The Sweet Life Café

Chapter 32

ADDIE

A few weeks after they left Anchor Island, Addie was on her way back during the October half term, and this time her trip to the island was about so much more than a visit or a holiday.

She stood with Isaac, hand in hand on the top deck of the small ferry, as they left Jersey en route to the island that still meant so much to her. Isaac was beside himself with excitement at the adventure, and Addie couldn’t wait for Gayle to meet her little boy in person.

Over the short time that Addie had been back at the flat in London, she’d done a lot of soul searching.

She wasn’t in her dream job, she didn’t live in a place she loved, and she desperately wanted Isaac to have more.

She wanted to give him a life that had some freedom, a childhood where he could get fresh air, not city smog in his lungs, space to run around and be a kid.

But it wasn’t just about Isaac. After getting back to London, she’d soon realised that Anchor Island could give them both something different, and although she hadn’t handed in her notice yet or given up their flat, she wanted to talk to Gayle this week about the possibility of trying something new.

They’d had a good talk the last time Addie was on the island, they were in a good place, and she really hoped her aunt would be on board with what she had in mind.

The day Aunt Gayle had met Isaac over FaceTime, Susanna had gone upstairs to call Alex and Gayle had asked Addie if they could talk. She’d had a talk with Susanna in the hospital, so Addie had known this was coming.

‘Isaac is a credit to you, Addie,’ Gayle had told her as they sat at the kitchen table with a mug of tea each.

‘I know I’m biased, but yes, he really is.’

‘I love how he has so many questions.’

Addie laughed. ‘And then some.’

‘He has so much energy.’

‘I struggle to keep up sometimes,’ Addie admitted.

‘How do his grandparents cope?’

‘They’re brilliant.’ And by the wistful look on Gayle’s face, Addie wished she hadn’t kept herself or Isaac from her for so long. ‘I’m glad they’re in his life, because his dad isn’t really.’

‘May I ask what happened with Isaac’s father?’

Addie explained the gist of it. ‘I got Isaac from the fling, so I’ll never be sorry.’ She paused. ‘Gayle, did you ever have anyone special in your life? A man, I mean.’

‘Once upon a time, yes.’ She paused. ‘Jeffrey. We married, but it wasn’t to be. I struggled to have a baby and, well… it broke us.’

‘Gayle, I didn’t realise.’

‘I never told a soul. It was easier that way. It’s why I particularly regret that I didn’t make more of you and Susanna being in my life.’

‘I think you did your best in the circumstances. I’m sorry it was so hard for you.’

‘It was hard, but I had my cottage, you girls, my café, and despite the struggles, I was grateful. But I also had to honour a promise to Harry.’

‘Susanna told me you’d promised Dad that you would never let us fall out.’

‘Is that all she told you?’

‘Well, yes. What else is there?’

‘The promise is also the reason why I never showed too much enthusiasm about your love for baking.’

Addie felt taken aback. She should have put two and two together when her sister told her about the promise. ‘So I didn’t imagine you pushing me away.’

‘Oh, Addie, I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to at all, but—’

‘I understand.’

‘I feel so terrible about it.’

‘I’m just glad you told me.’ She reached out and held Gayle’s hand. ‘You wanted me and for so long I thought you didn’t.’

‘I wanted you very much.’

‘Over the years I thought a lot about how my life might have been different,’ Addie shared. ‘If I’d stayed here, if I’d pursued baking, not a career in web design.’

‘Do you understand why I did what I did?’

‘I do. You made a promise.’ But she wished in a way that her dad hadn’t asked that of Gayle; he was, in part, to blame for the way things had turned out, heaping an additional pressure on his sister’s shoulders.

He couldn’t have known it would backfire, that it might have kept his girls together, but it had made her life so very different than it might have been.

‘You know, I question myself with Isaac all the time,’ said Addie. ‘I ask myself should I let him have more freedom, am I being too strict, am I creating good memories not bad ones? Parenting is a tough job, no matter which way you look at it.’

‘You’re being so kind.’ Gayle’s eyes prickled with tears. ‘May I ask you a question?’

‘Go ahead.’

‘Why don’t you ever let anyone call you Adeleine these days?’

