by Melissa Hill
And as she sang the lyric, about all troubles being out of sight, she looked directly at Charlie who had picked up Scarlett from the group of children and begun to dance.
26
The carriage bounced up and down and rattled to and fro. But while the ride around the lake was rocky, Ella didn’t mind.
She was too preoccupied with watching the houses and businesses of the community pass her by. The snow was falling softly as it covered the trees with a light dusting in front of them.
After several minutes of silence, she moved her hand out from under Santa and turned to face him. She tugged at his beard a bit and pulled off his hat. She knew all along that Joseph would make the perfect Santa Claus.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Is it how I manage to fit all those presents in my sled?” he chuckled.
“No. I want to ask you why.”
“Why what?”
“Why did you give Heidi the rest of the money? It’s just too much. I don’t know if I can accept it, Joseph.”
“Well, I refuse to take it back, so there is no use in telling me you don’t want my contribution.” He smiled at her.
“Please, let’s just make this a loan. I will pay you back, every penny with interest.”
“And I wont accept a cent.”
“Be serious, Joseph. I know this is a lot of money we are talking about. There is no way you just had it lying around to give to a friend like me and my lowly little café.”
He stared at her long and hard, unsure of how to proceed. Sighing, he said, “You are not my friend.”
“What?”
“Ella, I love you. I have loved you for nearly two decades now, but I have never had the courage to say it, never found the right moment to tell you. I’m not trying to use this money, this gift, to buy your affection and you don’t have to say it back to me if you do not mean it. You’re under no obligation. But that money is money I have been saving to start a family of my own. It just never happened for me, but now, I know what I want. I want you. I want to be part of your family. And I want to help keep this café alive and going.”
She looked at him, studied his face, and searched for an answer. Every bit of her was screaming to say something, but she could only smile and hold his hand. Eventually, she leaned down and nuzzled into the wide expanse of his shoulders. His coat still smelling of pine trees and Christmas.
“If I am going to accept this money, I want you to make me a promise.”
“Yeah, and what is that?”
“You will be a partner. And,” she held up a hand to silence the protest she knew was coming, “I will not take no for an answer. We will be partners in the business—you and me.”
“It doesn’t seem like I have much of a choice, does it?” he chuckled, kissing the top of her forehead as they snuggled closer together. They passed the rest of the ride in silence, but it was also full with hope and promise that for these two people past the prime of their lives, each day from hereon would be more meaningful with the other in it.
“Here we are, Ella,” Eric McGrath said as he pulled the carriage to a halt in front of the back door. Already a second group had lined up with Heidi giving out instructions and taking tickets. As they approached, Joseph quickly repositioned his beard and fixed his red hat on top of his head.
Ella led the way as the couple entered the party once more. When Ruth spotted the two, she quickly finished her song and ushered Ella to the stage.
Ella lowered the microphone and spoke, “Now is my favourite time of the evening. For all the boys and girls out there, Santa is here to visit! We will be taking pictures and he’ll be listening to all of your wish lists. Parents, you can enjoy the famous Heartbreak Café Christmas mulled wine while your children are waiting.” She winked. “And it looks like it’s going to be a long queue!”
The crowd burst into applause and shouts of glee as everyone moved to either the Santa line or the food and drinks queue. Ruth began to sing some more.
While everyone was preoccupied, Ella snuck back out to her little office. She again searched her desk for the brown envelope of pictures. While most of them she had put on display, she had kept one to herself—the black and white photo of herself and her husband on the night of their first kiss.
She looked at their faces, so young and full of optimism of the life they had ahead of them. Gregory especially looked as if he could Lakeview and easily the world. It was that smile. She grinned at the thought of him. Running her fingers over the thick paper, she put her lips to the photograph and placed it back in the envelope. She knew in her heart that he would be delighted for her.
It was then that she heard the music start the first few notes of an old familiar song that she remember fondly dancing to with her Gregory. She headed outside, past the well-wishers and in search of Joseph. Unfortunately, she could not find him anywhere. All of the children had finished their turns sitting on Santa’s lap and were preoccupied with the lollipops he had given them. The parents were still hovering over the mulled wine. The rest of the crowd danced in the centre of the room.
That is when she spotted him—Santa suit and all. Walking back to her office, she grabbed her coat and met him in the front. “Joseph Evans,” she chided. “What are you doing out here? Come back inside.”
Joseph turned to face her, shovel in hand. “If you want me to be a co-owner of this café,” he called, “you have to let me keep you safe. First order of business is keeping the paths clear and free of snow and frost. I wouldn’t want anyone fall—”
Before he could say another word, Ella walked towards him, grabbed the white trim collar, and pulled him in for a long, slow kiss.
Such an embrace was the first in a very long time for both of them, but she knew that they would learn and love together.
It was a kiss filled with promise and meaning, a sign of love that had been growing for forever.
And as the snow fell gently around them and festive music played in the background, it was, Ella thought to herself, the first of many, many more to come.
