Stirred with Love (18 page)

Once inside, the staff fell over each other’s feet as they barged professionally around, apologising for the lack of lighting, trying to keep the doors shut so the fumes weren’t too awful, sitting people down at tables, showing them menus while they prepared their drinks, managing not to trip over the array of extension cables.

Sam, Brendan and the builders came in around one o clock. Kate was delighted that they’d made the effort and spent a good twenty minutes tending to their needs. They were definitely good for business, she noted with a slight pang of envy, when three teenage girls wearing the tiniest of vest tops and skirts no wider than some of her belts hoisted themselves purposefully onto the high stools next to them.

Harry, from the newsagents, called in around one-thirty, along with Vic from the post office, Ivy and Sheena from the chemist, Nina and Simon from the chiropodist, the gang from the trendy solicitor’s three doors down and Rachel from the tiny bank next to the Co-op. Lily fussed around them all, thanking them for coming and hoping they would call again.

At quarter to two, the electricity came on. There was a huge cheer from everyone when it was still on ten minutes later. Lily gave Chloe a selection of cakes to take to the workmen.

By three-thirty, Kate had burnt herself twice on the beast of a coffee machine, Chloe was fed up of being called excuse me, Alex and Tom wanted to go back to joinery immediately and no one could hear the background music due to the amount of people mulling around.

Chloe didn’t have as much time to spend with her father as she would have liked but she kept an eye on him from wherever she was. She was just about to see if he wanted a refill when she noticed Kate had beaten her to it. When she heard them all laughing, she rushed over.

‘Kate was just telling us about your antics with the coffee machine.’ Graham smiled and patted her on the arm. ‘That’s so typical of you, Chloe.’

Chloe pulled a face. ‘I did tell you it was a genuine mistake.’

‘I’m sure it was,’ Kate appeased. ‘Still, we’ve cracked it now.’

‘You’ve created a fantastic place to relax in,’ said Maddy, spotting a chance to join in. ‘It’s so inviting. I wish we had something like this in Penlingham.’

‘I’d second that.’ Graham looked up at Kate again. ‘I think I’m ready for one of your coffee shop specials. Shall I have a regular or grande, miss?’

‘Dad!’

Graham looked at Chloe then at Maddy. ‘What?’

‘You’re embarrassing me,’ said Chloe.

‘I don’t see how. Would you like a grande, Maddy?’

Maddy nodded and Chloe scowled at her. When another customer beckoned for her, she flounced off.

Lily was oblivious to Chloe’s strange frame of mind when she joined Alf at the back of the room. He’d been sitting there with Irene since they had opened, the chairs around their table coming and going depending on how busy it had been. Irene had disappeared to the loo, no doubt due to all the cups of tea she had drunk. Lily guessed that Alf must be feeling extremely warm as he’d taken his blazer off – something he never usually did. Outside it was still raining, less heavy now, but warm and muggy with it.

‘I’m absolutely worn out,’ Lily told him as she sat down. ‘I’m so glad the electricity came back on again – and stayed on this time.’

Alf folded his arms across his stomach, wrinkling up his red polka-dot tie in the process. ‘You should be letting the young ones do the running around,’ he said.

‘It’s their first full day. I’m sure it won’t be as busy on Monday, nor as hectic.’

‘How are you doing, Alfie?’ Kate patted his shoulder as she whizzed past.

Alf flashed a knowing smile at Lily and raised his eyebrows. ‘You’d better be quick or else I’m going to be spoken for.’

‘Don’t be silly, she’s far too young for you.’

‘The younger the better, I say. And don’t be so sexist. Haven’t you heard of equality? That goes for age too.’

‘More like sexual harassment if you ask me. Honestly Alf, you’re nothing but a dirty old man.’

Alf’s sparkling eyes scrunched up before continuing. ‘All this because you’re jealous that a young lady touched my shoulder?’ He reached for her hand.

Lily playfully slapped his fingers away. ‘Alfred. You get worse with age.’

By four-thirty, Lily’s legs had given up supporting her tiny frame. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so busy. An elderly couple sat at table seven, sharing a pot of tea. A man at table four with dark, wavy hair that he kept blowing away from his face, sipped at his drink. When he caught Lily looking, he smiled over the top of his laptop. A group of young ladies decorated the leather settees, being entertained by Alex and Tom sitting in the bay window. The music had gone off, forgotten due to no one listening to it.

