Both Betty and Doreen are disgusted at what Lucy has done, deliberately sabotaging my efforts in such a two-faced, diabolical way, but I’ve made them promise not to mention any of it to Mum. They understand my motives because they’re so protective of Mum and Dad themselves, especially recently, with what Dad has been going through.
Much later, at four-thirty, after another agonisingly slow afternoon, I’m just thinking of closing up and going home, when I hear a car draw up and park outside.
It’s Jason.
I haven’t seen him since the night before opening day, and I’ve sensed he’s been avoiding me. I really don’t think he can have known about Lucy and Olivia’s plans to open their own café the same day as me. If he did, surely he wouldn’t have come to the house the night before my opening to wish me well? He’d have given me an embarrassed wide berth.
I remember the night of Lucy’s fashion show in the pub. When I was chatting to Jason through his car window, Lucy arrived and announced to him that Olivia would be staying the night. They were probably planning their café opening even then, and I had no idea.
‘Hi, Twilight.’ Jason’s expression is hangdog and his eyes look puffy as if he hasn’t slept. He might as well have ‘guilty’ stamped on his forehead.
‘Hi, Jason.’ I try to gauge his body language. Either he feels guilty because he knew all along about the Clean Food Café, but his conscience got the better of him at the last minute, leading to his phone call to enlighten me. Or he didn’t know and he feels embarrassed about Lucy’s shocking behaviour. I’m inclined to think it’s the latter. I know Jason of old. He’s not a schemer and he can’t lie for toffee.
‘Can I get you something, Jason? Coffee? Tea? I think I might be able to fit you in.’ I smile ironically, throwing out my arm to indicate all the empty tables.
‘A stiff drink would be preferable.’ He falls into a seat and rubs his face wearily. Then he meets my eyes properly for the first time since he walked in. ‘Twi, I’m so sorry. About Lucy. I’m stunned and … well, horrified she could do this to you.’ He laughs bitterly. ‘I mean, I’ve always known she was a handful, but I never thought she could do something so calculated and hurtful. I know you two have never got on but this …’ He shakes his head.
‘Never got on?’ I jump instantly on the defensive. ‘I should have thought you, more than anyone, would know it’s nothing to do with Lucy and I not getting on, and everything to do with your girlfriend’s totally illogical hatred towards me.’
He nods swiftly. ‘I know, I know. That came out wrong.’ He sighs. ‘I suppose I just don’t want to believe that it’s all her because that means I’m living with a callous, scheming monster.’
He looks so defeated, my heart goes out to him. It’s clear Lucy kept him completely in the dark about the café, presumably because she knew he would be against it and would probably warn me about it.
‘Monster might be a little strong,’ I say, hoping to make him smile.
‘I don’t know,’ he murmurs. ‘If it’s any consolation, we had a huge row about it and Lucy’s taken the hump and moved out, back to her parents.’
‘Wow. Gosh, I’m sorry.’
He curls his lip. ‘Don’t be. I’m not. We’re not exactly a match made in heaven, Lucy and I.’
He gazes up at me, a mournful look on his face, and I’d give anything to know what’s going through his mind right this minute.
Does he think we were a match made in heaven?
Our eyes lock and my heart gives a funny little skip. Back in the day, we used to crave time alone together like this, away from family, teachers, school friends. We had our favourite places to meet. There was a secluded spot by the stream running through the woods in Lake Heath. It was our special place …
‘Penny for them?’ I whisper.
He smiles sadly. ‘We were good together, you and I. Weren’t we?’
‘We were,’ I agree, giving him the reassurance he seems to need. I sit down next to him and we smile at each other. He reaches over and takes my hand, and my heart does another funny little flutter.
‘I’m sorry about you and Lucy,’ I say carefully. ‘But maybe it’s for the best? I always thought you were much too good for her.’
He squeezes my hand and shifts in his chair, never taking his eyes off my face, and I wonder if he’s going to kiss me. My heart starts to beat faster.
Then the door opens and in walk Doreen and Betty, exclaiming over how hot it is outside. Betty fans her face with her purse.
