Page 123 of The Little Teashop of Lost and Found
‘If the customers don’t flood in and keep coming, I won’t be able to pay the suppliers, or the staff or—’
‘Stop right there,’ he ordered. ‘I’ve already told you: the customers will pour in, it will all be a success, and Princess Alice will live happily ever after in her fairy teashop castle.’
‘Yeah, right,’ I said.
‘And if the finances get really desperate, I’ll bail you out.’
‘Oh, that’s kind!’ I said, totally taken aback by his generous offer. ‘But—’
‘I won’t need to, you’ll see. Come on, what else is on that never-ending list of things to be done?’
‘Lola’s making a flying visit up on Friday, just for one night, to deliver the jams, pickles and sauces, but other than that, I think we’re done.’
‘Then all you need to do now is relax – and then cook up a storm.’
‘I’m not sure I know how to relax any more,’ I said ruefully, ‘but thank you for going through it all with me, Nile. I really appreciate it.’
‘You could demonstrate your appreciation by taking me out to lunch,’ he suggested. ‘And we’ll kill two birds with one stone, because afterwards we’ll spread some of that glossy pile of Fat Rascal leaflets all over the village.’
And we did, too – and some of the outlying hotels and guesthouses,all of which had information racks ready and waiting. We gave the Gondal Guesthouse a wide berth, though.
Nile went back to Small and Perfect when we returned. He still hadn’t said where he’d been all of the previous day, which, of course, was none of my business.
Then Sheila rang with the glad tidings that she’d just had an indication that planning permission was likely to be granted for the development of the café in the stables.
‘That means it’s pretty likely to go through, doesn’t it?’ I said.
‘I think it will, so I’ve asked Michelle, the sister of Casper’s nanny, if she’d like to run the café for me. She said she’d love to, so I’m going to teach her to make waffles. She’s a very nice girl.’
‘Great, because I’m sure during tourist season you’ll have more than enough to do looking after the paying guests.’
‘I don’t actually do very much really, except cook dinner if they want it,’ she said. ‘Bel does the breakfasts and the cleaner changes the beds and towels. Oh, and Alice, Thom might become our first resident craftsman next year, if we convert another stable!’ she added brightly. ‘If he charged more for those lovely big pieces of reclaimed wooden furniture Bel showed me pictures of, he wouldn’t have to bother so much with upcycling smaller items.’
‘That’s true,’ I agreed. ‘I did love the tree bookshelf he was making and I’m certain people would pay a fortune for those.’
‘His neighbours have been complaining about the noise when he’s sawing and sanding wood. Some people have no soul. But it doesn’t matter to us and it will be rather nice to have another craftsman working here – perhaps nice in more ways than one, because I can tell Bel’s very taken with him.’
‘I’d noticed, but I’m sure she’s not in any hurry to start a new relationship – and neither am I, come to that,’ I added pointedly, since I was now certain from her hints that she was cherishing hopes.
‘You know, that’s exactly what I told Nile when he called in on his way up to that country house sale in Northumberland. Take things slowly, I said.’ She smiled at me, undeterred.
‘Oh, sothat’swhere he was?’ I said involuntarily.
‘Yes, did he forget to tell you? I’m sure he thought he had – and he says you’re both going to the pub tonight, with Bel and Thom.’
‘That’s the first I’ve heard of it!’
After I’d put the phone down, I thought that Nile made too many assumptions about me and I really ought to tell him I had something else to do tonight, except it would probably be fun for us all to go out together.
And we did have a nice, relaxing evening and then went back to Nile’s for coffee, which he brewed up in a big snazzy machine. Then Thom drove Bel home, meaning he’d be spending half the night crisscrossing the moors, and I pleaded exhaustion and went home too.
Nile didn’t try to persuade me to stay with him a little longer, but then, that was what I wanted, wasn’t it? So there was no reason for me to feel disappointed …
On Tilda and Nell’s training day I sat them down and explained about the new boiler.
‘So you see, since I’ve spent all my money on replacing it, there won’t be any left to pay your salaries, or anything else, if the teashop isn’t an immediate success.’
‘It will be, and anyway, we’ll wait for our wages, if necessary,’ Tilda said.
