Page 2 of Autumn at the Cornish Garden Café

She glanced up at him, expecting to see annoyance, but he was frowning quizzically while a smile played on his lips.

‘Nothing,’ she squeaked. ‘I just got stage fright.’

‘Stage fright be damned!’ Vinnie shook his head. ‘If that’s how you treat customers, we need to get you some customer service training, girl!’

‘It’s not that.’ Rosa looked around for her glass, spotted it, and took a swig. ‘I’m just jittery.’

Vinnie’s frown faded, and then he cupped his chin with his right hand as his eyes widened. ‘It’s because he’s hot, isn’t it?’

‘What?’

‘You fancy Henry Clay.’

‘I do not.’

‘You so do.’ He clapped his hands together and Rosa winced. ‘But darling, I’m sorry to tell you this … that man is far too good-looking to be straight.’

‘I don’t care if he’s straight or not because I don’t fancy him!’ Rosa realised she’d shouted the words and looked over at Henry to see him glance away from the counter. ‘Vinnie, I am thirty-five and I recently moved to this gorgeous little village to escape all that nonsense. I just want to run my bookshop, read books, walk on the beach and catch up on all the sleep I missed over the past few years. I’m exhausted and just want some time to be me and to relax.’

‘OK, honey, I get that.’ Vinnie rubbed her arm. ‘And you deserve to relax and read and enjoy your life again. I don’t know all the details of what happened to you back in Bath, but you have told me you went through the mill. Please know that I’m here for you, whatever you need. And don’t worry about Mr Clay because, as I said, he’s more into men, I’m sure of it.’

‘Good.’ Rosa nodded. ‘Now … It looks like we have more customers so I’m going to greet them while you check on Mr Clay.’

‘It’ll be my pleasure.’ Vinnie patted his hair, then winked at Rosa before sashaying over to where Henry was browsing the biography section. Rosa watched as Vinnie charmed their first customer, then she turned her attention to the new arrivals.

The afternoon and evening flew past, and before Rosa knew it, the customers had eaten all the refreshments, and she’d made several pleasing sales. She’d recognised some customers as people from around the village, but while she knew some of them by name, others were familiar because she’d seen them in passing. Her friend Sita, who she’d known since her childhood holidays in the village, had come in with her family and that had been lovely. Since she’d bought the shop in Porthpenny, she’d worked hard to get it right before opening. She hadn’t really integrated into the community yet — she’d been too busy and, she now realised, simply trying to find her feet. Moving from Bath to Cornwall had been a big step and a scary one, but she’d got to a point in her life where she’d felt that she had to change something. Moving was that change, along with another one that still made her heart ache at times, and at others made her hackles rise. That was the thing with being hurt by someone you loved. It took time to get past that and she was, she knew, grieving. Didn’t they say that there were different stages of grief that a person had to work through? Rosa was certain that she was working through those stages even ten months on from deciding to move and start over.

‘And that’s a wrap!’ Vinnie said as he locked the door and turned to face Rosa. ‘Well done, darling.’

‘Thank you.’ Rosa walked over to him and peered out through the glass. The streetlights illuminated the scene, and the moon shone above the harbor, casting its silvery light across the water and the anchored boats. ‘I couldn’t have asked for a better view than this.’

‘It’s really something, right?’

‘It really is.’

Vinnie wrapped an arm around her shoulders. ‘You did brilliantly. The shop will be a roaring success and you’ll have people visiting from far and wide to purchase your special editions or to sit and read for a while as they watch the world go by.’

‘I hope so. I like your vision.’ Rosa smiled up at him. ‘Do you know what?’

‘What?’

‘I have a bottle of the good stuff upstairs in my fridge that I was keeping for today to celebrate. Do you fancy a glass?’

‘I’m up for more Prosecco!’ Vinnie grinned.

‘Actually, it’s champagne that I bought for us to share. I wanted to say thank you for all your hard work while we set the shop up. You’ve been awesome and I couldn’t have done it without you.’

Vinnie pursed his lips. ‘You probably could have, but it wouldn’t have been as much fun.’

‘Definitely not as much fun.’

She gave Vinnie a quick hug, then walked through the shop,hershop, and opened the door that led to the staffroom and another doorway that led to the flat upstairs. She loved Vinnie’s prediction for the shop and hoped that, with him at her side, she could make it a roaring success. Her life to date hadn’t been a roaring success but she was crossing everything that from this point on, things were about to change for the better.

Her aunt had always saidHome isn’t a place. It’s where you find the hearts that hold you when you fall.

Rosa hoped with all her heart that she was finally home.

2

---