Page 69 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane

Ethan shook his head, looking serious. ‘Look, I get that you’ve had to shoulder the responsibility with Dad all these weeks and not had time to focus on your career. I’m sure it’s been pretty stressful for you. So thank you. I’m grateful to have you as my big brother, you know?’

Ryan was touched. He and Ethan never had these kind of heart-to-heart talks. ‘So what, we’re going to have a serious chat every thirty years or so now?’ he found himself joking.

‘Yeah, so at least we’ve got a while until the next one,’ said Ethan, before stepping forward to give his big brother a hug.

Ryan hugged him back, grateful that the one person who knew the truth about his career was Ethan. He still hadn’t been entirely honest about losing his nerve to cook for anyone other than Katy but felt it was a step forward in their relationship. That they were finally beginning to mend what had been broken between them for so many years. And he felt the weight of responsibility begin to lighten a little after their conversation.

37

Later on that morning, Ryan took Dodgy Del downstairs and found Katy chatting with Libby, Harriet and Flora in the waiting room. They all looked up as the men walked in.

‘Hey, ladies,’ said Dodgy Del, with his usual wide grin. ‘Well, this is nice, ain’t it?’

‘Hi, Del,’ said Libby, with a scowl. ‘What are you up to now?’

‘That’s nice,’ said Del, making a face. ‘A man sleeps over and decides to help out his dear cousin out of the goodness of his heart. I mean, I’m offering Ryan the deal of the century and everyone comes over all suspicious.’

‘Yes, it’s almost like we don’t trust you, Del,’ said Flora in a pointed tone.

‘Or more like that you should come with some kind of warning signal whenever you get close,’ Libby told him.

Del held his hands up. ‘Now, I admit that there’s been a few risky moments over the years, but this time, I promise, I’m onto a winner.’

This was the first that Ryan had heard about receiving any kind of help from his cousin.

‘What are you talking about,’ he asked, turning to look at Del. ‘Or rather, what have you done now?’

‘See?’ Del held his palms up and put on his most innocent face. ‘People always suspect the worst with me.’

‘And with good reason,’ murmured Flora.

‘Well, this time it’s all good,’ said Del, with a firm nod. ‘It’s about this coffee shop actually.’

‘Our coffee shop?’ asked Katy, sounding surprised.

‘Not sure what you can contribute to that,’ said Ryan slowly, wondering where this was going. ‘But thankfully we’ve got everything under control.’

‘Well, I’m not sure you have,’ Del told him. ‘Imagine this. Perhaps the weather’s not so good and people haven’t turned up in the numbers that you hoped.’

Katy exchanged a horrified look with Ryan. It was bad enough that neither of them had voiced their true concerns about how popular the coffee shop might actually be, but to hear Dodgy Del speak it out loud was very unsettling.

‘But you still need to bring in the punters, am I right?’ carried on Del. ‘And that’s where I’ve got the answer to your prayers. A state-of-the-art widescreen TV.’

There was a stunned silence as everyone exchanged shocked looks.

Ryan stared at his cousin nonplussed. ‘A what?’

‘It’s amazing quality,’ said Del quickly. ‘HD. SD. All the D’s, to be honest. Flat screen, wall mounted. It would look lovely over there.’ He walked over to hold his hand up against the chimney breast of the old fireplace.

Ryan shook his head. ‘It’s not really the vibe we’re going for, mate.’

‘Yeah, but what about if the footie’s on?’ said Del quickly. ‘Then where better to watch it. Am I right or am I right?’

‘Well, you’re certainly something all right,’ replied Ryan, shaking his head. ‘But no.’

‘Hear me out,’ said Del. ‘They’re really popular. I’m down to my last twenty.’

‘No,’ Ryan told him.