Chapter three
Ben hadn’t interruptedonce as Tammy had poured her heart out about how Richi had cheated on her and then told her she had to leave their apartment, and that she couldn’t do a thing about it because his name was the only one on the lease. But worse, how he’d also tricked her with their business by putting everything in his name as well. He’d made it impossible for her to lay claim to any of it—even the profits they’d both helped the business make—the bank account was solely in his name.
When she was done, Ben got up from his chair and walked over to her, offering his upturned hands. Tammy looked at them as she swiped away her tears with the backs of her hands before placing her hands in his. Ben pulled her out of the chair and into his arms. Tammy was almost a head taller than him and had to bend her neck to place her cheek on his shoulder, but it was the best hug she’d ever had in her life. He patted her back tenderly without saying a word.
Tammy was amazed by how natural the embrace felt. She’d been in her uncle’s company for less than an hour and here she was, spilling her heart out and soaking his shoulder in salty tears.
‘If only I was thirty years younger, I’d catch the train to wherever that young man is and I’d give him a piece of my mind...and maybe a knuckle sandwich, too.’
Ben’s sincere words made Tammy’s chest tighten, but his knuckle sandwich comment drew out a chuckle she couldn’t stop from dancing up her throat.
She started giggling and lifted her head from her Uncle Ben’s shoulder to look down into his kind blue eyes. ‘Thank you for making me feel so much better Uncle Ben. That’s the first time in months I’ve genuinely laughed.’
Ben smiled widely. ‘See. You were meant to come visit me. Now, how about that tea? A nice cup of tea makes everything a little better.’ He turned around to pour the tea. ‘Blimey. It’s stone cold.’ Tammy laughed harder. ‘How about we gander down to Katherine’s café for a cuppa instead? I can show you the sights on the way, and we can talk some more about your parents?’
Tammy nodded enthusiastically, feeling as if she were a young child again, and filled with enthusiasm for a new world.
***
TEN MINUTES LATER,Tammy and Ben were making their way down the steep narrow road from Ben’s house into town. Tammy drew her brow together as she wondered how on Earth her Uncle Ben made this journey daily. It was bad enough going downhill—she was dreading the walk back. Baking cakes wasn’t exactly the most energetic job to have, and she hadn’t even done that in the last six months. Her Uncle Ben must be as fit as a horse.
She turned to look at her uncle as they walked. ‘Do you use the wooden cart I saw in your lean-to hut to get and sell your fish uncle?’
‘I do indeed. I fill it with ice and take it down to the dock where I buy the best of the early morning catch from the local fishermen. Then I stay by the dock and sell most of it there. Whatever’s left I bring back to the hut and freeze it to sell from there.’ Tammy’s jaw dropped open as she tried to picture her little uncle manhandling the cart filled with ice. ‘I used to be one of those fishermen you know Tammy.’ He stopped walking and looked at her with a solemn stare. ‘That’s why I couldn’t take you on when you were orphaned. Well, that and the fact I was a single man in my fifties. I’m sorry if you ever felt I let you down.’
Tammy’s eyebrows shot up. ‘Goodness no, Uncle Ben, that’s never once crossed my mind. In all honesty, it was up to my grandparents to take me on, but for some reason they abandoned me. But I had a good childhood, anyway. I had three long-term foster placements with lovely carers.’ Tammy hesitated before asking, ‘Do you know anything about them? My grandparents?’
Ben huffed and continued to walk on. Tammy caught him up in two paces. ‘I’m sorry to say this aloud, Tammy, but your mother’s parents were scum. They were selfish drug users. They dumped your poor mother onto anyone who’d have her so they could go off partying. Your mum lived with me for a short while when she was young. I would have loved to have her permanently, but with my job, I was up at the crack of dawn and out to sea.’
Tammy was overwhelmed with the news. ‘So, mom lived with you? Was it in the same house you’re living in now?’
‘Yes. She stayed in the room you have.’ Warmth spread throughout Tammy from her fingers to her toes. ‘Your father was grandparent reared. I honestly don’t know what happened to his parents. I don’t think he did either.’
Tammy gasped. ‘Wow.’
They got to the bottom of the hill and Ben pointed over to a large white building. ‘And that is where your parents used to date—The Cheese Wedge and Pickles.’
‘Oh my goodness. They met here in Seagull Bay?’
‘Yes, your parents lived in the next village over at the time, but your mum would come here as much as she could. She was born here and Seagull Bay was home to her.’
‘That’s Oliver and Pippa’s pub, isn’t it?’
Ben’s brow rose. ‘Yes, how do you know that?’
‘I met Oliver earlier. I asked him if he knew you so I could get directions, and he offered me a lift. He wants us to go to the pub this evening.’ She gave her uncle her sweetest smile. ‘Can we go Uncle Ben? I’d love to see where mum and dad met.’
‘To be honest, I don’t go there much. Maybe the odd times around Christmas. You see, I have to get up early to get the fish. The locals rely on me to buy it, otherwise, they’d have to get it from those awful supermarkets—big corporate-owned places that only think about making profit for their shareholders... No, I have to be there for the locals.’ Tammy could see her uncle talking himself out of it. She needed to persuade him. His birthday cake was there. ‘Please, uncle. We can just have one drink and stay for an hour at the most.’
Ben turned to look at Tammy with a wry smile. ‘You can wrap me around your little finger just like your mother used to.’ Tammy’s tummy fluttered. Ben nodded with a chuckle. ‘Alright. I’ll come for one drink. But right now, the drink I need more than anything is a cup of hot tea.’
Tammy leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. ‘Thank you.’
The little café they were heading for looked so different from the bakery store she’d opened with Richi. The charming little café was nestled in between two other shops which led down to the seafront. It had whitewashed walls and blue gingham curtains halfway up the windows, framed by window boxes bursting with colourful flowers, perfectly complementing the coastal surroundings and different coloured houses that dotted the steep streets beyond it. Outside, the frontage had half a dozen small round tables shaded by striped umbrellas, all but one filled with people chatting away and idling in the mid-day sun.
As they got closer, Tammy could see a weathered blue door, which was propped open by a patchwork dog doorstop. The scents of home-cooked food and freshly brewed coffee inviting passersby. Above it hung a driftwood sign with the café’s name, Katherine’s Café, painted in swooping blue italics.
Sitting on the tables outside the café, customers had the perfect vantage point, allowing them to sip their beverages while enjoying ocean views and the sound of the waves rolling against the shore and the chatter of seagulls.