From the Author:
Thank you for reading Christmas at the Heartbreak Cafe. I very much hope you enjoyed visiting Lakeview at Christmastime.
If you’d like to read other novels in the Lakeview series, all 8 books are currently available on amazon, or you can download the Lakeview Collection & save over 50%.
I love hearing from readers, so if you’d like to contact me to say hello, send feedback or report any inconsistencies or typographical errors (besides the usual UK/US English grammatical discrepancies!) please drop me a line at www.melissahill.info I’d love to hear from you.
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Please read on for a FREE excerpt of the first novel in the Lakeview series, The Heartbreak Cafe.
From the USA Today bestselling author of THE CHARM BRACELET & A GIFT FROM TIFFANY'S, is the first in an Irish romance series of heartwarming novels about love, family and friendship, set in the pretty tourist village of Lakeview.
When a baby is found on the doorstep of The Heartbreak Café in the Irish village of Lakeview, everyone asks - what kind of parent would abandon their child?
Hollywood actress Ruth Seymour is home for the summer. But has an ill-advised fling with a handsome co-star resulted in a seriously unplanned consequence?
Jess feels increasingly left out as the only non-mum amongst her friends. Terrified she might lose them altogether, she embarks on becoming a mother too. But is she really ready?
Nina has come to Lakeview to live with her estranged father, Patrick after a bad break-up. But will she ever dare tell him about the secret she is concealing?
One thing's for sure: someone knows more than they're telling. And the truth won't stay hidden forever...
'Doesn't get much better than this sweet and romantic page-turner' (Closer)
'If you miss
Maeve Binchy .... (Melissa Hill) will cheer you up. A jewel of a novel, sparkling with warm yet delightfully flawed characters' (Romantic Times)
'Extra helpings of intrigue and suspense that make a Melissa Hill novel stand out from the rest' (Daily Record)
'More twists and turns than a rollercoaster - a cracker of a read' (Mail on Sunday)
'The kind of book that you can't put down' (Sunday Independent)
Prologue
‘To be honest, the first thing that crossed my mind was that it must be my doughnut delivery,’ Ella began. ‘Or a delivery of some kind – it isn’t unusual to find fresh stock on the doorstep of the café so early in the morning.’
‘What time was it exactly?’
‘Well, let me think,’ she replied, pausing for a moment. ‘The milk is usually dropped off around five, a good two hours before I open up, and my usual half a dozen litres was tucked away to the left of the doorway. But the box was right in front of the door, making it impossible for me to miss.’
‘I see.’
‘I was a bit annoyed actually, and was thinking I was going to give the wholesaler a piece of my mind for not letting me know they’d be delivering outside opening hours,’ she continued, her tone measured. ‘And then, just as I was about to open the box to see if they were indeed the culprits, I heard … well some kind of sound coming from it.’
‘Sound?’
‘A sort of whine, I suppose. Very weak, like from a small animal or something. Of course straight away I thought; here we go, another wretched creature to add to the family.’
‘You thought that someone who knows you take in strays was leaving another one for you?’
‘Exactly. Everyone here in Lakeview knows what I’m like and that I can’t say no.’ She smiled a little. ‘But then I thought well, at least this one was coming with a readymade name. So I reached inside, already deciding that if it was a cat, dog, hamster or whatever that I would call it Doughnut.’ She shook her head. ‘But when I pulled back the folds and discovered exactly what I’d been landed with this time, I got the biggest shock of my life.’
Ella was quiet for a moment, as the impact of her words began to sink in.
‘And what did you do then?’
‘Well, I called the guards of course … Frank was here within a couple of minutes, the police station is only walking distance but he took the car anyway. And I rang Jim Kelly too.’
‘The local GP.’
‘Yes. An ambulance too just in case, although the box looked well insulated and there were plenty of blankets. Still I thought it best to be sure.’
‘Sounds like you were very clear-headed about it.’
‘Not at all,’ she protested, sounding a little nervous. ‘Truth be told I was in complete shock. It was only when the ambulance left and Doctor Kelly told us that vitals looked good and there were no signs of hypothermia that I managed to relax a little. As I said, I doubted the box was there that long – and we all agreed that whoever left it must have been acquainted with my routine.’
‘No excuse though, is it? I mean what kind of person would dump a new-born baby in a cardboard box on the side of the street in the freezing cold?’
‘I know, and Frank suggested that maybe the mother was hiding nearby, keeping an eye out, waiting for me to show up. To be honest I was so taken aback that I didn’t think to look.’
‘Right.’
‘He reckoned that it was most likely a misunderstanding of some kind and that he’d have it all sorted out in no time. He said to me “Ella, for what it’s worth, I think leaving it outside your place was intentional because if there’s one person in this village who’d know exactly what to do it’s you. You’re great with kids and sure aren’t you always taking in strays? This place isn’t nicknamed The Heartbreak Café for nothing.” She shook her head sadly. ‘And while I agreed with him, I just thought that this was a lot more than a miserable old mongrel – it was a poor innocent little baby. And not only that, but this is a small town, a small community where people look out for each other – not some anonymous city.’
