Page 2 of Love By Sunset

‘Hiya, Jake. All well?’ Brian spoke a brief greeting, and David nodded at him.

‘Good, thanks. I’ve been quite busy at the café, but I got a good surfing session in after closing.’

‘Great.’ Brian took a gulp of his beer. ‘Hey, David here’s been telling me something you’ll be interested in.’

‘Oh, yeah. What?’

‘Our Katy,’ David said. His wife, Katy, worked for Solhaven Council Planning Department. ‘She came home today and said a company called Approach Developments was interested in buying the Solhaven Estate.’

‘What?’ Jake’s eyes flew open as he looked at his long-time mates in disbelief.

And that was when all thoughts of the brunette fled his mind.

‘Katy says,’ David repeated patiently, ‘a company called Approach Developments has put out feelers for the Solhaven Estate.’

‘It’s going to be sold?’ Jake straightened in his seat, his hands clenched into fists on the table. The pub noises faded away as a chill ran through his body.

‘Didn’t you know? You must have known?’

‘What? How would I know? I wouldn’t be bloody asking if I knew, now would I?’

‘He died intestate, old Mr Whitchurch, so the estate went to his nephew in New Zealand, and he wants to sell, so it’s in the hands of Greenall’s. It seems Approach spotted it and made some enquiries. They rang planning to sound them out, so they must be keen. Katy says they want to make an all-year resort, but quite what they meant by that, she wasn’t sure.’

‘But…’ Jake looked from one to the other, slightly bewildered, ‘this isSolhaven. What the hell would they hope to achieve here?’

‘No idea, mate,’ David said, rising to get another round in. ‘But I gather if they’re the ones taking an interest, even the planning department seems keen. Got an excellent reputation and very ethical, apparently.’ Clutching the glasses, he wandered off to the bar.

Jake stared at the beer mat in front of him, head propped on his hands. ‘Fuck!’

‘Eh?’ Brian leaned forwards. ‘You okay, mate? What’s up?’

‘Henry said he would make a will. They can’t have found it. I know he said that, because he told me he would leave me the café and carpark, and the access rights down the lane. So what’s it all doing, up for sale? And why the hell didn’t I know about it?’ Jake’s shoulders hunched and his hand slid up his face to fist in his hair.

Brian looked confused as David returned with fresh pints for them all and some bags of crisps, which he dropped onto the table. Looking from Jake to Brian, he asked, ‘What’s up?’

‘He says Henry Whitchurch made a will. Says Mr Whitchurch told him he’d get the café.’

A silence fell. Brian and David exchanged a glance, eyebrows raised, before Brian turned to Jake, a note of sympathy in his voice. ‘Not what we’ve heard, lad. There was no will. Seems like he died intestate. Maybe he meant to write one and died before he could get round to it?’ Brian took a long swig of his beer and swiped a hand across the back of his mouth.

‘But he talked about it as if it was something he intended to sort out straightaway.’

The other two shook their heads, looking glum.

‘I thought you owned it, anyway?’ Brian took another mouthful of his beer before setting the glass down.

It was common knowledge the café was as good as Jake’s, and had been for several years, since old Mr Whitchurch had handed it over as a goodwill gesture. Ever since Henry Whitchurch had suggested he work there as a washer-up in part-repayment for the kit the kind man had bought for him, the café had been Jake’s lodestone. He’d graduated to waiter, and in quiet times he’d bombarded the cook with questions. He recalled the years spent watching and learning, his awe and excitement when the cook retired and suggested he could take over. Sighing, Jake ran his finger round the rim of his beer glass as he also remembered the day when old Mr Whitworth had told him the café was his to run as he saw fit. It had made him immensely proud, and utterly determined to make a success of it.

And now?

Now it looked as if it might all be snatched away, and he really didn’t think he’d handle that very well. Without the café, his life would lack purpose. He’d be adrift.

Shit, shit,shit.

Looking up, he realised Dave and Brian were watching him, waiting for his reply. ‘I do, sort of. Just that it’s something Henry arranged verbally between us, but we signed nothing.’

David sat back in his chair, looking sympathetic. ‘Well, I’m sorry again, I really am. Don’t know where you stand, to be honest. You can try arguing the toss, but as far as I know, the estate’s been sorted out, handed over to this nephew, and now it’s up for sale.’

‘Maybe the estate doesn’t include the café? I mean, okay, there’s the strip of coast the café stands on, and the house and grounds, but maybe there’s something which says the café isn’t a part of it?’ Jake sounded desperate. He knew he was clinging on, but he couldn’t give up that remnant of hope, whatever his mates were saying.

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