Chapter 76
CHAPTER 76
A s much as Gemma felt like she deserved an alcoholic beverage when she went to Chelmsford, there was only one place she ever went for lunch—a small café on one of the back roads. The owner, Melissa, bought the place around the same time as Gemma had started work in Maldon. Although it was smaller than the Waterfront Café, they served a similar range of food. The pair would often talk business—from suppliers to rising costs and everything else in between, though Gemma couldn’t recall the last time she had visited.
She walked up the stone steps, ready to fill Melissa in on all her developments, only to stop in her tracks. Through the window, she could see a man with a measuring tape wandering around inside. Exactly the same way as the man had done at her cafe the day before. In fact, it was the same man.
Gemma watched on as he appeared to finish up. When he’d packed away his measuring tape, he moved across to Melissa, shook her hand, and left, practically opening the door into Gemma as he went.
“Hi,” she said, feeling the need to speak. “I didn’t expect to find you here too.”
The man looked at Gemma with a blank expression before he snorted and carried on past her. Annoyance roiled through her. She didn’t care how fantastic his interior design was; she was not letting Kent employ someone that rude to do work at their cafe.
Brushing aside her annoyance, Gemma stepped into the cafe. There was only one customer, who was nursing a cup of tea, while Melissa was staring off into the distance.
“Hey, Mel?”
At the sound of her voice, Melissa’s eyes snapped around to face Gemma, and a broad smile lifted her expression.
“Hey stranger, long time no see. How are you doing?”
“I’m doing good, actually,” Gemma said, thinking about the bag of underwear she was currently holding. “It’s a bit of a strange time for us at the café. But it’s good, I think.”
“Strange times, I get that,” Melissa said with a roll of her eyes. Gemma could recognise the signs of someone with a lot of work pressures on her mind.
“Is everything all right here?” she said. “I take it you’re looking at getting some renovations done?”
“Renovations?” Melissa’s expression pinched in what appeared to be confusion.
“That’s what the guy was just measuring up for, right? I assume you’re getting him in to do some work? Oddly enough, our new owner had him over yesterday. Random, right? Small world.”
A light chuckle escaped Gemma’s lips as she considered what a small world it was. Of all the people in that area of Essex who could work on renovating a coffee shop, both she and Melissa had the same person working for them. Only, instead of smiling or agreeing that it was indeed a strange coincidence, Melissa continued to stare at Gemma with that same confused look.
“The man that just left, the bald one?”
“Right, the one who was measuring up all your walls. Less than friendly character, but I assume he’s good at what he does.”
“He’s great,” Melissa said. “But he wasn’t measuring the place because he’s helping me renovate it.”
It was Gemma’s turn to look confused. “I don’t understand then. What was he doing?”
“He is the owner of Coffee-X,” Melissa said.
Gemma’s confusion grew. “Coffee-X? The chain that’s been buying up every establishment recently?”
“Yes, that’s him. He doesn’t do renovations, Gemma. Well, unless you call ripping everything up to make it all on-brand renovating, which I guess it is.”
“I’m sorry,” Gemma said, still struggling to understand what she was hearing. “So what was he doing here then? Why was he measuring things?”
“Why do you think?” Melissa said. “Because he’s buying the place. I’ve had to sell it. I’ve had to sell the cafe to Coffee-X.”