Christmas at The Heartbreak Cafe (Lakeview Christmas Novel) (Lakeview Contemporary Romance Book 7)

by Melissa Hill

  “Of course I do. We never forget your orders.” Ella answered, a bit wounded.

  “Thank you soooo much!” Heidi flashed her ultra-bright white smile at the older woman and quickly handed her Paul’s platinum credit card.

  “Now that I have you, when you get a chance, with all the frost we’re getting lately, can you please ask Paul to salt the paths out front? I twisted my ankle the other day and am on crutches for the next month. I understand he’s busy but he really should get someone to do that if he can’t come to do it himself.” Ella was gently scolding Heidi, but Heidi was too busy checking her reflection in the display glass casing.

  “Oh, yeah. I will as soon as I see him,” she replied, absent-mindedly.

  ‘Um…sorry Heidi, but the card has been declined,’ Ella said then, looking apologetic, and she immediately jumped to attention.

  “What? But that’s impossible! I just used it this morning and — ” She rummaged in her wallet for some cash.

  “Not to worry, sure you can sort me out some other time….” Waving the incident away, Ella smiled and handed her back the card.

  “Are you sure? It’s just I don’t usually carry cash and — ”

  Flustered, Heidi felt her cheeks redden. This could not be happening. She hadn’t gone too crazy in the city this morning had she? Yes, she’d been stocking up on Christmas presents (to say nothing of her own wardrobe) but it was a platinum card for goodness sake, the limit must be sky high. If there even was a limit …

  Heidi couldn't understand it. “Thank you. I’ll pop back later when I’ve been to a cashpoint. Au revoir!” she called as she flipped her hair and strutted towards the door with the cupcake box in her free arm.

  “OK, let’s roll guys - Mum’s Club time!” She proclaimed as she belted herself in, checked her lipstick and backed out of the space, the incident with the credit card already forgotten.

  5

  C ynthia Roland’s house was next door to her sister-in-law’s. Nestled in a modest estate, the house looked exactly like all the other boring others. Besides the amount of cars in the driveway and the sign on the front lawn, Heidi wouldn’t have even begun to know which house she was headed towards.

  As she parked the car, she noticed the women subtly staring at her from the window. This was exactly the entrance Heidi had wanted. She confidently strolled in carrying the cupcakes with Miriam and Amelia about ten feet behind.

  “Cynthia, darling. You look fabulous as always!” she crowed at the sight of the pale, meek woman answering the door.

  “Not as good as you, I’m afraid.” Her friend’s insincere smile did nothing to faze Heidi as she was greeted by a gaggle of women all ready and eager to make note of her presence.

  “Let me take that from you!”

  “Oh! Look at your jacket! Is it new?”

  “Who did your hair? It looks perfect.”

  “You shouldn’t have gone to the trouble of baking all these, Heidi! It’s too kind of you.”

  “How is Paul? I hear you bought another building in town recently.”

  “Your nails are the most perfect shade. I wish I was bold enough to wear that colour.”

  As the compliments rolled in, Heidi effortlessly swivelled back and forth to give each woman her answer and a polite peck on the cheek.

  All except Gemma. While the rest of the Mum’s Club had greeted her at the door, her sister-in-law had remained in her chair by the fireplace. She was staring daggers at Heidi, but her look significantly softened as she spotted Miriam and Amelia walking through the door.

  “Miriam, let me take Amelia from you. I never get enough time with her when I visit. And you must be exhausted from taking care of her all by yourself day in and day out.” Gemma proclaimed loudly so that each of the other mums would hear her. The women moved from Heidi and began to swoon loudly over Amelia. While Gemma’s barb should have ruffled Heidi, it only boosted up her self-importance that much more.

  After the cordial greetings and compliments were sufficiently dispensed, Heidi led the gang back into the living room. Taking her place at the front of the room, she watched as Amelia gingerly toddled towards the other children to play with the plethora of toys assembled.

  “So, what was your day like Heidi?” asked a woman she vaguely recognised but couldn’t be bothered to remember her name.

