Page 60 of Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe

The tables all shone under the thankfully sunny skies outside. The glass jars filled with wildflower posies gleamed, as did the new patio doors. She had hung bunting across the oak frames, along with fairy lights and streams of fake flowers to give it an ethereal feel. It was perfect.

She felt the tears prick her eyes. Whatever happened in the future when, inevitably, it closed due to lack of customers, she had achieved her long-held dream and seen the idea that she had held on to so tightly as a dream come to fruition. Her life goal had been achieved. She had to remind herself of that, she decided.

Just after ten o’clock, Dotty’s swim club staggered in, full of lively chatter and laughter about their exploits in the lake during the previous half an hour.

They insisted on sitting outside so as not to drip all over the floorboards, they told Hannah. She wondered whether she should set up a table and chairs on the beach by the lake but then realised that the place would remain completely empty and what was the point in that? At least it looked as if she had customers.

Mavis had brought along her great-niece Aimee as promised.

‘That swim was amazing,’ said Aimee, with a wide smile. ‘I’m definitely going to try and make this a regular thing.’

‘I knew you’d enjoy it,’ replied Mavis.

Hannah smiled at Aimee, trying not to recall her knee-jerk reaction to Aimee flirting with Alex which had resulted in her drunkenly kissing him.

She also tried not to notice Aimee giving Alex a wide smile when he arrived as the group of swimmers, fuelled and warmed up by their coffees and cakes, were leaving.

She left them chatting and went to tidy up the table.

A little while later, when she and Alex were alone in the café, she crouched down to stroke Tiny and asked, ‘How was your walk?’

‘Great,’ said Alex, nodding. ‘A bit of pain here and there but another week and I’ll be fighting fit again.’

He smiled at her and she realised that he had caught the sun over the past couple of weeks of good weather and his skin was beginning to turn a pale gold, meaning his blue eyes stood out even more. No wonder Aimee had been flirting with him again. He looked great.

She quickly looked away once she realised she was staring at him. ‘Coffee?’ she asked.

‘Please.’ Alex brought out his phone. ‘I’ve had confirmation of all the public liability and food hygiene certificates,’ he told her. ‘I’ll get them printed out for you later and put it in the business file behind the counter.’

‘It’s all gobbledegook to me but OK,’ she said, shooting him a grin across the counter.

Hannah mentally crossed her fingers but, to her relief, the afternoon tea was a success. The feedback she received from the customers that they would definitely be back.

‘That’s great news,’ said Lily over dinner later that evening. ‘You’re going to need staff to help you before too long.’

Hannah laughed. ‘I’m not so sure about that,’ she told her friend.

Lily shook her head. ‘Just wait and see,’ she said, with a wink.

But, for once, Lily’s optimism seemed a little misplaced. The longed-for customers never appeared and by Friday of that week, Hannah stared across the kitchen table at the vast amount of leftover cakes that she had brought back with her from the café. Some were two days old and were in danger of going to waste so she gave them to the family to enjoy.

‘Wonderful,’ said Walter, halfway through a large slice of chocolate cake.

Hannah had kept the menu short, full of her favourite bakes. But the leftovers only served to remind her that she was severely lacking customers.

‘I’m sure it will pick up again now that the weekend is here,’ Faye told her, giving her daughter a reassuring hug.

‘Absolutely,’ said Alex, who was sitting next to her. ‘We have every faith in you.’

Hannah tried to smile at him but the truth was that her heart was breaking. The café had not been the success that everyone had hoped for. Perhaps she couldn’t do this, no matter how much her friends and family tried to reassure her, she thought with a heavy sigh.

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Alex looked at Hannah sitting next to him at the dinner table with concern and tried to cheer her up.

‘This is great,’ he told her, reaching for another slice of carrot cake.

It was true, he thought. The nutmeg and spices were an amazing contrast to the sharp but sweet icing.