Page 66 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane

She looked down in somewhat of a daze at the cream now on his thumb. Then he wandered away to see the others, leaving Katy still hanging onto the leather bench, wondering what extra ingredient Libby had added to the hot chocolate to make her feel so breathless all of a sudden.

35

To Katy’s relief, Bob’s surprise birthday party was a huge success.

Bob was thrilled that it was held in the freshly decorated waiting room, as well as being surrounded by his family and friends.

‘How marvellous,’ he said, giving Katy a warm hug as he looked around delighted at all the smiling faces greeting him.

She hugged him back, pleased that all the hard work had paid off. It was worth it just to see him wear such a wide smile.

All the close friends who had been invited were amazed at the transformation of the waiting room and ticket booking office.

‘This is wonderful,’ said Grams, peering at the ticket office window which had been set up as if it were still in operation. ‘I remember it being just like this when I was a young girl. Just look at this photograph and how we used to dress. That takes me back a few years.’

‘I just can’t wait for it to be open properly on Monday,’ said Libby. ‘Somewhere to go on my days off.’

‘I personally love the idea of those ladies in their Edwardian long dresses waiting in here because the men next door aren’t to be trusted,’ said Flora, laughing.

‘Times haven’t changed,’ joked Katy.

‘Nor have the men,’ muttered Libby, scowling over to where Ethan was standing nearby with Ryan.

Ethan heard her words and raised his glass to Libby with a cheery grin.

In response, Libby growled at him and demanded to see the kitchen. ‘Where all the hard work will happen.’

Katy and Ryan led her over, around the large chimney breast and through the doorway into the small kitchen at the end of the building.

'How are you going to prepare anything in here?’ asked Libby, frowning as she peered inside. ‘It’s tiny.’

‘With difficulty,’ he replied, gritting his teeth as he spoke.

Katy looked at him. ‘You’re a professional and it’s only you.’

‘Actually it’ll be you as well, because you’ll be doing the washing up, remember?’ he said.

‘I don’t think that was in my original job description,’ she told him.

‘Tough!’ he said, laughing. ‘This was all your bright idea.’

‘Then it must be a brilliant one,’ she replied in a lofty tone. But she softened her words with a smile. ‘Anyway I’m just grateful that the Health and Safety Officer signed us off yesterday so we can officially open.’

‘Talking of food, I’m starving,’ said Libby, shooting them both a grin before turning away.

So Katy and Ryan followed her back into the main waiting room which was now packed with people all helping Bob celebrate his birthday.

The idea of a coffee shop was proving very popular.

‘It’ll be good to have a decent cup of coffee after all these months of just instant,’ said Joe, who was standing nearby with his arm around Harriet.

‘And easy access to all of Maggie’s delicious cakes and pastries,’ replied Katy, smiling at Maggie.

‘That is literally the icing on the cake,’ said Joe with a grin. ‘And having tasted all of Maggie’s cakes, I know that to be true!’

Katy was pleased that Maggie was happy to be baking for everyone once more. The girls had told her how quiet she had been up until the summer, pretty much hiding away in her cottage on Riverside Lane. She had begun to come out of her shell during the opening of the lavender fields and Katy could see that she was both flattered and grateful to be kept busy during the autumn and winter months.

If anyone came, that is, thought Katy to herself. She knew that the coffee shop alone wasn’t enough of an income in such a quiet village to keep the station afloat, but surely if she and Ryan put their minds together, they’d be able to think of some more income-boosting opportunities?