The Waffle House on the Pier - Tilly Tennant Page 0,71
a quarter to four Sadie was thinking of getting a quick nap at home before she headed out again for her date. At four on the dot, after seeing out the last of their customers, she heaved a thankful sigh of relief and went to lock the door. Dropping the keys on the counter, she went to cash up the till. It had been a good day – even if it had been tiring – and she was looking forward to seeing how much they’d taken. If nothing else, at least it would prove to her mum that the waffle house was capable of making money.
‘Gammy…’ she called as she finished stuffing all the cash into money bags. ‘Gammy… what time does the bank open tomorrow morning? I’ve got to be somewhere later and I don’t think I’ll have time to take this tonight – do you think I’ll be able to stash it in the safe until I can get to the bank?’
There was no reply. Sadie picked up the money and wandered through to the kitchen. There, she found her grandma filling the mop bucket.
‘Gammy… about the takings for today. Do you think they’ll be OK in the safe for tonight?’
‘Can’t you take them to the bank?’
‘I would, but I was hoping to get a nap this afternoon because I’m going out later.’
‘Going out?’ April hauled the bucket from the sink. Sadie ran to take it from her.
‘Yes.’
‘On your own?’
‘No, I’m meeting… a friend.’
‘Oh. Well, be sure to say hello to them from me, darlin’. I’m sure I could take the money along tonight.’
‘There’s a lot here. I think it would be better if I did it.’
‘Ain’t nobody going to mug me around here,’ April said, laughing.
‘No, I know but… well,’ she said brightly, ‘I wanted to walk up the cliff with you. I like it when we walk home together and we didn’t walk in together this morning and I missed you.’
April smiled and reached to stroke a lock of auburn hair from Sadie’s face. ‘You are a funny one. Sure we can walk up together. I guess it wouldn’t be the first time the takings have been left in the safe for a few hours.’
‘And that’s why it’s called a safe,’ Sadie said. ‘Because it’s safe.’
April laughed. ‘Whatever you say.’
‘OK, great.’
After putting the bucket down in the dining room and warning her grandma not to touch it because she’d mop up while April went to sort through the fridge, she went through to the little office to put the money in the safe. Once she’d locked the door, her phone pinged in her pocket. She got it out and saw with a smile that Luke had sent her a text. It had an image attached and for one horrible moment she thought it might be the sort of unwanted photo she’d had from many men. Her smile grew though as she saw it was a picture of the front of his house, newly painted in a pretty sage green.
You said you wanted to see it.
She tapped a reply:
And now I have. Very nice. I’m hoping to see the inside very soon.
* * *
Can’t wait to see you later.
* * *
Me too. X
Putting her phone away, Sadie went through to the dining room. It was empty, the bucket and mop still standing against the wall, chairs still on the floor instead of stacked on top of the tables, rubbish bags still in the corner and one table even still had used crockery on it.
‘Gammy…?’ Sadie called.
There was no reply again. So again Sadie went through to the kitchen expecting to see her there, but she wasn’t. With a frown, Sadie went back to the office. Gammy’s handbag and coat were there so she couldn’t have gone far. She went back to the dining room.
‘Gammy!’ she called again, louder this time. ‘Gammy!’
She was greeted by silence, only broken by the hum of the fridges where they kept the chilled drinks.
‘What the actual hell…’
And then Sadie’s eyes fell on the counter where she’d left the front door keys. Only the keys weren’t there. She ran to the door and pulled on it but it was locked.
‘No!’ she murmured. ‘No, no, no…’
She ran from room to room again, as if her eyes might have deceived her the first time and she’d find her grandma after all, hiding in one of them. But she wasn’t there, and neither were the keys, and the door was locked. Did that mean Gammy had