28. Grand Opening

28

Grand Opening

Nathaniel had suggested fancy dress, but Robinson had talked him down. Instead, as they stood together outside the reception cabin, they looked more set for a day on the beach. Nathaniel, Robinson, Geoffrey and Barney wore sandals, shorts and Hawaiian shirts, while Josie, Tiffany and Lindsay were light summer dresses with floral patterns and wide-brimmed straw hats.

A bright pink streamer hung across the entrance road, tied between two trees. On the other side stood a handful of locals, including Cathy Ubbers, Tiffany’s friend Rachel, the landlord of the pub and the two old ladies who ran the fudge shop. Beside them were the scientists currently excavating the lion chamber, as it was now called, none of them looking particularly amused at being pulled away from their work. Beyond the group, backed up the road, were half a dozen cars and camper vans, the first customers, required to wait until this ceremony concluded. Several had got out of their vehicles and come down to join the small crowd.

‘Right, let’s get this over with,’ Nat said, picking up a pair of gardening shears—Josie’s tearful representation of the absent Hilda—and stumbling over to the tape, Robinson close by, one hand on his elbow.

‘Been a bit of a shambles, really,’ Nat said, as the crowd hushed around him. ‘Didn’t think I’d ever see the day when my old man’s pet project got back off the ground.’ He paused for dramatic effect, then cackled with laughter. ‘And I didn’t, did I?’

A handful of people who got the joke laughed with him, but the rest had no idea he was blind. Nat raised the shears into the air.

‘Big thanks to Hilda, who’s not with us—ha, I’d have heard her nagging if she were—for convincing me to let her friend take a chainsaw to my patch of forest. And thanks to Josie—whom I believe is here somewhere—for doing such a good job.’ He grinned. ‘At least, so I’m told. Now, without any more fussing about, I declare the Porth Melynos Caravan and Camping Park open for business again.’

He swiped at the tape with the shears, missing it entirely. A second slash nearly took out Robinson’s eye, but the third time he managed to get it. The tape split in two, the pieces fluttering away, and a cheer rose from the crowd. Robinson led Nat back to the verge outside the reception cabin, and the first vehicles rumbled onwards into the customer car park.

‘And we’re open,’ Tiffany said, putting an arm around Josie’s shoulders. ‘Good work, Mum.’

‘I couldn’t have done it without you,’ Josie said, looking at Tiffany. Then, glancing at Geoffrey, Lindsay and Barney, she added, ‘I couldn’t have done it without all of you. Thanks so much for all your work.’

Everyone was in a celebratory mood, but there was work to be done. The campers were coming thick and fast, and needed signing in, taking to their pitches, shown the facilities and local amenities. Realising they would quickly be overwhelmed, tomorrow was scheduled for interviewing for part-time workers. Running a campsite, Josie now realised, was no easy task. Still, with a welcome barbeque planned for tonight, and no chance of rain for at least the weekend, then Lindsay and Geoffrey’s wedding planned for the following weekend, the party would continue for a while yet.

As everyone ran to their stations, Robinson came over to where Josie stood, watching the campervans and caravans come bumping into the car park.

‘Great work,’ he said. ‘I had every faith in you.’

‘Of course you did,’ Josie said. ‘I had every faith in myself.’

It was easy to lie about it now, but it felt far easier looking back on the bumps in the road that she had overcome, rather than the ones she was yet to face.

‘I imagine from now on you’re going to be pretty busy,’ Robinson said.

‘Flat out,’ Josie replied.

‘That’s too bad.’

‘But even so … I imagine even lion queens have to take a break sometime.’

‘I’d think so,’ Robinson said. He watched her, a smile on his face. ‘You know, there’s a nice little restaurant right by the harbour that does the best seafood on the English Channel,’ Robinson said. ‘If you did have time for a break, say, the day after tomorrow, perhaps you could find yourself there around about six o’clock? There’s a little table by the window overlooking the harbour, which is the most popular, and really hard to reserve.’

Josie lifted an eyebrow. ‘You seem to know it well.’

Robinson grinned. ‘It’s where I did work experience, all those years ago. It’s still there, though, and I managed to get a reservation, the only free spot until the end of August … next year. It would be so disappointing to eat there alone.’

Josie studied him. ‘I’ll see what I can do,’ she said.

He held her gaze for a moment, the sun illuminating a warm smile on his face. ‘I’ll be waiting.’

The campers came in a steady stream, and soon the park was full. It seemed as many had come for the archaeological discovery as for the beach, with half a dozen asking if they were doing guided tours within an hour of opening. With excavation work in progress, however, the best Josie and Tiffany could do was offer them a viewing of a video filmed inside the chamber with a voiceover by Robinson, followed by an ice cream with a flake shaped a little like a spear, and a photograph next to a life-sized carboard cutout of a cave lion, which Tiffany had ordered from the internet. And while Tiffany was keen to have Josie don fancy dress, so far she had resisted.

As another customer thanked them and head back to their tent, Tiffany put an arm around Josie’s shoulders.

‘You did it, Mum,’ she said.

Josie shook her head. ‘No,’ she said. ‘We did it. We all did it.’

Even as she said it, though, she couldn’t help but think about what was missing, and a tear beaded in the corner of her eye.