Chapter 43
Early the next morning, eager to set up before the heat built and the crowds came to cool off, Hannah raced around the café. It was her usual routine and she had it down pretty quickly these days.
So when she was all set, with the cakes in the oven, she allowed herself a few thoughts as to how the cocktail bar could work.
Thankfully Frankie came along after breakfast and had a few ideas. ‘Ben’s getting some signs printed up,’ she said. ‘About the cocktail bar.’
‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’ asked Hannah. ‘The snug has been such a success.’
‘Can we have too much success after the many previous years of failure?’ drawled Frankie, before laughing.
‘Yes, but you’re the cocktail guru, not me,’ said Hannah.
‘Listen, I’ve been thinking it over ever since my second espresso this morning,’ began Frankie. ‘And here’s how it’s going to play.’
Frankie then handed over a short list of cocktails, most of which Hannah had helped her make whenever she had given her a hand behind the bar.
They were mostly simple and ones that she was used to making.
Rhubarb and ginger cocktail. Mojitos – mint, rum, ice and soda water.
Home-made pink lemonade. Frozen strawberry daiquiri – strawberries, rum, sugar and lime. Gin, elderflower and cucumber cooler.
Then there was the idea for the ice cubes. Ice trays sprinkled with edible pansies, violets and rose petals before freezing. They looked enchanting when sitting in the tall cocktail glasses. They even made ice-cold water look glamorous.
Ben had already applied for an alcohol licence, although because it came under the hotel grounds he thought they would be OK anyway so pretty much everything had been thought of.
Hannah’s nerves were still rattling though.
‘What if I can’t do it?’ she said, confessing her worst fears to Alex when they had a private moment later that day.
‘You’re always so quick to write yourself off,’ he told her. ‘Have faith in yourself.’
‘That’s easy for you to say,’ she said.
‘Actually, it is,’ he replied. ‘It’s part of my athletic training. To win. To succeed. Determination.’
‘I know,’ she told him. ‘But like I said. It’s easy for you. You win at everything.’
He looked at her intently. ‘Not everything,’ he said.
She looked at him, wondering what he was talking about before Frankie interrupted them to give them her box of spare cocktail shakers.
As Alex and Frankie chatted away, Hannah glanced around the café.
During the day it was lovely but she had to admit that when she had been tidying up in the early days when it had just been her, with the fairy lights twinkling in the fading light and with the view of the sparkling lake beyond, it had felt really special.
She was excited to share it with any customers, if they came, she reminded herself.
But in the end, her fears weren’t justified.
The following Saturday, the beach and lake were packed once more as the sun rose high in the sky and the temperatures matched it.
People came into the café for cold drinks and lunch, then later on, when the heat of the day was still intense, people stayed for cocktail hour as well.
With the help of Faye and Lily assisting behind the coffee bar and in the kitchen, they were able to serve all of the cocktails and the café was packed with people looking for a little shade but also that incredible view of the water.
It ended up being a really fun evening. Everyone’s excitement at trying out something completely new in turn fed off the enjoyment of the guests and it was long into the evening before the last customer finally left and they could all relax at last.
‘What a night,’ said Faye, taking off her shoes and rubbing her feet.
‘Did you hear everyone asking when we were next open?’ asked Lily, her eyes shining.
Hannah nodded, also hearing her refer to the café as ‘we’, which pleased her immensely.
‘So is this where all the people went this evening?’ asked Ben, coming into the café and looking around at all the used glasses piled up on the counter.
‘It was brilliant,’ said Lily, suppressing a yawn. ‘I’m that excited but equally absolutely shattered.’
Everyone agreed that it had worked it for the best and began to make their weary way back to the hotel to their rooms.
Hannah found that she couldn’t relax and insisted that she was only going to spend five minutes tidying up. Half an hour later, when Alex came in through the front door, she was still there.
‘Thought I’d find you in here,’ he said, as Tiny rushed up to sit on her feet with a heavy lump of weight. ‘Everyone else has gone to bed.’
‘I was still buzzing,’ she told him.
‘You look like you enjoyed yourself,’ he said, smiling at her.
She nodded. ‘I thought I wouldn’t be able to cope but then I remembered what you’d said about being positive and all that and also that I’d already been a relative success with the café and thought, why not?’
‘That’s the spirit,’ he said, laughing.
She was about to contradict herself when she stopped. She was OK, she decided. She had done it and succeeded. She had to keep doing it over and over but now that she had done it once, she would be all right, she told herself.
And with the success of the new cocktail bar, she wondered what else she could succeed at.