The sun was shining and it was actually warm for a change. The people of Port Sentinel and the holidaymakers had better things to do than rummage in a charity shop when there was a beach to sit on and ice cream to eat. I stuck a bucket and spade in Marilyn’s hand and put a floppy straw hat on Brenda, backwards because the front of it was badly frayed, but it was a lost cause. We were never going to pack in the punters on a sunny day. Sylvia was totally unconcerned. ‘Don’t worry, dear. I like it when it’s not too busy. Gives you time to get things organized.’ Organization didn’t seem to be in Sylvia’s skill set but I wasn’t about to disagree. A job was a job. Now that the place had been sorted out a bit, it was much easier to keep it ticking over. Sylvia might decide she didn’t need me after all, but I very definitely needed her – or rather, I needed the money I could earn by working for her. What I also needed was something to do because standing around waiting for customers was incredibly boring.
