I can feel my shoulders drooping and a worried frown spreads across my face. Celia Black’s book appears in my mind, quickly followed by Phoebe’s words:turning the café around is like your mountain.Standing up straighter I decide it’s time to put my trust in Noah and in love and sort out the café. Like me, Noah has spent twenty years wondering what happened between us. He was one the one who came back to Blue Cove Bay to find answers. My failed wedding meant that I was back here to fall in love with him again. Noah will come back. As Rocco Reid said, Noah and I have been given a second chance. Standing straighter, I grin at Jake. ‘We’re going to turn things around, Jake,’ I say confidently. ‘Somehow, we are going to make Heartbreak Café a distant memory.’
Later as we lock up the café, my phone bleeps. It’s a message from Noah.
Becky has agreed to a divorce. Now I need to go talk to Dad. I can’t wait to see you again x.
Jake grins as I squeal with celebration and give him a hug. ‘You started to believe, Alice.’
Once Lucas is asleep, I take out my laptop and pull together The Little Love Café’s submission for the Innovative Café Award. I use a mixture of Noah’s photos from social media, a few wedding reception shots, a lot of examples of our customer’s stories on Instagram and a lengthy piece on the café, its location, its owner Frankie, and the events coming up likeTreat Your Grandparent.
At two in the morning, I press send on the submission.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-THREE
It is Tuesday and I’m on my way to the café. Jake is coming in later. As I leave the promenade to cross the beach I am greeted by a shimmering blue sea. I watch a couple of men wrestle with a sail on their boat and then make my way towards the little pink café. On the steps, a young man with jet black hair is sat looking forlorn. He lifts his head as I approach.
‘Are you okay?’ I ask, rummaging in my handbag for The Little Love Café door keys.
Wiping his eyes, he lets out a sigh. ‘She had something to tell me.’
‘Sorry – who?’ My café keys have disappeared to the bottom of my bag.
The man sniffs. ‘My girlfriend… well, my now ex-girlfriend. She brought me here to confess to having an affair with a guy from work. This place is being renamed Heartbreak Café – right?’ The young man’s pale and tear-stained face triggers an ache inside my chest.
I stifle a groan as all my optimism from the weekend oozes out of me. The café has reached a new low if customers are not even waiting for me to open to announce a break-up. They’re doing the dumping on the steps. This is not great timing in view of my submission for the award. Finding my keys, I take a deep breath and ignore the cloud of doom and gloom. I must believe in the café. With a kind smile I shake my head. ‘No, this is The Little Love Café. Do you want a free coffee?’
The young man climbs onto a pink stool. ‘Latte, please.’
I get to work on waking up our coffee machine.
‘My name is Richard,’ he announces. ‘My ex is called Belinda. We’d been seeing each other for a few months. I met her at music college.’
Passing him a pink bowl of sugar, I can see so much sadness in his face. ‘Sorry, Richard. I recently had my heart badly broken, so I know what it feels like.’
He sweeps a strand of greasy black hair away from his face. ‘I don’t know why she had to dump me on the steps of your café. I thought we were going for a romantic beach walk.’ He sighs. ‘I knew it wasn’t going to work. Belinda hated my harp music.’
My ears prick up. ‘Harp music did you say?’
He nods. ‘I’m a professional harpist although at the moment I’m unemployed.’
‘Do you own a harp?’
Richard is now giving me an odd stare. ‘Yes, I do. Several in fact.’
Fidgeting with a tea cloth I wonder whether this is a good time to ask him whether he wants to help me. Having a harp playing in the background would be a great touch for this café and soothing harp music might go some way to soothing our troubled customers. Belinda, whoever she is, might have done me the biggest favour ever.
‘Look, Richard, I can’t pay you much, but how about you fetch your harp and become The Little Love Café’s harpist?’
Richard scratches his head. ‘What?’
‘I want to give my customers a unique romantic experience. Harp music to me screams romance.’
‘It’s not a small instrument and Belinda was the one who had the car. Mine broke down a few months ago. It is still not fixed as I got carried away with Belinda and forgot to take the car to the garage.’
‘I can sort out getting the harp here.’ I’m wondering whether Jake still has his van.
‘If you need me, I can start next week,’ announces Richard with a heavy sigh. ‘Right now, I feel terrible. I think I need to go home and lie on my sofa.’
Shaking my head, I place my hand on Richard’s arm. ‘Trust me, Richard, rest is not what you need. Lying on my dad’s sofa led me to basically stew in my own negative thoughts when I was sad. It’s better to be up and about keeping yourself busy.’