  “Oh… the usual. I went to Dublin to get my nails done at the BT Nail Bar and while there I dropped an absolute fortune on the second floor. Then I went to have my hair done at Hair Box, before picking up Paul’s suits from the dry cleaner, and I barely managed to get in a light workout before heading out earlier. It’s been such a busy day already!”

  “If only I could manage to get to the gym.” sighed another woman Heidi avoided.

  “It’s all about priorities, really. You can do it if you set your mind to it.” She smiled at her own encouragement.

  “You mean, you could set your mind to it if you had plenty of money and a live-in nanny, and a cleaner, don’t you?” The women giggled as Gemma snarked. “You have to admit that you have it lucky with Paul’s money paying for everything. You don’t have to lift a finger.”

  “I suppose, but he does work hard, and we have the same worries as everyone else. I just don’t talk about them non-stop.” Heidi felt a bit defensive at the insinuation that her life was easy.

  “Not all of us marry for money. Some of us do so for love.” Gemma’s comments came across as a slap in the face. While Heidi had known that her sister-in-law harboured resentment towards her, she had never heard her express it so openly or in such a public space before. She could do nothing but look down at her shoes. Which of course was no great hardship.

  “Did you girls hear about Ella’s big Christmas party? I remember those from when I was a little girl.” Cynthia interjected, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen after Heidi and Gemma’s sparring.

  “Really? A party? Here in Lakeview?” asked one of the other mothers whose baby was currently drooling contently in her arms.

  Heidi was intrigued. Any social occasion piqued her interest, especially if it gave her a chance to do a little good old fashioned showing off.

  “Yes. The village Christmas parties used to be great fun. Free food, free drinks, music, lots going on for the kids.The whole place would turn out.” Cynthia practically beamed at the memory.

  “Where on earth is Ella hosting it? She certainly cannot fit the entire village in that tiny café.”

  Heidi thought Gemma had an excellent point and it got her thinking.

  “I’m not sure actually. I remember they used to have people back to the house, but after her husband died, I doubt she would want to have anything there.”

  “I know where it’ll be.” Heidi interjected, deciding. “Our house. Ours is the only one big enough to hold the village anyway. We have already have our own marquee and I’m working with a party coordinator now about where to place everything, but I am thinking red and green linen with poinsettia centre pieces accented with mistletoe, of course…”

  The last bit was a bald-faced lie, but she was sure Ella Harris would only jump at the chance to save herself the bother of holding a messy gathering at the café.

  Gemma kept her eyes squarely on Heidi as she continued to ramble off her imagined plans for the café Christmas party. She suspected instantly that Heidi was lying, but she held her tongue.

  As the women chatted excitedly about the party, Heidi excused herself to the bathroom. As she snuck upstairs she quietly dialled Ella’s number.

  “This is Ella speaking.” Ella’s soft voice momentarily soothed Heidi. “Hello?”

  “Ella, this is Heidi. I just heard that you were throwing a Christmas party for the whole village to celebrate your thirtieth year in business! Is that true?” Heidi couldn’t come across as too eager.

  “Oh, hello Heidi.” Ella said in a significantly lower tone, her voice losing her friendly chirp. “That’s right, I am throwing a Christmas party on Decembe
r 22nd. You, Paul, and Amelia are certainly invited.”

  “That’s great! Do you have a location in mind?” Heidi asked innocently.

  “Well naturally I was thinking the café and -”

  Heidi cut her off, ready to bite, “No, no, no. The café is way too small. I insist that your party be at our home. As your landlord, Paul would be only too delighted to allow you to do so for free. We will arrange the marquee, the tables, the heating, everything. Guests can use our bathrooms and your staff can set up in our kitchen. It will be more than enough room for the town.”

  The silence that followed was almost deafening. If Ella said no, she wouldn’t know what to do. “And naturally we’ll arrange to have someone in for the clean-up afterwards. Honestly, do you really want your café to be subjected to such upheaval, especially so close to Christmas?”

