‘Um, yeah, maybe I should go then.’
Louise turned around slowly. ‘Of course, yes, you should get going. I’ll show you out!’ She hurried past him, registering the look of surprise on his face. She just wanted him gone. She was so embarrassed about her behaviour and she was suddenly worried that he might have read something into her asking him to stay. Why had she done it? She was so annoyed at her drunken self. She walked into the hall and yanked open the front door.
Alex shuffled past her. ‘Well, I guess I’ll see you soon, then?’ he said awkwardly, stepping down onto the path. He looked back at her.
Louise wished she could turn back time and stop herself after that first glass of wine. ‘Sure. Thanks for looking after me,’ she said. ‘I promise it’ll never happen again.’
He smiled slightly. ‘Honestly, I didn’t mind at all. I’ll see you later.’ He lifted his hand in a wave and walked off, his hands in his pockets, head down.
‘Alex!’ Louise found herself calling out. He paused and turned around. She hurried out of the house and reached for him. She felt him tense up, surprised, but then he returned her hug. She made sure it was quick and pulled away before she could sink too deeply into him.
When they pulled back, they looked at one another and it seemed as though he was about to say something so Louise got there first.
‘You’re a really good friend,’ she told him, forcing on a smile.
Alex kept on looking at her and she was both desperate and terrified for him to stop. Finally, he nodded. ‘Take care, Louise,’ he replied, and carried on walking.
She watched him go, wishing she could have done more than hug him. But she knew that she couldn’t. She had made sure he knew that they were friends, and that was it.
She closed the door slowly and then sank against it. She wasn’t ready to start anything with anyone, even if the sight of him on her sofa had made her knees wobble, and her stomach had come alive when he had held her for that brief moment.
It was better for them both if she stayed away from him.
Even though she really didn’t want to.
Chapter Seventeen
After lunch, Eszter headed with Anne and Zoe to the community centre. The morning had become grey and drizzly and they wanted to see what was on offer there for them to do in the afternoon.
The centre was in a low, red-brick building off the edge of the high street, with lots of colourful posters stuck around the walls of the hallway, which led to two large rooms used for activities, a small kitchen and an outside area complete with playground, vegetable patch and sandpit. Everyone was inside today, though.
Jane met them near the entrance. ‘I’m so glad you came by,’ she greeted. ‘We have two classes on today – painting for adults, and drama club for kids.’
‘Sounds perfect,’ Eszter replied with a smile. Zoe hung by her side looking nervous, which was most unlike her. ‘You love being in plays at school, this will be really fun,’ she reminded her daughter, remembering how she and Nick had watched with pride as Zoe starred in her school musical just a year ago.
‘Come on, let me show you what we’re doing,’ Jane said kindly to Zoe, taking her hand. She led the way to the kids’ room, and Eszter anxiously watched them go.
‘Do you ever stop worrying about them?’ she said out loud.
Anne shook her head. ‘Even when they move away, no.’
They shared a look of understanding, then headed off down the corridor. The art class was just starting when they walked into the long, narrow room. There were twelve other people waiting for the class to begin and a teacher at the front in an apron, ready to go. Everyone had their own table and chair and there were paints, paper and brushes all set up ready. At the front, next to the teacher, was a small table with a bowl of fruit on it.
‘Welcome to Watercolour for Beginners,’ the lady at the front greeted them with a smile. ‘I’m Lisa and I’ll be your teacher today. We’re going to start small with this bowl of fruit and see how we get on. Has anyone painted before?’
Eszter was surprised to see Anne’s hand join the four in the air. ‘When did you paint?’ she asked Anne as the teacher walked around to get a better idea of everyone’s competency levels.
‘A thousand years ago. When I was a teenager, I loved art, especially painting, and I used to annoy my parents by talking about making it a career. Of course, then I met Frank, and other things got in the way.’
