Free Half Moon Bay by Helene Young Page B

The club renovations looked recent. The smell of stale beer hadn’t yet managed to soak into the new carpets. The light, streaming in through the picture windows overlooking the greens outside, played over a diverse crowd. He scanned across it, standing taller than most.
    The old, the young, the workers, the retirees and the children had all come together. The scent of expensive perfumes mixed with the sweat from building sites and the freshness of laundered clothes.
    The screen printer in the village had worked overtime and more than half the crowd were wearing matching T-shirts. ‘Battle For Our Bay’ was scrawled on the front and ‘Back Off Our Bay’ across the back.
    A murmur swelled through the room. Nick felt a prickle of awareness and, even before his eyes found her, he knew Ellie Wilding had arrived.
    She made her way through the crowd, stopping for quick hugs. Her hair was a golden cascade that tumbled round her shoulders and flowed down her slogan-emblazoned T-shirt. She shed light and vitality, a quick smile never far from her lips, halfway between the sweaty jogger and the immaculate professional he’d confronted yesterday.
    A carefully groomed elderly lady gathered her close and Nicholas straightened his back against the quick stab of guilt. These were real people, with dreams, fears, futures, and he was using them as pawns. Lying did not sit comfortably with him, but the rules of engagement never changed, no matter what battle he was fighting.
    ‘Nick, you made it, then.’ A hard hand gripped his shoulder, and he turned to face the journalist he’d found poking around on the development block.
    ‘Alex, good to see you.’ He shook hands, feeling the sweat on the other man’s hand. Interesting. Nerves or guilt? he wondered. ‘Great turnout for a small town.’
    ‘Yeah, Ellie promised me they were pretty fired up about the whole thing. Have you met her yet?’
    Nick sidestepped the question. ‘I’ve only had time to grab a quick beer.’
    ‘She’s over with Mavis and Ron.’ Alex pointed at the bar where a big bear of a man had his arm round Ellie. ‘Mavis runs the Bowling Club pretty much single-handedly and Ron used to be the mayor before they had an electoral redistribution. Nice old couple who keep an eye on Ellie. I’ll introduce you.’ He set off without looking to see if Nick was following him.
    With gritted teeth, Nick trailed along behind him. This was not what he had in mind for today. He’d planned to stay out of trouble at the back of the meeting and just gather some more intelligence. Now he was going to have to deal with Ellie in public.
    Ellie wrinkled her nose at Alex who tucked a wayward blond curl behind her ear as he leant in for a kiss.
    ‘Hey, my friend, glad you could make it. Good drive up?’
    Nicholas felt his smile brighten as Ellie angled her head just a touch, leaving Alex with her cheek rather than her lips. He also saw the flare of alarm in Ellie’s navy blue eyes as her gaze connected with his.
    ‘Yep, took just under five hours. Turnout’s fantastic.’
    ‘Thanks. They’re amazing people.’ She turned her shoulder, effectively blocking Nicholas from the conversation, but pitching her voice to reach him, he guessed. ‘I just hope we can make a difference. We do understand the developer claims to have bought the land from the council thinking it was a legitimate deal, but it wasn’t.’
    She touched Alex’s shoulder for emphasis. ‘Did you check out the land when you came in? It’s a beautiful spot.’
    Alex nodded, turning to include Nicholas. ‘Yeah I did, and met Nick Lawson, the consulting engineer, working out there. Ellie, meet Nick.’
    Nick saw the tension in Ellie’s eyes as she turned to him. ‘Ellie. We have met before. How could I forget you?’ He reached out and she had no option but to shake. He didn’t miss the tremble in her hand.
    ‘Mr Lawson.’ Her voice had a catch to it.
    ‘My friends call me Nick.’
    ‘Well, Mr Lawson,