Page 99 of New Beginnings at the Cosy Cat Cafe
‘I know,’ said Joyce. ‘He’s certainly picked his moment. You don’t have to make any decisions about what you want to do now though, do you? The two of you were together a long time, and he owes you an explanation, but he’s got no right to put any pressure on you.’
‘I genuinely don’t know how I feel.’
‘I think anyone would be confused – it’s only natural, love,’ said Joyce, getting up to answer the landline phone, which was ringing. ‘Who the hell is that at this time of night?’
Tori could hear muffled voices coming from the other room.No, I know, she’s already seen him… yes… thanks for letting us know.
‘Who was that?’ asked Tori, blowing her nose, as Joyce sat back down, digging into the biscuits.
‘Oh, just Beth. Ryan’s turned up looking for a room for the night and she wanted to make sure you knew he was back. Didn’t want you to have any nasty surprises in the morning. She said she had half a mind to send him packing after the way he treated you, though.’
Tori forced a weak smile. ‘I wish she had,’ she said.
‘Oh, and she’s got a ton of fallen apples for us; I can finally get batch baking those apple pies this weekend.’
‘That’s kind of her.’
‘Now, why don’t we head to bed. We’re going to have a busy day tomorrow.’
Tori grabbed the packet of biscuits and shoved them in her pocket. Somehow, she didn’t think she’d be getting much sleep at all tonight.
As Leo kicked off his shoes and slumped down on the sofa, beer in hand, he couldn’t stop thinking about how great Tori was. What a first date! He’d been on his fair share of dates, but he’d never felt as nervous as he had tonight. Therewas something about being with Tori that made him feel as though anything was possible. He really admired the way she’d picked herself up since being back home, she had something special about her – passion, drive…a spark.
He picked up his phone – was it too soon to message her?Probably, he thought, shaking his head. He scrolled through his Instagram, and a new notification popped up.The Cosy Cat Café has added to their story. He smiled and clicked through to a selfie of Tori with Angel; the caption read:Don’t forget all the cats at the café are adoptable. He loved Tori’s passion for the café, the way her face lit up whenever she talked about it made her enthusiasm infectious. All he wanted was to be near her; she was gorgeous, obviously, but the way he felt about her ran much deeper than purely physical attraction. There was a connection, something he’d not experienced before, with anyone,ever. He could talk to her, really talk to her. He found himself starting to open up in a way he’d never felt comfortable doing before. It didn’t feel scary with Tori, though, and he found she was a great listener too. He knew he needed to tread carefully and take things slow; the last thing he wanted to do was to scare her off or come on too strong. But he was glad that he’d laid his cards on the table and told her how he felt. He wasn’t going to rush things and, as he switched off his phone and headed up the stairs to bed, he knew in his heart that Tori was the woman he was ready to start building a future with.
By the time Tori arrived at work the next morning, news of Ryan’s return to Blossom Heath had already spread around the village like wildfire and it wasn’t long before the man himself showed his face at the café door. As Tori let him in, a hush descended across the room.
‘Not here,’ Tori hissed. ‘I’ve got work to do – I can’t talk now.’
‘When then? You’ve got to give me a chance to explain—’
‘How dare you! I don’t have to give you a chance at all!’
‘Sorry, Tori. Of course you don’t,’ he said, dropping his head. ‘I was hoping that you might though…’
‘Fine, I’ll come to the pub tonight – we can talk there.’
‘You won’t regret it, Tori,’ he said, his face brightening.
‘I’ll meet you at the pub at seven.’
‘I’ll be waiting. I don’t suppose I could grab a coffee to go while I’m here, could I? The stuff they serve at the Apple Tree tastes like charcoal,’ he said, screwing up his face.
‘Fine,’ she replied, grabbing the pot of filter coffee. ‘That’ll be £2.85,’ she said, holding out the card machine.
‘I’ll have a G and T waiting for you,’ Ryan said. Tori felt her insides knot into a tight ball. Why was he acting as if nothing had changed? ‘This place looks amazing, by the way; you’ve done a great job. I’m proud of you,’ he said, flashing her a smile as he left.
Had she done the right thing, agreeing to meet Ryan tonight? She had waited long enough to hear an explanation. She’d spent weeks wondering why he’d broken up with her so abruptly and maybe tonight she’d finally get the closureshe needed to move on once and for all. Wasn’t that what she had felt desperate for these last few weeks anyway? After all, what had she got to lose?
When the lunchtime rush was over and Tori was able to leave Joyce on her own, Tori pulled up on the driveway of Three Acres Farm to meet Jake’s friend, Nathan.
‘Hi, you must be Tori! I’m Nathan, pleased to meet you. Welcome to Three Acres!’ said a tall, muscular man, wearing shorts and wellies, shaking her hand vigorously. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected him to look like, but it certainly wasn’t the handsome, twenty-something powerhouse in front of her.
‘Lovely to meet you, and thanks so much for finding time for this. Jake said you were the man to speak to about cheese, as we’re hoping to stock local suppliers in our café, the Cosy Cat? You might have heard of us?’ Tori said, returning his smile.
‘No problem at all, and yes, I’ve heard all about your café and your smoothies. I’m hoping to pop down myself one of these days to try out your avocado on sourdough, actually. I’ve got a great selection of our bestsellers for you to try, all set up in the barn.’
‘Oh, wow! This place is amazing,’ said Tori, following him.
