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

by Melissa Hill

  Though it still broke Heidi’s heart to see her beloved home sold out from beneath her, she knew that there were worse things in life.

  So first thing in the New Year, the family would be completely moved out and Heidi would be going out to work for the first time in her thirty-odd year life.

  Now, seeing the brown boxes all taped up with labels like ‘sell ASAP’ or ‘from Amelia’s nursery’ depressed her to the core. While she had begun to accept a lifestyle that wasn’t all glitz and glamour, going cold turkey with her savings had been traumatic enough. Yet she knew she would get over it in time, with the help of family, friends, and a new purpose.

  But with the café Christmas party less than twenty-four hours away, Heidi couldn’t help but feel a bit out of sorts. She truly had no idea how her family would survive all these changes. She had hoped that Paul would quickly find a job in his old industry, but he’d had no luck securing interviews or even meetings with former colleagues.

  Instead, he had spent hours upon hours in his office working on business plans for his remaining investments. While she was doing her utmost to put Ella’s building back in the black, he was content working on something of his own.

  He seemed to actually enjoy the hands-on aspect of managing the properties, instead of from afar, which was what had got him in to trouble in the first place. At dinner several nights ago, he’d even casually mentioned something about perhaps trying to do something in rental property maintenance. While he managed to keep his optimism at bay, Heidi could feel hope coming back to him.

  It seemed that both Heidi and Paul had new roles to fill now, but while Paul had kept her up to date on his plans, she neglected to fill him in on her stint as a small business activist and fundraising mogul.

  She wasn’t sure how he would take it. Her saving the café was ultimately at his expense, and she didn't know how he would feel if she knew she’d been basically asking the entire community for a handout to pay back his financial misadventures.

  It would be a blow to any man’s ego.

  Early on, she had made a plan to keep her actions a secret. Firstly, she had all correspondence from the bank regarding the building forwarded to her, and she had been keeping the local estate agent up to date on her efforts so he wouldn’t unexpectedly sell the property without her knowledge.

  All this and still she wasn’t sure that it would be enough to save Ella’s business. Especially given Joseph Evan’s request last week.

  Yet she had come so far, and she was not about to give up just yet. With one day until the party, she just needed to hold Paul off for twenty-four more hours by keeping him out of town (where someone might mention Heidi’s door to door soliciting) and more importantly away from the party preparations. The truth was she didn’t know if Paul would go to the party at all.

  She knew he wasn't much in the mood for celebrating and she guessed that the last thing he wanted was to face the community in the wake of his financial disgrace.

  After Heidi had finished loading the car, she began to make her retreat. “Okay, I got what I needed,” she called back to her husband, “and I’m taking Amelia to the café with me. We’ll be back around eight. Do you need me to grab anything while I’m in town?”

  Paul peeked his head out of the office as Heidi zipped up Amelia’s coat. “Actually, I was thinking about going down with you. I’d like to talk to Ella … maybe try and explain. AndI’m sure you all will need help with decorating the place.”

  “No, no we’re totally fine! Ella’s son is there and Colm too - that’s more than enough people to help with the decorating.” She tried her best not to snipe at him or to look him directly in the eyes. “Anyway, this is for Ella’s big night and I’m not sure now is the best time. It might only drag her down.”

  “Oh, OK. You’re right of course. For what it’s worth, tell her I’m sorry anyway, OK?”

  “Sure. I’ll give you a full report when I get back.” She kissed Paul, scooped up Amelia, and headed out the garage door. She briefly turned to smile and wave after seating her daughter in her carseat.

  Paul still watched, somewhat dazedly from the doorway and she felt sorry for him having to hide away from everyone during such a big community gathering.

  Heidi gulped, realising that tomorrow night she was just about to do the opposite of hiding away. The whole village would be at the party, and some of them would be whispering, pointing and looking down their noses at her.

