“We’ll be opening in the spring,” you told me, Jemma. Why haven’t you done anything with
all this lot?’
‘I guess we couldn’t really see it,’ Tom admitted. ‘But the kitchens and loos are beginning to look tip top! They’re almost there actually.’
‘Well, that’s great,’ I nodded sarcastically, ‘you’ll have all the appropriate licences to hang on the walls, but what’s the point if you can’t tempt
people in to eat?’
‘She’s got a point,’ Tom whispered to his wife who finally looked as if the penny was about to drop.
‘I’ve been so preoccupied with thinking about all the food I’ll be able to bake that I kind of got side-tracked. I guess I hadn’t really thought about all this,’
she gestured, indicating the Café shop floor. ‘But you’re right, Lizzie; if we can’t get customers through the door then no one’s going to know how great my cupcakes
are, are they?’
‘Exactly!’ I laughed. I knew how much Jemma’s cooking and baking meant to her, but to me the image of the Café would have been of equal, if not higher, priority.
‘Sorry, Lizzie,’ Jemma smiled, sounding disconcertingly like her daughter.
‘Never mind me!’ I scolded. ‘What about Ben? By the sounds of it he’s been talking to a brick wall for the last few weeks. Where’s his apology?’
I couldn’t help thinking that I owed him one as well. Just as well he hadn’t been privy to my peevish thoughts.
‘Sorry, Ben,’ Jemma and Tom muttered in unison. ‘We should have listened to you, mate.’
‘Oh don’t worry about me,’ Ben rumbled, evidently not seeing the funny side. ‘I mean, given my track record, I can understand why you’d think I was talking crap and
there’s nothing unusual about me not having a say in things of importance, is there?’
‘Oh come on, mate,’ said Tom, crossing the Café floor and throwing his arm around Ben’s shoulders, ‘I thought you’d moved on from all that.’
I looked to Jemma for an explanation but she just frowned and shook her head. Clearly there was something I didn’t know about our bearded companion, but I wasn’t going to find out
what it was from her.
‘I have, I have,’ Ben muttered stiffly. ‘Sorry, I’m just having one of those days, you know? For some reason it’s all come flooding back.’
He shot what could only be described as a killer stare in my direction and I guessed that my presence wasn’t welcome, but what was it exactly that I was supposed to have done? Clearly I
wasn’t the only one who’d landed on Jemma and Tom’s doorstep with more than renovating the Café in mind, but I couldn’t see how targeting his aggression towards me
was going to help anyone.
Despite his rugged appeal and mesmerising eyes I was beginning to like Ben Fletcher less and less. Clearly he wasn’t the person I’d dreamt he was and neither was he going to be the
‘getting over Giles’ distraction Jemma had hoped for.
‘Come on,’ she said coaxingly, drawing my attention away from the boys, ‘let’s have a look at everything else and then we’ll go up to the flat!’
The kitchen and loos were shaping up as well as Tom had suggested. Rewired and repainted, there were just the appliances left to install and with a bit of last-minute tweaking
and leak-fixing the place would be good to go.
Fortunately, and in spite of Jemma’s reservations, the same could be pretty much said for the flat above, however I was still relieved that I’d seen the Café before we headed
upstairs. It kind of gave me a heads-up regarding what to expect, and having been so enthusiastic about the shop floor I could hardly refuse to see the potential in the space above, could I?
It was dank and drab, but only because it hadn’t been lived in for so long. There was a damp patch in the back bedroom but the large windows offered great views of the Café garden
and there were some super vintage kitchen units along with an open fire in the little
all this lot?’
‘I guess we couldn’t really see it,’ Tom admitted. ‘But the kitchens and loos are beginning to look tip top! They’re almost there actually.’
‘Well, that’s great,’ I nodded sarcastically, ‘you’ll have all the appropriate licences to hang on the walls, but what’s the point if you can’t tempt
people in to eat?’
‘She’s got a point,’ Tom whispered to his wife who finally looked as if the penny was about to drop.
‘I’ve been so preoccupied with thinking about all the food I’ll be able to bake that I kind of got side-tracked. I guess I hadn’t really thought about all this,’
she gestured, indicating the Café shop floor. ‘But you’re right, Lizzie; if we can’t get customers through the door then no one’s going to know how great my cupcakes
are, are they?’
‘Exactly!’ I laughed. I knew how much Jemma’s cooking and baking meant to her, but to me the image of the Café would have been of equal, if not higher, priority.
‘Sorry, Lizzie,’ Jemma smiled, sounding disconcertingly like her daughter.
‘Never mind me!’ I scolded. ‘What about Ben? By the sounds of it he’s been talking to a brick wall for the last few weeks. Where’s his apology?’
I couldn’t help thinking that I owed him one as well. Just as well he hadn’t been privy to my peevish thoughts.
‘Sorry, Ben,’ Jemma and Tom muttered in unison. ‘We should have listened to you, mate.’
‘Oh don’t worry about me,’ Ben rumbled, evidently not seeing the funny side. ‘I mean, given my track record, I can understand why you’d think I was talking crap and
there’s nothing unusual about me not having a say in things of importance, is there?’
‘Oh come on, mate,’ said Tom, crossing the Café floor and throwing his arm around Ben’s shoulders, ‘I thought you’d moved on from all that.’
I looked to Jemma for an explanation but she just frowned and shook her head. Clearly there was something I didn’t know about our bearded companion, but I wasn’t going to find out
what it was from her.
‘I have, I have,’ Ben muttered stiffly. ‘Sorry, I’m just having one of those days, you know? For some reason it’s all come flooding back.’
He shot what could only be described as a killer stare in my direction and I guessed that my presence wasn’t welcome, but what was it exactly that I was supposed to have done? Clearly I
wasn’t the only one who’d landed on Jemma and Tom’s doorstep with more than renovating the Café in mind, but I couldn’t see how targeting his aggression towards me
was going to help anyone.
Despite his rugged appeal and mesmerising eyes I was beginning to like Ben Fletcher less and less. Clearly he wasn’t the person I’d dreamt he was and neither was he going to be the
‘getting over Giles’ distraction Jemma had hoped for.
‘Come on,’ she said coaxingly, drawing my attention away from the boys, ‘let’s have a look at everything else and then we’ll go up to the flat!’
The kitchen and loos were shaping up as well as Tom had suggested. Rewired and repainted, there were just the appliances left to install and with a bit of last-minute tweaking
and leak-fixing the place would be good to go.
Fortunately, and in spite of Jemma’s reservations, the same could be pretty much said for the flat above, however I was still relieved that I’d seen the Café before we headed
upstairs. It kind of gave me a heads-up regarding what to expect, and having been so enthusiastic about the shop floor I could hardly refuse to see the potential in the space above, could I?
It was dank and drab, but only because it hadn’t been lived in for so long. There was a damp patch in the back bedroom but the large windows offered great views of the Café garden
and there were some super vintage kitchen units along with an open fire in the little
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