The Waffle House on the Pier - Tilly Tennant Page 0,39

Then I thought we might contact the ones we use the most or we might need soonest to let them know we’ve reopened. Is that OK?’

‘Sure, darlin’.’ April nodded and reached for her mug. Neither of them looked at the spare, as if it was dangerous and they’d turn to salt if they did. Sadie beat down the misgivings that were beginning to scare her. What was going on? Had Gammy made that other drink thinking Gampy was close? Or had she really made one for him simply out of habit?

Whatever the reason, the fact that she had made it did nothing to settle Sadie’s nerves. She’d pushed to reopen the waffle house against the advice of everyone else in her family. Had they known something like this would happen? Had they known something about Gammy’s state of mind that they hadn’t seen fit to share with Sadie? They’d often treated her as the baby of the family and she couldn’t argue with that, because she was, but she couldn’t believe they’d keep something this important from her, not given the steps she’d taken to be here today. And so she quickly dismissed the notion.

Which left what explanation? Was it simply that they’d all come to the conclusion that Gammy had reached a natural crossroads in her life with the death of Gampy, a sign that it was time to start winding down? Sadie had to admit that the conversations that had taken place were along those lines, but she hadn’t been listening. The truth was, she hadn’t wanted to listen. Who were they opening this place up for? Was it really for Gammy, or was it for Sadie, who already felt as if she’d lost so much that was precious to her, so much that had given her life meaning and context, that she didn’t want to lose the waffle house too?

Or maybe she’d simply been looking for a convenient escape route for the real big mistake she’d made – her teacher training. Because now that she looked at it from the outside, she realised that she’d never really been suited to that profession. She’d said as much when she’d been into the office only a couple of days before to tell her mentor that she was leaving the course, and though she’d felt like an abject failure, she couldn’t deny that she also felt a sense of relief that she’d never again have to step into a classroom.

So where did that leave Sadie now? Could she still make this work, regardless of the obstacles that she could now see strewn along the path? What if her family were right? What if she’d messed up again?

* * *

It was ten o’clock by the time they were ready to open up, but Sadie wasn’t too worried that they’d missed a good chunk of the breakfast rush. They’d been closed for over a month and they hadn’t exactly announced their reopening – not least because they hadn’t been certain themselves if it was actually going to happen. Besides, Sadie, for one, would be glad of a slow start. She was nervous enough, and a delay of the big moment wasn’t entirely unwelcome. In fact, if her grandmother had suddenly announced that she wanted nothing more to do with Sea Salt Bay Waffle House and wanted to close it down for good immediately then Sadie thought she might be just a little relieved to hear it and might not offer all that much in the way of argument. It was one thing to help her grandma and granddad out occasionally on a Saturday afternoon, or to hear them talk about the business over dinner, but another thing entirely to suddenly find yourself running the place. Because, despite Gammy’s presence, Sadie was beginning to realise that running the place was exactly what she’d end up doing.

Despite all the doubts and nerves, they did open the doors. The day started quietly, the only real activity neighbouring traders or local residents coming in to express surprise and pleasure that the waffle house was open again and sorrow for Kenneth’s passing. Sadie found some of those visits hard and she could only imagine how much harder April found them. She watched each conversation closely for a reaction which would have meant little to anyone else but which would set alarm bells off for her. But Gammy only put on a brave smile and thanked them for their kind thoughts and words of condolence – lovely, warm