One Summer in Cornwall by Karen King (best books to read for success .TXT) 📕

bit of a fly around before we both have to go and prepare for the wedding. That will cheer him up.’

‘That sounds great. Thanks.’ Her voice sounded strange to her ears, high-pitched. False. She hoped he hadn’t noticed.

‘See you tomorrow, then.’ Marcus put his head closer to the cage. ‘Bye, fella.’

Buddy rolled his head to one side and peered at him ‘Bugger off!’

Hattie burst out laughing and so did Marcus.

Chapter Seventeen

The silence hit Hattie as soon as she awoke the next morning. The last few days, she’d been woken by Lou’s laughter, the TV or radio blaring, signs of life. Now Mali and Lou had gone home, she was on her own, which would have been fine in her flat in Bristol, but here, down in Uncle Albert’s cottage, surrounded by memories of the happy times when they were all a family together, the silence was unsettling. ‘Stop feeling sorry for yourself, you’ve got a busy day today,’ she told herself. She had the wedding to photograph at two o’clock that afternoon, her first proper commission. She’d promised to be at Gwel Teg for twelve so she could take some photos of Ellie getting ready for the wedding. Then she remembered that Marcus would be around at nine o’clock, and it was gone eight now. She showered and pulled on a pair of shorts and T-shirt, then added a touch of light make-up and brushed her hair. She’d just got downstairs when there was a knock on the front door. She opened it to find Marcus standing there with a cup of coffee and a plate of toast.

‘Morning,’ he said as he stepped inside. ‘Hope you don’t mind me bringing my breakfast with me, but I have to be at the hotel for eleven.’

‘That’s fine, I have to be there at twelve, so I can take some pre-wedding photos.’ She led the way into the kitchen.

He munched a mouthful of toast, then replied. ‘Makes sense. We’d better get cracking then.’ He put the mug of coffee on the table, then walked over to the cage. ‘Morning, Buddy!’

‘Hello, hello!’ Buddy squealed, jigging along the branch. ‘Where you been?’

‘You’re a cheeky chappie, aren’t you?’ Marcus broke off a corner of his marmalade-covered toast and handed it to the parrot, who immediately scrambled down to grab it with his beak then went back up onto the perch to eat it.

‘He loves toast and marmalade for breakfast,’ Marcus said. ‘I was thinking, we could open the cage and let him have a quick fly around while I eat my breakfast? Is that okay with you? He hasn’t been out for a while now and must be desperate to stretch his wings.’

‘What if we can’t get him back in?’ Hattie asked, worried.

‘I’m sure we will. If not you could leave the cage open and the lounge door shut so he can’t fly anywhere else. He’ll probably be back in his cage when you come home.

So, she opened the cage as Marcus sat down to eat his breakfast. ‘There you go, Buddy.’ The parrot eyed her warily and stayed put. Typical. If she hadn’t wanted him to come out, he’d have been out like a shot.

‘I think I’ll have some toast too,’ she said, switching on the toaster.

She toasted two slices of bread and buttered them, added marmalade, then looked around as she heard a loud squawk. Buddy was standing on the table beside Marcus, nibbling at a bit of toast from his plate. He looked so cute that she couldn’t resist grabbing her camera and taking a photo.

Marcus looked over and grinned. ‘I’ll send it to you,’ she promised, then remembered that she hadn’t got his phone number. Heck, did that sound like she was fishing for it?

Marcus obviously mistook her sudden awkwardness as her wondering if she should sit down at the table. ‘If you walk over slowly and don’t make any sudden moves, you’ll be okay to sit down,’ he told her.

She walked over as slowly as she could and gently eased the chair out to sit down. Buddy swivelled his head around to stare at her, then swivelled it back and carried on pecking away at the toast.

‘He really seems to be perking up,’ Marcus said, his toast finished.

‘I hope so. I do talk to him a lot, don’t I, Buddy? And I always put the radio on when I go out. I thought some background noise might make him feel more secure.’ She bit into her toast, feeling self-conscious now that Marcus had finished his. Toast was a noisy, messy thing to eat.

‘Good idea,’ Marcus told her, swigging back his coffee.

Buddy had turned to watch now as Hattie took another bite of her toast. Suddenly, he pattered over and snatched the last bit out of her hands, then scooted off to the other side of the table to eat it himself.

‘Buddy! That’s naughty!’ Marcus scolded him, while Hattie burst into a peal of laughter. Marcus joined in too, his head thrown back, his eyes crinkling at the corners.

I wish he’d laugh more often, instead of being so grumpy and disapproving, Hattie thought.

‘Bugger off!’ Buddy replied, pecking at the toast.

‘Good job I’ve got another piece.’ Hattie picked it up off her plate, eyeing Buddy warily, although she was actually pleased that he’d come over to her, even if he had pinched some of her toast. ‘Does he often snatch food like that?’

‘Yes, given half a chance. He’s a bit cheeky, and Albert indulged him. He was his only company – and that’s not a dig,’ he added, obviously noticing the look on Hattie’s face. ‘Make sure you scold him and shoo him away if he does, though. Buddy will rule the roost if you let him.’

‘To be honest, I’m just so pleased to see him looking livelier and actually eating, that I haven’t got the heart to scold him today.’ Hattie finished her toast and picked up her mug of tea, thinking how surreal yet comfortable it was to be