyes, mocha hair and chiselled jaw formed a very attractive man, a man who could easily distract a woman just by merely being present. It wasn’t only his appearance that drew Mia in, though. Beneath the dreamy exterior, Cal was a genuinely nice man. He was caring, sincere, loyal and ridiculously childish sometimes, which made her laugh endlessly. She caught a whiff of his aftershave as he slipped by and managed to catch herself before audibly inhaling.

When Cal had first arrived in Sunset Bay, Mia had spotted him sitting in one of the booths on a miserable Monday morning. He’d been staring into a cup of cold coffee wordlessly. She’d approached with caution and asked quietly if he wanted a refill, instantly wanting to back away from the gloominess surrounding him. She had no idea of what to say to a complete stranger who looked so sad. When he’d glanced up at the sound of her voice, she’d swallowed quickly, taken aback by the intensity of his gaze, his unwavering line of sight, not forgetting his ridiculously good looks. A slow smile had crept onto his mouth and he’d nodded, inviting her to sit with him when she returned with the coffee jug. It hadn’t been busy, Monday mornings never saw the staff rushed off their feet, so she’d agreed and they’d got talking. He’d had his heart broken by his childhood sweetheart, who’d apparently told him, after being inseparable since their teens, that she wanted different things and didn’t want to be tied down. Cal had moved to Sunset Bay on the recommendation of his parents who had lived there for almost thirty years. Bizarrely, after just half an hour of chit-chat with Cal, Mia had been captivated by him. She’d barely taken her eyes off him throughout the entirety of their conversation, even when she’d sipped at her own coffee that he’d poured for her with amusement when she’d taken the seat opposite. He’d been in desperate need of a job, and the diner had been in need of an extra cook to give Marco some relief on the weekends. As fate would have it, Cal had worked in a few eateries beforehand and had some experience. Turned out he’d just been being modest because he was actually a dab-hand in the kitchen, almost putting Marco to shame. He’d been there ever since, now a part of the furniture as well as a part of Mia’s life, too.