The Waffle House on the Pier - Tilly Tennant Page 0,37

look at that creature all day and you’d scare yourself half to death, but then you’d never ride again. Best to just climb right back into that saddle and show him who’s boss.’

‘You will take things steady, won’t you?’ Sadie asked carefully. April always hated being reminded that she was well past retirement age and that younger women than her had spent many blissful years by now sitting quietly in their gardens or in favourite reading chairs, not working long hours in a busy eating establishment. Sadie would never dare do that now because she knew that April wasn’t like those women. She’d always thrived on the work and it had kept her sharp and focused and well for all these years. But that was before she’d lost Gampy. His death was an event that had aged her, right before their eyes. Though this morning she looked more like the April Sadie had grown up being in awe of, Sadie was aware that her rehabilitation was by no means a fait accompli.

‘Oh, there’s no need to worry.’ April took Sadie’s hand and gave it a quick squeeze. It felt thinner, more delicate than Sadie remembered, and rather than reassuring her, as her grandmother had meant, it only made Sadie more uneasy.

‘Why don’t I get us that coffee?’ April added. ‘If you like, you can make a start by getting the utilities up and running again and then I can fix our drinks.’

Sadie nodded. ‘The electricity is already sorted because Dad came in last night to check round and left it on for us. I’ll get the other stuff going. I’m guessing we might have to run the taps for a bit, get some water through the system before we drink it?’

‘Oh, don’t you worry about that – I know what I’m doing.’

‘Yeah, I know, I just…’

Sadie didn’t finish the sentence, because to do that would mean saying out loud all the doubts that currently plagued her and she wouldn’t do that to Gammy, not now. Instead, she pushed a bright smile across her face and went to find the stop tap to get the water supply going again.

It was stiff, and it took two hands to get it moving, but eventually Sadie heard the satisfying whoosh of the water flooding the system. Then she turned her attention to the gas. Even though it was summer, and despite their frequent visits to check round and air the building, the place still felt a little damp and musty. Perhaps an hour of heating would sort that out. Now seemed the best time to do that, while it was still early morning and a little chillier than it would be later on, and so Sadie took it upon herself to fix that too. She listened carefully as the pipes clanked and groaned, but any worries she’d had that they wouldn’t run smoothly were soon put to rest as the radiators began to heat up.

With all that done, Sadie went back to the dining room to see that April was standing in the middle of the floor, staring into space.

‘Gammy?’

April jumped, and then turned to Sadie, seemingly surprised to see her there.

‘Oh my!’

‘Gammy… are you OK?’

‘Sure, darlin’. But I clean forgot about the coffee, didn’t I?’

‘It’s OK. Want me to make it?’

‘No, I said I’d do it so I’ll do it. Why don’t you go in the office and call Timpson’s about the batter mix? The number’s in the little claret address book on the shelf. We could do with some batter mix as soon as he can get here. I think there may be some in the larder but probably not much.’

‘It’s a bit early, isn’t it? Will they be open yet?’

‘Oh…’

‘But I could email them from my phone?’

‘Sure…’ April said uncertainly. ‘I always call them but…’

‘Well if you’d rather do it by telephone then we could do it later. As long as we don’t forget if we get busy in here.’

April paused for a moment, her gaze going to the windows.

‘No,’ she said finally. ‘You’re right. I’m a silly old woman insisting on doing everything the way we’ve always done it. If you want to email go right ahead.’

Sadie nodded and went through to the tiny office at the back of the restaurant. It was really more of a broom cupboard – narrow, windowless, lined on one wall by shelves. A plank of wood had been attached lower down and fashioned into a sort of desk and on it sat an old