  Yet, she realised taking heart, as she drove over the stone bridge and towards the café, snow gently falling around them, that there would be many others, including Ella that would empathise with her family’s woes and go out of their way to include in the celebrations.

  She was one of Lakeview’s own after all.

  20

  Ella waited for Heidi in her completely empty café.

  In all her life, she had never seen the place without the signature picture frames on the wall, old Singer table in the corner, or the cherry red bar stools at the counter. Colm and the staff had done much of the work for her, allowing her to supervise from a chair in the corner.

  After the furniture was gone, the few folding tables and chairs Heidi had borrowed from the community hall had arrived, just as Joseph walked through the door.

  As he had promised, Joseph still visited Ella at the café every single day. Today would be no exception as he helped her son Dan and the remaining staff unfold and unbox the supplies, and even supervised the laying out of the empty trays to be filled tomorrow.

  The place buzzed with both anticipation and sadness. Tomorrow would sadly be the last time her staff gathered here, and Ella was not about to waste it. She had already begun to hand out cards with heartfelt thanks and letters of recommendation to those she knew would want to move on quickly. There were hugs and memories shared while old and new joked and sang cheery Christmas carols to help keep spirits up.

  Whenever she felt herself get emotional, Ella reminded herself that this party was exactly how her father-in-law and husband would have wanted things to end.

  This ode to her loved ones was not only her way of getting closure but also a way to honour the community in this village that made this café what it was—a Lakeview institution. Therefore, everything would be perfect—from the mulled wine to the last mince pie. She wouldn’t take anything less.

  Just as she began to supervise the kitchen cleanup crew, Heidi walked in holding Amelia’s hand and a large blue bucket in the other.

  “Perfect weather for a Christmas party, isn’t it?” Her cheeks were bright pink from the chill in the air, but her eyes were lit up with energy. It was a complete change from the run-down, beat up Heidi that came into her café barely two weeks prior.

  “Let me help you with that Heidi,” Joseph grabbed the heavy container from her arms and set it down in the corner.

  “I didn’t know you two knew each other?” Ella couldn’t imagine where Heidi could have met Joseph.

  “Oh, I know Joseph from ….when one time Paul and I were thinking about getting Amelia a pony. He gave us great advice.” She was totally floundering with her lies, but she couldn’t give away anything. Either way, it didn’t seem as if Ella was paying too much attention. Her gaze was set on Amelia in her cute festive outfit.

  “Would you like to help me taste some Christmas cookies pet? I think there are some Santa ones with your name on them.” Amelia giggled excitedly as she rushed to Ella’s side. They disappeared in the back, leaving Joseph and Ella alone to sort through the of decorations and supplies.

  As the two leaned down to untangle the ropes of lighting, Joseph whispered, “Are we all set for tomorrow?”

  “Yes, I have everything prepared. Just be ready at eight sharp. Santa is supposed to arrive at that time, which I think it would be just the right moment.”

  He nodded in agreement, and the two set off on their decorating.

  BY THE TIME the group had finished, the café was completely illuminated by large, white
bulbs that arched from the wooden ceilings. Garlands of silver red and gold intertwined along the wall lamps, and a medium sized picture-postcard fir tree, adorned with Heidi’s finest designer decorations, sat in the far corner where a keyboard, microphone, and Santa’s chair would be set up.

  As the last twinkling bauble was hung with care, Ella reappeared with Amelia in hand.

  “So pwetty!” Amelia ran to the centre of the room, excitedly jumping and spinning under the sparkling lights and the shadow of the tree.

  Ella was similarly entranced. “Oh it looks beautiful Heidi, you’ve done an amazing job.” She took the younger woman’s hand. “Thank you, I mean that. I know you and Paul will both go on to better things.”

