Chapter 23
ALYSSA
It was both heartbreaking and ironic to Alyssa that tonight her gorgeous café was more beautiful than it had ever been, and yet this had also been the day that she’d discovered it was being taken away from her.
The room was packed, the music was playing, guests were raving about the food and everyone looked so happy.
Except, maybe, Jessie’s husband, Stan. He’d been standing over at the bar since he came in, and the only time Alyssa had seen him smile was when his granddaughter, Kayleigh, and his son, Grant, had gone to chat to him.
Alyssa didn’t know Stan very well, and as far as she could remember, he’d never once set foot in the café.
Alyssa only knew who he was because she’d seen him around the village with Jessie over the years.
Maybe he didn’t do coffee. Or perhaps he was gluten-intolerant and didn’t want to be faced with the sight of all the cakes she had on display.
It was hard to imagine that the bubbly, warm Jessie would be married to someone grumpy, though, so he must just be having a bad day.
Well, he could get in line. Although, if she did lose the café, at least tonight would give the whole village something to remember her by, she thought mournfully, letting the toll of all the disappointments and traumas of the day edge her a little further towards acceptance that she might not be able to avoid defeat.
How could she win against people like the guy who’d sat in here just hours before and told her he couldn’t…
no, wouldn’t help her? If the rest of his family was as dismissive and devoid of compassion, then she didn’t stand a chance.
Her doors would be closed in fifty-nine days and she’d have to start all over again somewhere else.
She knew that her grandad would love to have her move in with him until she got back on her feet – and that was definitely the preferred option over her mother’s house.
But there was no easy solution to losing her business. She didn’t even know where to begin.
‘You all right there, pet?’ She’d been so deep in thought that she hadn’t even noticed that her grandad had come up beside her.
She mustered a smile. ‘I’m fine, Grandad.’
‘What a night you’ve pulled off here. You know, when you first opened this café, I was worried about whether it would take off – didn’t want you sinking all your hard-earned cash into a money pit – but just look what you’ve done. I couldn’t be prouder of you.’
Her heart cracked and she let her head fall onto his shoulder, mostly so that he wouldn’t see that she was blinking back two big fat tears.
She wasn’t a crier. When she was growing up with a mother as dramatic as Dorinda, someone else had to be the calm one, so if she started sobbing, her grandad would know something awful was afoot.
He wouldn’t be wrong. Besides herself, Hugo was the person who’d be affected most by the closure and Alyssa didn’t know how she was going to break it to him.
Tomorrow. That was a problem for tomorrow. Right now, the most important thing was that they made tonight wonderful for Jessie.
‘Thanks, Grandad. I’m pretty proud of you too.’
Their conversation was ended there by Ginny, who was speeding towards the counter, and when she reached it, flopped down on it in a theatrical fashion.
‘I’ll give you everything I own in the world if you save me from our mother,’ she wailed.
‘You already promised me your internal organs for taking you to the interview this morning and you don’t own anything else,’ Alyssa pointed out, glad of the distraction.
Ginny straightened up. ‘I feel that was unnecessarily harsh and I’ll be speaking to the Shit Waitress union regarding your attitude in the workplace.’
Despite her admittedly woeful waitressing skills, Alyssa would miss Ginny being here too, making sure there was never a dull moment. Case in point, right now.
‘Anyway, what’s Mum doing that’s bugging your happiness, Ginny?’
‘Nothing! That’s the point. The place is mobbed and I asked her to help me go round topping up drinks and she refused.
Says she wasn’t “being seen doing manual labour”.
And she’s acting all weird. I’ve no idea what’s going on with her.
You know that way she was when she had a thing for the Amazon delivery guy, and she ordered a new set of scrunchies every day and then made sure she was wafting around looking sultry when he delivered them… ?’
Alyssa nodded, getting the picture. There was never any doubt that her sister had an artistic flair and a gift for a tall tale.
‘Well, she’s definitely got the hots for someone in here, because she’s got that same look on her face.’
A theory suddenly popped into Alyssa’s head. ‘I reckon it’s because Moira Chiles is here. Mum is hoping Ollie Chiles will walk in and she can cougar him to death.’
‘I’ve never wanted to leave a conversation more,’ her grandad winced.
‘Sorry, Grandad,’ Alyssa giggled, her first authentic laugh since that letter had arrived this morning.
Ginny stepped in to save him. ‘Come help me, please, Grandad. It might even persuade me to forgive you for making our mother such a nightmare.’
Amused and happy to help, Grandad grabbed two bottles of fizz from the ice buckets on the counter and off they went, passing Kayleigh Dern coming the other way.
‘Kayleigh!’ Alyssa exclaimed, giving her another hug. ‘How are you? How’s university going?’
Several of the village teenagers had worked in the café over the years, but Kayleigh had been one of her favourites. She’d been around her gran and mum’s salon since she was a toddler, so she worked hard and had a natural gift for chatting to customers.
‘It’s going great. Bit wobbly at first – took me a while to get used to being on my own and being able to walk down the street without bumping into forty people I know.’
Alyssa chuckled. ‘That could have pros and cons.’
‘It definitely does. And not having my gran’s place or here to pop into every day feels weird too.’