For a moment, I feel disorientated, still inhabiting the distant past, down by the stream with Jason. Then I remember where I am and rise swiftly to my feet, clicking smoothly into professional mode.
‘Ladies! Great to see you. What can I get you today?’
*****
That night, I lie in a bath of scented bubbles, reflecting on the day.
My eyes feel heavy with tiredness.
It was a real body blow, seeing that article in the local paper about Lucy and Olivia, reporting how well the Clean Food Café was performing. That kind of publicity is like gold dust and will no doubt have even more intrigued customers beating a path to their door.
I hold up the soggy sponge and squeeze it slowly, watching the hot water cascade down my arm. There’s no doubt about it. Lucy is winning the battle of the Hart’s End cafés hands down, and I’ve no idea what to do to reverse the trend. Or even if it’s possible. Maybe Lucy possesses an instinct for business that I just don’t have.
I throw down the sponge, making a satisfying splash.
I will not be beaten by a horrible bully like Lucy Slater! Business acumen can be learned, can’t it? Just like most skills. I’m certainly not giving up – not yet, anyway. I just have to find that Unique Selling Point that Paloma is always talking about.
Thinking of Paloma, I start wondering whether she’s heard anything from Sylvia. Paloma’s been so bloody brave, forging on with her career and life in general since Linda passed away. It would be so wonderful if she were to track her birth mother down. But what are the chances? For every ecstatic reunion, there’s sure to be a not-so-happy ending also. That’s just the way life is.
I lever myself out of the scented water and reach for a bath towel. Family is everything. I can’t imagine what it’s like to feel totally alone in the world. The thought of losing Dad makes my heart contract painfully.
Paloma is amazing. I don’t think I’d be half as brave as her if the worst were to happen …
Chapter 20
A week goes by and the buzz around Lucy & Olivia’s Clean Food Café is showing no signs of dispersing.
In humiliating contrast, business is far from brisk at The Twilight Café. Starbucks, it’s fair to say, can definitely rest easy.
I can actually count the number of regular customers on the fingers of two hands – possibly three, if you factor in our local postie, who often calls for a quick espresso after finishing his rounds. I feel silly now thinking of how excited I was before the café opened – what high hopes I had for its success.
On the plus side, after doing the accounts, I was able to report to Paloma that the café almost broke even last week.
That, of course, was down to the loyal patronage of friends like Betty and Doreen, who’ve been in for coffee and cake practically every day since I opened. The girls I was friendly with at school have also been great at showing their support. Some of them are mums now, and they’ve started meeting here several times a week. They bring their toddlers and babies to play in the pre-school activity area I’ve set up, while they drink strong coffee and chat gloomily about how lack of sleep can actually kill you.
Some of Mum’s friends from the WI also come in from time to time. They think it’s an absolute scandal how Lucy sabotaged my big opening day, and they’re apparently spreading the word, hoping that people will start boycotting the Clean Food Café. (She’s not just ‘Lucy’ to them any more, she’s ‘That Lucy Slater’.)
I’m so
thankful to the people who are supporting me. They keep me going through my most despairing times, such as the mornings when I don’t have a single customer through the door.
Today, I’ve got the ‘mums and babies’ in, which I like. It’s a stark contrast to the dead silence I’ve grown to dread. Betty is also here with her daughter, Jess, and sitting at another table are a couple I don’t know at all, which is quite a novelty. I’m relatively run off my feet this afternoon!
I’m through the back, stacking cups and plates into the dishwasher when I hear the door open. Checking my reflection in the little mirror by the fridge, I try out a welcoming smile and then hurry through to greet the arrivals.
One customer. My heart skips nervously.
Theo Steel.
He’s dressed in worn jeans and a white polo shirt, the usual sports bag hitched high over his shoulder. He glances around him then spots me behind the counter and strolls over, fixing me with one of his lazy smiles. Several of the mums lose track of their conversation, I notice, preferring to study Theo’s progress instead.
‘Twilight. Hello. You’re busy.’ He glances round approvingly.
