Page 15 of New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe
‘You’re imagining things.’
‘I am not,’ said Rose, coming to a standstill and putting her hands on her hips. ‘Don’t tell me you genuinely didn’t feel it?’ Tori shifted awkwardly on the spot. ‘I knew it!’ said Rose, jumping up and down. ‘You like him, don’t you?’
‘Look, I’m not saying I felt nothing… I mean, obviously he’s gorgeous, I’m not blind. But I meant what I said theyesterday. I’movermen. And anyway, I’m sure he’s got a whole line of women queuing up for him. He’s not going to be interested in me.’
‘Oh, stop it! He was definitely checking you out…’
‘Rose! I said I’m not interested, okay?’
‘You know, he plays football with Jake,’ Rose continued. ‘I’ll get him to put some feelers out, make sure he’s single—’
‘No! I mean it, Rose. Don’t meddle, okay?’
‘But—’
‘Rose!’ said Tori, glaring at her friend.
‘Okay, okay. I promise I won’t meddle,’ said Rose, kicking at the ground with her foot.
‘Thanks.’
‘But you’re an idiot if you ask me, Tori Baxter, you just don’t ignore chemistry like that.’
‘Well, I can certainly try to,’ Tori said determinedly, and, as she strode back towards the tearoom, her thoughts were firmly fixed on Ryan. Whatever kind of spark she had felt just now with Leo, it wasn’t something she was ready to think about just yet.
Chapter 6
The next few days whizzed past and Tori soon found that she’d been back in Blossom Heath for over a fortnight. She had slipped back into the routine of helping her mum out at the tearoom each day as though she’d never been away, which helped keep her mind occupied and she realized that she’d hardly thought about Ryan at all in the last twenty-four hours. That was definitely progress. She couldn’t believe how much her feet throbbed and her lower back ached after a shift waiting tables and serving coffees. She honestly didn’t know how her mum had been managing to run things on her own since Cathy had left. She paused. What would her mum do when she got another job? She really didn’t want to leave Joyce in the lurch but the thought of working there indefinitely didn’t leave her feeling inspired. Now her plans for the future had been thrown into chaos, she wasn’t sure how she felt about being in the village long term. If she was going to get over Ryan, she knew she needed something new, an adventure ordistraction that was just for her, a chance to feel like herself again, and that wasn’t going to happen if she stayed stuck working at the tearoom.
After another long day on her feet, Tori sat curled up on the sofa at home, her legs tucked underneath her, as she scrolled through Instagram on her phone. She had insisted on cooking for her mum tonight; Joyce had looked exhausted when they had finally left the Cosy Cup and Tori noticed the dark shadows under her eyes with concern. Joyce was watching her favourite soap on TV and Ernie was purring contentedly on her lap. After being away for so long, the soap’s storyline was completely lost on Tori and she had focused all her attention on her phone. So far she’d avoided checking social media since she’d been home; she didn’t want to stumble across a post from Ryan, showing off how fabulous his newly single life was in Thailand.A life that no longer included her. Ryan Wicks. She hovered her index finger over his name as it appeared in her friends list. Should she unfollow him? Or would that look weird? She really didn’t want him to think that she cared enough to go to the trouble of unfollowing him. She stared at the screen intently. What to do…
‘Earth to Tori?’ said Joyce.
Tori looked up abruptly, her concentration broken.
‘Sorry, what?’
‘I said, do you want a cuppa?’
‘Oh, yeah, sorry,’ Tori replied.
‘Honestly, you young ones with your phones. You’repractically glued to them,’ said Joyce, as she walked out of the living room.
‘It’s nothing important,’ Tori shouted through to the kitchen, ‘just Instagram.’
Bang!
Tori heard a loud crash from the kitchen.
‘Mum?’ she called, leaping up from the sofa. ‘Mum?’ When she reached the kitchen doorway, Tori saw Joyce lying on the floor, a ceramic mug smashed into pieces around her. Ernie was next to her meowing loudly. She was out cold. ‘Mum!’ yelled Tori, dropping to her knees and taking Joyce’s hand. ‘Mum, what’s wrong?’ She squeezed her mum’s fingers and gently tucked her hair back behind her ear.
Joyce began to stir, she murmured and her eyes slowly opened. She looked confused. ‘Tori, love? What?’ asked Joyce quietly, trying to sit herself up.
‘Mum, thank God!’ replied Tori, exhaling. ‘Don’t try and move, just take a minute. I think you fainted.’
‘Fainted?’
‘I think so. Shall I call Dr Marshall?’ said Tori.