The unintentional link to the problem that was plaguing Alyssa was too clear to ignore. Soon there wouldn’t be a café for anyone to pop into. ‘Actually, Kayleigh, can I show you something?’
Kayleigh raised an eyebrow. ‘Will I have to lie to the police or deny it under oath?’ She also had her grandmother’s dry sense of humour.
‘Unlikely, but you never know. ’
Kayleigh shrugged. ‘Then sure.’
Alyssa beckoned her into the kitchen and pulled Jeremy Sprite’s letter from the drawer she’d been hiding it in so that Grandad or her mother wouldn’t see it.
‘Can you read this, please? I know you’ve only just started studying law, but I wondered if you’d have any ideas about who I could speak to, or if any of your professors would know about this kind of thing.
I don’t really have the funds to get my own lawyer, so I’m just looking for other ways to get help. ’
She watched as Kayleigh began to read, her eyes widening with every line until she got to the end and gasped. ‘Shit, Alyssa, this is awful.’
‘I got it this morning.’
‘Oh no, I’m so sorry. Did you try to speak to them? Find out what’s going on?’
‘Yep, but it’s hopeless. The lawyer is impossible to get hold of, but I spoke to the son of the owner who died and asked him to help.’
‘And?’
‘Horrible person. Wouldn’t even consider helping me. Said it’s a done deal and there’s nothing he can do about it.’
‘You should have taken my gran. Jessie would have kicked his arse.’
‘That might be my next plan.’
‘Okay, let me think…’ Kayleigh said, reading the letter again.
‘I don’t know anything about this kind of stuff yet, but there’s a paralegal on my course who is retraining to be a lawyer and she knows everything there is to know.
And I’ve got a property law class on a Friday, so I’ll ask my professor if he’ll take a look at this.
Can I come by tomorrow and get a copy of this letter and a copy of your lease and I’ll see what I can do?
I’m not sure I can help, but I’ll give it a shot. ’
For the second time tonight, Alyssa had to blink back tears. Lachlan Morden wouldn’t so much as give her the time of day, yet here was Kayleigh, prepared to do whatever she could to help. ‘Thank you so much. I’d be so grateful.’
The alarm started to go off on the cooker, interrupting them.
‘Do you need a hand in here?’ Kayleigh asked, before joking, ‘I was a much better waitress than Ginny.’
‘That’s not a very high bar of achievement. But no, you go on back out and enjoy your gran’s party. And, Kayleigh, thanks again.’
‘No worries. Still think you should get Jessie to kick his arse.’
‘It might still come to that.’
Only after she’d gone did Alyssa realise that she’d forgotten to ask Kayleigh not to tell anyone about this.
As soon as she’d organised the hot food for the buffet, she’d go and find her again and swear her to secrecy.
Gossip went round this village like a tornado, and she didn’t want Grandad hearing before she’d told him herself.
As she pulled the mini steak pies out of the oven, and began arranging them on a bamboo serving platter, Alyssa thought about what Kayleigh had said about the strangeness of living an anonymous life, and had the sudden realisation that she’d have that same experience if she went anywhere else.
In Weirbridge, she went to the corner shop and knew everyone on the way.
If she was in the post office, chances were she’d served up a bowl of soup to the customers in front and behind her in the queue.
Sure, there were downsides too. If she nipped into the doctor’s surgery, there would be ten people in the waiting room asking after her grandad while trying to work out what ailment had brought her there.
And, of course, that could start rumours.
Twice, she’d heard she might be pregnant, and there was an allegation of a boob job being in the works .
The point was, all of that only happened because she’d lived here all her life. If she went somewhere else, maybe got a job working in the city centre or perhaps down by Loch Lomond, she’d know no one.
The thought of starting her own catering company had crossed her mind when she’d been setting up for the party.
She already had the van, so she would just need to find premises to work out of.
At face value, that could be an option, but it would require investment in equipment and advertising, and she’d have to work hard to build a customer base that could sustain it.
And, at the end of it all, she still wouldn’t have the joy of the toddler groups coming in for their Wednesday afternoon reading sessions, or the enjoyment of chatting to the ladies in the running club who met every Tuesday to discuss their plans to run a marathon in memory of their lovely friend who’d passed from cancer.
The whole village had turned out for that lady’s funeral.
Alyssa lifted the tray and made her way out of the kitchen and into the café, still deep in thought.
It wouldn’t suit everyone, but this was the life that Alyssa wanted.
Right here. Even if Kayleigh didn’t have a friend who could help, Alyssa couldn’t give up without fighting for this.
She would start a petition. Somehow find the money for a good lawyer.
Hell, she would picket Jeremy fricking Sprite’s office if that would shame him into listening to her.
Her spirits temporarily bolstered by her resolve, she laid the steak pies down on the buffet table and, with a tug of relief, noticed that her mother wasn’t stalking Moira Chiles after all. Instead, she was over at the bar, chatting to Jessie’s husband, Stan.
Ah well, at least her mum was serving a purpose now. Maybe her mother’s trademark flirty chatter would cheer him up a bit and he’d get into the swing of the party and make this a night Jessie would never forget. Just as that thought went through her mind, she saw that nope, he was still frowning.
Maybe there were some men that were oblivious to Dorinda’s charms after all.