When she’d first had the idea to start again, Lily had never imagined it would be like this. Everyone had pulled together today. They’d all been rushed off their feet. Twice they’d run out of mugs and had to dish out the old china ones from Lily’s days gone by. Not at all savoury and she hadn’t dared to reveal their true age. But they’d served their purpose, if only for one more day.

An hour later, Kate followed the last customers to the doors, turned the open sign around and leaned her back against the glass.

‘Thank god that’s over.’ Across the room, everyone had congregated around Lily. Graham was finishing the last of his coffee before he and Maddy would be on their way.

‘I’m bushed.’ Chloe sat down heavily. ‘I’ve never washed so many dishes in my life.’

‘I can’t remember you washing that many.’ Alex tapped her feet. Reluctantly, she removed them from the chair next to her so he could sit down. ‘That dishwasher doesn’t hold enough cups. And have you seen the state of my hair because of all that steam!’

‘Relax, it’s still got style.’ Kate tousled his gel logged hair and sat down next to him.

‘Really?’ He looked pleased, even when she wiped her hand on her apron with a grimace. ‘You mean you do fancy me, after all?’

‘That’s not the only person she fancies,’ muttered Chloe, giving Kate a dirty look.

For a moment, Kate frowned, but then she turned to Lily. ‘Well, I think that went well, considering our earlier misfortune, don’t you?’

‘Yes,’ Lily smiled. ‘You’ve all done a marvellous job. I can’t thank you enough.’

Tom popped his head around the kitchen door. ‘Would anyone like a glass of wine?’

‘Not me,’ said Kate. ‘I couldn’t drink anything after scoffing that last piece of fruit cake – apart from a cold glass of wine, that is.’

‘You shouldn’t trough so much,’ said Alex. ‘You’re getting on now. You need to watch every calorie or else you’ll soon be on that slippery slope. Besides, didn’t you say you were on a diet?’

Kate threw him a scowl. ‘Diets begin on a Monday, you nerd head. Everyone knows that.’

Chloe took off her shoes and rubbed at her aching toes. ‘Did you see that man who came in around twelve-thirty? What was his name again? It sounded strange.’

‘I think it was Serle.’ Alex sat down beside her. ‘He scared the shi – life out of me and I’m tall. He seems cool though. I bet he’ll be back.’

‘I hope that some of the others come back too.’ Chloe was remembering a group of car mechanics who had sidled in. ‘It’s nice to see there’s some talent in Somerley.’

‘Chloe Ward!’ said Graham, joining them after a trip to the lavatory. ‘Not in front of your father, please!’

Chloe opened her mouth to speak but caught Maddy’s warning glance.

‘Well, I hope we don’t get too many regulars, not all at the same time, anyway. I, for one, don’t want to be that busy every day,’ said Kate, although secretly she knew it had done her the world of good to keep busy.

‘Right, Maddy,’ said Graham. ‘I think it’s about time we made a move.’

Maddy got to her feet and Chloe stood up too.

‘It’s been a pleasure to meet everyone.’ Graham glanced around the room. ‘Congratulations on your achievements so far and I wish you every success for the future.’

‘Yes, me too.’ Maddy smiled. ‘I hope it goes well. You deserve it after all your hard work.’

A few minutes later, Kate stood behind Chloe on the forecourt as she waved them off. Once the car was out of sight, Chloe turned and walked back, ignoring Kate completely.

Kate called her back. ‘Chloe, could I have a word? I think we need to clear the air.’

Chloe swivelled round to face her. ‘Yes, I think we do. I don’t know how you could do that to me.’

‘Do what exactly?’

‘You were flirting with my father!’

Kate’s eyes widened. ‘I was doing no such thing!’

‘Yes, you were. ‘Oh, I’m sure everything will work out as planned.’ ‘Yes, we’re going to be very successful.’ ‘We’re spitting in the eye of catastrophe.’ And bringing up that blasted coffee machine
again
.’

‘You always bring it up. It’s a funny story!’

‘At one time, I even heard you
giggle
when he whispered something to you.’

Kate was lost for words as she thought back over the day. She couldn’t recall anything untoward and besides, Graham was with Maddy. She wouldn’t do that to anyone.

‘You’ve got it all wrong,’ she tried to explain. Chloe sat down on the wall, so she sat down beside her. ‘I didn’t flirt with your father. He’s the last person on earth I’d want to get involved with.’

