None of the furniture matched, but because it was all painted, everything sat harmoniously together.
‘The Wynmouth Beach Café,’ Sophie told me. ‘That’s what it’s always been called so I took the name on when I signed the lease.’
It was a perfectly acceptable name for a run-of-the-mill seaside eatery, but it didn’t suit Sophie’s clever creation at all. There was absolutely nothing about it which even hinted at what you would find if you ventured along this side of the coast.
‘That’s all right, isn’t it?’ she asked, when I didn’t say anything.
I wasn’t sure how I could say no without offending her.
‘Well,’ I began.
‘Oh,’ she groaned, before starting to laugh, ‘don’t tell me. It doesn’t match the ambience of the place; it doesn’t suggest any of what’s on offer.’
I didn’t say anything.
‘Am I right?’ she said, placing her hands on her shapely hips and raising her eyebrows.
‘Yes,’ I squeaked, confirming what she obviously already knew, ‘you are.’
‘There now,’ she tutted, shaking her head. ‘That’s exactly what my daughter is always saying. You’d get on well with her, Tess. She thinks I should have a website too.’
‘Please, don’t tell me you haven’t?’ I gasped.
‘No,’ she shrugged, her laughter fading in response to my reaction, ‘I haven’t, but I will get around to it.’ She hastily added.
‘And what about social media?’ I quizzed. The café was pure Instagram heaven. ‘Please tell me you have a Facebook page at the very least.’
‘All in good time,’ she said, flicking on the lights behind the counter. ‘All in good time. I’ve managed without all that palaver so far, haven’t I?’
‘I’m not so sure,’ I told her.
‘What do you mean?’ she frowned, tying on an apron which was every bit as bright as the décor.
‘Well, you said a minute ago that you would like the café to be busier, didn’t you?’
‘A little busier,’ she conceded. ‘No one wants to compromise the tranquillity of the area. I wouldn’t want to be inundated, but yes, I could do with a little more cash coming through the till.’
‘Then you really do need to embrace what your daughter has already suggested and get yourself online,’ I said forthrightly.
I hoped she didn’t think I was speaking out of turn, but her daughter had the right idea and Sophie needed to put her suggestions in place if she wanted to see the Wynmouth Beach Café thrive. The summer season was fast approaching and some online publicity, if pitched properly, could make a big difference to the café’s takings. So much for leaving my marketing brain behind, I realized as my thoughts ran away with me.
‘A website, and an Instagram and Twitter account really could make all the difference to your business, Sophie,’ I carried on enthusiastically. ‘And, if you know where to look and how to go about it, it will cost you practically nothing.’
Sophie began to look a little more interested and I could tell that my words were adding another layer to the foundations her daughter had already laid.
‘I can help you with it all, if you like,’ I blurted out before I could stop myself. ‘I could have you completely set up with the whole lot by the end of the day.’
‘But you’re on holiday, Tess,’ she reminded me. ‘You can’t do that.’
‘But I want to,’ I told her, looking around again. It wouldn’t really be like work and it would be wonderful to help the café come into its own. It had so much potential, just like the rest of Wynmouth. ‘This place is spectacular, Sophie, and it should be packed, even if it is raining. It’s a ray of sunshine in itself and you should be shouting about it from the virtual rooftops.’
Sophie’s shoulders started to shake.
‘What?’
‘You,’ she laughed, ‘I reckon you must be quite a force to reckon with once you’ve got a bee in your bonnet.’
I started to laugh along with her as the bell above the door announced the first – and hopefully not the last – customers of the day.
‘You’ve convinced me,’ she said, holding up her hands in a gesture of surrender. ‘I’ll tell my daughter she can go ahead with all this online malarkey you youngsters are so convinced about.’
‘That’s fantastic,’ I told her, pleased that she was on board but a little disappointed that I wasn’t going to get it all up and running myself.
I would have loved to set up the Instagram account if nothing else, although without my phone, that would have been tricky.