Page 119 of New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe
‘Come in, I’ll stick the kettle on,’ he said, gesturingfor Tori to follow him into the farmhouse. ‘Milk, two sugars, right?’
‘Yep, thanks, Jake.’
‘So, how’s things?’ he asked. ‘I heard about Millie Martin rocking up at the café. Impressive,’ he said, raising an eyebrow. ‘Nathan said she even gave his cheese a shout-out – he’s had loads of online orders today.’
‘That’s great! I still can’t believe she turned up. We’re fully booked for the next few weeks now.’
‘I’m not surprised – hasn’t she got about two million followers?’
‘Two point six million, to be exact.’
‘Wowser,’ said Jake, whistling.
‘I know, crazy, isn’t it?’
‘Mental,’ Jake agreed, ‘and what about Ryan? I’d heard he was back. How are you doing with all that?’
‘Not great,’ she said, groaning. ‘It’s a bloody mess if I’m honest, Jake.’
‘I’m guessing that’s what you want to talk to Rose about?’
‘Is it that obvious?’
‘Well, it doesn’t exactly take a genius to work it out.’ Jake smiled. ‘You know, I’m a pretty good listener, if you want to talk while you’re waiting for Rose?’
Tori eyed him suspiciously. ‘Hmm…’
‘You don’t look convinced… Just try me, okay? What harm can it do?’
‘Okay, okay,’ said Tori, exhaling, ‘why not?’ Jake passedher a steaming mug of tea and pulled up a seat next to her. ‘Well, I’m guessing Rose has told you what Ryan did just before I flew home.’
‘She filled me in, yes,’ he said, nodding.
‘And things with Leo were going well, pretty well. And then up pops Ryan wanting us to get back together again and I’m just not sure if I can…’
‘Trust him?’
Tori nodded and took a huge gulp of her tea. ‘He let me down badly, Jake. I know he didn’t cheat or anything like that, but he just dumped me without any explanation. I was left to come home alone from the other side of the world. I’m just not sure if his heart is really in building a future together or if he just wants me back cos he says he misses me.’
‘And Leo? How do things stand there?’
‘I don’t know,’ she said, shrugging. ‘I thought things were going really well but when I told him Ryan was back, he acted as though he wasn’t bothered at all. I guess we’ve only had one date, so he probably isn’t—’
‘He is.’
‘Is what?’
‘Bothered,’ said Jake.
‘How do you… Has he said something?’ Tori asked quickly.
‘Well, not directly, no. But I can tell something’s up with him.’
‘You can?’
‘Oh yeah, definitely. He’s not his usual… well, he’s notLeo. He’s been really down and grouchy. It’s not just me – all the lads at football have noticed something’s up. He’s grumpy at practice, not wanting to come to the pub. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was missing someone…’
‘What? But that doesn’t make any sense,’ said Tori, shaking her head. ‘He’s not said anything to me, he’s not shown any sign that he’s not okay about Ryan.’
