Page 64 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane

Ethan made a face. ‘If you’re sure,’ he said.

‘Very,’ said Ryan, in a firm tone before walking out of the lounge.

Ethan and Katy exchanged a look. ‘Never known my brother not to want to cook before,’ he said.

‘He’s cooked for me since I’ve been here, but that’s all,’ she told him in a quiet tone.

Ethan looked deep in thought. ‘Well, if either of us is going to get to the bottom of it, I guess it’ll be you.’

‘Me?’ Katy laughed. ‘You’re his brother.’

‘First off, I’m only here until Monday, which doesn’t give us much time for deep and meaningful chats.’ Ethan broke into a grin. ‘Second, I’m sure he’d far rather talk to you than me. And third, you can distract him with your fabulous legs whilst you chat.’

Katy laughed. ‘What about your legs? Aren’t they fabulous as well?’

Now it was Ethan’s turn to laugh. ‘Too much rugby at school means that they’re scarred and, to my shame, I’ve got knobbly knees. Yours are infinitely better.’

‘That’s because I wear high heels,’ she explained.

‘Well, maybe I could try that instead,’ said Ethan, with a wink before he walked away.

Katy was smiling as she headed downstairs where she had agreed to meet the girls to set up for the party later. The coffee shop was looking great.

There had just been time for a few last minute decorative additions. So with a couple more carefully placed cushions and Libby’s much demanded fairy lights, the waiting room would now feel warm and inviting even at night.

‘I’m so looking forward to tonight,’ said Harriet, pinning up a happy birthday sign across the fireplace in the middle of the room.

‘I would be too if Ethan wasn’t coming,’ said Libby, with a grunt as she polished the wooden tabletops.

Ryan had sourced some rustic-looking dark tables and chairs, which went perfectly with the rest of the room.

‘So what gives with you and Ethan?’ asked Katy, somewhat confused.

‘He ruined my prom and I’ll never forgive him,’ said Libby, with a huff of anger.

Harriet and Flora both rolled their eyes.

‘It was fifteen years ago,’ Flora told Katy.

‘So fifteen years we’ve heard this over and over,’ added Harriet, with a grimace.

‘Until he apologises, you’ll have to put up with me,’ said Libby.

‘We have for this long, haven’t we?’ said Flora, with a soft smile.

Katy straightened up one of the framed posters on the wall and glanced around the remaining ones. She had put up a few, interspersed with the original railway company signs, which looked both retro and fun.

On the table in the entrance hall was a whole raft of memorabilia which she had printed out descriptions for so that people would know what they were looking at.

‘It’s so lovely to see it like this after all this time,’ said Harriet, looking across at Katy. ‘You’ve worked so hard.’

Katy automatically shook her head. ‘It’s Bob that’s done all the work really,’ she said quickly.

‘Rubbish,’ said Libby. ‘Until you arrived nothing got done around here. And that deserves a treat.’

She brought out a flask from the bag that she had brought with her, along with some mugs.

‘Ooooh,’ said Flora and Harriet together.