Chapter 40
‘Oh my giddy AUNT!’ came an unmistakable squeal from inside the café.
‘Lia’s back,’ I said to Gabe as we approached the door.
‘And it looks like Mark hasn’t sent all your customers to the Cabin Café,’ he replied, arching an eyebrow at the busy scene before us.
The café was humming with customers, some of whom were braving a brisk breeze under the awning and the sound of laughter and clattering crockery spilled out through the open door.
‘He may have tried,’ I said sweetly. ‘But our customers know what’s good for them.’
Gabe laughed and very gently rested his fingers against my back as we walked in together. The sensation was tantalizing and I slowed down, just so he would bump into me and for one second our bodies would be touching. I turned quickly, catching the scent of him before he murmured an apology and I walked on.
‘Quick,’ Mark said to Lia when he spotted us, ‘look miserable, your sister’s here.’
He wasn’t looking quite as dapper as when he’d arrived. His forehead was shiny with perspiration, his curly grey hair had an awful lot of flour in it and he had a big blob of tomato sauce on the seat of his trousers. The serving area looked like there’d been a food fight and both he and Lia were giggling and dancing about to the radio, which was on much louder than normal (no wonder they didn’t hear the phone) and they both seemed to be enjoying themselves.
‘Ooh yes.’ She swept the hair from her pink face with her forearm and pulled the corners of her mouth down. ‘Mark and I have had a terrible time. How’s Mum?’
‘She’ll be fine.’ I reached for my apron from a peg behind the kitchen door, slightly annoyed at being cast in the role of killjoy. ‘She was whisked away by a tall dark handsome hero and they rode off into the sunset together. And Arlo’s jabs?’
‘Screamed the place down,’ said Lia, peering into the oven to check on a pizza. ‘And that was just me.’
‘Poor thing,’ I said with a smile.
She stood up and rubbed her tired eyes. ‘He was OK. It’s his teeth that are bothering him, his cheeks – both sets – are as red as … Mark’s … and he’s got terrible nappy rash. But hey, sleep’s for wimps anyway.’
‘Try crushed ice, Lia,’ said Gabe, ‘wrapped in a clean cloth, to suck on, not to put on his cheeks. Noah liked that.’
I felt a rush of affection and had to stop myself flinging my arms round him; there was nothing this man couldn’t handle.
‘I will, thanks,’ said Lia, raising her eyebrows thoughtfully.
‘That’s what I could do with.’ Mark pressed the cold can of squirty cream to his face and sighed. ‘And for the record, only one set of my cheeks are red.’
‘Wrong.’ Lia snorted and elbowed him in the ribs. ‘Have you seen your trousers?’
Mark, much to her amusement, tried to see behind his own back and groaned.
Gabe cleared his throat. ‘Mark, have you mentioned …?’
‘No.’ Mark’s face grew serious and he looked at Lia and then me. ‘When that next pizza is done, can we all have a chat? All four of us?’
I opened my mouth to say that we couldn’t all leave the counter (in true killjoy manner) but as luck would have it Doreen arrived, a little tearful, and after telling us that baby Bethany and her mum were doing well she bustled straight into action and shooed us all out of her way.
Five minutes later Lia and I were sipping cappuccinos in the conservatory and listening intently while Gabe and Mark outlined their pizza plan. To say I had got the wrong end of the stick was an understatement. Their proposal was for the Lemon Tree Café to completely take over the running of the Cabin Café.
‘So we’d have two cafés?’ Lia’s jaw dropped and she stared at me with a big goofy grin.
‘Correct,’ said Gabe. ‘We’ve suggested a one-year lease to begin with, with us putting up some of the initial investment for the kitchen.’
‘Is this the pizza oven I keep hearing about?’ I asked.
He nodded. ‘I only received the figures last night; I wanted to have the full details before we discussed it. With both of you. What do you think?’
I hadn’t expected this in a million years; Lia and I were still getting to grips with running one café let alone two, but it was a fantastic opportunity.
‘I’m … well … speechless,’ I stuttered.
‘God, that’s a first,’ Lia said with a smirk.
