Page 56 of The Little Teashop of Lost and Found
She was probably right, but some people reallycouldn’tdigest gluten, so I’d have to work on that one later.
‘So, it’s all going to be cold food?’ Tilda said.
‘Unless anyone wants their cheese scone warming,’ I agreed.
‘What about kiddies? Mrs Muswell wouldn’t have highchairs, because she didn’t want to encourage people to bring small children in. Said they were more trouble than they were worth,’ Tilda said.
‘I shouldn’t think many people would want to bring small children for a lush and expensive afternoon tea, but we’d better have a couple of highchairs just in case. But baby buggies will have to be left outside, because there simply isn’t going to be enough room and it would block the exits in an emergency.’
‘No, you can’t have them in the way,’ Tilda agreed.
‘Disabled access will be difficult too, because of the nature of the old building. I thought I’d have a ramp over the one step down into the café, but I can’t do anything about the steps down to the toilet other than put in good handrails.’
‘You can only do your best with what you have,’ Tilda said. ‘I can see you’re putting a lot of thought as well as good brass into making this work.’
‘There’s just one thing …’ I said slowly, wondering quite how to phrase what I wanted tactfully. ‘From a customer service point of view …’
‘You want us to be nicer t’ customers, however daft they are?’ Nell asked, then looked accusingly at Tilda. ‘Yousaid she didn’t mind a bit of plain speaking.’
‘No, I don’t,’ I said quickly. ‘That’s just it: I don’t want you to change how you deal with the customers at all. In fact, you have such a reputation on YouTube forplain speakingthat I’d like to advertise the teashop as having the rudest waitresses in Yorkshire – if you don’t mind,’ I finished in a rush.
‘Well, I’ll go t’ foot of ower stairs!’ Nell said, staring at me, though luckily she seemed amused rather than insulted.
And after that, we had more cups of treacle and got down to discussing the mundane behind-the-scenes nitty-gritty of running a café, most of which Tilda already had at her fingertips: I could see she was going to be a major asset.
When they’d gone and I’d shut the café door behind them, I began stacking the horrible tubular metal tables and chairs out of the way and putting down dustsheets.
I hated painting ceilings, so I decided I might as well get it over with right there and then, using the long-handled roller. I put on one of the mobcaps first, though, tucking my hair up into it. They might be hideously unbecoming, but they’re surprisingly useful.
‘ “O Sole Mio”!’ Jack sang in a pleasant light tenor from the basement, his Italian tinged with Yorkshire.
It had proved to be a surprisingly productive day.
Of course, it was as I thought and Father had simply been feeling lonely. Once he had someone of equal intellect to talk to, his carer found her nose put right out of joint.
I was considering how best to dispense with her services, when fortunately I discovered that several small but quite valuable items had gone missing from my mother’s room. Patsy Dodds left precipitately and under a cloud.
I gave our weekly cleaning lady a bonus and a healthy pay rise.
23
Dragooned
I’d barely finished rolling the first coat of paint on to the ceiling when the phone in the office rang so loudly that I nearly fell over. I must have accidentally turned the volume up to maximum.
When I dashed through and picked the receiver up, all I could hear at first was someone softly singing, ‘Will ye no come back again?’ to the accompaniment of impatiently drumming fingertips. I guessed who it was – the energy was crackling down the line.
‘Senga?’
‘There you are!’ my agent said, as if she’d found me by divination with rods. ‘I knew you were around, though your mobile kept going to answer.’
‘It’s in my bag … up in the flat,’ I explained. ‘I’m in the café.’
‘Café?’
‘Yes, my flat’s over a café and—’
‘Handy,’ she said, without letting me explain that I’d bought it with the flat. ‘Now, as I said, I’ll be heading up north for Eleri’s book launch and annual Mr Rochester’s afternoon tea this Saturday, the 20th.’
