Chapter 17
Dotty’s birthday party that evening was a lively affair. After the dinner service and with only a handful of hotel guests around, most of the family were able to join in with the celebrations. Especially when those guests headed out to a local pub and the family could relax.
‘That leaves us a couple of hours by ourselves before they return,’ said Lily, taking a martini glass full of a colourful cocktail from Frankie early in the evening. ‘Cheers!’
Hannah was pleased that so many people had turned out to celebrate her grandmother’s birthday. Even Jake had come along for the evening, although there was one person less than happy about that. Jake and Ella didn’t get on and merely suffered each other’s company with barbed comments.
‘So are you going to join us swimming at some point?’ asked Dotty.
Ella shook her head. ‘I’m afraid not,’ she replied.
‘I’m not surprised,’ interjected Jake. ‘Your ancestors suffered so much with the dunking of the witches, I imagine.’
Ella scowled at him. ‘And what’s your excuse for not going in?’ asked Ella. ‘It must be time for your monthly bath after so long.’
Jake merely laughed off her comments and went to stand next to Hannah. ‘How your sweet nature ever got stuck with a friend like that is beyond me,’ he said, before shooting Ella a grin.
Hannah rolled her eyes. ‘Can you two just get along for one evening?’ she told them.
‘I doubt that very much,’ said Jake, at the same time as Ella shook her head furiously.
Hannah smiled at them, thinking that it was a good job that Jake and Ella didn’t stay at the hotel at the same time too often. She looked around, pleased to see that all of Dotty’s friends were there. However, Mavis had brought a plus one.
‘This is my great-niece Aimee,’ she was saying to Alex and Dotty.
Hannah watched as Alex stood up from his stool to greet the pretty petite woman with the bright pink hair.
‘So you must be the yoga instructor?’ said Dotty. ‘Mavis has told me how popular your classes are becoming.’
Aimee nodded. ‘I’m so thankful,’ she said, with a wide grin. ‘Not that the village hall is anywhere near as beautiful as the surroundings here.’
Aimee then went on to ask Alex how long he was staying for and about his injury rehabilitation, recommending yoga for the stretching.
‘That’s a great idea,’ said Alex.
Aimee was looking up at him as if she were worshipping a god. He was smiling down at her too, especially when Hannah overheard Aimee suggest a one-to-one yoga session to help with his stretching.
As if Alex didn’t know all about stretching muscles, thought Hannah, suddenly feeling grumpy.
‘What’s the matter?’ asked Beth. ‘Are you worried about the café?’
‘No,’ replied Hannah quickly. ‘I’m fine.’
‘Look, I know you’re fretting but it’s going to be a great success,’ said Ella, guessing why Hannah might be in a bad mood. ‘You just need to create a buzz.’
Ella was now an influencer in her spare time and had a knack for generating publicity.
‘Producing footfall is key,’ she carried on. ‘Social media. Local marketing. It needs to be memorable. Who’s your target market?’
‘Anyone with money in their wallet,’ drawled Ben nearby, drawing an arm around Lily.
Hannah shot her big brother a glare but remained silent.
‘You look like you’re at a funeral, not a birthday party,’ said Frankie from behind the bar to Hannah, raising an eyebrow at her. ‘You need one of my specials.’
‘Then what am I drinking?’ asked Lily, staring down at her half-drunk cocktail.
‘That was one of my normal ones,’ Frankie told her. ‘Hannah looks like she needs a pick-me-up.’
‘I’m not miserable,’ muttered Hannah.
‘Tell that to your face,’ joked Ben.
Hannah tried to force herself to be more cheerful but found that she couldn’t stop glancing over at Alex and Aimee as they continued to chat.
‘When I was in Nepal,’ she could hear Aimee saying.
Hannah ground her teeth together in irritation. Aimee had pink hair and had travelled the world. Hannah had normal-coloured hair and hadn’t gone any further than London and even that had been a step too far from her beloved Maple Tree Lodge.
She had never felt more of a country mouse in all of her life.
‘I must ask her whether she can help me with my bad shoulders,’ said Frankie. ‘I need loosening up.’
Lily stared into her almost empty cocktail glass. ‘Just have one of your own drinks,’ she said, with a hiccup. ‘That’ll loosen anything up.’
‘Even Hannah?’ asked Frankie, pushing a cocktail across the bar top towards her.
‘For the last time, I’m fine,’ said Hannah, picking up the drink and taking a gulp. ‘Wow,’ she croaked. ‘That’s strong.’
‘Told you it was one of my specials,’ said Frankie with an evil grin. ‘And it is supposed to be a party, after all.’
Hannah took another sip of the strong drink. Why was it bothering her so much that Alex and Aimee were chatting? Except Aimee was most definitely flirting and not just chatting, Hannah decided. She kept putting her hand on his arm, Hannah noted, with a frown.
For some reason, she couldn’t bear the thought of them becoming even more than friends. So where did that leave her feelings for Alex? He was just lovely, handsome Alex. That was all, wasn’t it?
After a couple more of Frankie’s special cocktails, Hannah was feeling far more cheerful. Her grandmother’s birthday deserved to be celebrated, after all.
The only blot on the evening was when she checked her phone and read a text from an unknown number. It turned out to be Sean. She stared at the words on the screen, ever so slightly out of focus after all the cocktails she had drunk. But she understood the pretext. He wanted her back.
The alcohol gave her the strength to delete the text and block his new number too.
‘That’ll show him,’ she thought, stabbing at the phone a couple of times before she could finally get it right.
‘You’re not drunk texting, are you?’ asked Beth, as she watched Hannah slip her phone back into her pocket. ‘Believe me, that never works and I should know.’
‘Wait!’ said Lily, sloshing her drink about a bit after one too many cocktails. ‘Who would Hannah be drunk texting? Who’s getting a booty call?’
‘A booty call?’ said Ella, looking amazed. ‘Who? What?’
‘Nobody,’ said Hannah, rolling her eyes. ‘I’m single. Always single. Dull Hannah. Single Hannah. That’s me.’
‘Oh dear,’ said Frankie, overhearing the conversation. ‘We appear to have reached the morose part of getting drunk and that’s never attractive.’
‘I agree,’ said Beth, removing the still half-full cocktail glass from Hannah’s hand and downing it herself. ‘There. No harm done.’
Excusing herself to go to the bathroom, Hannah was still feeling down. No amount of alcohol seemed to be numbing her senses.
She was just on her way to the downstairs washroom when she spotted Alex chatting with Aimee outside. Ever the gentleman, he was seeing her and her grandmother to their car.
Scowling, Hannah did an abrupt turn but stopped before going back into the snug. Everyone was being very judgemental that evening. She just needed to be alone. So instead, she went out of the back door and around the side of the hotel.
The fresh air hit her pretty hard but it was quite nice, she thought. If you liked being alone under a starry sky, that was. Always alone. Never with anyone. Why couldn’t she be sparkly and fun like Aimee? Why was she always so dull?
She didn’t even wild swim with her grandmother and she was almost eighty! Well, perhaps she should start now.
Feeling a little wobbly, she headed towards the beach.