Gabe scratched his chin and I got the distinct impression he was trying not to laugh.
‘All our other branches are urban,’ Mark explained, stirring his coffee. ‘Our menu, our set-up, our ethos is geared towards that. We got it wrong here, and I hold my hands up, it was probably my fault. My wife said can’t we have a Garden Warehouse somewhere nice for once and with Fearnley’s coming on the market, I just snapped it up without enough research. Don’t get me wrong, the rest of the business is doing well. It’s just the café. We’re no competition for this place.’
‘Well, the Lemon Tree Café is a destination café,’ I said, parroting Jamie. ‘People make a special trip for our food.’
‘We agree,’ said Gabe, ‘which is why we thought that putting a second pizza oven in at Garden Warehouse would be such a winning idea. It would double your capacity, plus you could employ staff who want to work longer hours on the evenings that our store is open until nine at night.’
‘It would give you more flexibility too,’ Mark offered. ‘For when life gets in the way of work and you find yourself short staffed.’
‘That might be useful,’ I conceded.
‘Takeaways!’ said Lia. ‘We could offer takeaways from the Cabin Café – there’s much better parking there. Did I show you the boxes I’d found, Mark?’
The two of them began discussing printed over plain cartons and I found myself gazing at Gabe.
‘So this was always your plan?’ I murmured. ‘It was never to try to muscle in on our business.’
Gabe smiled ruefully and shook his head. ‘I thought you knew me better than that.’
‘I’m sorry,’ I whispered, feeling wretched.
Lia reached for my hand under the table and squeezed it. ‘I’m so excited.’
‘It’s all in here,’ said Mark, laying a thick white envelope on the table. ‘Our proposal, well, Gabe’s proposal. All his idea. We’ll leave you to mull it over. Now if you don’t mind I’d better get back to celebrating my anniversary while I still have a marriage to celebrate.’
We all stood up and shook hands and I thanked Mark again for coming to our rescue in the café this morning and for the proposal. He collected his flowers from Nonna’s watering can out in the courtyard and said that if Gabe wouldn’t mind giving him a lift to the train station, he could keep the car for the weekend.
I grabbed Gabe’s sleeve as he made to leave.
‘Can we talk? Later before you pick up Noah?’
He nodded just as his phone rang. I caught a glimpse of the screen before he answered it: the call was from Haywood Boat Sales.
‘Excuse me, Mark, I need to take this.’ He strode outside, walking up and down the pavement, talking and listening.
Mark followed my gaze. ‘That lad is the best appointment I’ve ever made. In the space of one week, he’s improved my life immeasurably. I just hope he makes the right decision about joining the board.’
Gabe came back holding his phone and looking surprised.
‘Good news?’ I said, the effort of keeping my voice light almost killing me.
He blinked up at me and smiled in amazement. ‘I think so, yes.’
Mark clapped him on his shoulder. ‘Great stuff, looks like everything’s falling into place.’
The two of them walked out to Mark’s car and as Gabe turned and raised a hand in a goodbye wave, I had the terrible, terrible feeling that for me everything might actually be falling apart.
By lunchtime, Doreen and Lia were fed up with me. I couldn’t concentrate on anything, I either completely forgot orders or muddled them up, I’d lost my ability to give anyone the correct change and I floated about in a trance, seemingly oblivious to anyone else. Finally, Doreen pointed me in the direction of the village green and told me to get some fresh air.
As I wandered aimlessly across the grass, Gabe’s words kept coming back to me: I thought you knew me better than that.
I thought I knew him too but I’d made so many assumptions and jumped to so many conclusions that I just wasn’t sure any more. I needed advice and there was one person who knew Gabe better than anyone else.
I sat down on a wooden bench and dialled her number.
‘Verity, I need your help,’ I said with some urgency when she picked up the phone.
I heard her laugh and the squeak of a chair before she answered.
‘OK, I’m sitting comfortably, is it about the coffee machine again because you know it’s probably time you invested in—’
I took a deep breath and butted in. ‘I’ve fallen in love.’
