Page 8 of New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe
‘It’ll take more than a fractured hip to keep Jean Hargreaves out of mischief,’ laughed Beth, the landlady of the Apple Tree. ‘It’s good to have you back, Tori, sweetheart.’
‘Never mind howsheis,’ said Maggie, the owner of Harrison’s general store, ‘I want to know when that boyfriend of yours is getting here – Ryan, isn’t it? Joyce said he’s been delayed and we’re all dying to see him again.’ Jean, Beth and Maggie all looked up at her expectantly.
‘And to hear more about your travels, of course,’ Beth added quickly.
Tori felt her mouth go dry and her shoulders tense. She’d not even been back in the village ten minutes and already people were quizzing her over Ryan. She couldn’t tell them the truth; well, not yet anyway. She needed to explain things to her mum first.
‘Oh, in a couple of weeks hopefully,’ she said, twisting the strings of her apron tightly around her fingers. ‘I’d best get on, we’re really busy this morning,’ she added quickly, picking up her tray.
‘Well, make sure you bring him along to the pub when he arrives – your first drink’s on the house,’ said Beth.
Tori nodded, gave Beth a weak smile and walked away silently.
The rest of the morning passed quickly, and before Tori knew it, the lunchtime rush was over and she was ready to collapse in a heap.
‘Please tell me it’s not this busy every day?’ Tori asked her mum, untying her apron strings and throwing herself into the nearest chair. ‘I don’t know how you’ve been managing on your own since Cathy left… I’ve only worked one shift and I’m done in.’
‘Well, it’s a good thing I’m made of stronger stuff,’ Joyce laughed, putting a steaming hot mug of tea and a cheese and sundried tomato toastie down in front of Tori. ‘Now the new housing estate is up, we’re busier than ever. Plus, it’s practically holiday season and you know we always get tourists popping in on their way over to Rye.’
‘It’s good that new estate is bringing in business,’ Tori said, taking a large bite of her toastie. ‘Ow, that cheese is like molten lava,’ she said, pursing her lips and blowing hard.
Joyce laughed. ‘It has just come off the grill, what do you expect?’ said Joyce, taking a seat opposite her daughter and tucking into a ham sandwich.
‘What’s the plan for the rest of the day?’ Tori asked.
‘I’ll close up here at three and then I thought we could take a drive up to that new retail park if you fancy it? They’ve got a Dunelm, so you could get some ideas for your new place…’
Tori decided to be brave and take Rose’s advice. She was going to tell her mum the truth about Ryan. Even if they did get back together, she wanted her mum to know the full story. She hated not being straight with her; it wasn’t how their relationship worked.
‘Mum, listen, I’ve got something I need to talk to you about actually…’
‘Oh, hang on, love, I’ve forgotten the sugar.’ As Joyce stood up and walked over to the counter, she staggered and grabbed hold of the corner of the nearest table to steady herself.
‘Mum!’ cried Tori, leaping up and grabbing Joyce around the waist. ‘What’s wrong? Come back and sit down,’ she said, helping Joyce to her seat.
‘I stood up too quickly, that’s all,’ said Joyce, fanning herself with the menu that was on the table. ‘I just got a bit dizzy, nothing to worry about.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Don’t make a fuss, love, I’m fine. Like I said, I just stood up a bit too fast. It’s nothing a bit of a sit-down and some food won’t sort out.’
‘Well, if it happens again, you’re getting checked out by the doctor. Deal?’
‘Oh, you’re making something out of nothing, love.’
‘I’m serious, Mum. Deal?’
‘Oh, okay. Deal,’ Joyce said, nodding her head reluctantly.
Tori banished all thoughts of breaking the news about Ryan from her mind. The last thing she wanted to do was to add to her mum’s stress. It looked like she’d be going to the retail park to do some shopping for her imaginary new house after all…
The shopping trip didn’t turn out as badly as Tori had feared. She’d managed to steer Joyce away from the idea of shopping for items for a new house by focusing on buying accessories to spruce up the tearoom. The Cosy Cup was decorated ina pastel colour palette of pale pink and mint green and Tori had spotted the cutest little pink and green bud vases which would be perfect for fresh flowers. She persuaded her mum to invest in one for every table in the café under the proviso thatshewould be the one responsible for keeping the floral arrangements fresh each day.
Tori could feel herself drifting off in the passenger seat of her mum’s Toyota Yaris on the journey back to Blossom Heath. She was still feeling jet-lagged from the flight home and the busy shift in the tearoom had helped to edge her into a state of slumber. As she felt the car pull to a stop, she opened her eyes to see that they weren’t back home at all. They were parked outside the sales office of the Meadowgate Mead housing development. Tori rubbed her eyes.
‘Mum? What are we doing here?’ she asked, panic flicking across her face. ‘I thought we were going straight home?’
‘Ah, I spotted the signs for Meadowgate and I just couldn’t resist, love. I wanted to see what all the fuss is about. We might as well have a look around the show home while we’re here.’