‘This is unusual,’ I confess. ‘But it makes a nice change. What can I get you?’
‘Something to sort out an afternoon energy dip,’ he says, surveying the cakes under the glass. His eyes light up. ‘Cherry and coconut. My favourite. Bit of luck it’s on the menu today!’
Warmth creeps into my cheeks. ‘Yes, how about that? It’s your lucky day!’ No need to mention that cherry and coconut cake has been available every single day – ever since that time he told me to keep him a slice of it!
‘And a large cappuccino, please.’
I cut him a generous piece that has four glacé cherries on top instead of the normal three. Unfortunately, my hand wobbles as I pick it up, which means it slides off the cake slice far too quickly and lands upside down on the plate.
Aaargh! Bloody typical!
Flustered, I abandon the disaster and reach for another plate. But before I can even pick up the cake slice, Theo gives a throaty chuckle and says, ‘Er, I’d like that one, please.’
‘No, I’ll get you another one.’
‘That one has four cherries on top,’ he says solemnly, pointing at the upside-down mess. ‘You’re not going to deny me, are you?’
I hesitate, smiling awkwardly.
‘I could complain to the manager. Oh, hang on, you are the manager.’ He grins and points to the splodge. ‘Just hand it over.’
With a shrug, I do what he says and watch in amusement as he casually picks up the cake and turns it the right way up. ‘There you go. No harm done.’
As I’m making his cappuccino, he says, ‘So when are you coming for this free training session?’
‘I don’t like gyms.’
He grins. ‘Or changing rooms?’
I gulp as a memory of my most embarrassing moment ever zips into my head. Theo, naked apart from a towel that only just covered his modesty. I turn to grimace at him and the froth-maker dips too low, making a horribly loud sucking sound that echoes around the café. ‘Better concentrate,’ I mumble, blushing to the roots of my hair.
‘Great, thanks,’ he says when I finally deliver a coffee I’m quite proud of. ‘Listen, you don’t have to work out in the gym. How about some stretches then a jog on the village green?’
‘Okay.’ This sounds slightly better. At least there’ll be no one there to watch me sweat my arse off. Apart from Theo, of course, which is bad enough. But as I’ve already decided I’d like to be fitter, I’d be a fool to pass up the chance of a free session, wouldn’t I?
‘I’m free tonight, actually. About seven?’
I glance outside. ‘It looks like it might rain later.’ I’ve been keeping a nervous eye on the sky all day. Over the past hour, it’s been growing oppressively darker in the distance over Lake Heath.
He shrugs. ‘A bit of rain won’t matter, will it?’
I swallow. ‘Er, no, I suppose not. As long as it’s only rain. I – um – I’m not a fan of thunder and lightning.’
He nods. ‘I promise we’ll retreat indoors the instant it starts to look threatening.’
‘Okay.’ I force a smile, trying to shrug it off.
It’s high time I got over my childhood phobia of thunderstorms. I’m told they’re really nothing to be afraid of, unless you happen to be hugging a tree or raising your metal club on a golf course! I just wish I could believe it.
‘Great. Seven it is.’ Theo digs his wallet from his pocket. ‘How much do I owe you?’
‘What? No, it’s free. In exchange for the training session,’ I remind him.
‘You sure?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘Well, thanks.’ He smiles at me, deep blue eyes crinkling at the corners as he transports his cake and coffee off to a nearby table.
One of the mums, my old school friend Diana, winks at me and glances knowingly over at Theo, and I shake my head at her, blushing a deep shade of scarlet. She’s got the wrong idea altogether. Theo is just being nice and taking pity on me, that’s all. He’s probably never had such a challenge on his hands in his entire career as a personal trainer.
His slice of cherry and coconut cake disappears in a flash, I’m pleased to note, and so does the coffee. Not that I’m watching his every move. (Mind you, I wouldn’t be the only woman in here doing so, if I was.)
I do like to check how well my baking is being received …
I’m delivering a second round of coffees to the mums’ table when Theo gets up to leave.