‘Oh,’ Verity whispered with a sigh. ‘I’m so pleased for you.’
‘With Gabe.’
Neither of us spoke. The seconds ticked by until I couldn’t bear it any longer.
‘Verity, is this really terrible news for you?’
At first I couldn’t make out what she was saying, there seemed to be an awful lot of high-pitched noises and not a lot of words. But eventually I picked out ‘no’ and ‘happy’ and after she’d blown her nose and cleared her throat, she managed a whole sentence.
‘I know I shouldn’t cry, but this is a big thing, you know, after Mimi, and Rosie, this is brilliant news, the best, I couldn’t have planned it better myself. Of course, I did hope this might happen once he’d moved down to Barnaby. And … oh.’ She sighed again. ‘I can’t think of a better person to be in Gabe and Noah’s lives.’
I exhaled with relief. ‘I wasn’t sure how you’d take it. I know I’ve got a bit of a reputation for loving and leaving boyfriends, although perhaps liking would be more accurate, but with Gabe it’s different.’
‘Well, of course it is,’ she said with a shaky laugh. ‘You, my lovely friend, have been waiting for the right man, that’s all.’
‘You really think so?’
‘YES! Oh, I can’t BELIEVE it!’ she finished with a shriek.
‘Unfortunately, I don’t think he feels the same way.’
‘Rosie, he talks about you all the time,’ she assured me. ‘He’s besotted. I was going to say something before but it sounded as though he had it all under control and so I decided to stay out of it, let him do his thing. Especially as I’m friends with both of you.’
‘He talks about me?’ I said, perking up briefly and instantly curious to know what he’d said. Then I remembered the phone call from the boatyard and groaned. ‘The problem is we don’t always … ahem … see eye to eye.’
‘As in you argue a lot?’ I could hear the smile in her voice.
‘An awful lot.’
She laughed. ‘Knowing both of you as I do, I can only think that’s a good sign. Rosie, he’s a man with baggage, he needs a strong woman in his life who can pick that up and run with it, and vice versa. You’d get bored of a man who didn’t know his own mind.’
‘That is very true,’ I said ruefully. ‘I wish we’d had this conversation ages ago, because now I think I might have left it too late.’
‘Why?’
‘I found out today that his boss wants him to relocate to head office, which is up north somewhere miles away, and on top of that I think Gabe has sold The Neptune. He’s planning on moving away, Verity. So he can’t feel the same way as I do. Noah will have to move schools again and—’
‘Rosie, you can’t let this happen,’ said Verity all in a rush. ‘Noah has only just got settled in Barnaby. You have to take matters into your own hands.’
‘But if I do, how will I know what he really wants?’
‘This is a man who’s been on his own for three years. Before that he’d been with Mimi since he was sixteen. His dating technique is non-existent. In fact, I think the way he got Mimi’s attention was to throw frogspawn in her hair.’
‘Urgh.’
‘Precisely.’
‘I’m beginning to see why we’re having problems communicating. The last boyfriend who I allowed to fall in love with me was Callum and that didn’t end well …’
‘Hmm. I always thought there was something you weren’t telling me about him.’
My heart thumped. ‘And yet you never pried.’
‘Everyone has secrets, Rosie,’ she said darkly.
‘Oh?’
‘Callum,’ she said swiftly, ‘tell me about him.’
So I gave her a condensed version. And when I got to the bit about that last night in London she called him an absolute git. But as the rest of the tale unfurled, her gasps grew longer and longer until I worried she was going to run out of oxygen.
‘So now he’s a she?’
‘Yes.’
‘Bloody hell. I feel like a terrible friend for not knowing this thing about you.’
‘I hid it underneath a lot of meaningless flings,’ I said briskly. ‘Now tell me what to do about Gabe.’
She blew out a long breath. ‘Well, either you wait for him to find some frogspawn to fling at you or you give him a clue about how you feel.’
I bit my lip. ‘Aren’t … well, if we’re going to do this properly, shouldn’t I wait for him to come for me?’
I thought about Dad’s heroic rescue of Mum and how nice it would be to be swept off my feet like that.
