Page 16 of A Fresh Start at Bramble Cottage
There were a few tables on the pavement outside, with families eating pasties and iced cupcakes, and drinking coffee. A small spaniel came to sniff at her ankles and she bent to tickle his ear.
Inside, the café was very much as she remembered it, though it had clearly been spruced up since then. A cool black-and-white tiled floor; Formica-topped tables and white painted chairs; pale blue walls hung with colourful framed 1950s-style posters:Welcome to Sturcombe.
At the back was a counter with a glass-fronted cabinet displaying a selection of delicious-looking cakes and scones, all sorts of savouries, and the famous cupcakes.
There were fifteen tables, most of them full. A young woman of about her own age, with a mass of short dark curls, was serving one of the tables. She glanced round with a slightly distracted smile as Vicky walked in.
“Hi. I’ll be with you in a tick. Have a seat.”
Vicky settled down at a table, watching the people strolling along the Esplanade — children kicking their scooters along,mums and dads in sandals and cotton shorts and T-shirts, pushing buggies.
But it was the view beyond that captivated her — all that vast expanse of shimmering blue, stretching out far beyond the distant horizon. It seemed to go on to the end of the world...
The young woman came bustling over, pad in hand. “What can I get you?” she asked.
“I’ll have a cream tea, please. Those scones look delicious — are they home-made?”
“Of course.” A beam of pride. “I make them myself.”
Something about her tugged at Vicky’s memory. “Are you... Excuse me, but are you Debbie Rowley?”
“Yes, I am — well, Debbie Gowan, now. Sort of.” The young woman looked puzzled. “I’m sorry, I don’t think...”
“I’m Vicky — Vicky Marston. I used to come down to stay with my Aunt Molly in the summers when I was little, and we used to play together on the beach. I’m not surprised you don’t remember me, though — it was years ago.”
“Vicky? Oh my Lord! Yes, I do remember. Goodness, it must be... what, fifteen years!”
“Sixteen. And you’re married now?”
Debbie glanced away. “Divorced.”
“Oh.”Oops. “But you’re running the café?”
That brought the smile back. “My mum still owns it. She’s poorly at the moment — she’s had a bout of pneumonia and the doctor says she needs to stay in bed for another week.”
“Oh, that’s a shame. Wish her well for me.”
“I will. Oh — excuse me...” More customers had come in, two children running to the counter to gaze wide-eyed at the selection of goodies on display.
“Sure. See you in a minute.”
Vicky propped her elbow on the table, rested her chin on her fist and gazed out of the window again. When she was little ithad been the beach and the shallows that had excited her. Now it was the bay, and the open sea.
There was something so serene about all that wide space — a sense that she could breathe. Even though she had lived in London all her life, sometimes she dreamed of escape. She hated the traffic, the uncaring crowds, the relentless rush and bustle.
If she could stay here... To wake in the mornings to green grass and butterflies, to walk down to the sea whenever she wanted, to watch the dusk roll in over the fields and the stars come out in the dark velvet sky.
Into her mind drifted an image of her next-door neighbour — of those dark, mesmerising eyes, that smile...
No!Where had that come from? Wishing she could stay here had nothing whatsoever to do with Tom Cullen. She didn’t even like him — and he didn’t seem to like her very much. And it definitely wasn’t him that she had dreamed about last night.
Unconsciously she twisted the diamond ring on her finger. Anyway, she was engaged to Jeremy. If she had dreamed about her neighbour at all, it was only because he was so annoying.
“Here you go.”
“Ah — thank you.” She smiled up at her old friend as she set a tray down on the table. Debbie had always been quite shy, Vicky recalled, but there seemed to be something almost... melancholy about her now.
Because of her divorce? Had it been quite recent, still painful? She didn’t like to ask. Instead she gestured towards the window. “I’d forgotten about this view. You’re so lucky to live here.”
