Page 28 of Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe

‘Is that why you’re smiling at my misfortune?’ she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

‘First, I would never enjoy you being upset,’ he told her, his face becoming more serious. ‘And second, I reckon that I have just the thing for all that free time you’ve got on your hands.’

‘You mean helping Mum out for the breakfast rush? Way ahead of you, bro,’ she replied. ‘You know I’m happy to help wherever I can. And with Tiny too,’ she added, with a smile at Alex.

But Ben was shaking his head. ‘I’m talking about this place,’ he said, gesturing at their surroundings. ‘I still can’t find anyone to run the Boathouse Café. Certainly not someone with your spectacular baking skills.’

‘But…’ she immediately began to protest.

‘Listen,’ he said, interrupting her to walk over to stand in front of her. ‘I know you’re worried. I’m worried too but not about your ability to bake. My worries are about how to keep our home from going under financially. We need some more income streams and I really think this could be a success. If we could get some outside customers, as well as the hotel guests to use the café, then it would all help towards keeping a roof over our family’s heads. Do you really want our grandparents to be homeless at their age?’

The twinkle in his eye told her that he was joking but still, she knew that things weren’t exactly secure for them all.

She glanced over to Alex. He gave her a sad smile. ‘I think it’s a great idea,’ he told her. ‘And at least you won’t fail as spectacularly as I did,’ he added before glancing down at his foot in its protective boot.

‘I still might,’ she told him.

But as she saw him wince in pain as he continued to stand nearby, she couldn’t stop herself from trying to reassure him.

‘You didn’t fail,’ she told him. ‘You had an accident. Big difference.’

‘So?’ Ben let his question hang in the air.

She glanced once more at Alex, who gave her a reassuring nod. Surely if Alex thought it a good decision then perhaps it might just work out?

She still wasn’t sure about any of the business side of things but felt trapped into a corner. And without a job to call her own, she was all out of excuses.

‘Fine,’ she muttered. ‘I’ll open the café for you.’

‘Excellent!’ said Ben, stepping forward to give her a hug.

But as she moved back, she told her brother, ‘Just don’t blame me when it all goes wrong.’

‘That’s the spirit,’ said Ben, with a grin.

15

Before his injury, Alex had only ever intended to stay for a weekend.

However, now that he had been invited by the family to stay for a lot longer, possibly over the summer as well, he needed to collect some more belongings from his flat.

Unable to face the long train and tube journey on his crutches, he took Dodgy Del’s taxi into London, leaving Tiny behind with the family.

He didn’t take long in his flat, merely packing up a few more bags of clothes including some lighter summer wear as it would be the middle of May by the time his foot would be mended. Grabbing a couple of books on his bedside table that he had never had time to read, he briefly opened up his bedside drawer and stared down. It was the collection of medals that he had won and placed in there for safekeeping. He was pleased to see there were quite a few but never gold, that elusive medal had always remained just out of reach. He briefly thought about calling his dad before dismissing the thought, and pushed the drawer closed before asking Dodgy Del to help him down to the street with his bags.

Still in quite a bit of pain from his broken foot, Alex tried to rest up as much as he could over the next couple of days. He was enjoying the camaraderie of staying with the family. But he still wasn’t sure how long he would stay with them, not wanting to overstay his welcome, however warm.

And yet he found himself tempted by the peace that Maple Tree Lodge might give him whilst he recuperated.

After the weekend, the number of rooms occupied went down to a minimum so he felt able to relax in the lounge without getting in the way of the guests.

But relaxing was a state of mind that he wasn’t used to and after only half an hour on the sofa, he headed out onto the veranda. With time on his hands, he couldn’t help but dwell on the last conversation he had had with his dad. He’d shared texts with his mum since then, mostly her checking that he wasn’t in too much pain. But still, the guilt over his abrupt walking away from the competitions hung over him.

He was also bored. Having always either been working or training, with the odd date or meet-up with Ben and Jake included, he just wasn’t used to sitting around.

Out in the fresh air, the spring sunshine shone down and he realised how warm it was now suddenly as the days began to get a little longer.

‘Lovely spring day,’ said Dotty, suddenly appearing next to him.