Verity snorted. ‘You could. But put it this way: if I’d waited for Tom to do that to me, I’d still be single.’
‘OK, OK, so what do I do?’
‘Just show him what he’d be missing if he leaves.’
‘What, like take him on a tour of the village?’
‘Idiot.’ She tutted. ‘Let him see what’s in your heart.’
‘Right.’ I nodded, pushing down a tremor of fear. It was now or never. ‘I’ll do that.’
I stood up with the intention of going back inside the café just as Gabe, driving Mark’s car, pulled to a halt outside Ken’s Mini Mart.
‘Let me know how you get on.’
‘You won’t have long to wait,’ I said in a wobbly voice. ‘He’s just arrived. Wish me luck.’
I ended the call and dropped the phone in my apron pocket.
Don’t overthink it; just tell the truth, I told myself as I strode purposefully across the green towards him.
If this had been a film, Gabe would have seen me and run towards me, arms outstretched, and I’d have run to meet him and he’d have swung me round without secretly thinking I was heavier than I looked. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a film and Gabe went into Ken’s shop instead. I immediately changed direction, feeling a bit silly, and headed towards a patch of bluebells, stooping to pick a few as if that had been my plan all along. They were past their best and smelled slightly of wee. I’d picked half a dozen of the least dead ones when Gabe reappeared with a bottle of what looked like champagne. He opened the door of Mark’s car and stowed the bottle inside.
My stomach quivered nervously; I’d heard of smashing a bottle against the hull of a boat to launch it, perhaps you did the same when you said goodbye too? I stood up, possibly too quickly, and felt dizzy and unsure. I didn’t want to think about goodbyes. Not until I’d done my best to persuade him to stay.
He took off his jacket, opened a door at the back and hung it up. Now it looked like he might be driving away. This wasn’t going well at all.
I began to scurry towards him, hoping he’d spot me, but despite waving both my arms in the air and yelling his name he didn’t seem to notice me.
Instead, he bent down until his back was flat and, bracing himself on his thighs, he began to creep slowly around the car until he reached the other side and disappeared from sight almost as if … Could he be hiding from me? How embarrassing.
I slowed down, pondering my next move, when out of the corner of my eye two small people came shuffling round the corner from the direction of the school.
Why was everyone suddenly skulking about? I wondered. But as they got a bit closer, I realized it was Nonna and Stanley, arm in arm, going for a walk at a pace that would have put a tortoise to shame. Stanley was wrapped up in a winter coat, hat and scarf, despite the warm day, and leaning on a walking stick. They seemed to be heading to the far side of the green.
I waved at them but Nonna was too busy chattering to notice and Stanley was concentrating on the path in front of him.
‘Churchill, come back here!’ I heard Biddy’s voice just as Churchill launched his nose into my groin.
‘Hey, you,’ I said, stepping back. ‘Off.’
‘Sorry,’ Biddy said, flustered, clipping on his lead and trying to pull his sturdy body away from me. ‘There must be a bitch on heat somewhere, he’s been howling all afternoon. I’ve brought him out for a piddle and a sniff.’
How simple to be a dog. I bent down and scratched between his ears. ‘Good luck, Churchill, I hope you get your girl.’
‘I don’t,’ she said mournfully. ‘It’s virtually impossible to get him to listen once he’s got his eye on the target. Even frankfurters don’t work.’
Outside Ken’s Mini Mart, Gabe stood up from his hiding place. I wondered if I’d have the same trouble getting him to listen to me. My heart lurched; even if he did listen I’d kept my heart in check for so long now I wasn’t sure if I’d find the right words.
‘Mind you, there’s no one around,’ Biddy was saying, ‘so I might risk it and let him have a run. Come on, boy.’
They ambled off together with Churchill snuffling at the pockets in Biddy’s crocheted tunic for treats.
I felt Gabe’s presence beside me before I heard him.
‘You look like Queen Boudicca standing there, hands on hips, hair blowing off your face in the breeze,’ he said. ‘Ready to do battle.’
