Chapter 7 – Good News

Morwenna leaned against Al just for a moment but then stepped back. "Brilliant Al, or should I say Colin?"

He laughed and licked his lips. "Nerfetari, you are…"

She pushed his arm softly. "If you say dead, then you are a dead man, Al Large."

He laughed softly. "No, Morwenna, you are very much alive."

Morwenna chuckled. "Right."

"So," he looked warily at her, "now what do we do? I mean, uhm, what do you want to do? We could go for a drive, or a walk on the Coastal Path, or?" He flapped his arms a little, clearly at a loss what to say.

She shook her head. "Oh gosh, I… uhm…" That was a good question. Back to her house? What about Janice? Be a bit awkward to drag Al home if she was there. No wait, she mentioned she would be out – late – she'd said so; something about Penhale? "I don't know."

Al started to feel again that shifting sands under his feet feeling, when his mobile started ringing. "Sorry, Morwenna." He dug it out of his jacket and stared at the screen. "I'd better answer this. The B&B…"

"Right," she said, but she was a bit peeved that business was intruding. But what could be worse than a restaurant diner who was choking?

"Hello?" Al said into his phone. "Yes, yes this is Al Large. Right. Okay, uhm…" he jammed his mobile between ear and shoulder and dug out a small notebook and a nub of a pencil. Thumbing through the book, he squinted at a calendar, which was scarily empty. "Yep. Got it…. We can do that - uh, huh. How many? Wow… I mean that's good. You've looked at our website? Yep. All four rooms? And how many people?" He looked at Morwenna who was wondering what was going on. Al mouthed the word 'eight' to her.

Morwenna watched his face light up. "Good news?" she asked him and he nodded back at her. She relaxed as she saw apparent happiness spread across his face.

Al scribbled a note. "Arriving this Thursday. Got it. Email?" He wrote the address. "I'll send you an email to confirm and then you can send me your card number. Then I'll send you a message to confirm the charge. Wonderful. Good. Need fishing gear? Oh, you have your own. Brilliant. And you'll get here about three on Thursday? Do you need to be picked… no. You're coming in your own van. Sure… okay. And thanks for booking with 'Portwenn Fishing Holidays.' Cheers." With trembling hands he closed his phone and the notebook. "Woo-hoo!" he yelled, throwing his fists in the air and then his arms around Morwenna. "That's bloody marvelous!"

Morwenna smiled. "A large party?"

"Eight people! Four couples and two dogs. Top money too - all four rooms, for five days. Oh, Morwenna this is great, really great! I'm… gob smacked." He felt a weight seem to lift from his chest. "Needed a bit of an uplift, you know."

"I'm so glad." She kissed his cheek. "Congrats."

Al felt so happy. "You know I'd just about given up, I mean, put out adverts, set up the website, all that. But… a lot of dead air, you know? Empty as a church on Monday."

"Maybe this is what you need to really get it going." She watched as he chewed on his lip.

Al shook his head wondering at this turn of events. He and Morwenna got on, their dinner was paid for plus the drinks, and now this! A full booking for the B&B! Wow. He turned his attention to the young woman in front of him. "Morwenner, I'm beginning to think that you are good luck!"

She smiled. "Perhaps you just needed a good woman to be around." Maybe someone like me, she thought.

"Well, it was your idea to link the website to the village one."

"Sure. Little acorns…"

"Ha! Dad always says that." He grimaced. "Course it never works out." But his whiskey idea might actually be a good one. "Usually. I mean dad tries…"

Morwenna smiled encouragingly. "We could," her voice cracked, "we uhm, could go to my house for a coffee?"

"Ah."

"It would be okay."

Al frowned. "What about Janice?"

"She said she would be out."

"Out?"

"On a date."

"Oh?"

"With… God she told me not to say. With someone."

He laughed. "A bit hard to go out on a date by yourself, isn't it? All alone?"

She smiled. Now how many times had she bought herself flowers, or a bag of jelly babies, when no one else did or would? "Yeah," she said because the truth was embarrassing. "Anyway, she's not home." She cleared her throat and took a sip at the air. "Coffee then?"

He nodded grimly. "Okay." He held the car door for her, watched her sit down and swing her legs in, then he closed the door carefully. He got in the driver's side, fumbled the keys out of his pocket and started the car.

"Seatbelt?" she asked him.

"Right," Al closed the door and buckled the seat harness. He gave her a gentle smile. "Here we go." His heart was thumping like mad.

Morwenna clamped her hands together, trying not to show Al that her hands were trembling.