Page 19 of Amazing Grace

‘Wow! So this is her shop? It’s lovely. And only if I’m not dragging you away from your work.’

‘That’s more than OK. I’m just sorting out some invoices and it’s truly dull, so I don’t need any excuse to stop. It’s lovely to see you. What can I get you?’

While Vinnie went over to the counter to order her a skinny latte, she found herself grinning as she realised that she was properly checking him out. She quickly averted her eyes as he returned before she started staring at his crotch. She looked up at his face instead and realised that she had forgotten how devilishly handsome he actually was.

‘So what have you been doing since we met last? I did try to find you in the bar when I spotted you that Saturday night, but you’d disappeared,’ he said.

‘Yes, we decided to head off for some Chinese food. We’d had a busy day.’

‘Shame, I was so fed up of being with my idiot mates, I was desperate for some normal company. When I couldn’t find you anywhere I sneaked off home, much to my mates’ disgust. It really is a lovely surprise to see you here today, you know.’

‘Thanks, Vinnie. I’m glad I came now. It’s nice to see you too!’

‘There are some people you just don’t forget, Grace,’ he said, and then he immediately blushed.

‘Here you go, little bro!’ said a cheerful, pretty lady in a vintage flowery apron, putting two huge mugs of coffee before them. ‘Aren’t you going to introduce us?’

‘Grace, meet Ruth. My very annoying but adorable andmucholder sister!’ The two women shook hands and smiled at each other.

‘Nice to meet you, Grace, and nice to see my little brother with some female company for a change!’ She winked at Grace and perched her bottom on the arm of the sofa. Vinnie glared at her.

‘Alright, I’m going!’ Ruth replied, getting up. ‘I know where I’m not wanted. I know you only want me for my coffee. And it’s about time you settled your bill, Vincent. I’m not a charity.’ She winked at Grace and smiled as she collected the empties from the table next to them and returned to the counter.

Grace could see that they had a relaxed and easy-going, loving sibling relationship. It made her heart twang a little as she realised how much she missed Hannah. While she could never have stopped her emigrating to the US and living the life of her dreams, she still wished that her big sister was closer than a huge ocean away.

Grace and Vinnie chatted easily while drinking copious amounts of coffee and devouring an enormous slab of a divine coffee and walnut cake, which tasted just like the one her mum used to make. Ruth had sent it over on the house, which was so kind of her. Probably not going to do her diet any good, but the cake was so delicious that she didn’t care.

They talked about their jobs: Vinnie had been working in the world of landscaping since he studied horticulture at college and had worked his way up from the bottom. He now had his own business and could work from anywhere as long as he had an internet connection, so he was lucky that his sister, Ruth, had reliable Wi-Fi in the coffee shop.

‘The only thing wrong with working from here so much is that I’m now addicted to Americanos – and cake!’ Vinnie chuckled.

Grace told him about her job as an estate agent and how difficult she had found getting that job after being a stay-at-home mum for so long. She also shared with Vinnie her ambition to one day own a bookshop café. She didn’t know why she told him that, because it was a dream that she hadn’t shared with anyone else apart from Monica, but he was so easy to open up to. She felt like she’d known him for years. In turn, Vinnie told her about his dream of living by the seaside. They agreed that there would be nothing better than a walk on the beach every day to ground you, get some sea air in your lungs and feed your soul.

Glancing at her watch, Grace realised that she’d been there for well over two hours, and that Archie would be home soon.

‘Perhaps we could meet up again. There’s a new bistro in town that I was thinking about trying. Do you fancy coming with me, Grace?’

‘Erm, yes. That would be nice.’

She wasn’t sure if he was asking her because he was going anyway and wanted company or whether he was asking her on a date, but they decided to meet up on the following Wednesday evening. He flipped open his wallet to take out a business card with his personal details on it and she noticed a photo of a blonde lady, but she couldn’t look at the picture properly as he saw her looking and immediately closed his wallet again. She wasn’t quite sure how to say goodbye – was it too formal to shake his hand? – so she awkwardly went for a quick peck on the cheek, but as she did that, he turned slightly and she ended up planting a kiss on his nose.

‘OMG! I’m so sorry!’ she said as she went as red as a beetroot.

Vinnie blushed and then they both started to giggle, which calmed Grace’s heart a little, because it was really thumping in her chest. She waved at Ruth, who was busy serving customers but yelled, ‘Lovely to meet you and really hope to see you again, Grace!’ across the room.

Grace walked away from Coffee Heaven with a big smile on her face and a warm, fuzzy feeling in her heart, which she hadn’t felt in a very long time. She kicked herself when she realised that seeing Vinnie there had completely distracted her from the fact that she’d gone there to size up the venue for her slimming club and she’d forgotten to ask anything about that. Smiling, thinking about Vinnie again, she then remembered the picture in his wallet, and her heart sank a bit as she wondered who the mystery lady was. She was probably jumping ahead of herself and it likely wasn’t a date after all, even though Ruth had implied he didn’t have anyone. Crikey, she was so jaded with what had happened with first Mark and then Tommy, she wondered if she’d ever trust anyone again.

* * *

I’m so glad that you finally met up with a lovely man, even if I did have to try really hard to make it happen. I’ve worked it out, now. If I want you to think something, I just have to stay really close to you, making sure that you make connections. I’m really rather clever, you know. I just have to concentrate my mind so much that you know what I’m thinking and then those thoughts become yours. I shall be working hard to send you little messages to steer you in the right direction. I just hope that you follow my clues. I love you, Mumxxx

11

Grace walked through her front door and was leapt upon by four big brown paws and a big sloppy lick. ‘Ew, Becks! You are such a monster.’ She laughed as he practically wrestled her to the ground because he was so excited to see her. She giggled. ‘Come on, sausage, let’s go and have a nice long walk’.

Not far from Grace’s house, there was a stunning forest, where the world and his wife walked their dogs. From the moment she got Becks, Grace had had to learn about a whole new doggy code of conduct: that when you have a dog it’s OK to stop, chat and pass the time of day with people you’ve never seen before. This was something that rarely happened if you went for a walk on your own. Luckily, Becks was a friendly soul and the perfect ice-breaker, and walking around her village had introduced her to so many people that she might not otherwise have ever crossed paths with.

She was still in her little happy bubble, thinking about seeing Vinnie on the following Wednesday and wondering if it actually was a ‘date’ and who the mysterious lady in the picture was, when her phone rang. Her heart sank when she saw it was Mark. She wondered which Mark it would be today.

---