‘Exactly.’
‘I’d offer to help, but I’ve got my dirty work clothes on ready to help Pharis.’
Tammy shook her head. ‘No. Really, it’s fine. I never expected you to. I’m just grateful for the help yesterday and again today, with you offering to help Pharis. You’ve both been very kind. Do you know each other well?’
Declan shook his head. ‘Not really. As Pharis alluded to yesterday, I’m not from Seagull Bay. I was hired by Pippa just over three months ago, and then shortly after, I was lucky enough to rent the flat upstairs from Katherine.’
‘What brought you to reside permanently in Seagull Bay?’ Tammy hated herself for being curious. She was supposed to be limiting her interactions with men, not increasing them.
‘Ah... there were a few reasons. Mainly, I was fed up with sleeping on my friend’s couch after my business failed, which ultimately led to the break-down of my relationship too.’
Tammy’s mouth had involuntarily dropped open. Declan’s circumstances couldn’t be any closer to hers if they tried.
‘Is that the promised fresh coffee I can smell?’ Pharis stepped into the café with a grin that faltered when he saw Declan. ‘You weren’t joking about helping then? I thought you chef people didn’t like getting your hands dirty outside the kitchen?’
Tammy looked from one handsome face to the other. She needed to diffuse the rivalry before it even started today. ‘Yes, the coffee’s made and if you both do a good job and work together safely, I’ll even buy you a pint at lunchtime.’
Pharis clapped his hands together and the noise echoed. ‘That’s the only motivator I need. Okay. Coffee and brawn.’ He took a step forward and slapped his large hand down on Declan’s shoulder. ‘What do you say, Declan?’
‘I got the brawn, but I also need the coffee.’
Pharis’ meaty laugh echoed louder than his thundering clap had. He looked at Tammy. ‘A bacon butty wouldn’t go amiss either.’
Tammy nodded and looked at Declan with her eyebrows raised. ‘Declan?’
He gave her a cheeky wink. ‘Brown sauce on mine and don’t butter the bread.’ Tammy huffed with a grin at his cheek.
‘I’ll take mine any way it comes.’
‘A non-fussy customer—my favourite kind.’
Pharis’s grin stretched from ear to ear as he looked at Declan, obviously pleased he’d scored points in round one. Tammy giggled and turned on her heels, heading into the kitchen.
As she fried the bacon, Tammy smiled to herself. This was good. Pharis and Declan were merely her new friends—nothing more. She could throw carefree banter around like this all day long. She supposed it was just an added bonus they were eye candy.
She plated their butties and added them to the tray with their mugs of coffee, then carried the tray from the kitchen, through the shop and outside.
The men were standing about twenty feet back, side-by-side with their arms folded across their chests, looking up at the old sign with their heads leaned into each other as they discussed the best way to get the old sign down and the new one up. Tammy drank in the sight. It was almost as good as the sea view stretched out behind them.
‘Breakfast is served.’ They held their thumbs up but made no attempt to move. Instead, they continued to talk and point up at the sign. ‘I’ll leave it here, shall I?’ The thumbs were up again. Tammy felt a little annoyed by the lack of attention. She had put her heart and soul into making her first meal in her new business and she’d hoped to have some acknowledgement for it at least.
‘Oh. Are you open? I thought the café was closed until Monday.’
A small voice from behind startled Tammy, and she spun around to see a postman.
‘Oh. Erm. Well, not officially. I made breakfast for the workers.’ She pointed over at Declan and Pharis who at that moment in time did not look as if they were working.
‘I’m a worker...and a very hungry one at that.’
The postman’s eyes twinkled as he held his stomach and laughed. Tammy chuckled along with him. ‘I-I suppose I could knock you something up. I have bacon and sausage cooked. I could rustle up a sandwich for you.’
‘Any chance of a soft-yolk egg on there, too?’
Tammy dipped her head to the side with a grin. ‘If you don’t ask you don’t get. Of course. Any sauce?’
He chuckled and shook his head. ‘Exactly. No to the sauce, thank you.’
‘Alright then, one sausage, egg, and bacon butty to go? I’ll be two minutes.’ She disappeared into the shop, returning a few minutes later with a paper bag and a paper napkin. She handed them both to him. ‘For any spillages from your yolk.’