  “I suppose you have a point and it looks like there’ll be a lot of people…” Ella trailed off, Heidi’s words obviously hitting home. “Are you sure Paul is on board with this?”

  “Yes, we insist!” Heidi said as loudly as she could without potentially drawing attention to herself.

  “All right then. How about you pop back in soon, and we’ll discuss it.”

  “It’s a plan. Chat with you soon, Ella.”

  Heidi hung up her phone, tucked it back into her trouser pocket, and strolled confidently back into the living room. Her smile was as bold as ever as she practically burst in anticipation.

  Not only would she be hosting the most talked-about Lakeview party in years, she would be doing it in her own gorgeous house in front of the whole town.

  Heidi lived for opportunities like these.

  6

  Ella had spent the following week listening to Heidi’s plans for what she proclaimed to be the “The Lakeview social outing of the century!”

  Reluctant at first to let go of some of the reins to someone as disconnected from the essence of the community as Heidi (despite being born and bred here and the daughter of one of Ella’s closest friends) she had nevertheless been impressed with just how devoted Heidi seemed to be. Truth be told she was actually a little relieved to have someone deal with the finer details other than food and music.

  During the first meeting, Betty Clancy’s youngest rambled on about tableware choices (pin tuck, red silk, extra long runners, etc.) while pouring through sample books from party planning companies. The joy she seemed to take from hosting this party was infectious as Ella grew more and more excited for the big day to arrive.

  They ended the meeting agreeing on invitation layouts and the best way to distribute them. Debbie from Amazing Days Design, owner of the local stationery designer business, would be asked to design a specially commissioned invite incorporating Christmas and the café’s thirty-year anniversary celebrations. Heidi would also ask her to create matching fliers for Ella to hang in the café and to distribute around to make sure everyone in the village knew about the party.

  It seemed as if no stone would be left unturned when it came to this ‘collaboration’.

  THE SECOND MEETING felt vastly different by comparison. Heidi had been distracted and, dare Ella say, a bit dishevelled for her usually high standards?

  Her nail polish was a little chipped, her hair appeared uncoiffed, and she looked as though she hadn’t been sleeping very well.

  Did this have something to do with the declined credit card from before? Ella wondered.

  Despite herself, she felt a little sorry for Heidi. It had to be hard to keep up appearances all the time. While Ella couldn’t care less about things like jewellery, Mummy clubs, or professional garden maintenance, she did understand that Heidi’s self-created reputation was constantly at stake when she stepped out in public.

  Nonetheless, Heidi ploughed through the meeting with few breaks for chit-chat. She made a couple of notes about changes she had made, and occasionally snuck in a remark about the price of items like lighting or the silk napkins. Ella could easily pick up that Heidi seemed to be avoiding a much bigger topic, but Ella wouldn’t be the one to bring it up.

  Instead, Ella had spent the meeting mentally planning out the menu. There would be café favourites from down through the years, mince pies as well as cupcakes decorated as Christmas presents, cookies in the shape of toys, traditional Irish Christmas fruitcake and pudding, and a mulled wine recipe that would make her father-in-law proud. Then in the evening, as the party wound down and music began, they would bring out mini burners so that the children and hungry adults could roast marshmallows to dip in chocolate.

  While Heidi ended their second meeting with a long face, Ella felt practically euphoric. The thought of all the cooking ahead of her didn’t break her spirit. Instead, it gave her life and purpose that she had not felt in years. She couldn’t help but rush into the kitchen to chat with Colm about her plans.

  Before she could make it to the back of the café, one of her staff members handed her the post that had come in earlier that morning. Mainly junk, she quickly sorted through it with fine eye for bills and important notes.

  But a letter from the estate agent who handled her lease quickly caught her eye. The letter, official and to the point felt heavy in her hands and a feeling of dread came over her as she read:

  Dear Tenant,

  We regret to inform you that following a repossession order in favour of Allied Trust Bank in Wicklow, the property located on 34 Main Street, Lakeview will be ending its lease agreement with Ella’s Cafe as of January 1 in the new year. We ask for your cooperation at this time.

