Sea Glass (WAYHAUGHT)

Sally's

Through the arched windows of the Harbour Tavern Waverly could see no one, which really wasn't good for business. In the four hours since opening, not a single soggy tourist had bothered to set foot inside the family's pub where she was waiting to serve. The unrelenting rain wasn't helping, bad weather forecast to dampen everyone's parade until the weekend. It was only Tuesday.

Were it not for Nicole's text, she seriously had contemplated whipping off her top, and doing a lap of the village to drum up business. Or, be arrested. Either would be preferable than listening to the tick tick ticking of the pub's clock, and Wynonna's tutting over a stupid crossword.

At least helping out in Nicole's restaurant that evening would be better than wishing for the first paying tourists of the season to make an appearance. Just one tourist with cash would be good, or card she didn't mind which, even if it meant soggy coats and flapping umbrellas spraying water across a floor she'd spent over an hour cleaning. Outsiders. Loved and hated in equal measure. The locals called them Emmets, the Cornish word for 'ant'. Red in colour, milling around in large groups, looking for sugary treats.

Nicole ran The Salivant. Locals called it Sally's. An in-joke, no one knowing how it started, or why, Waverly suspecting Wynonna had something to do with it. Maybe because Nicole was long and tall. Or, maybe because her sister had trouble pronouncing the restaurant's longer name after a few too many whiskeys. Or, maybe it was the Cornish quirk of giving something a name only locals would understand.

She couldn't decide how best to answer Nicole's cry for help. She settled on casual tease:

when do u want me 😉

Nicole didn't reply, Waverly guessing she was elbow deep in prepping for whoever would be dining at Sally's that evening. She liked Nicole. She liked Shae too, who was fun, and equally tall, and gregarious. Although, a little too much sometimes, which explained why she was the restaurant's face, chatting and laughing with customers, flirting her way to a generous tip at the end of their meal. That was Shae's super power, making sure others had a good time, that their wine glasses were never empty, suggesting room for a naughty dessert.

Nicole was a listener. That was her super power. Less needy of attention, secure bordering on shy, reserved might be a better description. Although, a little too serious sometimes, but then owning a restaurant at the age of twenty seven was a big responsibility, one Waverly wasn't sure she could handle. Nicole gave the impression of being content in her backstage world, which revolved around gutting fish, and baking fish-shaped cookies to adorn bowls of locally-sourced ice cream.

Not that she needed to choose between them. But, if she had to, Waverly knew it would be Nicole over Shae. Not that there was anything wrong with Shae, she simply had an excess of energy, like the Duracell bunny. She preferred to sit and chat in Nicole's lounge after helping out in the restaurant, which invariably led to her droning on about why she wasn't going to waste her whole life in the village, why this wasn't forever, why she was going to do things, important things, thingy things.

Shae would join them sometimes, although it was nice when it was just the two of them. Nicole would show off another of her talents, the ability to disappear a coin then magically retrieve it from behind an ear. What that girl could do with her hands. She wished she was as nimble with her fingers. She wished her life was as complete as Nicole's. She wished she had someone in her life who would look at her the way Nicole looked at Shae.

Nicole and her partner Shae were blow-ins. As in newcomers to the village, having taken over the restaurant three years previously. The Salivant held the distinguished title of the best restaurant in the village, by virtue of being the only restaurant. To be fair, the title was deserved, regularly receiving five-star reviews, unless Rosita, their permanent waitress, was having another relationship meltdown.