The Waffle House on the Pier - Tilly Tennant Page 0,88

more family and friends in checking up on them than actual paying customers at the waffle house that day. After Ewan had gone Kat called, having a couple of hours between lessons, and then late morning Henny dashed over, taking a break from the boat and letting Ewan (who now had an hour free) go out with Graham instead.

At lunch Natalie called in (after being filled in by Vivien at the pub, who’d heard it from Melissa’s mum, who’d been told by Melissa, who’d been told by Declan that he’d found April wandering the day before with Sadie locked in the waffle house). Natalie demanded to know why Sadie hadn’t approached her for help, and though Sadie appreciated the sentiment, she suspected that if she’d asked for help, Natalie probably would have been too busy to do very much at all. But she was here now, concerned for the welfare of all involved, and Sadie was grateful for that. Natalie went through to the kitchen and sat on a stool, chatting to April while she drank tea and ate crepes. While Sadie appreciated that her friend was keeping Gammy company and keeping an eye on her, she also had a little wry appreciation of the fact that her friend was getting a pretty good deal out of it. Then Natalie had to dash off back to work and Sadie was left in relative peace – for an hour at least.

The day saved the best (or worst, depending on how you looked at it) until last. About an hour before closing, Declan came in. He seemed tense, not quite his usual self, but he denied this when Sadie asked him about it. She wondered whether problems with Melissa were at the root of it, and whether perhaps the row she’d overheard the night she’d hidden beneath the pier with Luke was still rumbling on. But he hadn’t taken an hour off work to talk about himself, he said, he’d come to check if Sadie and April were OK, and to see if he could lend a hand. He also expressed some surprise that they were open at all.

‘You’re not the only one who’s surprised,’ Sadie said in a low voice. ‘We weren’t supposed to be open but it got a bit tricky. I suppose Melissa told you she saw us this morning?’

‘Yes, though when she told me I thought maybe you were just checking the place over. And then Ewan called me about an hour ago to see if I could come by.’

‘Hmm. Well, basically, Gammy was determined that we’d be open no matter what anyone said about it, and you know how difficult she can be.’

He gave a slight smile. ‘The stubbornness doesn’t surprise me – it runs in the family.’

‘I hope you’re not alluding to me.’

He shrugged. ‘Take it how you like, but if you recognise it…’

‘Oh!’ she cried with mock annoyance. ‘So rude!’

He held his hands up in a gesture of surrender. ‘I’m just saying I might have seen it before.’

Sadie couldn’t help a warm smile for him. ‘Even though it does look as if you’ve taken an hour off just to come and insult me, thanks for looking in on us anyway. But you needn’t have worried – we’re just fine. We have a plan, apparently. At least, Ewan does.’

‘Doesn’t sound as if you’re overly keen on it.’

‘I’m not, but I don’t think I have a choice.’

‘Want to fill me in?’

Sadie glanced at the kitchen door. ‘Not now – you never know who’s listening.’

He nodded. ‘You don’t need anything from me while I’ve got an hour? Anything at all – name it. As long as it doesn’t involve human sacrifice or lime jelly I’m all over it.’

She let out a giggle that had the half-dozen diners they had in looking for the source of the noise, and she had to clamp a hand over her mouth, a sheepish grin on her face.

‘Jelly?’

‘You don’t recall the jelly incident? Or Jelly-Gate, as I like to call it.’

‘You don’t eat jelly.’

‘No, and there’s a good reason why. Come on now, think back.’

Sadie paused, and then she giggled again. ‘Oh, God, yes… that time…’

‘I never used to eat it and you couldn’t understand why and I couldn’t remember why, so one day you made me have some with custard and I broke out in hives almost immediately.’

‘And you had your headshot for student council the next day.’

‘And I looked like I’d got some horrible disease and nobody could ever recognise me