‘Why, what’s wrong with him?’ Chloe snapped. ‘He’s a good looking man.’

Kate sighed. ‘I know he is, but he’s with Maddy.’

‘Maddy noticed too.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘When he said you were beautiful, Maddy looked hurt.’

‘No, it was a bit of friendly banter. The kind of thing you say to someone to break the ice. It was very nice of him to say so but it didn’t mean anything.’

Chloe huffed. ‘It did from where I was standing.’

All of a sudden, Kate understood. ‘Is that why you’ve been funny with me all afternoon? You thought I was trying to steal your thunder? Oh, Chloe, I’m sorry. I was only being friendly.’

Chloe shook her head and quickly looked at her feet. ‘I suppose we don’t really know each other yet, do we?’

Kate waited for her to look up again. ‘I think it’ll take time for us to trust each other,’ she said, choosing her words carefully. ‘I know there’s a huge age gap between us and that’s something we need to overcome but I thought we were friends.’

‘We
are
.’

‘Then why would you think I fancied your father?’

‘I…I don’t really know,’ she admitted. ‘Maybe it was seeing him turn up with Maddy today.’

Kate thought for a moment. ‘What you really mean is you thought it would be good if I did fancy him, so that I could give Maddy a run for her money?’

Chloe shrugged.

‘Maddy is comfortable with your dad, Chloe. That’s why she didn’t feel threatened. It shows the kind of relationship they have, built on mutual trust.’ Kate paused. ‘Look, if you ever have a problem like that again, then you must
talk
to me. Little differences like these have a way of blowing up out of proportion, and if that happens, working here is going to be Hell. And neither of us wants that, do we?’

Chloe shook her head again. She was about to apologise when Alex and Tom erupted onto the forecourt.

‘What are you two doing out here?’ Alex wanted to know. ‘We’ve left loads of good wine in there. If you’re not careful, Lily will drink it all.’

Lily was following up behind them. ‘Less of the cheek, young man.’ She smiled at Kate and Chloe when she realised they had sorted out whatever was bothering them. ‘Come on you two, I’m sure you’ve got things to do tonight. You’ve worked so hard today. I can lock up.’

‘Because, guess what?’ screeched Tom as he whisked off his tie and threw it up into the air. ‘You’ve got to do it all again on Monday!’

When she’d finally locked the door behind Alex and Tom, and Kate and Chloe had gone upstairs, Lily poured herself a small glass of wine and sat down again to relish the silence. After the hustle and bustle of the day, everything seemed so peaceful.

She’d been dreading this moment for weeks now. It was great finally to have the coffee shop up and running but it was also the first time she’d done it without Bernard. Today, she’d felt so many emotions, desperately wanting to enjoy the day but also wishing that Bernard was there. If she could have only one wish, it would be to share this moment with him, sit and talk over the day with a glass of wine apiece.

Lily lifted her eyes to the heavens, then, in a silent tribute to the man she would always love, raised her glass to him.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

The clock had barely reached half past ten on Monday morning when Chloe started moaning. It was their first full day open for business and so far they’d only had a disappointing handful of customers.

 ‘I'm so bored.’ She pushed back her chair and stretched out her legs.

Kate stirred a spoon around in her coffee. ‘We should be prepared for these lulls while the business is building up.’

Lucy thudded down on the empty chair next to Chloe. ‘You said it was really busy on Friday. I thought we might have at least half of the customers back today.’

‘People always take advantage of something when it’s free. Now look at the place.’ Chloe stuck her thumb over her shoulder. A couple sat in the window drinking their second cup of coffee. In the far corner, a middle-aged lady sat idly flicking through a slimming magazine whilst demolishing her second chocolate-chip cookie.

‘Where does your husband work?’ Chloe asked Lucy as Kate sloped off to find something to do.

‘He has his own building firm. He’s extremely talented. He can put his hands to anything,’ she said with a grin.

‘Does he work away a lot? I’d hate it if my fella did. You never know what he might be getting up to.’

‘Oh, I trust Karl. He would never have an affair.’

Chloe huffed. ‘And you’re so certain, are you?’

Lucy giggled like a five year old. ‘Of course I am. I’m his wife. You should see the things he treats me to. Jewellery, clothes, shoes, handbags. I can have whatever I want. He treats me like a queen.’

‘That’s not the word I was thinking of,’ Chloe replied.