Eszter didn’t like the way Frank seemed to have shaped the whole of Anne’s life. A partner should complement you, not control you. She thought about Nick and how she used to tell him how much she envied him for being so happy as a teacher; he was passionate about it. She now knew he had been so passionate he had given up a medical career and left his family because of it. Eszter had never had any inkling what she wanted to do, so she had drifted from job to job and she wasn’t sure even now what work would make her happy. She liked working at Brew, but it didn’t particularly challenge her. She had no idea what she would do after the summer.
They started sketching the fruit, with the teacher walking round to give pointers. Eszter didn’t think her messy pencil scratchings resembled anything close to the bowl of fruit and she swallowed the urge to start giggling. She glanced at Anne who was engrossed in her drawing and was doing a much better job.
‘Sometimes I think I’ll never find anything I’m really good at,’ Eszter admitted aloud, thinking that her pear looked more like an egg.
‘You’re a brilliant mother, don’t ever underestimate that.’
Eszter was surprised and touched to hear that praise from her mother-in-law. ‘That’s really kind of you to say.’
‘I could never have coped without Frank, I’m sure.’
‘Honestly, you would be surprised with what you can cope with when you have to.’
‘Right,’ the teacher announced. ‘Why don’t we start putting some colour into our pictures?’
Eszter looked up in horror.
***
The two-hour class ended up moving surprisingly quickly and at the end of it Anne had a pretty painting of fruit, whereas Eszter had some coloured splodges on her paper. She promptly threw hers away and decided the painting class wasn’t for her, but she encouraged Anne to sign up for the six-week course and was really happy to see her do just that.
They walked to the kids’ area to collect Zoe, who hurried past them, head down, straight for the door.
‘What’s going on?’ Eszter went after her daughter, the rain still floating down from the grey sky. She pulled the hood of her parka up and looked around frantically, spotting Zoe standing on the pavement, her hair getting soaked.
‘Zoe, what’s happened?’ Eszter rushed to her daughter. She heard Anne hurrying to catch up with them. Eszter was horrified to see tears in her daughter’s eyes.
‘I just want to go home,’ Zoe said, trying to pull away from her. ‘Back to Hungary!’ She started walking again and Eszter and Anne hurried to catch her up.
They walked back to the cottage with Zoe refusing to talk and Eszter and Anne sharing worried and confused looks.
Once in the warm, dry cottage, they shed their shoes and coats and Anne went into the kitchen to make tea.
Eszter led Zoe to the sofa and wrapped an arm around her daughter. ‘Zo, you need to tell me what happened at the community centre. I’m worried about you.’
Zoe nestled in closer to her mother. ‘We all had to read some of this play out loud, and when I read my bit, the other kids laughed. They said they couldn’t understand me because of my accent. They said I didn’t belong here,’ she started to cry.
Eszter felt like her heart was breaking and that she wished she could go back to that community centre and shout at all the kids. Instead, she pulled her daughter into her arms and stroked her hair. ‘It’s okay. They’ve just never met anyone from Hungary before. When people are faced with something different, sometimes it scares them a little and instead of being welcoming and ki
nd, they choose to attack.’
‘But I’m not different to them. Am I?’
‘You just come from somewhere different, that’s all. You’re special, and they didn’t know how to handle that.’ Eszter was shocked after having had such a warm welcome in Littlewood that Zoe had faced this kind of hostility. ‘I’m sorry, darling, but once they get to know you, they won’t notice that you have an accent, they will just love you for the person that you are.’
‘I’m never going back. Why can’t we just go home?’
Anne paused in the doorway with a tray of mugs and biscuits. ‘Is everything all right?’ she asked hesitantly.
‘Zoe is just a little bit upset.’ Eszter told Anne what had happened.
‘I don’t like it here,’ Zoe said.
Anne handed Zoe a mug of warm milk, coffee for Eszter, and a cup of tea for herself and they each had a chocolate biscuit. ‘Well, I’m really glad that you’re here.’ Anne told her. ‘Listen, Zoe, your dad was born here and this was where he grew up, so you belong in Littlewood just as much as those other kids do.’
