Jack thought he had misheard her, “What do you mean, Len didnae want him? I thought he asked him?”
“Dinna ken where you heard that but no, fair bullied his way in here, so he did. Told his poor da some sob story about how hard his life was in Leeds, that some nasty things were being said and he needed to get away for a while. Course, Len being the soft wee bugger he is, he opened his doors and handed over the cellar keys.” Janice folded her arms across her chest and made a harrumphing noise. “Huh, I’ll tell you this for nothing Jack, if there’s any more carry on like last night I’ll no be hanging around.”
At that, thankfully a group of walkers entered the bar and ordered their drinks. As Janice went over to serve them, his mind wandered back over her tirade, wondering what to make of it all. Janice finished serving and propped herself in the corner behind the bar, a bit too close for Jack’s comfort.
“Now you know me Jack,” said Janice in a partial whisper, “I’m not one for gossip.” Jack nearly spat his beer all over her. “But all I will say is that it was something to do with kiddies!” With that last statement she pulled a conspiratorial face and winked at Jack and waited for his response. It took a few seconds for him to register what she meant, and when realisation hit him it made his blood run cold.
“That can’t be true Janice, where did you even hear that?” he asked, incredulous.
“Straight from Len! I think he was in shock, and I only overheard part of the phone call,” she confirmed.
‘You mean you listened in nosey bugger,’ thought Jack but didn’t say anything, Janice was in full flow.
“Oh aye, heard it from the horse’s mouth. Course, none of its true I’m sure but what do you have to do to upset someone enough to start those kinds of rumours? No smoke without fire some might say.” Janice looked at him with eyebrows raised, expecting him to chip his own thoughts in, but he knew better than that. He took a final swig of his pint and handed her the glass.
“Aye well, none of our business really is it?” he said, trying to end the conversation. “I’d best be off, see you later and give my best to Len.” He headed straight for the door and gulped in the fresh air. He wasn’t much of a beer drinker at the best of times and he’d fair downed that pint to get away from Janice and the unbelievable gossip she was famed for sharing.
But what should he do now that he had that information? Was it true? He felt his skin prickle at the thought of Kate and Joe on their own with Ryan. He had to tell Kate, but what if it wasn’t true? And how did Kate know Ryan in the first place?
10
It wasn’t that Jack was ignoring her exactly, but he was definitely ‘off’ with her. So far that morning Kate had asked him a couple of questions regarding the electrical work that Adam had started, and his answers had been short and snappy. She knew Jack well enough to know when something was wrong but for the life of her she couldn’t figure out what she had done to upset him. Or maybe it was nothing to do with her at all. All this was going around in Kate’s head whilst she served customers, made sandwiches, and generally kept the café running. She knew Jack would tell her in his own time if it bothered him that much.
“Bread delivery is due shortly Jack, will you be around to help out?” called out Kate to Jack who was in the kitchen at the rear of the café.
“Aye, where else would I be?” came his snapped reply.
Kate was shocked. Should she say something? There was clearly something on Jack’s mind but with the café filling up and with so much to do, now wasn’t the time. She put his reply to the back of her mind and carried on with her duties. Finally, 3pm came around. Kate removed her apron and set off to collect Joe from school, leaving Jack in charge for the 30 minutes it would take.
Jack was feeling bad for the way he’d spoken to Kate, but he just couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling he had about Ryan. He knew he should say something to Kate but not being one to gossip or share hearsay he wondered if he should stay well enough alone. Just as he thought that the café doorbell rang, and Ryan came in.
“Take a seat, I’ll be with you in a minute,” said Jack as Ryan approached the counter.
“No bother, Jack, is Kate around?” asked Ryan.
“No, she’s away to pick the bairn up from school, shouldn’t be too long.”
Ryan took a seat farthest away from the counter and a few minutes later Jack came over to get his order.
“What can I get for you?” asked Jack, with obvious disdain.
“Just a black coffee please Jack.” Ryan had picked up on Jack’s tone and though he didn’t know Jack well he could sense some form of animosity.
“Everything alright? ” ventured Ryan.
“Aye. I’ll bring your coffee over.” Jack walked away.
Deciding that he’d done something to offend Jack, Ryan approached the counter as Jack prepped the coffee. “Have I done something to offend you, old man?” asked Ryan.
Jack flinched at the term ‘old man’. His hackles raised, he turned to face Ryan. “What makes you think that?” he asked as politely as he could.
“I just get the feeling something’s bothering you?”
Jack couldn’t hold back. The knowledge of the trouble in Leeds had sat heavily on his shoulders all night, and he couldn’t see another time when he’d get the chance to have the conversation without Kate around. “Why are you here?”
Ryan was completely taken aback by the change in character. “For a coffee?” he put forward.
“No, not that. Why are you really here, in Gairloch?”
“Helping the old man out, you know that Jack.”
“That’s not what I heard.”
“Oh, yeah. You visited the pub yesterday didn’t you? Been listening to the old whingebag, have you? Wouldn’t believe a word she says.”
“She made some pretty wild accusations, heard it from Len by all accounts.”
“Nosey bitch, she should keep her nose out of other people’s business. She’s just feeling pushed out cos dad asked me to take over.”
“From what she said, he didn’t want you here at all.”
“Yeah well,” said Ryan, “she’s wrong.”
“Really? Well, let me tell you this laddie, if you hurt Kate or go anywhere near Joe then God help you. I might be an old man but there’s plenty around here that have taken to Kate and wee Joe, you’d be out on your arse in a second.” The fury in Jack’s voice was unmistakable, but if Ryan was shocked he didn’t show it.
“Calm yourself down old boy, you’ll give yourself a hernia. Me and Kate go back a long way, and I think you’ll find she actually wants to spend time with me.” Ryan was cocky with his response, leaning over the counter to intimidate Jack.
Jack took a step back, shaken with the venom of Ryan’s tone. “So, my advice to you, old man, would be stay the fuck out of it.”
Jack was shocked, he hadn’t been spoken to in that way in a long time, and even then it was only in a heat of the moment spat. Ryan’s anger and volatile personality came across in spades.
“What’s going on here?” Kate entered the café and went straight over to the pair. She thought Jack looked pale and was visibly shaking.