Page 21 of The Cornish Cream Tea Bookshop
‘Happy to help.’ He blew on his fingers. He didn’t have gloves on, and Ollie had to resist the urge to take hold of his hands, to warm them between her palms. Instead, she clipped Henry’s lead onto his harness, and they left the ruins of St Ethel’s church behind and walked into town. The colours were subdued beneath a grey sky, but Port Karadow was no less charming.
‘How long have you been running Sea Brew?’ Ollie asked.
‘Close to four years,’ Max said. ‘It was a bit of a gamble to begin with. There was an old guy, Serge, running the café, but he was retiring and wanted someone to buy it. I’d just … I’d given up my other business and was looking for something new. The people part played to my strengths, and I thought the rest I could learn, or employ experts to do, like Beryan with the cakes.’
‘It’s a great café,’ Ollie said, ‘and it’s obviously successful. I’d say the gamble paid off.’
‘Yup.’ Max laughed. ‘I got lucky.’
‘It sounds like you worked hard for it. What was the business you gave up?’
‘I used to be a personal trainer.’
Ollie glanced at him. They were at the bottom of Main Street, only a couple of minutes from Sea Brew, and she was wondering just how many challenges the universe was going to throw at her. Because not only had she failed to find any flaws in Max’s personality, now she was faced with images of him in gym gear, his muscles glistening with sweat, his voice commanding in a way she hadn’t heard it so far.
‘Bit of a change,’ she said, trying to keep her voice light.
‘Yeah, I basically did a three-sixty. From helping people get in the best shape of their lives, to tempting them with buttery, sugary cakes.’ He laughed. ‘Sometimes, though, life throws you a curveball, and you just have to catch it as best you can.’
Ollie was about to ask what hiscurveball was – her shoulder choosing that moment to ache, as if on cue – when they reached Sea Brew. The door was closed against thecold, one of the servers Ollie recognised standing behind the counter.
‘OK?’ Max gestured at her shoulder. She hadn’t realised she was rubbing it. It had become an automatic response, like a tic she couldn’t control.
‘I’m fine,’ she said, dropping her hand. ‘AreyouOK?’
She hadn’t meant to ask it, but there was something in his expression she’d never seen before, as if only 80 per cent of him was with her, the other twenty a long way away. So far, whenever she’d been with him, he’d been wholly present: warm and attentive, the sun around which everyone else orbited. It was disconcerting seeing him on edge, even if it was mostly intuition that told Ollie he was uncomfortable.
‘I’m good,’ he said. ‘Just thinking about the past. It’s hard not to, sometimes.’
‘Do you want to talk about it?’ As she said the words, a voice inside her head said,Nope.Danger.
Max paused on a breath, as if he’d been about to reply but then changed his mind. ‘Let’s get the coffee machine sorted first,’ he said. ‘But I wouldn’t be wholly against it, as long as it’s an even exchange.’
‘What do you mean?’
Max reached out and took her right arm, the undamaged one, and pulled her forwards. A voice behind called, ‘Thank you!’ and only then did Ollie realise she’d been blocking the café door.
‘If I tell you why I went from PT to café owner,’ Max said, ‘you have to tell me what’s up with your shoulder. And also why you swapped London for Cornwall. That’s a drastic move in anyone’s book.’
‘From coffee machines to deepest secrets,’ Ollie said with a laugh. ‘That’sa drastic move.’
Max grinned at her. ‘We started the day talking about haunted churches. I think our relationship has already broken the confines of its original boundaries.’
‘Maybe it has,’ Ollie said, and she really,honestly, hadn’t meant to sound so flirtatious, but Max’s green eyes shone, making up for the lack of sunshine, and now she was so close to him, he smelled incredible: like a herb garden and coffee shop rolled into one. She couldn’t decide which of her senses was getting the better deal.
‘So,’ Max said, blinking quickly and dropping his hand, as if her flirting had made him wary. ‘Coffee machine.’
‘Coffee machine,’ Ollie repeated, inwardly cursing herself. ‘Do you think we could find one that makes these chai tea lattes?’
Max laughed and pushed open the door, gesturing for her to go ahead of him. ‘You don’t ask for much, do you?’
‘Why not reach for the stars?’ she said. ‘You might fall short, but there’s always a chance that you’ll make it first time.’
Max paused in the doorway, his gaze sharp on hers. They stayed that way, something shimmering in the space between them, until a customer came up behind Max and said, ‘Excuse me,’ and he was forced to move out of the way.
Ollie walked into the coffee shop, her heart beating a hectic rhythm in her chest, her dog quietly content at her side, oblivious to the tension surrounding them like falling snow.
Chapter Ten
