and around Barney’s age, Lois sent a smile of reassurance in Daniel’s direction. One hand on her mulberry silk neck scarf to stop it trailing in her drink, she shook her head. ‘Don’t get me involved, I’m just trying to enjoy my hot chocolate.’
Etna picked up her pad of paper and pencil. ‘Well, seeing as it’s Christmas, Daniel, you’re of course forgiven. But only if you buy something and sit down for a while to tell me all about what you’ve been doing for the last…what is it? Twelve, thirteen years?’
‘Thirteen. And you’re on. I’ll take a mochaccino seeing as you’ve gone all new age with the fancy machine.’ He nodded towards an impressive coffee machine he thought he’d never see in Heritage Cove. And he had enough time before the delivery to take the proverbial olive branch Etna was offering. ‘In fact, I’ll take a farmhouse breakfast too, if I may.’ Apart from a rushed bowl of cereal really early on and a whole heap of ice-cream, he hadn’t had much to eat at all, so if he was going to get on with unpacking his delivery later he’d need a bit of sustainable energy rather than a sugar rush, and what better way to get it than with fried egg, a couple of bacon rashers, grilled tomato, baked beans and hot buttered toast?
‘Coming right up,’ she told him, tearing off the order and heading out back to hand it to whoever was the cook these days.
Daniel spoke briefly to Barney while he waited at a table to one side of the room. He found out Lois was here from Ireland for Christmas and New Year, and Barney was already talking about his next visit over to the Emerald Isle. It seemed this pair had at last found their happy ending and it couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke.
Etna took care of a handful of customers Daniel didn’t recognise and after she’d called someone through to take over for a while, she brought him his breakfast and his coffee. She was a bit like a mother hen as she sat watching him eat as though it had been days since his last meal, and she got him talking about what he’d been up to. She was thrilled about the new business, said it was good to bring it to Heritage Cove where locals prided themselves on their sense of community. She’d even said that with a straight face and, given his history, he hadn’t expected it. She’d told him how sisters Celeste and Jade, who ran the bakery, had come back from a trip around Europe and started introducing locals to different coffees until she had a word in their ear.
When Daniel complimented her on one of the best mochaccinos he’d ever had, she told him, ‘Coffees are what we do in here, they were stepping on my toes.’
‘So you bought the machine to get one up on them?’
‘Of course not. We sat down and had a talk and they agreed they wouldn’t have coffees or hot drinks on their menu. That was my domain. But because they’d offered such a variety and people were taken by them, I had no choice but to invest in the beast of a machine you can see from here. Between you and me, Daniel, I’ve never looked back,’ she added conspiratorially.
‘Glad to hear it. And even more glad to know where I can get a decent coffee. But I do have to ask, will I be stepping on any toes by having hot drinks on my menu?’
She swished a hand through the air dismissively. ‘I never expect to have total authority over food and beverage outlets in the Cove. Some things will overlap – the bakery and I both do sandwiches, and I do have one waffle dessert already – but it’s when the business is right next door that it’s a problem.’
‘To be honest, the main thing with my new place is obviously going to be the waffles, the drinks are an aside.’
‘I’m sure between us we can coexist quite happily.’ She patted his hand and he felt forever grateful she didn’t hold a grudge.
Etna left him to finish his coffee and when the tea rooms began to get busier, Daniel was about to leave and free up his table when the latest customer held his interest. Her name was Lottie and by his reckoning she’d be well into her twenties by now. Even so, he’d recognise her anywhere with her