Page 55 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane

Libby rolled her eyes. ‘Good, then there won’t be any trouble finding it, will there, dumbass?’

He gave her a playful tussle and Katy felt her smile grow a little rictus. Of course, Libby and Ryan had known each other since they were small so naturally they would be chatty and flirty. But it was the flirting that was bothering her and she didn’t know why.

She wandered back out into the larger of the waiting rooms to stare around, trying to remember all of Libby’s suggestions and how the space could be softened up. Maybe a few cushions would help, she wondered.

She felt someone come and stand next to her and turned to look at Libby.

‘We’re old friends, that’s all,’ Libby murmured in a soft tone.

‘Of course,’ said Katy quickly. ‘I mean, that’s fine. I don’t mind. Or care. Honestly.’

Libby gave her a pointed look. ‘Would you calm down? You’ve turned all defensive again. He’s my big brother, sort of.’

‘So what does that make Ethan?’ asked Katy. She’d heard the others tease Libby about it.

Libby scowled. ‘My arch-nemesis,’ she declared as Flora came to join them. ‘But it’s too nice a day to dwell on thoughts about Ethan bloomin’ Connolly. So let’s talk décor.’

With her Notes app filling up fast, Katy soon had a list of everything that she needed to source to change the waiting room into the cosy and inviting coffee shop now named Platform 1.

She was just keeping everything crossed that all her ideas would work and that it would be a success when it finally opened in just over a week’s time.

29

Ryan was amazed at the speed with which his dad had thrown himself into clearing the downstairs part of the station in readiness for the opening of the coffee shop.

Day by day, he could see the place coming back to life. Although no longer filled with people, for Ryan it was filled with memories of his childhood days when the station had still been full of passengers coming and going.

Katy’s idea to keep the memorabilia and display it was inspired, he thought. But with only a small amount to be kept downstairs, some of the more personal items had been brought up into the apartment.

That evening, Katy sat on the sofa, thumbing through the various posters deciding which ones should be framed. Flora had given them both some great colour ideas for decorating and Katy was keen to get the whole place ready over the next week to open it up properly to the public as soon as the Health and Safety Officer had signed it off.

Ryan was keeping everything crossed that it would be as successful as she had promised him it would be. He looked down at the train set which he had retrieved all those days ago.

‘Well, let’s see if this old thing works,’ he murmured to himself.

He spent the next half-hour constructing a small oval track on the coffee table before placing a green train and two carriages on top.

‘And now for the moment of truth,’ he said, picking up the train and flicking a switch underneath it. But nothing happened.

He looked up to see Katy making a sympathetic face. ‘Perhaps you can mend it,’ she suggested. She turned to look at the flames once more. ‘I can’t believe that I’m starting to really enjoy having a real fire. It makes it very cosy.’

‘It’s pretty essential if we get any winter storms and the electricity goes out,’ he told her.

‘I’d have thought that might be a huge inconvenience,’ she said before adding, ‘But it’s so cosy that I could put up with cleaning out the ash each morning.’

‘Which reminds me,’ said Ryan, reaching out to make a note on his phone. ‘I must get that fireplace checked downstairs and then we can see if we can get some warmth down there. Hey!’ He had a sudden thought and looked up at her. ‘How about we open up the coffee shop next weekend as a surprise for Dad? I know we’re all going out as a family on Friday night, but perhaps Saturday night we could throw a little gathering for him downstairs? Give it a grand opening!’

‘Oh that’s a lovely idea!’ said Katy, looking thrilled.

Ryan was especially pleased that she had agreed to come along to his dad’s birthday dinner when he had asked her.

‘If we get everything ready in time then we can open it up properly to the public the following Monday morning! Gosh, there’s still so much to do.’ She reached out for her phone. ‘We need to buy the paint, get the window frames rubbed down and then sealed as well. I must get the floors cleaned and waxed. Some cushions for the benches and those tables need a proper clean as well. And what about getting the posters framed in time?’

He liked how her face lit up when she was passionate about something. She was off and running once more working on one of her many lists, but he managed to catch her eye and stop her with the look in his eyes.

‘Thank you,’ he told her.

She gave a start. ‘For what?’