‘I know what you mean.’
‘So I had very little sympathy and as far as I was concerned there’s nothing – absolutely no reason in the world that could justify abandoning a poor defenceless baby on the street. But,’ Ella added with a heavy sigh, ‘I suppose it’s all too easy to play judge and jury until you know the whole story.’
1
Nina Hughes had never liked Lakeview and this time was certain she’d like it even less.
She sorely wished that her mother had picked another time to go travelling the world with her stepfather, especially when Nina really needed a shoulder to cry on – or more importantly, a place to stay. After all that had happened with Steve, she couldn’t stay in Galway and run the risk of bumping into him; it was a small city after all. Instead, she needed to get away and be somewhere she could clear her head. Even so, she couldn’t believe that she’d been reduced to asking her father if she could stay with him.
But she’d had little choice. While normally she could just return to Dublin and move back in with her mum for a while until she got herself sorted, her mother and Tony were currently travelling, and had rented their house out for the six months they’d be away. So instead, she’d decided to ask Patrick if she could come and stay in Lakeview. It would only be for a while; at least until she got her head together and figured out what she should do next.
Feeling like a silly teenager, and not at all like the mature, self-assured thirty-year old she was, Nina had phoned a few days before to ask if he could put her up.
‘OK, Nina.’ Her father had said in his usual calm, disinterested way, and she guessed that he hadn’t changed much in the eight years or so since she’d had anything to do with him. Her mum used to force her on duty visits when she was younger, although in all honesty, Nina felt that Patrick didn’t care one way or another whether or not he got to see his only daughter.
Her parents split up when she was a child, and Nina couldn’t understand how they’d ever got together in the first place, as her quiet, stern father was the total opposite to her bright and bubbly mum. Probably because they’d both grown up in the same small town – although Lakeview was more of a village really.
And while Cathy her mother, had never admitted as much, Nina suspected that her conception hadn’t exactly been planned, and that her parents’ marriage was less of the romantic and more of the shotgun variety.
But that didn’t bother her; her mum was now blissfully happy in Dublin with Tony (who was more of a father to Nina than Patrick had ever been) and while she’d endured the odd childhood weekend down in Lakeview, once she hit her mid-teens she’d put her foot down and stopped going altogether. If this bothered her father he’d never let on.
She wondered if he was still obsessed with collecting and fixing things. Patrick patiently taking apart and fixing TV sets, radios – anything electronic - was probably her most enduring memory of her childhood visits here.
‘Your father is a kind and very generous man,’ her mother would repeatedly tell her, determined never to say a bad word against him, which Nina suspected was mostly borne out of guilt for leaving him and taking away his daughter. ‘Even after we separated, he never let me want for anything as far as you’re concerned.’
Which Nina supposed was honourable given the fact that she knew Patrick had no interest in her whatsoever. She was always just this annoying kid who turned up now and again to mess up his pristine house and orderly way of life. And boy was her father orderly.
Back then, he used to rise at seven am on the dot (even at weekends), go out to the local newsagents, after which he’d read the morning paper over a breakfast of tea (with two sugars) and of fried eggs and bacon with toast. Nina recalled one time in a childish attempt to please him she’d overdone the toast and he’d gone ballistic. Not angry as such, just a quiet, barely controlled annoyance, which to a ten-year old was somehow even scarier. Nina had ne
ver again attempted to make him breakfast after that.
Now as the bus approached the outskirts of Lakeview, she wondered if anything had changed. The popular tourist village – centred round a broad oxbow lake from which it took its name – was very pretty certainly. The lake, surrounded by low-hanging beech and willow trees, wound its way around the centre and a small humpback stone bridge joined all sides of the township together.
But it was the cobbled streets and ornate lanterns on Main Street, as well as the beautiful one-hundred-year-old artisan cottages decorated with hanging floral baskets, that were the true attraction here.
Because of its picturesque beauty, the village had long ago been designated heritage status by the Irish Tourist Board, so the chocolate-box look and feel of the place was intentionally well preserved.
As for changes Nina noted, well there were certainly a lot more houses anyway; newer more ostentatious ones on the outskirts, the kind that city types moving to the country built trying to prove to their friends that they were living the good life, when in reality most of them were probably desperate to escape back to Dublin. Humongous bedrooms, huge gardens and outdoor hot-tubs would never be enough to mask the dreary realities of small town living, at least not as far as she was concerned.
Nope Lakeview was a temporary stop, an emergency stop almost, and as soon as she’d got her head together, she’d be out of here quick as you like.
She got off on Main Street at the bus stop nearest the lake, outside that café that had been there for donkeys’ years, the Heartbreak Café the locals used to jokingly refer to it – for whatever reason. She wondered if that older woman who collected all the stray animals still ran the place. Ella, wasn’t it? What was it with this place and collecting things? Although that was unfair really, Ella had always been very nice to Nina, cottoning on to the fact that she was usually there against her will. Or perhaps she just sympathised with the fact that Nina’s dad never really had much time for her.