  “No, thank you.” Heidi was overcome with emotion and gratitude for this lovely woman who by rights should hate her guts. “Come on, Amelia,” she sniffed. “We better get going if we want to get a good night’s sleep. I have a feeling that a very special visitor might be here tomorrow and we want to get our beauty rest for it.” She turned again to face Ella and Joseph. “See you tomorrow at around four OK? Ruth and Nicky will be in at five to set up the music. And the party will officially begin at six. I think that gives us just enough time to get everything ready. But if you need anything else, just let me know!”

  She quickly grabbed her empty containers and Amelia’s coat before taking off, leaving only Joseph and Ella in the café. It was almost silent save for the Dean Martin festive classics CD playing softly in the background.

  For a long moment, the two stared at each other, unsure of what to say.

  Joseph went first. “Yes, the place indeed looks beautiful. It reminds me of how it all used to be.” He looked around the café noting just how so much and so little had managed to change since he first moved to the village.

  “It does,” Ella said, blushing. She couldn't seem to feel anything but uncomfortable in Joseph’s presence now, especially given her recent realisation. “It really does.” She sighed and turned towards him. “Listen,” she began apologetically, “I wanted to talk to you. I’ve been meaning to apologise for the way I acted the day I told you about the eviction.”

  Joseph shook his head. “Let’s not talk about this tonight,” he reassured her. “Let’s focus on what is happening here and now.”

  “What’s happening here and now?” Ella looked up into his eyes that now practically danced beneath the twinkling lights.

  “Us.” Joseph leaned down, gently kissed her forehead, and then slowly walked towards the door. She remained motionless, too stunned to speak. “See you tomorrow, Ella.”

  Ella stood standing alone in the centre of the room for a very long time after that.

  It was as if her whole life had flashed back and then forward with one innocent kiss.

  It reminded her of what she had and what she had lost.

  Yet in the silence of the empty café, she couldn’t help but wonder if this was what she actually had wanted all along.

  21

  “C harlie? Charlie! Are you ready? We are so late. Ella is going to kill me.”

  Ruth darted down the stairs while pinning her hair into a tight bun. She grabbed her black velvet Louboutin heels and quickly tossed them on.

  “Charlie!” she yelled again. “Let’s go!” She hated to be late, and at ten minutes to five, she feared that she would have no time to warm up her vocal cords or to practice with the keyboard player.

  “Go on ahead without us if you like,” Charlie replied. “We’ll take the van.” His voice wasn’t rushed; in fact, it was perfectly even. His lack of urgency irritated Ruth—not because he refused to be ready in time, but because he had been acting like this since she got back from LA.

  She could still feel his coldness as she’d walked through the door from the airport, bags still in hand. Scarlett had run to greet her with a hug and to ask if she had brought anything back for her, but Charlie remained in the kitchen pretending to be preoccupied with dinner. When she found him, he walked up to her, rubbed her shoulders, and kissed her cheek—hardly the effusive welcome she had pictured.

  The next few days were more of the same. Charlie had thrown himself into his work by volunteering to pick up an entire week’s worth of daytime sales shifts and be night-time mechanic on call duty. When Ruth did see him, he practically ignored her and instead focused on Scarlett, or another part of the house, like the broken step or the frosty path out front.

  Ruth had so much to tell him about her trip, the reading, and her meeting, yet he never gave her the chance to fully talk about it. When she announced that she had been offered the part, he interrupted her, changed the subject completely, and then excused himself to prepare for work. She never got to explain herself or the situation.

  And with the way their relationship was going, she was afraid that whatever was going on in Charlie’s mind would eventually boil over. She just hoped it wouldn’t be tonight. Tonight she would be returning to her roots. She wasn’t just going to be Charlie Mellon’s wife or the girl that used to be in that TV show. No, instead, she was stepping out as someone entirely different. And she planned to announce it during her set.

  Before heading out the door, Ruth checked herself in the mirror one last time. Her red satin dress looked fabulous on her lightly tanned skin. She smiled at herself while repeating “This is going to be a great night!” over and over again in her head. She just wished she believed her own mantra.