I turned to face him, all my emotions bubbling just below the surface; there was so much I wanted to say and yet … I felt all panicky suddenly and worried that I was going to mess this up, that I’d lose him, or, worse still, start another argument.
‘I feel like I’ve been battling for ages,’ I said softly, my breath coming in short bursts, ‘against one thing or another. Against men, against any perceived injustice, against Garden Warehouse, and …’ I swallowed hard. ‘Against you.’
He regarded me inquisitively, a soft smile playing at his lips. ‘I had noticed.’
I stepped closer. ‘Don’t go.’
He shook his head. ‘I’m not, I’ve got the afternoon off.’
‘I mean ever.’
He looked at me confused. ‘Rosie, are you OK?’
‘Have you sold the boat?’ I blurted out.
He looked startled. ‘How did you know that?’
‘So it’s true.’ My heart sank. My eyes felt hot and I blinked the tears back. ‘I thought you loved it here.’
He nodded. ‘I do, but it’s time to leave The Neptune. I bought it because I wanted to strip my life right back to the basics and live in the moment, bring up my baby boy, not thinking about the future, the mortgage, the bills, just get through each day. It’s been a home for us for three years, but time has moved on. I’ve moved on.’
Something whipped at my legs and when I looked down, a pretty cocker spaniel, tail swishing madly, had run past, and a lady in a smart Barbour jacket, a paisley scarf tied at her neck, was in hot pursuit, trying to hook the end of the dog’s lead with her golf umbrella.
‘Ginger! Ginger! Come back to Mummy!’
‘Gabe, think about Noah, he’s just got settled here, he’s made friends, started school.’
‘I am thinking about Noah and I have needs too.’
‘Oh Churchill!’ cried Biddy in despair.
Unsurprisingly Churchill had made a beeline for Ginger’s rear end; Biddy was lobbing treats at him in an attempt to stop him trying to mount her. Ginger’s owner was going for a more hands-on approach, prodding him with a golf umbrella and tugging at her own dog’s lead. Churchill wasn’t paying the humans a blind bit of notice and Ginger seemed to be enjoying all the attention.
‘Come along, come along.’ The dulcet tones of Stella Derry rang out as she herded the Women’s Institute committee from the church hall towards the café where afternoon tea for eight was being set up in the conservatory.
‘Watch the car with your handbags,’ murmured Gabe anxiously as the committee ladies squeezed between Ken’s shop and Mark’s car, still in their tight pack.
‘What were you doing earlier?’ I asked, nodding towards the car. ‘What was that crouching lap of honour all about?’
He laughed softly, still keeping an eye on the progress of the women.
‘Checking it for existing damage. I wanted to know if it already had any scratches on the paintwork before I let Noah near it.’
‘And has it?’
‘Sadly not. Totally pristine. I’m worried to death. I’ve already told Noah that I’ll be docking his pocket money to help pay for the car door he trashed, to give him a sense of the value of money. He can’t afford any more accidents.’
‘Very sensible.’
Gabe huffed.
‘It would have been, but then he reminded me that he doesn’t get any pocket money and that all his friends do. So now I’m having to pay him fifty pence a week.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘Shot myself in the foot there. Outwitted by a four-year-old.’
He grinned goofily and a big wave of affection swept over me for this man and we both burst out laughing and then the words that came out of my mouth next slipped out so naturally that later I wondered why I had taken so long to say them.
‘Oh I do love you,’ I said with a catch in my voice.
Gabe’s eyes widened.
‘You,’ he murmured, ‘love me?’
I nodded.
Gabe looked so shell-shocked that I felt a bit hot and silly all of a sudden.
‘That’s …’ He swallowed hard and blinked. ‘That’s the best news I’ve had all … well, for years, actually.’
‘With all my heart,’ I said, emboldened by the light in his eyes. ‘And Noah.’
I stepped a tiny bit closer and took hold of his hands.
‘But I understand now, your career is important to you and I’m glad and I’m proud of you. Mark clearly thinks the world of you and you should be on the board, because you’re brilliant. And why stay here?’ I said, forcing a laugh. ‘Let’s face it, I’ve been nothing but a pain in the bum ever since you arrived.’
