The Waffle House on the Pier - Tilly Tennant Page 0,78
waffle house from Gammy? Then I could take most of the responsibility in running it; that way we’d keep it in the family and she’d sort of be retired but she could lend a hand when she felt up to it. Could that work?’
Graham shook his head sadly. ‘Where would you get that kind of money from? And don’t forget that it represents your future inheritance – yours, Ewan’s and Lucy’s. We couldn’t allow it to be sold for anything less than the market value in light of that fact – not even to someone who would stand to be one of the beneficiaries of that legacy. It wouldn’t be fair to the others.’
Ewan spoke again, but his tone was much warmer this time. ‘I wouldn’t insist on my share, if that helps. If it meant Sadie could keep it running I’d give my inheritance up… I don’t need it all that much anyway.’
Sadie’s eyes filled with tears again as she looked at him. ‘You’d do that?’
‘Yes. What else are big brothers for?’
‘That’s very noble,’ Henny said, ‘but I rather think Kat might have an opinion on the matter and I think it would be disrespectful not to seek it. She is your wife after all.’
Ewan shrugged. ‘Maybe, but I think she’d agree with me. We could certainly have the conversation if it helps.’
‘What about Lucy?’ Henny asked.
‘I think she’d be a different matter,’ Graham said, and on that Sadie had to agree. The sliver of hope Ewan had offered to her had been raised and dashed in the same breath. Lucy had allowed herself no ties to Sea Salt Bay and no interest in what happened at the waffle house, save that one day a share of it would come to her. She’d want her inheritance or she’d want Sadie to buy her out and Sadie couldn’t afford that. She couldn’t even afford a third share, even if Lucy did give hers up, as Ewan had said he would, though it was easier to find a solution that might get her the money for a third than the whole of it. And she secretly harboured a hope that the family might come to some arrangement over the money that might make it happen, because, despite this conversation, everyone around the table cared as deeply about the old waffle house as Sadie did.
‘Could we talk to Lucy?’ Sadie asked.
‘I could phone her later,’ her dad said. ‘See what she thinks.’
‘You could fill her in on the situation but I wouldn’t press her on it,’ Henny put in. ‘The decision must be entirely hers.’
‘Of course it would be,’ Graham said. ‘There would be a lot of other things to work out anyway so I’d only be testing the water to see how she felt about it.’
Sadie nodded – she could hardly argue with that, and she was grateful that her dad would try, even though she wasn’t all that optimistic about what the outcome of the conversation would be.
‘One thing’s for certain,’ Henny added, ‘April can’t go to work again; goodness knows what dangers she might pose. To herself and to others.’
‘We can’t just close the waffle house again,’ Sadie said.
‘We don’t have a choice.’
‘But… if it turns out I can take over properly, surely it’s better that it’s kept open in the meantime?’ Sadie said.
Graham nodded. ‘I have to admit, Hen, she’s got a point. Even if we do decide to sell up I’m sure it would make more money as a going concern than as a run-down empty building. In this climate, that close to the sea, standing empty would soon have the building deteriorating.’
‘Yes!’ Sadie said.
‘How do you propose to keep it going without your grandma?’ Henny asked.
Sadie shrugged. ‘I can’t just magic up a solution – I know that. I wasn’t expecting I’d have to. Give me a couple of days and I’ll talk to people.’
‘And what couple of days would these be?’ Henny asked. ‘As presumably you’d need any help you’re going to ask for by tomorrow morning and you’d also need them to have some catering knowledge. Do you know anyone who ticks all those boxes?’
‘I have catering knowledge,’ Sadie said. ‘They wouldn’t need all that much.’
Her mother raised disbelieving eyebrows.
‘OK, I have a bit,’ Sadie admitted. ‘And maybe they’d need a bit. But I could just tell them what needs doing and we’d muddle through somehow. And they do say that the best way to learn is on the job.’