Page 22 of New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe
As Rose rushed off to serve Simon and Anya, the couple from the gift shop, the Pink Ribbon, Tori spotted a familiar face walk through the door.
‘Look who it is!’ cried Kate, Jake’s younger sister.
‘Kate!’ said Tori, jumping up to give her friend a hug.
‘It’s so good to see you! I meant to pop in sooner but mum life kinda got in the way,’ said Kate, shaking her head.
‘Ah, you’re here now. How are you? And Ben and the girls?’
‘I’m good. Life is crazy as always! Ben’s working all hours, so I feel like I hardly see him, Lily wants to be a mermaid and Hannah is pony crazy, she’s almost as bad as us when we were her age,’ said Kate.
‘I hope your bank balance is up to the challenge, Kate. Those riding lessons nearly bankrupted me,’ laughed Joyce.
‘Tell me about it,’ replied Kate. ‘I’m going to need to take out a second mortgage at the rate she’s going through jodhpurs!’
‘Kate, hi!’ cried Rose, from behind the counter.
‘Hiya! Jake told me you were here,’ said Kate, with a wave.
‘If Kate and Rose are free later, why don’t you all go to the pub for a drink?’ said Joyce. Tori opened her mouth to object. ‘Listen,’ insisted Joyce, holding up a hand. ‘You’ve been working too hard recently, you deserve a night out.’
‘I’m free,’ said Kate.
‘What if you have another funny turn, Mum?’ said Tori.
‘Rose? Have you got plans later?’ Joyce shouted across the room.
‘You mean other than spending the night glued to my phone while Jake watches Spurs lose?’ said Rose.
‘Fancy the pub?’ asked Joyce.
Rose beamed. ‘Definitely! I’ll see if Grace is free too. We can make a night of it,’ said Rose.
‘Perfect,’ said Joyce, smiling. ‘There you are then. All sorted.’
‘Mum, you really don’t take no for an answer, do you?’ Tori laughed.
As Kate headed to the counter to place her order, Tori pulled up a chair opposite her mum and took a large swig of her coffee.
‘So howareyou feeling, Mum? About the test results I mean.’
‘Relieved, to tell you the truth. I know I put on a brave face, but… well, I guess part of me was worried sick that there was something really wrong. Something that couldn’t be fixed with a few pills and some vitamin injections.’ Joyce sniffed and rubbed her eyes.
‘Oh, Mum! Why didn’t you say anything? We could have talked about it.’
‘Oh, you know me, I like to hope for the best and, anyway, I didn’t want to burden you with my worries.’
‘Why not? That’s exactly what I’m here for!’
‘You’ve got enough on your plate. What with everything that’s happened recently with Ryan and…’
‘And what?’
‘And… I didn’t want you to feel as though youhadto look after me.’
‘But Mum—’
‘No, Tori. I didn’t… I don’t want you to feel as though I’m a burden. I’m not sure what you’ve got planned now that you’re home, but I don’t want to be the one holding you back, if you’ve got other things you want to do.’ Joyce hung her head.