  Ruth sped towards the café, eager to try to make it at least within ten minutes of when she said she would. She parked her car and straightening her low-cut figure-hugging dress, quickly ran inside.

  Once through the door, she gasped. The café that she had known and loved all these years had been completely transformed by the dimmed lights and the glittering tinsel. A tree straight out of a magazine spread stood at the very back of the room. A musician in a suit and tie, Colm’s partner Nicky, waited next to it, checking his watch.

  “What. Are. You. Doing. Here.” The direct, pointed voice cut through Ruth like a knife. She spun on her heel to face it.

  “Ita, hello. How are you doing?” She plastered on a fake smile, wide enough that her teeth showed like an animal ready for a fight.

  “What am I doing here? I am Ella’s friend, a loyal member of this community. I have every right to be here.” The contempt in her mother in law’s voice was dripping and Ruth could tell by the way Ita sauntered slowly and feebly over to her that she had already been drinking the mulled wine.

  “Ella asked me to perform tonight, so I am here and happy to help.”

  “And how much did you demand to be paid?”

  “Excuse me?” Ruth wasn’t completely sure where she was going with that.

  “Don’t play stupid with me, madam. I know that you would do just about anything for money.” Ita’s voice echoed around the nearly empty room, yet Ruth could spot some of the volunteer staff’s gaze directly pointed at two, watching and waiting for what would happen next.

  “I’m sorry, but I need to speak with Nicky now so I can warm up and be ready for when the party begins.” It was all Ruth could do to compose herself. She walked away from Ita, leaving her standing alone in the centre of the room clutching her glass of mulled wine and grinning ear to ear.

  By the way she was smiling, Ruth could tell that Ita felt like she had won.

  She distracted herself with her music partner’s notes. He handed her a stack of sheet music and played a bit of every song to give her an idea of what key would begin each one. He then assisted her by playing a couple of vocal warmups. Ruth was ready, but she had yet to spot Ella for further direction.

  While Nicky went outside to take a phone call, Ruth ran to the back in hopes of finding the hostess there. Unsuccessful, she found a different volunteer placing cookies on the trays. He pointed her to the closed office door in the far corner of the kitchen.

  Ruth knocked and let herself in. Inside, Ella sat in tears, her head in her hands, Heidi kneeling alongside
her.

  “I’m so sorry,” Ruth blushed, mortified. “I should have waited for you to tell me to come in.” She looked over at Heidi, who had already exhausted a box of tissues.

  “Nonsense,” Ella insisted, collecting herself. “Come on in. I’m just a little emotional today. I thought I would be ready to say goodbye, but here I am, blubbering like a baby.”

  Ruth took a seat next to the older woman and reached over to pat her on the back of her deep jade velvet dress. “It’s all right,” she said consolingly, “I completely understand. I mean, you’re losing a part of you that you never thought you could give up. That’s tough.”

  “She’s right,” Heidi said, wiping her own eyes. “This place has been yours for so many years, and…” She trailed off and shook her head, composing herself. “But today is a new day Ella. It’s not an end; it’s a beginning.”

  Ruth thought this was a little bit rich coming from Heidi Clancy, considering. She’d heard about her fundraising exploits and wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about them. Yet she seemed genuinely concerned for Ella now.

  “You’re both right,” Ella smiled. “I just thought I had come to terms with it by now. I don’t know. I suppose it’s silly but I’ve never been one to give up on a desperate case. My cats and dogs will tell you that.”

  Ruth smiled and handed her a fresh tissue from her clutch. She patted her shoulder reassuringly. “No one would ever think that you’re silly,” she said.

  “Yes, you mean everything to this town. Everything. You’ll see tonight.” Heidi winked at Ruth, who had no idea what to decipher from that. Had her fundraising come good after all? She couldn't see how…

  “Come on. It’s almost six, and I already saw a line outside waiting for you to open the doors,” Heidi urged Ella. “Let’s go out there and throw the best damn Christmas party this place has ever seen.”