Page 70 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane

‘I’ll bring one over and put it up,’ Del persisted. ‘Just temporary like, so you can see if for yourself.’

‘No!’ Ryan looked around at the women. ‘Am I speaking into a void? Can nobody hear me?’

‘Loud and clear,’ Katy told him.

And yet, Dodgy Del had already rushed outside, seemingly unable to take no for an answer. After a few minutes, he shuffled inside holding an enormous box which meant he had to turn sideways to get through the doorway.

‘Del,’ began Ryan. ‘I told you that it’s absolutely no way.’

‘Tell you what,’ said Del, putting the large box down on the floor. ‘I’ll leave it here and come back later in the week. You have a think. I personally reckon it’s a winner.’

Ryan sighed. ‘I’m not going to change my mind, Del.’

‘I bet the lady here could though,’ he said, nodding at Katy.

‘I agree with Ryan,’ said Katy, going to stand next to him. ‘It’s not that kind of place.’

‘But it could be,’ said Del, with an encouraging smile.

‘Come and have some of my hot chocolate,’ said Libby, suddenly getting up to drag Del away.

Katy looked at Ryan in wide-eyed shock. ‘Is he always like this?’ she asked softly as Del sat down with the others.

Ryan looked at her and smiled. ‘Always,’ he replied. ‘He means well, but Del is everyone’s favourite accident waiting to happen.’

Katy laughed and he couldn’t help but smile back at her as her pretty face lit up.

* * *

But Ryan wasn’t smiling when he came down early the following morning ready to open up Platform 1 for hopefully what would be a very busy first day.

What he hadn’t been expecting was the shocking sight in front of him.

The fireplace now had a massive hole right the way through to the chimney inside. In front of the fireplace, lying in many pieces on the floor, was a widescreen television which appeared to have fallen down.

‘Del!’ roared Ryan into the empty space, utterly incensed.

He immediately dialled the number for his cousin.

‘Del!’ he shouted, as soon as Dodgy Del picked up.

‘Can’t talk,’ said Del quickly. ‘I’m taking Ethan to the airport.’

‘I don’t care if you’re rowing across the Atlantic!’ shouted Ryan. ‘What have you done to our coffee shop?’

‘Oh, yeah, that!’ Del gave a nervous laugh down the line. ‘Thought I’d sort you out for a real deal, seeing as how much you liked the idea of the TV and everything.’

‘I never said…’

‘It was gonna be a surprise, so Ethan let me in first thing this morning. But you see the bricks are pretty ancient and weren’t quite as strong as I’d been expecting. Next thing I know, the TV’s on the floor. I was just getting a broom to tidy it up for you but Ethan needed to catch his flight. But I’m afraid you owe me £1,200.’

‘I don’t owe you anything!’ shouted Ryan. ‘You owe me! I’ve got a massive hole in the chimney! And I never wanted the thing in the first place. Why should I be out of pocket?’

‘Well, they’re selling like hot cakes and I had someone else all lined up for it,’ said Del. ‘Now I can’t sell it to her because your chimney isn’t up to scratch.’

‘My chimney was absolutely fine until you made a great hole in it!’ said Ryan, still staring at the gaping chasm in front of him. ‘What am I going to do? It looks terrible?’

‘How about a nice painting?’ said Del. ‘Tell you what, I know a bloke who’s got some lovely landscapes dead cheap.’