‘Village green. Seven o’clock?’ he murmurs, as he passes me, and I nod, trying to look enthusiastic. What on earth have I let myself in for? I want to get fit, but do I really need a big, sporty, hard-muscled personal trainer like Theo Steel witnessing my shameful lack of fitness and flabby bits? I close my eyes, feeling quite sick at the thought.
‘He doesn’t go in for relationships, apparently,’ says one of the women.
Her neighbour sighs. ‘What a waste.’
‘Bit of a lone wolf. Gorgeous, though,’ says Diana. ‘Thanks, Twilight. You didn’t have to bring the coffees over.’
‘Hey, it’s no problem.’ I start placing the cups on the table, one by one, as it dawns on me they’re discussing Theo.
‘He was married, though, wasn’t he?’ says the first woman, just as I’m putting down the final cup. It rattles in its saucer and slops hot coffee onto my hand and onto the table.
‘Oh, I’m so sorry.’ Flustered, I mop my hand with a napkin from my tray, then attack the spillage with a few more. ‘I’ll get you another coffee.’
‘No, honestly, Twi, it’s fine,’ says Diana, then she turns to her friend. ‘No, they were engaged, I think, and madly in love, but it all ended tragically.’
‘Really? How?’
I linger by the table, going over the spillage again and again, just to hear the reply.
‘I can’t actually remember. It was a good few years ago now. But the woman’s no longer on the scene and I know it didn’t end well.’ They exchange a frown. ‘I think that’s why he keeps himself to himself.’
My head is reeling.
Theo was going to get married?
I don’t know why I feel so shocked.
I suppose I had an impression of him as a fairly easy-going, laid-back sort of guy, happily living the single life. But his apparently tragic past would indicate otherwise.
‘Twi? Are you all right?’ Diana frowns up at me. ‘Don’t worry about the spill.’
Her words filter slowly through to my brain, as if she’s talking under water. I remember where I am and paste on a smile. ‘I’ll get you another cappuccino. Honestly, it’s no trouble at all.’
I retreat behind the counter and start making the coffee. My hand stings a little where the hot liquid landed on it, but I’m too preoccupied with the heartbreaking image of Theo as a ‘lone wolf’ – because of losing his fiancée – to do anything abo
ut it.
When the drink is ready, I realise I forgot to put in fresh coffee grounds so I have to pour it away and start all over again …
Chapter 21
The training session isn’t as bad as I imagined it would be.
It’s a whole lot worse.
I turn up at the green in shorts and T-shirt, expecting to spend a leisurely ten minutes chatting about the great weather we’ve been having and possibly watching Theo flex his muscles, demonstrating the exercises he wants me to perform. (I’m quite looking forward to that bit. From an educational viewpoint, of course.) But within sixty seconds of establishing that I haven’t done any formal exercise for years, I’m thrown straight into stretching out muscles I never knew I had.
As I feel the burn in my hamstrings, pivot round at the waist and do ‘lunges’ that push my thigh muscles to the limit, Theo keeps up a reassuring commentary, giving me tips on technique and making encouraging noises, like he’s impressed with my efforts. This, of course, makes me want to perform even better, which is a very cunning move on his part. I’ll be aching all over tomorrow, that’s for sure, but that’s fine because it’s all in a good cause.
Clearly, my technique leaves a lot to be desired, but as I huff and puff and gasp, I’m finding there’s one part of exercising that I’m really good at.
The sweating bit.
All great athletes sweat like mad. And I’m brilliant at it!
Honestly, my body is so efficient at cooling me down, you just wouldn’t believe it. Of course, it is the middle of June and fairly humid, which probably accounts in part for the moisture that’s making my T-shirt cling. And there’s also the fact that Theo Steel is undoubtedly ‘hot’ in a very different way to me. (Those subtly defined biceps and long, muscular legs are enough to make any woman ‘come over all unnecessary’, as my granny used to say.)
Not that Theo Steel’s muscles have anything to do with the soaring temperature inside my T-shirt. No way. I’m not like those mums in the café with their tongues practically hanging out as the ‘gorgeous lone wolf’ passes close by.
Love Among the Treetops Page 14