The Cosy Coffee Shop of Promises. Kellie Hailes

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СКАЧАТЬ not a customer. You never have been. I’ve not seen you step foot in here since I opened up – not once.’ Mel pointed to the door. ‘So get out.’

      ‘Well, maybe it’s time I decided to change that. And besides…’

      She watched Tony take in the quiet café. Empty, bar her two regulars, Mr Muir and Mrs Wellbelove, who were enjoying their cups of tea and crosswords in separate silence.

      ‘…It looks like you need the business.’

      Mel rankled at the words as they hit home. She’d hoped setting up in Rabbits Leap would be a good, solid investment, that it would give her security. But that ‘security’ was looking as tenuous as her bank balance. The locals weren’t joking when they said it was ‘the town that tourism forgot’. In summer the odd tourist ambled through, lost, on their way to Torquay. But, on seeing there was nothing more than farms and hills, they quickly ambled out again. As for winter? You could’ve lain down all day in the middle of the street without threat of being run over. And this winter had been worse, what with farmers shutting up shop due to milk prices falling even further.

      ‘Really? I need the business?’ She raised an eyebrow, hoping the small act of defiance would annoy him as much as he’d annoyed her. ‘I’m not the one putting prices up. Unlike someone else standing before me...’

      Tony threw his hands up in the air as if warding the words off.

      Good, she’d got to him.

      ‘Look, Mel, I’m not here to fight.’

      ‘Then what are you here for?’

      ‘Coffee. A flat white. And a scone. They look good.’

      ‘They are good.’

      ‘Then I’ll take one.’ Tony rubbed his chin. ‘Actually, make that two.’

      Mel faked ringing up the purchase on the vintage cash register she’d found after scouring auction sites for weeks and weeks. ‘That’ll be on the house.’

      ‘That’s a bit cheap, isn’t it?’ Tony’s lips lifted in a half-smile.

      ‘It’s on me. A man desperate enough to install a coffee machine in a pub clearly needs a bit of charity.’ Yes, Tony was trying to take business away from her, but really, how much of a threat would he be to her business anyway? It wasn’t like he could actually make a decent cup of coffee.

      ‘So, are you going to stand there staring at me like I’m God’s gift or are you going to give me my free scones?’

      Mel blushed.

      ‘Sorry, I wasn’t staring. Just…’

      ‘Imagining me kissing you. Yeah, yeah, I know. Don’t worry, you’re not the first woman.’

      ‘I wasn’t.’ Mel sputtered, horrified. ‘I wouldn’t.’

      ‘I know. I’m teasing. Relax.’

      The word had the opposite effect. Mel’s body coiled up, ready to attack at the next thing he said that irritated her.

      Why was he having this effect on her? Usually nothing ruffled her feathers, or her multicoloured hair. She’d weathered so much change in her life that something as small as someone making an attempt to kill off her coffee business should be laughable. But as she looked into his handsome and openly amused face she wanted to take up her tongs, grab his earlobe in its metal claws, give it a good twist, then drag him to the door and shove him out of it. Instead she picked up the tongs, fished two scones out onto a plate, added a pat of butter and passed the plate to him.

      ‘Can you just… sit. I’ll bring your coffee to you.’

      With a wink and a grin Tony did exactly as she asked, leaving her to make his coffee in peace. The familiar ritual of grinding the beans, tamping them down, smelling the rich aroma of the coffee as it dripped into a cup while she heated the milk relaxed her, so much more than a man telling her to relax ever would. Maybe the problem wasn’t that he was trying to ruin her business; maybe it was that he was trying to take away the most stability she’d had in years.

      After her café in Leeds had shown the first signs of bottoming out, Mel had sold while the going was better than worse and decided to search out a new spot to move to. She’d had two rules in mind. One, the place had to have little to no competition. Two, after moving around for so many years, she finally wanted to find a place she would come to call home. So she’d packed up her life, headed south, and stumbled across Rabbits Leap after getting lost and motoring about inland Devon with a perilously low tank of petrol.

      The moment she’d seen the pretty village filled with blooming flower boxes, kids meandering down the main street licking ice creams without parents helicoptering about them, and a store smack bang in the middle with a ‘for rent’ sign stuck to the door, a little part of her heart had burst into song. The plan had been to settle down, set up shop and make enough to save and survive. But, as she watched Tony flick through a fashion magazine, she could see her plans to make Rabbits Leap her forever home go the way of coffee dregs, down the gurgler.

      She picked up the coffee and walked it over to Tony’s table where he was stuffing his face.

      ‘Your coffee.’

      ‘Thish shcone is amazhing.’ Tony swallowed and brushed crumbs from his lips and chin.

      Full lips, strong angular chin, Mel noted, before mentally swatting herself. She wasn’t meant to be perving at the enemy. ‘Well, it’s my grandma’s secret recipe, so it should be.’

      ‘Can I have the recipe?’

      ‘What part of secret do you not understand?’ She set the cup down with a clank.

      ‘Sit.’ Tony pushed out the chair opposite him with his foot.

      ‘I’ve things to do.’

      ‘Sit.’

      Mel huffed, then did as she was told.

      ‘So how are things?’ Tony picked up the cup and took a sip, giving a small grunt of appreciation.

      ‘That’s how good yours are going to have to be.’ Mel folded her arms across her chest and tipped her head to the side. A small show of arrogance, but for all the things she wasn’t great at, she knew she could cook and she could make a damn good cup of coffee.

      ‘It’s good to know the benchmark.’ Tony’s voice was strong but she was sure a hint of panic flashed through those blue sparklers of his. ‘Anyway, this isn’t about me. How are you? I haven’t seen you in the pub with that vet of yours for a while now.’

      Mel narrowed her eyes in suspicion. ‘Have you been staking me out? Figuring all the ways you can try and horn in on my bit of business?’

      ‘Rabbits Leap makes a habit of knowing Rabbits Leap. We keep an eye on our own. We take care of our own…’ A tightening of those lush lips. A moment of regret? No matter. He’d given her ammunition.

      ‘You take care of your own by taking over parts of their businesses? My, how civically minded СКАЧАТЬ