Eszter’s phone rang and she saw it was Anne’s builder. Eszter picked up and he told her that after a week’s work it was okay for Anne to move back into her house whenever she wanted. When Eszter hung up, she looked over at Zoe, who had gone to sit next to her grandmother to show her some pictures on her phone. It was a shame that Anne would be moving out when they were really just getting to know each other. Eszter decided not to say anything until the morning and hopefully they could salvage the evening.
***
Eszter made her way to Brew in the morning, relieved that the day had dawned bright and dry. She had managed to cheer Zoe up with an evening of playing board games, and she had left her and Anne planning to go to the park while she was at work. She was worried about both of them.
Eszter had told Anne before she left that her house was ready for her to go back to.
‘That doesn’t mean that you and Zoe will be leaving soon, does it?’ Anne had asked in a low voice as she made their breakfast.
Zoe had seemed slightly more cheerful in the light of the new day, but she had told Eszter before she fell asleep that she missed Hungary. Eszter thought about their life back there – she had no career to go back to, her parents lived far away, and the flat they had shared with Nick no longer felt like home, but they did have friends there, and it was familiar, so she understood why Zoe was missing it. Life had been easy and happy for them there before, but Eszter also knew that without Nick, everything would be different when they went back to Hungary, and she was in no rush to face a new life without him. She told Zoe they had planned to spend the summer in Littlewood, so they would see it through; her daughter hadn’t looked too happy about it, but Anne had visibly relaxed when Eszter reassured her that they would help get her settled back in her home. They wouldn’t be rushing to get on a plane anytime soon.
Eszter felt the burden of responsibility for making all the decisions now herself. She missed having a partner to discuss the future with. What would Nick say they should do?
She pushed open the door to Brew, her mind still agitated. Joy immediately noticed her preoccupation as she and Harry worked with Eszter to get the café ready for opening.
‘Has something happened?’ Joy asked her as she switched the coffee machine on. Eszter had been wiping the same spot on the counter for the past five minutes without realising it. ‘A problem shared, and all that.’
Eszter smiled at Joy, grateful that there was someone she could unburden herself to. She told her what had happened at the community centre. ‘I was nervous before coming here, after hearing all the news about Brexit, you know. I wasn’t sure we’d be welcome, but you were all so lovely to us, I thought how lucky we were to be here. I certainly didn’t think Zoe would have any trouble. She wants to go home, but I know Anne would be devastated if we did. I just don’t know what to do.’
Joy sighed. ‘Gosh, kids can be so unkind sometimes. I agree with you, I just think they aren’t used to having anyone here from another country, and change can be scary. I think once they get to know Zoe, they will make friends with her.’
‘I don’t want Zoe to be faced with something difficult and choose to run away, but also she’s young and doesn’t deserve to go through this after losing her father. Maybe I should just take her home.’ Eszter sighed. She wasn’t sure going back to Hungary was what she wanted at all, though.
‘Why don’t you see if you can encourage Zoe and the other kids to come together? We could do something here. Maybe a cooking class? We could get Jane to bring them in for a lesson and have Zoe lead the class with us. I think they would all have fun, and see that Zoe is very much part of Littlewood.’
‘I suppose that might work,’ Eszter said slowly. ‘We’ve been having such a lovely summer, I don’t want this to ruin our memory of Littlewood.’
Joy nodded. ‘I think you should talk to Jane about it, tell her what’s happened, and she can talk to the other parents. Littlewood is a welcoming place, no one wants to see the two of you leave under a cloud, I know it.’
‘I hope you’re right. I just want Zoe to be happy.’
‘I know, but she has been so far, hasn’t she? It’s just kids being kids. We will bring them all together, I promise you. Who can be unkind when surrounded by cakes?’
Eszter laughed despite herself. ‘Joy, the world should really think more like you.’
‘My thoughts exactly!’
