Catherine Miller - The Gin Shack on the Beach

‘Matron won’t have shown you where to go if you want a sneaky cigarette for starters.’

Maybe it wasn’t a tour straight to his boudoir after all. ‘If you reckon the unofficial version is worth going on, I’ll take your word for it in that case. Let the tour commence.’

‘Great. Follow me.’

They headed out of the vast space that was the day room. It doubled up as the dining-room space and was the focal point for most of the activities. The residents’ rooms were over the first and second floors, with most of the rooms on the ground floor set aside for different reasons and activities, including the out-of-bounds living area for the staff.

‘It used to be Oakley West Hotel in the 1950s, but tourism dropped round this area and it ended up vacant and in need of refurbishing. They turned it into retirement quarters about five years ago. It sits somewhere between being a care home and warden-controlled flats.’

Olive wasn’t from here originally so, unlike Randy, she had no memory of it. She’d grown up in Dover and met her husband, John, when he’d worked at the docks. It was John who was from around these parts. There was every chance Randy might have known him, but she didn’t like to talk about the past. That always raised questions she had no intention of answering.

They moved into the lobby with its vast clusters of chairs and coffee tables with the daily newspapers scattered about.

‘Do you like reading?’ Randy asked, shaking Olive from taking in the surroundings properly this time round.

‘It’s up there in my top three hobbies.’ Olive wasn’t going to tell Randy about the other two. They were a secret.

‘They run a book club and Melanie hosts it here in the lobby once a month. She always goes for the serious stuff, though, so, if that’s not for you, just give Flo a nod. She’s got a little Mills & Boon book club running on the sly. It’s far more popular than Melanie’s. Just don’t let on, okay.’ Randy tapped a finger against his nose in a mum’s the word kind of fashion.

Olive winked. She was beginning to like it here.

‘This way.’ Randy led the way along a corridor Matron had missed. ‘They can be a bit regimented here with mealtimes, but for the days you don’t feel up to a full meal, this is where you need to come.’

Randy threw a quick glance over his shoulder to check if they would be seen and Olive wondered if he was going to get her in trouble. As she followed him, she noticed nearly every door along here had a sign stating STAFF ONLY. They were in the forbidden section of the building.

‘Should we be down here?’

‘Of course not, but the only one who would tell us off is Matron. So as long as she doesn’t see you, you’ll be fine.’ Randy turned a final corner at the end of the corridor. ‘Right, this is the place. It’s where the staff take their breaks. They don’t mind us popping in here and Matron takes her breaks in her office so you won’t ever get caught by her sitting here. They have a larger staff room for their lunches so this is normally where they take shorter breaks, so it’s never as busy. But the thing we’re here for is this.’ He waved his hand and beckoned Olive closer.

Checking behind her one last time, Olive moved into the snug area. It was an open alcove with a small kitchen area and seating for no more than two people on a sofa. Randy had better not be using the smallness of this not-even-a-room to try and pull off a move.

‘This is where the secret store is that we’re interested in.’ Randy opened up the two small overhead cupboards. Inside was a stash of everything you needed for a round of tea and toast: bread, spreads, tea, coffee and every other beverage she could think of. ‘There’s a mini fridge on the side with milk and butter.’ He opened it to prove he wasn’t making that fact up.

‘But this is for the staff.’

‘It is, but not many of them want toast on their break. They have the same supplies in their main staff room. So, if the bread and milk don’t get used up they go to waste. And if Matron thought it wasn’t being used she’d soon stop them having it here. So by helping ourselves every now and then we’re helping the rest of the staff out. If you ever don’t have the appetite for an entire roast, or you get the midnight munchies, just head here and help yourself.’

‘Does everyone know about this then?’ Olive was sure they’d said there were in excess of fifty residents. If they were all raiding this cupboard she was pretty sure the loaf and a half in there wouldn’t last very long.

‘Of course not. It isn’t every resident that gets this unofficial tour, you know.’

‘How come I’m getting the privilege?’

‘If you know Veronica you must be all right. Where did you say you know her from?’

‘I didn’t. And I might have the wrong person, so I might be getting this tour on false pretenses. You can stop before you give away any more secrets if you’re worried.’

‘No. I can recognise a kindred spirit when I see one. Are you going to try and tell me you don’t have a rebellious streak?’ Randy raised one of his bushy brows.

Olive cleared her throat, worried he could already read her thoughts about trying to escape to her beach hut. And while he’d shown her his secret cubby-hole, she wasn’t about to shout about her secret hideaway. ‘Whatever made you think that?’ Even the way she phrased her answer gave away her non-innocence.

‘Thought so.’ It was Randy’s turn to offer a wink. ‘Now, next on the agenda… the garden. We’ll sneak out this way.’

Opposite the snug was another short corridor that led to a fire exit conveniently propped open by a piece of cardboard.

‘This is where the staff sneak out if they want a fag break. To be honest, that’s what they tend to do with their precious fifteen-minute break, which is why they don’t worry about the few residents who help themselves to toast. Matron doesn’t like it really, but she’s also too lazy to come all this way to keep an eye on what’s going on.’

Glancing around, Olive realised she wasn’t in the part of the garden she’d been shown earlier in the day. This was more of a courtyard enclosed all round by the building. ‘This was definitely left off the official tour.’

‘Told you mine featured all the exclusives.’

‘So what is this place?’

‘The rooms that back on to here are where the night staff sleep. It means they aren’t in use during the day, other than the cleaners changing the bedding, so this is where the staff come if they want a few minutes’ fresh air. Although some of the staff have a different interpretation of fresh air than others. It’s not very big, and there isn’t a view, but there are a couple of benches if you ever find yourself in need of hiding away for five minutes. Let me show you round.’

They paced around the small courtyard. It had planted beds in a square, with a couple of bushes overgrown enough to cause the benches to be little hidey-holes. It looked a tad unkempt and in need of attention, but Olive had a feeling the staff left it this way so those hiding spots remained small places of sanctuary. What they really needed was a couple of arbours in which to find harbour. For the first time she sensed a pang of sadness about no longer having her house. The building itself and all the work that came with it wasn’t something she was going to miss, but the garden had been her sanctuary when she’d been at home. Outside space was always where she headed when she needed to feel at one with the world. That was why keeping hold of the beach hut was so important. It meant she wasn’t letting go of her sense of self. Which reminded her what she was hoping to find out. ‘Do you know what room Veronica is in? I want to try and catch up with her and see if she is the lady I’m thinking of.’