Page 10 of Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe

‘What can we do?’ asked Hannah, feeling upset.

She hated the thought of Alex being ridiculed. He was always so kind and generous to everyone that it was awful to think of him mocked for an accident that wasn’t of his making.

‘I’m thinking of inviting him to stay here for the week or as long as he needs, especially in these early days,’ Ben told them.

‘Good idea,’ said Faye, nodding her head as she basted the roast lamb before putting it back in the oven. ‘He’ll need taking care of and I don’t like to think of him struggling in that flat all by himself.’

‘Shame about all those online trolls though,’ said Walter, his grey eyebrows crossing into a frown. ‘People have accidents and make mistakes. It only makes them human.’

‘Yeah, I know, Grandad,’ said Ben. ‘But in an instant world where everything can be quickly turned into a TikTok meme, it means it’s out there forever.’

‘I miss the good old days,’ said Walter, shaking his head.

‘You mean where the electricity used to cut off every other day and there were only three channels on the television?’ replied Dotty, making a face at her husband.

Hannah smiled. Her grandmother had always had a positive way of looking at the world.

‘Absolutely. Give me Netflix any time,’ added Frankie with a grin as she came into the kitchen.

‘At least the race was a success, despite everything else,’ said Faye.

Everyone nodded. Hannah had been amazed when Ella had announced her idea for the triathlon. The last time the four best friends had got together in the spring, they had talked about getting much-needed publicity for the hotel to boost bookings. With Alex also staying that weekend, Ella had the bright idea to talk him into organising a triathlon whilst she handled the marketing.

Since her early days of being a lowly marketing assistant in Canary Wharf, Ella had since moved to Manchester and worked for a couple of start-up media companies. Hannah knew that her friend still longed to be her own boss though, despite her career success.

With Ella’s normal efficiency, the triathlon had been quickly organised in time for Easter weekend. Alex had been advertised as the star athlete, of course. Not that it had done him any good, thought Hannah, biting her lip.

She still blamed herself, no matter what the family told her. If only she had held on to the lead a bit tighter, then Tiny wouldn’t have run amok. She shook her head at herself and tried to dismiss her guilt as she headed into the lounge to check on the cakes she had made earlier.

Across the entrance hall, the lounge was a large room but felt comfortable despite its double-height ceiling. Thanks to Lily’s excellent taste in interior design, it was filled with plump leather sofas, plaid-clad armchairs and cosy oak beams strung with fairy lights. A large fireplace on one side of the room, lit every day in the winter time, was currently filled with thick white candles and bordered by vases filled with fresh apricot-coloured tulips.

Through the door in the far wall was the snug, another newly decorated room which had been transformed into a popular bar, cosy but relaxing with yet more armchairs as well as a snooker table and an oak bar which sparkled with LED lighting, giving it a modern twist. The dark walls were both warming in the winter and cooling in the summer. It was a stylish but merry hub where both hotel guests and some locals enjoyed gathering in the evenings. But although in vastly contrasting styles of decoration, the lake was the bond that connected both rooms as they were both edged with huge windows and doors which led out to a veranda that ran the length of the rooms and hovered over the lake, giving that glorious view out across the water to the far side.

Lily had come up with the idea for a drinks and snacks honesty trolley for the hotel guests and Hannah was mollified to find that most of the cakes and biscuits she had made had already been eaten and hopefully enjoyed. It also provided a much-needed extra bit of income for the hotel, as she glanced inside the little tin left for donations and was pleased to find quite a bit of money in there.

Carrying the cash tin and the pile of used tea plates back to the kitchen, she found that most of the family had dispersed to finish various chores around the hotel before dinner but found her brother still at the dining table on his phone.

Ben sighed. ‘Alex’s wasn’t the only bit of bad news today,’ he told her with a grimace. ‘Penny, the lady that was going to manage the Boathouse Café for me, has changed her mind already. She doesn’t want to do it any more.’

Now that the hotel renovations were complete, Ben had fixed his sights on the rest of the land owned by Maple Tree Lodge to keep ahead with the business. There were plans to build some lodges around the lake for private accommodation to be rented out, as well as to utilise some of the older, empty barns as well.

But while the long wait for planning permission for the lodges continued, Ben’s most promising idea was the old boathouse. He had come up with a plan to turn it into an extra catering venue for both guests and local visitors. It was certainly large enough and with the renovations already complete, he had applied for the temporary licence to run a café over the summer.

‘Penny’s quit the café already?’ asked Hannah, amazed. ‘It’s not even ready to open yet!’

‘Yeah,’ replied Ben, blowing out a sigh. ‘Talk about bad timing. The catering kitchen has just been installed and it’s almost ready to go in a couple of weeks. We’ve already begun to advertise online that opening date will be the bank holiday weekend. That’s not going to leave us a lot of time to find someone else.’

‘Well, don’t ask me to take over,’ said Frankie, coming back into the kitchen and placing a few mugs into the dishwasher. ‘I can hardly keep up with demand in the snug.’ The hotel bar had become a huge success, especially at the weekends. ‘Although what we’re going to do come the summertime, I don’t know,’ she carried on. ‘That veranda isn’t very big and people will want to be outside, I’m sure.’

‘That’s why I thought the boathouse might be a good idea,’ replied Ben, still looking downcast. ‘It’s got a great outside space.’

‘Maybe we can put out a few rugs on the beach or something,’ said Frankie with a shrug before walking out.

‘Did Penny say why she had changed her mind?’ asked Hannah.

‘She said it was too isolated,’ Ben told her. ‘The commute would be too tricky.’

Hannah shook her head. ‘She must be mad,’ she said, with a smile. ‘It’s the isolation here that I love the most.’