Page 74 of Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe

As Hannah headed back to the kitchen, he thought how much stronger she sounded. As if she were starting to feel more confident in herself.

He wondered how many more changes there would be for both of them by the end of the summer.

40

Hannah was both amazed and overjoyed at the almost overnight success in the water sports centre. Alex had worked so hard and it was great to see that hard work pay off.

A week after opening and the bookings were still flooding in for the paddleboarding from hotel guests.

The biggest success, however, was the swim club. Word had spread and there were at least a dozen people for each of the timed sessions throughout the day. The first morning session was the most popular and was already up to twenty people every day of the week. It seemed that everyone wanted to start their day with a swim, especially when the temperature began to rise and summer arrived with hot sunny days.

Equally as joyful to her was that the Boathouse Café had a surge of interest as the swimmers began to use it after their session. Suddenly word of mouth had spread and Hannah was flat-out every day.

The only small blot of cloud on the horizon was that Aimee was now running a couple of sunrise yoga sessions on the beach throughout the week. Hannah had never dared asked Alex how the date went and managed to steer clear of that subject completely. She wasn’t that good an actress, she knew. Ben didn’t get any feedback either, according to Lily when Hannah had plucked up the courage to ask. Alex was a private person. It was one of the many reasons she liked him so much.

But if Alex was happy, then she was happy, she told herself.

And the yoga was certainly garnering great feedback as well so it was all good for the future of Maple Tree Lodge too.

‘I sooo needed that,’ said Lily, coming into the café after an early-morning sunrise yoga session and leaning against the counter. ‘I feel so zen right now.’

‘Are you stressed?’ asked Hannah, looking up from her pastry and concerned for her friend.

‘Oh, no,’ replied Lily, with a dreamy smile. ‘Business is doing great. We’ve had loads of interest from people hearing about the water sports centre. I just feel so relaxed right now.’ She rolled her shoulders a couple of times. ‘You should join us sometime. It’s great for de-stressing.’

‘I don’t feel stressed,’ Hannah told her quickly.

She was pleased that Alex and Aimee were dating but that didn’t mean that she wanted to spend every minute with her.

And actually, as she thought on, she realised she had told the truth to Lily. Somewhere along the way, the fear and stress of running her own business had begun to fade.

The business had picked up quickly alongside the water sports centre as people had begun to visit the café afterwards for refreshments. She was receiving so much positive feedback regarding her bakes that she could feel herself getting stronger mentally.

She was also enjoying baking every day and, she had to admit, she was enjoying being her own boss as well. Of course, it was only for the summer. The temporary licence would be up on 21 September when British Summertime ended, and then what?

She tried not to think about it. What would she do when the café closed? No baking each day. No customers. And no water sports centre either. Which would mean no Alex, presumably, as well. She had gotten so used to seeing him every day as well. Having him in her life had felt life changing, even though they’d only exchanged one silly drunken kiss.

‘Who are you thinking of?’ murmured Lily, watching her.

‘No one,’ said Hannah quickly, feeling the blushes spread across her cheeks.

Lily grinned. ‘Yeah, right,’ she said sarcastically. ‘Anyway, Aimee was saying that she might put on a self-defence class soon if she has enough takers. Shall I put our names down for it?’

‘Self-defence?’ asked Hannah, a little shocked. ‘Is my brother that scary?’

Lily laughed. ‘No, but I just feel every woman should have some idea as to self-defence. In case of an emergency.’

‘Can’t I be your knight in shining armour instead?’ asked Ben, coming into the café and obviously having overheard the conversation.

Lily reached up to kiss him on the lips. ‘You are that anyway,’ she said, between kisses. ‘But I just like to be prepared. I mean, look at this muscle!’ She held up her arm and flexed a non-existent bicep.

Ben laughed. ‘Maybe you should take up paddleboarding,’ he told her. ‘My arms were killing me when I tried it a few days ago.’

‘You’re so unfit,’ Hannah told him, shaking her head. ‘I was fine afterwards.’

‘You obviously didn’t work as hard as I did,’ teased Ben.

‘Maybe Alex let her off for good behaviour,’ said Lily in a knowing tone, flashing Hannah a grin before leaving the café.