'Wouldn't it be the same - you know, not being accepted by the locals in Polreath?' Anna asked.
'It would be less of a problem than on Skellig, because there are already one or two outsiders living in the village,' explained Tristan. And of course Dolphin Cottage has been a holiday place for a few years. But it's true, we do have to watch it - you know, make sure the villagers are not pushed out.'
'Hey, wait a minute,' said Stephen with a smile. 'This conversation is going too fast. We live in London, Anna - remember? Your job's there, our friends are there. I don't know about my job, but it's there at the moment. I know I said I was ready for a change but I'm not sure if this is the one I was thinking of.' Stephen's look to Anna said 'I'm interested but we need to talk about it together - later.'
On the journey back, nobody said anything more about the cottage. Anna realised that the possibility of living in Polreath excited her. She started thinking about what work opportunities there were for nurses down here. She also wondered if Tristan really wanted to sell to anyone or just to them as a way of keeping in touch with her. Maybe it was asking for trouble even to think about it.
* * *
A wonderful holiday or a new way of life? That was on their minds for the next few days. For Stephen and Anna there were days when they seemed to do nothing except eat, sleep, read and lie in the sun. There were other days when they were more active: Stephen did some more surfing and became quite good. Anna quietly, without telling anyone, found out about jobs for nurses in the area - just in case. The two of them talked about the possibility of buying the cottage. But if they did, would they keep it as a holiday home or move there to live? Stephen told Anna that after the sale of the company, one of his hopes was that the new owners would not want to keep him. They couldn't make him leave, so they'd have to offer him some money
and he could then use that money to start again. The idea of doing something in the Polreath area attracted him.