‘Respects?’
‘Yes, I respect that he knows what he wants and he’s single-mindedly going for it. It’s time for you to accept what’s happened, put it behind you and move on, too.’
‘Oh God, oh God …’
Katie dropped her head onto the countertop. Surely her best friend, her staunchest supporter when her world had imploded, wasn’t defending what Dominic had done? She knew that the first stage in recovery from any trauma was acceptance – but how could she accept what she couldn’t understand? Dominic still hadn’t returned any of her calls, and apart from that solitary text he’d sent telling her the wedding was off and he was staying on in Ibiza, he’d not even had the decency to take the time out of his busy schedule to explain to her the reasons why he had left her in such a cruel and humiliating way.
What had she done wrong? If he wouldn’t tell her, how could she get closure, like Cara was suggesting, or even start work on self-improvement?
But then Dominic wasn’t the only one who had left her without a backward glance and she suspected that even if he had afforded her the respect of coming back from his stag weekend to tell her face to face why he was breaking off their engagement a mere four weeks before their wedding, she would still harbour these feelings of self-doubt. To recover, properly recover, from the agony that slumbered like a lead balloon in the pit of her stomach, there was someone else she needed to have that talk with and she had no intention of going there – it was too painful, as well as too late.
‘I wasn’t going to tell you, but I bumped into Iain last week,’ continued Cara, her voice carefully level. ‘Apparently, he still gets the odd email from Ibiza, and he told me that Dominic’s just landed himself a residency at one of the big hotels in San Antonio. You know he’s wanted to be in a band since he could hold a microphone and it looks like, at last, his ambitions have come to fruition.’
‘Only because he could afford to live for free on our wedding fund.’
‘I’m not condoning what he did, I’m simply saying that unless you chase your dreams, single-mindedly and without concern for anyone else, then no one is going to do it for you. This is your chance, Katie, now, down there in Cornwall, and you have to grasp it with both hands and hold on tight for the bumpy journey ahead, even if there’s no safety net to catch you if you fall. So what if you fail? What’s going to happen? Agatha’s going to shrug her yoga-toned shoulders, meditate on it for a while at one of those spiritual retreats she loves so much, and then put it down to experience. She’ll be no worse off than when she handed you the key.’
‘Apart from the cash she’s transferred into my bank account to buy ingredients for the menu.’
‘Look, maybe you’re right, maybe she will decide to sell and if she does, that’s her prerogative, too, and if everything goes pear-shaped, as you seem to want to believe it will, then there’ll always be a space on my sofa for you.’
‘Thanks, Cara.’
‘So, tell me what this Cornish property mogul is like? Is he tall, dark and broodingly handsome like Aidan Turner, all bare-chested, rippling biceps and wielding a scythe – just how I like my men?’
‘No, Cara, he’s not.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Even if he were attractive – which he’s not – he’s the village’s sworn enemy. If I even so much as shared a coffee with him, I think I would be lynched.’
‘Mmm, you know me, always up for a challenge when it comes to love. Remember Luke?’
‘He wasn’t a challenge; he was a liability.’
Katie giggled as she remembered the hapless actor Cara had dated in the months leading up to Christmas the previous year, during which he spent most nights at the local theatre rehearsing for his role in the town’s pantomime. They had nabbed front-row seats, arrived early with huge bags of popcorn and a sneaky bottle of Prosecco, only to reach the end of the production with no idea which part Luke had played … until he emerged, grinning, from backstage with the pantomime horse’s head under his arm.
‘And what about the artist guy from next door? Oliver, did you say his name was?’
‘Oscar.’
‘Like the golden trophy? Is he a potential love interest?’
Oh no! Cara was from the same school of soul-scouring as Jay when it came to slicing through her carefully crafted defences, so she knew she needed to feign nonchalant disinterest and construct her reply with caution.
‘I’m not going to fall into your trap, Carr. Oscar is simply a kind neighbour helping out a fellow business owner. After all, it’s in his interest for there to be a thriving café next door to his art gallery. You never know, after indulging in a pot of Earl Grey tea – which, I’ll have you know, is grown right here in Cornwall – and a slice of my deliciously fragrant carrot-and-walnut cake – which will be made with organic carrots – a customer might be more inclined to pop in and browse his hand-thrown mugs and matching cake stands. Anyway, he’s probably got a girlfriend.’
‘Ah, so you have thought about his relationship status.’
‘No, I have not!’
Cara laughed and Katie joined in, enjoying the therapeutic effect laughter delivered, which went some way to ease the tension that had been steadily mounting as her few days in Perrinby wore on and she realised how much work she had to do before the café would be ready to serve its first infusion of peppermint, chamomile or lemon verbena tea. Suddenly, the task ahead didn’t seem quite so insurmountable when she had Cara in her corner, shaking the cheerleading pompoms.
In fact, if she ignored the intimidating spectre of Greg Forbes lurking around on the periphery of her brain, the thought of being proactive in making a new future for herself as Cara had advocated, of reconfiguring her dreams without having to take account of anyone else’s, ignited a tiny spark of optimism – something that had been in short supply since Dominic had left.
‘So you’ll give it a go?’
‘Yes, I will.’
Her spirits edged up another notch at having made a final decision to commit to the project. Running away was the easy option, but she had done that and bought the tie-dye T-shirt in Bali. Now it was time to face her future head-on and follow the right path, not the one of least resistance.
Chapter 5
The next week was filled with a flurry of activity. Whilst she had a clear vision of how she wanted the café to look, she still had a great deal of work to do on preparing what was going to feature on the menu. It was important to her that the café offered fresh and above all delicious dishes, whilst keeping in mind her other requirements – locally sourced and with an aim to produce zero food waste, which she hoped to achieve by offering a pared-down list of items on the daily menu.
She also wanted to reduce her use of plastic and place recycling at the heart of everything she produced. However, her vision was about more than the setting and the food, it was about the ambience, the tranquil atmosphere, the experience of spending a few precious moments indulging in a short break from the constant hustle and bustle of daily life. She would take Jay up on his offer to supply her with fresh flowers and she intended to approach the local college to enquire if any of their music students would like their song list played at the café – she wanted to continue what Agatha had started in Bali and give something back to the community.