Addie smiled. ‘Initially, it was because Dad was the one to call me that. My friends called me Addie – so did Susanna, from time to time. When Dad died, I didn’t want anyone else to use that name. Not even you.’

‘Oh, I know.’

‘It’s less of a big deal now than it was then, to be honest. My boss always calls me Adeleine, but it does sound a bit more grown up in the office, so I let it slide.

I suppose I’ve been Addie for so long that I’ve grown to like it.

It’s no longer because hearing Adeleine is painful, it’s more that I’m different. ’

‘I do wish the three of us had worked this out a long time ago. When you two girls came to live with me, I told myself that this was my chance to be a mother figure, but then I kept messing it up.’ She pre-empted Addie’s disagreement, ‘I did. You girls were young, and it should’ve been me who managed to get you both to a better place.

I’ll never forgive myself that I didn’t. ’

‘Well, you should. Susanna and I know we have all contributed to the three of us not having a very good relationship.’ She paused.

‘Susanna also knows that I pulled back from you because of her. My big sister, who I looked up to, I didn’t want to do anything that went against her wishes, and so when you weren’t particularly enthusiastic about my love of baking, I accepted it, I stepped back.

I should’ve been stronger and become my own person earlier on.

I liked it here, felt at home. I always wondered what it might have been like if I’d followed my dreams. I knew that you had, that you’d found a wonderful place to live on a beautiful island and you’d launched a successful business.

’ She looked fondly at Gayle. ‘Do you know how many times over the years I wanted to call you up and talk to you?’

‘But you felt it was betraying Susanna?’

‘Not only that, I thought I’d left it so long that you might not want to know. You had friends, a life, the café. I wasn’t sure if I could, or should, try to edge back in.’

‘Then I’m guilty of not making it so that you knew.’ Her eyes met Addie’s. ‘What a pair we are. What a trio, what a quartet with Louisa too!’

‘Gayle, what would you think if I said I wanted to bring Isaac to the island for his half-term holiday?’

Gayle’s face lit up, and she put her hands across her mouth for a moment before she took them away to utter, ‘I’d say yes, please.’

And now Addie and Isaac were almost at the island. The boat was close enough to the harbour that they could start to focus on the people lined up, waiting to greet the arrivals.

‘Can you see her?’ Addie asked her little boy, who was standing as tall as he could, on tiptoes.

Luckily, she wasn’t crouched next to Isaac because he suddenly jumped up, bouncing on his toes now as he waved madly.

‘Auntie Gayle, Auntie Gayle!’ Isaac had taken to calling her Auntie Gayle rather than Aunt Gayle over their FaceTimes, which Gayle didn’t mind one bit, and his little voice might not have carried over the din of the boat as it came in to dock, but his hands in the air certainly caught Gayle’s attention.

Addie spotted Gayle waving to them both.

She kept a firm clasp on her son’s hand until they were safely off the vessel, and it was safe for him to charge up the ramp and into Gayle’s arms. Addie suspected if she had the strength Gayle would’ve picked him up and swung him around, but they both settled on a big hug and Addie went over to get one for herself.

This time, returning to Anchor Island felt a lot like coming home, except to a home she hadn’t admitted the true existence of until recently.

* * *

An hour later they were in the Sweet Life Café and Gayle was in her element.

She was back at work, although not today and only in a part-time capacity when she was.

She’d been talking to Isaac about her pudding business ever since they met down at the harbour and had answered the million and one questions he had.

‘Would you look at the pair of them,’ said Nancy, as they watched Isaac emerge from the kitchen first, carrying his own choice of pudding topped with a rather generous dollop of cream.

Gayle followed after with a more modest portion.

Addie wasn’t about to comment either, because according to Nancy, Gayle was staying on track with the healthy eating and puddings were no longer the mainstay of her diet.

When a group of four customers came through the door, Nancy announced, ‘No rest for the wicked. We’re getting busy. I’ll get on.’

Addie spotted a spare apron hanging on the hook outside the kitchen. ‘I’ll give you a hand.’ And when she waved over at Gayle who was in cahoots with Isaac in the same far booth the Rafferty girls had always taken, Gayle nodded her absolute approval.

