Chapter 36
As another week went by, business continued to remain slow at the Boathouse Café, much to Hannah’s dismay.
She tried to be positive, especially with the idea that the new water sports centre might bring in some much-needed customers, but it was hard.
She found herself confessing as much to Alex one morning when he was out on the beach watching Dotty’s swim club in the water.
‘I’d better get ready for when the ladies are finished,’ she told him. ‘They might be my only customers today.’
‘I’m sure things will turn around,’ he told her.
Hannah nodded, although she still wasn’t sure.
‘In the meantime, whilst I’m out, can you take care of Tiny for me during the day?’ asked Alex. ‘I probably won’t be back until late each evening.’
Alex had announced that he had managed to book a three-day course that week which would give him the open-water qualification to act as an official lifeguard when the lake opened for the swimming and paddleboard sessions.
‘Of course,’ said Hannah, glancing over to where the dog was standing at the shore, wagging his tail at the swimmers further out in the water. ‘He always behaves himself with me.’
‘That would be a first,’ said Alex. Although Hannah knew that thanks to his training, Tiny was actually pretty obedient considering his young age.
‘Are you looking forward to the course?’ she asked.
He nodded. ‘In a way, it’ll be good to start using my brain again. Apparently, as well as the lifesaving skills, they also cover some first-aid basics and even CPR. Which hopefully I’ll never get to use.’
Hannah nodded. ‘Hopefully not. Unless you attempt paddleboarding again,’ she added with a grin.
Alex laughed. ‘Actually I’ve been practising for a couple of hours every day and I can now stand up without even a wobble.’
Hannah found that she was still smiling when she headed back to the café, thinking back to Alex’s dreadful first attempts at paddleboarding.
As she brought out a tray of biscuits to be decorated, she thought that it was nice that they could laugh together and she could relax around him. For all of her embarrassment about the drunken kiss all those weeks ago, he was still Alex. Safe, reliable, trustworthy Alex.
And yet she couldn’t stop her gaze lingering a few times on his supremely fit body when he was dressed in just shorts each morning when he went out for his early swim. Of course, he had an incredible body. But it was the whole package that she found appealing.
She looked down at the biscuits she was supposed to be decorating and found that an enormous lump of blue icing had fallen over three of the biscuits, and quickly wiped it away.
Why was she so distracted lately? Was it because she was bored because business was so slow?
Or, she was beginning to think, had she been too hasty to dismiss Alex after she had kissed him?
She kept trying to go over in her mind when she had apologised to him.
There had been a moment when he had flirted with her, seemingly wanting more from her and she had almost run off, so scared was she of commitment.
But as she grew to know and trust Alex even more, she couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps she was beginning to change her mind.
As Dotty’s swim club came into the café in a bubble of laughter and merriment, she couldn’t help but glance at him as Alex followed them inside.
She had always thought that she knew where she was in her relationship with Alex.
He was her big brother’s best friend. That was all.
Except ever since his accident and he was around all the time, she was noticing so much more about him.
His blond eyelashes. The way his smile was slightly crooked.
And the way her heart raced a little when he smiled at her.
Of course, she had tried to convince herself that nothing had changed between them. She had drunkenly kissed him and then apologised. That should be the end of the matter. She had told him so.
And yet, for some reason, she couldn’t seem to move on. And a tiny part of her wondered whether he wanted more from her as well.
As she began to take everyone’s orders, she became aware of Alex chatting with Aimee on the other side of the bar. Despite her reservations about Aimee’s flirtation with Alex, Hannah had to concede that she was a nice person.
‘You’ll have to tell me about the first-aid stuff you learn on your course,’ she heard Aimee say. ‘I should probably do something like that for my yoga classes.’
‘Sure,’ said Alex. ‘I’ll be back this weekend if you wanted to chat it through.’
There was a small pause before Hannah heard Aimee speak again.
‘Actually I was going to watch a great band playing in the Black Swan in Cranbridge this weekend,’ she said. ‘They have live music in the beer garden once a month.’
‘Sounds great,’ replied Alex.
But as Hannah turned to pour out the next coffee order, she heard Aimee say, ‘Maybe we could go for a drink and have a chat then?’
Hannah took the cocoa powder shaker down from the shelf in a daze as she completed the cappuccino order and found she was holding her breath.
‘That would be great,’ she then heard Alex reply.
Hannah made up the rest of the orders and carried them across to the table where Dotty and her friends were now sitting.
Alex was going on a date with Aimee, she thought to herself in shock. Alex? Her Alex?
Except he wasn’t hers, she reminded herself. She had kissed him and then backed off fast, pretending that it had been all about the alcohol and not the feelings she had for him.
And with sudden clarity, she realised that she did like him that way after all. But now that he was going out with Aimee, she had left it too late.