The Waffle House on the Pier - Tilly Tennant Page 0,84
Because I’m very tired and right now I have a very short attention span.’
‘OK. So…’ He paused. ‘So, I was thinking… why don’t I buy the waffle house?’
Her forehead creased into a deep frown. ‘What?’
‘If I buy the waffle house, does that help you? I have some money spare to do it.’
‘And do what with it?’
‘Exactly what it’s doing now.’
‘Who’s going to run it?’
‘You. I thought that was what you wanted. You said—’
‘I do want that, but you buying it doesn’t change my predicament. I still don’t have anyone to run it with me and I can’t do it alone. Besides, why would you do something like that? You hardly know me; we might hate each other this time next week and then where would we be?’
‘That’s not going to happen.’
‘Even if it didn’t, the fact remains that I can’t afford to employ someone – I’d have to pay you back… Or will this be your business?’
‘It’d be yours. And I’d work with you – at first anyway. I can’t promise I’d be much good but you can teach me and it’d just be until you started to make enough money to hire help.’
‘You can’t work with me – you have enough of your own to do. And you’re not exactly the most popular person in town as far as my family are concerned – they’d never sell to you.’
‘But surely they’d see things differently if I was doing you all a favour? They surely can’t be that stubborn? And I do owe you big time, don’t forget.’
‘Oh, God, not the boat thing again. Isn’t anyone going to let that drop?’
‘Well then, I want to do it because I like you and I want to help.’
‘But, Luke… you don’t know the first thing about the business. I mean, I know you know about business in general but this is so different from property…’
‘You’re saying I can’t learn?’
‘Of course you can, but why would you want to? Don’t you have work of your own to be getting on with – an existing business that needs you?’
‘Well, yes, but—’
‘Then why make promises to me that you won’t be able to keep?’
‘I would keep them.’
‘You’d mean to but then something would happen. And I love that you want to help, I really do, but…’
‘I don’t understand…’
‘It’s another false start for me, isn’t it? You’ll decide in a few weeks that you don’t have the time to spare because your house isn’t finished as quickly as you need, or because people are asking you to build them an extension or whatever and you need to do it because you need to earn, and then you’ll leave me to it. And I’ll be exactly where I started, except with the possibility hanging over me that if you get bored or need cash you’d be able to sell the waffle house on without a bit of consultation.’ She shook her head. ‘Where would you even get that kind of money from, anyway?’
‘I have some I made from property sales in London,’ he said, a defensive note creeping into his tone. ‘It would be enough.’
He took a single step back from her, but in that step was all Sadie needed to know. She’d offended him. She didn’t want that but there was no point in being anything other than straight with him – his plan was plain madness. She drew a breath. She was tired and tetchy but she didn’t want to upset him.
‘It’s a sweet offer and I’m really touched, but it’s too much and I can’t even consider it. You’ll look back on this conversation in a few weeks and realise that it would have been a horrible mistake and you’ll be glad I said no.’
He chewed on his lip for a moment, head down, hands in his pockets.
‘Right,’ he said in a low voice, eyes still on the floor. ‘Well, now I feel pretty stupid.’
‘I didn’t mean that.’
Sadie reached for him, but he took another step back.
‘I have things to do,’ he said stiffly. ‘I just wanted to catch you before… I’d better go and leave you to it.’
Any energy Sadie might have had was quickly leaving her, and though she cared that he was so offended and perhaps felt stupid, she was too tired to see a way to rescue the situation. And even if she hadn’t been, would there have been one anyway?
‘Walk to the end of the pier with me?’ she asked.
‘Sure,’ he said, but it was obvious his heart wasn’t