11
Old friends
The chalet’s tiny garden collected the sun from just after three p.m. until five, which was long enough for Grace to settle with a pot of tea, some biscuits she had picked up on her walk home, and a book. With her phone unable to get a signal down in the cove, she was entirely free from distractions, barring the occasional call of a gull which came to perch on the chalet’s roof in hope of some crumbs.
Just after seven o’clock, by which time she had moved to the sofa in her small living room, a tremulous ringing came from a cupboard in the hallway. Narrowly avoiding spilling her most recent cup of tea, Grace discovered she had a landline. When she tentatively answered, Joan’s voice explained she had got the number from the letting agent. They agreed to meet for fish’n’chip