They stayed until closing time, and while Isaac was busy with a colouring book and a full complement of felt-tips, Addie sat at the adjacent table with Gayle and Nancy and a cup of coffee each.

‘This one has been a lot of help today,’ said Nancy, gesturing to Addie. ‘Our part-time help lasted all of a week.’

‘Was she that terrible?’ Addie asked.

‘He. And yes, I caught him smoking up on the balcony and handing out free pudding to his mates.’

‘Oh dear.’

‘Good job you found him, not me,’ said Gayle. ‘Louisa was here last week helping out, but by her own admission her skills are more suited to the garden than the kitchen.’

‘She sounds like she’s doing well with her new job.

’ Addie, Susanna and Louisa were slowly getting to know each other.

They did FaceTime calls regularly and finally Louisa had found full-time work at a garden centre and already talked about someday having her own business. Maybe it was in the genes.

‘When you do what you love, it’s a lot easier,’ Gayle agreed.

‘Part-time help is why I wanted to talk to you both, actually,’ Addie told the two women. ‘I have an idea. It sounds kind of crazy even to my own ears, so please tell me if it is.’

‘Spit it out, love,’ said Nancy.

‘Well… what if I was to come and work here.’ She paused, looked from Gayle to Nancy, Nancy to Gayle.

‘That would be great,’ said Gayle. ‘It’s a busy week, with half term.’

‘No, I don’t mean just for half term. I mean, what if I was to come and work here, permanently?’

Gayle looked over at Isaac. ‘How would you do that when you live in London?’

Addie felt a smile form. ‘I’d move myself and Isaac over here, rent somewhere, enrol Isaac in school, the whole shebang.’

Gayle couldn’t have looked more shocked if Addie had said she was going to run naked down Bay Street carrying a tray of puddings.

‘We do need someone reliable,’ Nancy urged.

‘What about your job?’ Gayle asked. ‘The wages here would be nowhere near on a par.’

‘I have factored that in. Wages would be less, but the cost of living here is cheaper. And it’s time for Isaac and I to have a new adventure.

I have savings given I’ve been trying to get a deposit together for a long time.

I’d rent for a while and take it from there.

There are a couple of two-bed apartments that would be perfect for us.

I could do however many hours you needed me to do. ’

‘This is all… Well, it’s wonderful,’ said Gayle. ‘But I have to ask, are you doing this so you can keep an eye on me?’

‘Absolutely not. You’d see right through that plan if I tried.

This is something for me and for my son.

I don’t love my job in London. It’s been a means to an end for so long, but being here on the island, being at the Sweet Life Café, reminded me of how different my life might be if I only took a chance. Susanna agrees with me too.’

‘She does?’

Addie nodded. ‘We’ve had a long talk.’

Gayle looked at Isaac and then back at Addie. ‘It’s a yes on one condition.’

‘Name it.’

‘I’ll employ you full time but only if you move into the cottage with me, or at least agree to have the garden room.

I’ll charge you a peppercorn rent so you can save your money and invest in a property on the island if you like it and want to stay.

’ Firmly, she added, ‘Take it or leave it, that’s my offer. ’

Addie drew in her breath and extended her hand. ‘Deal.’ And then she raced to her aunt’s side and gave her the biggest hug. Nancy disappeared out back and returned with her handbag.

‘Where on earth are you off to?’ asked Gayle.

‘I’m going to buy a bottle of champagne, and I think this calls for fish and chips all round.’

Gayle laughed. ‘I’m not sure my doctor recommends champagne.’

‘A small glass won’t hurt,’ she said. ‘Isaac, would you like to help me buy fish and chips and carry them back here?’

‘Yes!’ Isaac stopped his colouring and clicked the lids back on the felt-tips scattered across the table.

Nancy lowered her voice and said to Addie, ‘He won’t be scarred if he sees me nip into the off-licence, will he?’

‘I’m sure he won’t.’

Moments later, Isaac and Nancy left hand in hand with Isaac delivering his usual rapid-fire questioning by asking Nancy whether the fish they were going to eat were caught from the water surrounding the island.

Her little boy was going to love it here, and she already did.