Chapter Eighteen
Abbie took a deep breath and knocked on the door of the library at Huntley Manor. She was nervous about telling Thomas her decision to go back to London. She had spoken to Louise earlier, who had seemed resigned to the news if not overly enthusiastic about it, but she knew that her sister just wanted her to be happy and that she would miss her. She wasn’t sure how Thomas would react at all, but she couldn’t avoid him any longer.
Thomas’s deep voice told her to come in, so she pushed open the door and smiled tentatively at him. He was at his desk, buried in paperwork, the sleeves of his crisp white shirt pushed up, his hair tousled as if he had been running his hands through it.
Abbie stepped into the room and found herself taking a mental picture of him, wondering if she would ever see him again. She was sure of her decision, but seeing him made her waver. She had loved working here with him. The thought that she wouldn’t be any longer was harder to comprehend than she had realised. ‘Do you have a minute?’
‘Of course. Take a seat.’
Abbie sat down on the other side of the desk and crossed her legs. ‘I wanted to talk to you, to tell you that I’ve made a decision. As you know, Jack’s been here all weekend and he’s presented an opportunity to me, and I feel that I need to accept it.’
He nodded and put his pen down. ‘You’re going back to London.’ His face showed no sign of what he felt about that.
‘I have to, Thomas. Setting up my own PR company is something I’ve always wanted to do. And I haven’t had any hint of other job prospects so far this summer. I can’t turn this down. But I am sorry to leave here.’
Thomas nodded, avoiding her eyes. ‘I’m sorry that you’ll be going,’ he said softly, then he cleared his throat and spoke more formally to her. ‘It sounds like a good opportunity, and I’m aware it wasn’t ideal working here for free. I appreciate all you’ve done.’
‘You know I was happy to help,’ she said, wishing he didn’t sound so businesslike. Wouldn’t he miss her at all? ‘I’m so sorry I won’t be seeing out the summer here, but I know you’ll make a big success of the relaunch and I will definitely . . .’
‘We’ll see,’ Thomas cut her off before she could say that she wanted to come back for the party. ‘I’m just looking at the books, and even if I do the relaunch party at the end of the summer, I just don’t think I can hold the bank off much longer. Perhaps you leaving is the sign I need that this place is finished.’
Abbie stared at him. ‘No, you have t
o keep trying! The party is all set up, the ballroom is almost ready. Please don’t give up just because I’m going.’
‘It has nothing to do with you.’
Abbie was stunned by his coldness. She thought they had become close, and that he might be happy for her. She was at a loss as to what to say.
‘Look, Abbie, I appreciate your enthusiasm for this place, I really do, but you’re going and it’s up to me what I do next.’ He picked his pen up and looked down at his paperwork; apparently the conversation was over in his mind.
Abbie was furious with him. ‘Why won’t you try?’
‘This is no longer your concern, Abbie,’ he said, not even bothering to look up.
Abbie stood up. She couldn’t believe their partnership was ending like this. She thought back to their dinner together and how she had thought there was something in the air between them. That all seemed like it had happened to two different people. ‘Goodbye, Thomas,’ she said, matching his cold tone, and hoping that she didn’t start crying in front of him.
‘Abbie?’
She paused in the doorway, hating the hope that sprang up as she turned around. She wasn’t sure what she wanted him to say, but she waited, with bated breath.
He looked at her for a moment, then nodded. ‘Good luck.’
Abbie was annoyed that tears started to well up behind her eyes. She couldn’t understand why he was being so distant after all they had shared since she arrived in Littlewood. She didn’t know why he couldn’t be happy for her, or why he was so willing to give up on Huntley Manor. There was nothing left to say. Everything between them seemed dissolved for ever.
Why did that hurt so much?
She spun around and marched out, her heels echoing down the hall. She left as quickly as she could, yanking open the front door and stepping out into the morning light.
Abbie pulled out her phone and typed a message to Jack. I’m coming to London tomorrow.
Summer at the Kindness Cafe Page 16