Page 54 of Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe

So that left Alex. He too had been like an elder brother to her. And yet recently, she had found herself letting her eyes remain on him for just a bit too long as she studied his wide shoulders and muscles. Her mind drifted to thinking about him more often than it had ever used to do. She even knew what it was like to kiss him although it was only a drunken, hazy memory.

She shook her head to herself. So he was handsome, so what? It was his personality that she liked. And anyway, they were just friends. Really good friends and nothing was going to ruin that.

Dotty returned to the table and told Hannah all the local gossip that she had just caught up on.

‘You know, I’ll take you up on that offer of help in the café if anyone turns up,’ said Hannah.

Dotty looked delighted. ‘Thank you, sweetheart. And of course they’ll turn up. You just mark my words.’

They finished their drinks sitting in companiable silence, listening to the chatter around the garden. The whole garden seemed alive with conversation and the gentle clink of china.

Hannah wondered whether it would ever feel the same at the Boathouse Café. Surely it was too much for her to expect to enjoy making a living from her favourite thing in the whole world?

29

The following morning, Alex stood on the sandy beach as Dotty and her friends emerged from the hotel and began to walk towards him, giggling nervously in their excitement.

Nearby, Tiny snuffled at the sand and bounced around in giddy excitement. He was growing day by day and now his legs were longer than his body, giving him the stance of a gawky, awkward teenager. But there was no denying how big his head was, the dense fur of a Newfoundland who was going to grow to epic proportions.

Alex woke up each morning to find him sprawled across the bed, even though Tiny had silently promised that he would sleep in his dog bed each night. And yet it was hard to be cross with the puppy when his soulful eyes stared up at you.

In the meantime, Tiny was a great distraction. He gave Alex purpose in that he could focus on the dog training.

Training Tiny was just like his athletic training in the routine and purpose. Tiny was no different. Apart from the fact that he wasn’t human. And he didn’t always behave. But he was a stubborn, affectionate, gentle giant.

Alex had done thorough research on how to train him, as always telling himself that if he was going to do this, he would do it to the best of his ability. The training was coming along well though and despite a few puppy tantrums and tussles, Tiny could now walk to heel on his lead and come when called. Unless there were ducks nearby, of course, in which case he would bounce merrily into the water up to his ankles and try to get them to play with him, much to the ducks’ horror.

Right now, the dog was watching the group of elderly women making their way towards them, wagging his tail in hopeful anticipation that they would have treats stashed away somewhere in the many layers of clothing they were wearing.

Dotty had told Alex over dinner the previous day that she had invited her friends to swim with her in the lake.

It was unfortunate that it was cloudy that day, thus reducing the warmth of late spring in the air. The water temperature had begun to increase but still, it would be a chilly dip for them all.

‘Good morning, Alex and Tiny,’ said Dotty, with a beam. ‘Ladies, you all remember me talking about our hunky athlete, don’t you? Well, here he is! Isn’t he a marvellous specimen?’

Alex found himself blushing at Dotty’s indiscreet way but found he couldn’t be annoyed with her. She was such a force of life to be reckoned with.

‘I thought that was me, Grandma,’ said Ben, appearing from behind the group.

‘Darling boy,’ said Dotty, leaning up to give her grandson a kiss. ‘You’re welcome to join us.’

‘Not on your life,’ replied Ben with a shudder before wandering up to Alex. ‘Well, we did want the lake to be utilised more often.’

Alex nodded but he was still a little concerned about the lack of safety features laid out across the lake, despite adding a couple of lifebuoys around the lake edge and on the jetty where they were standing.

‘They really all ought to be wearing safety floats with lights on,’ he said.

His years of experience of swimming across various treacherous waters in competitions meant that he was well versed in the safety measures put in place for the athletes.

‘They’re not in a race though,’ Ben reminded him.

‘I know,’ he replied. ‘But safety should always be the number one priority where water is concerned.’

Dotty overheard him and walked over to stand in front of Alex. She was so short he had to lower his head to look down at her.

‘Young man, I’ve been swimming in this lake for fifty years,’ she told him, putting her hands on her hips. ‘I know what I’m doing.’

‘Just humour me this one time and please stick to the shallows until we work out a better system if this is to be a regular occurrence,’ he told her. ‘You might be used to the cold water but your friends aren’t.’