‘Oh Ginger,’ came a desperate wail.
Churchill had finally got his girl. Even from this distance I could see the victorious grin on his doggy face. Biddy and the other woman began swapping phone numbers.
‘Actually, I am staying here. I’m going to buy a house.’ Gabe’s smile threatened to take over his whole face. ‘Because I fell in love with a gorgeous girl who’s turned my world upside down and keeps me thoroughly on my toes. She’s brave and ambitious and never afraid to take risks. And because she’s right: Noah doesn’t need any more upheaval just yet.’
‘Is that me?’ I whispered.
‘It’s you. It’s been you since the moment I steered my boat up to the Riverside Hotel.’
My heart fluttered as he stepped closer. I could feel the heat of his body pressing against mine. He curled his hand around the back of my neck and I tilted my face to his.
‘I have been a bit afraid to take risks,’ I said, my body melting into his. ‘With men.’
Gabe nodded, his eyes scanning my face tenderly. ‘And now?’
‘And now,’ I whispered huskily, ‘I want to …’
I couldn’t even wait to finish the sentence, I just closed my eyes and showed him exactly what was in my heart.
Gabe kissed me back hungrily and our bodies pressed as close as they could be, his arms round my waist, my hands in his hair. It was so intense, so exquisite, that I felt a sob building in my throat and a pounding in the pit of my stomach and I knew instinctively that I would give my heart, my soul and my everything to this man willingly for the rest of my life.
Breathless and giggling slightly hysterically we broke away from each other. I opened my eyes and tried not to notice that quite a crowd had gathered on the green. But I didn’t care who saw us. There was only one person I was interested in right now and he was here, his soft grey eyes dancing with happiness and his sandy hair standing up in tufts quite possibly because I couldn’t stop running my hands through it.
‘But what about The Neptune?’ I said suddenly. ‘You’ve sold it?’
‘You mean you don’t know who’s bought it?’ He smiled secretively.
I shook my head.
Gabe mimed zipping his lips. ‘He needs to tell his wife first. So the offer is still subject to marital approval. But I’m confident she’ll say yes. Anyway, we need more room. Noah’s bed is really tiny.’
‘And he wants a slide,’ I reminded him, pressing a soft kiss to his lips.
‘And that too.’ He slid his arms lower until his hands rested casually on my bottom. The way my pulse was racing was anything but casual. My hormones were zipping about like crazy inside me.
‘Although my bed is big enough.’ His eyes flashed wickedly. ‘For two.’
‘GO STANLEY!’ yelled Ken, cupping both hands to his mouth.
Across the green Stanley had lowered himself on to one knee and removed a small blue box from his coat pocket.
‘YES!’ Nonna yelled. ‘Grazie a Dio! I will marry you, Stanley Pigeon.’
Everyone began to clap and whistle: Stella Derry and the ladies from the WI; Lia and Doreen came out of the café and waved tea towels in Nonna’s honour; Lucas and Tyson appeared from the gift shop, arm in arm, Tyson passing Lucas a tissue for his misty eyes; even Biddy and the lady with the cocker spaniel stopped arguing about vet’s bills to join in. Nina ran across the green and thrust a posy of peonies into Nonna’s hand and then a huge cheer went up as Stanley wobbled to his feet and pressed a loving kiss on to the lips of his blushing fiancée.
‘Oh,’ I said, realizing who was missing. ‘Mum and Dad would have loved to have been here.’
‘I think your dad will be busy persuading your mum she needs a narrowboat.’
I gasped. ‘Dad? Good for him!’
Gabe pressed his cheek to mine and murmured in my ear.
‘There’s a bottle of chilled champagne in the car, and one hour until I have to fetch Noah from school. I think we should celebrate.’
No one noticed as Gabe and I slipped away, back to The Neptune and into Gabe’s bed, which as promised was indeed big enough. And in the tiny cabin with the blinds drawn against the sunny day as the boat bobbed gently against the riverbank we did celebrate. More than once.