  7

  A repossession order….

  Ella’s hands shook and tremored as she dropped the letter to the ground. Her lively, pink face drained of colour, and she forcefully held back panic as she attempted to maintain a sense of calm in front of her staff and customers.

  Quickly taking her cane, Ella departed for her small office in the corner of the kitchen. She couldn’t hold her anger in anymore as she forcefully slammed her door not caring if Colm or the other staff heard her. She needed a moment to think and to re-read in private and she did not want to be interrupted.

  Ella had been aware of her lease changing hands over the years. Just two years before, she had been forced to make almost double her old rent when Heidi’s husband took over. Now, despite the fact that Ella always paid her rent on time, it seemed like Paul had defaulted on the mortgage and the bank wanted to take the property back. It was an unimaginable, crushing blow.

  She didn’t quite understand. When he had taken over the building, she simply received a letter informing her of the change and where she should send her monthly payments. Why couldn’t the bank just take her lease over? Why was she being put out? Unless a repossession order meant the bank was planning to sell….

  Her mind raced in terror. Perhaps she could afford to buy the building herself, but the thought of the property price made her abandon that idea as quickly as it had come.

  While Ella had managed to scrimp and save over the years, she never had much left over except to pay for her own mortgage and utility bills. A building like this in such a prime location would have to be on the market for way more than she could ever afford.

  The party suddenly came back to the forefront of her mind. Momentarily, she had forgotten all about Heidi’s planning books, and her insistence that the café celebrations be at her Lakeview mini-palace. Did she not know what her husband was up to? That he had been taking Ella’s money but hadn’t been keeping up repayments on the property?

  She thought again about the declined credit card and wondered if there were serious financial problems behind all these largesse displays. Or worse, Ella wondered now, did Heidi know all along that Ella was going to be thrown out, and wanted to take pity on her by hosting the party? And was this why she seemed so distracted and evasive at the meeting today?

  Tears began to flow from her eyes as she began to rummage through her desk drawers.

  Grabbing a dusty brown folder from the bottom
of a neglected shelf, she quickly pulled out a large stack of pictures. She had avoided looking at these images for so long, but now the pictures of her husband, her father-in-law, and former staff of the café down through the years were an immediate comfort to her. She flipped through the pictures of customers sitting at the same tables still in use today, ordering tea and coffee from the counter.

  In one particularly striking picture, Ella saw her husband as a teenager mopping the very room she herself was in now. In the photo, Gregory’s hair spiked and curled in a carefree way like his wide, toothy smile. His white shirt and black work pants were filthy, a trait she would later nag him about, yet he would never allow her to buy him new clothing unless they were completely destroyed.

  Seeing her husband in these images calmed her, if only temporarily. “What would you do, Gregory?” she whispered into the void, in hopes that an answer would come as easily to her.

  The last photo in the stack was of the café, her beautiful sanctuary, lit up at Christmas time. The walls were full of sparkly tinsel, and holly and ivy decorated the display cases. In the centre of the photo stood the staff; her husband, probably at about twenty years old at the time, stood dead centre wearing a silly Santa’s cap. Behind him, she spotted a much younger version of herself wearing a velvet dress and a joyous smile.

  She remembered that day. It was Christmas Eve, and the staff were just about to leave to prepare for the town Christmas party. As they left, Gregory insisted on staying behind just a little while longer with Ella. He dimmed the lights as the last person left and spun on his heels. Then he turned towards Ella and walked towards her with an ease that made her knees shake.

  She had been working at the café for a few months and had developed such a crush on the owner’s son. His boisterous laugh, his ease with strangers, and his devotion to his family had made him quite the catch. Despite seeing each other almost every day, they hadn’t spoken very often. When he had asked for her to stay behind, she really couldn’t imagine what it would be for. But now, as he approached her, he did not have to say a word. Instead, he looked at her straight in the eye and swept a piece of chestnut hair from her forehead to behind her ear.