Summer at the Cornish Cafe

by Phillipa Ashley

  He smiles encouragement.

  ‘After I left home, I started working in the Truro tea shop and sleeping on friends’ sofas but I couldn’t stay with them forever. My brother had joined the army by then and we never heard from him. I tried a few more mates but eventually I ran out of sofas.’

  ‘How did you come to leave the tea shop?’

  ‘They built a big supermarket out of town, the market had to close and the town centre went downhill, taking the tea shop with it and by then I was already sleeping rough. I tried to get some more work, odd bits of washing-up and stuff. I don’t want to moan, there are people a lot worse off than me. I managed to hold down the job at Sheila’s Beach Hut before the Mawgan Cade incident and now I’m here and hey, everything is hunky dory.’

  He looks at me again, the way he did before Robyn walked in and not the same way he looked at her. Not in a friendly, happy way but almost as if he’s confused about exactly how to look at me or how he sees me. I’m not sure I like it, it doesn’t make me happy or sad, only uncomfortable, but not in an unpleasant way. Polly talks a lot of crap but she did say that Cal’s father left a trail of broken hearts all over Cornwall and that Cal will do the same.

  CHAPTER TEN

  So Cinderella went to the ball. But I bet she didn’t look like something from the scullery at Downton Abbey. I knew I’d probably have to wear some sort of uniform and Robyn lent me a black skirt and a pair of smart heels, but I feel a total dork in the frilly white apron the catering manager has insisted all the staff wear. In contrast, the guests are all dressed to kill, including Cal.

  He called at the cottage for me in his second-hand tux and his dark-green Hunters because it had rained and the yard was muddy. Instead of a bow tie, he’s wearing a slim black tie and he looks gorgeous. To cover my embarrassment, I made a joke about his wellies and then spent the whole five-mile journey to the country club pretending to stare at the scenery while checking out his reflection in the window.

  He smiles when I walk past him through the bar with a tray of drinks for the ‘champagne’ reception.

  ‘What’s so funny?’ I say.

  ‘Nothing. I like the outfit.’

  ‘No, you don’t. I look stupid and these shoes are a bit high for waitressing, really.’

  ‘I can see you wobbling but you look fine, although I don’t like you waiting on us. You could have come as a guest if you’d really wanted.’

  ‘Thanks, but A – I can’t afford the tickets and B – having to make small talk to a bunch of overdressed, probably pissed people I don’t know would drive me nuts. This way I can get paid for being nice to them.’

  I’m not sure he believes me but I know he feels guilty about me waiting on him so I’m going to wind him up some more. I bob a curtsey, which isn’t easy in the shoes. The glasses wobble more than me and almost spill onto the tray.

  ‘Would you care for a glass of champagne, sir?’ I ask sarcastically then lower my voice. ‘It’s cheap cava really. They’re trying to cut costs.’

  ‘Well, it is for charity.’

  ‘Waitress! Can we have some drinks over here?’ Gritting my teeth, I head in the direction of a braying voice, aware of Cal following behind me. I’m acutely conscious of my bum wiggling in Robyn’s slightly-too-small skirt. I hope Cal is not looking at me; or perhaps I hope he is.

  ‘Hey, you! Can we get a drink here?’

  I turn round.

  ‘You…’

  My heart plunges into my ridiculously uncomfortable shoes. Mawgan Cade stares at me as if I’m an alien. I didn’t recognise her at first, with the extensions and the extra layer of fake bake. She’s so orange, I need sunglasses to look at her. There’s only one course of action.

  ‘Can I help you, madam?’ I say sweetly.

  She purses her lips at the drinks and then asks me in a butter-smooth voice. ‘So you managed to get a job here, did you? I hope you haven’t brought your dog.’

  I have murder in my heart but there’s no way I’m losing this job. She must want to provoke me and I refuse to give her the satisfaction. ‘Not tonight, madam.’

  She curls her lip. ‘Good. So, can you tell me, as I’m sure you’re an expert if you’re working the bar, is this Moet or Lanson?’

  ‘I’m not sure, madam. I can ask if you like.’

  She swipes a glass, sniffs at it and wrinkles her nose. ‘Don’t bother. It’ll have to do but I’d have expected something better than this, with the price of the tickets. I’ve bought a whole table.’

  Without thanking me, she turns away and resumes her conversation with her mates. My eyes shoot daggers at her but I keep a serene smile on my face.

  Cal walks over to me on my way back to the bar.

  ‘You could have told me she’d be here!’ I say when he’s closer.

  He grimaces. ‘I wasn’t sure if she would be and you were determined to come. I did warn you. You shouldn’t waste your time on some of these people.’

  ‘Well, thanks for nothing!’

  Not trusting myself not to do something stupid, I persuade one of the other waiters to serve Mawgan and collect some empty glasses from the tables and window ledges. On my way back to the tables with a new drinks order, I swear some sweaty perv brushed my bum with his hand but I restrain myself from tipping the tray of fizz over him. It would be a waste of alcohol, even cheap alcohol, and I want my fee for tonight. It matters to me that I earn some money that hasn’t come from Cal, so I can be more independent.

  I try to focus on my job, gathering up empty glasses and half-eaten canapés, until Robyn hurries over to me. She looks amazing in a man’s tux with pointy PVC boots. ‘Demi! Thanks for doing this. Have you got a minute? There’s someone I’d like you to meet.’

  ‘I’d love to but I’m supposed to be working.’

  ‘Oh, you can spare a minute or two. If anyone gives you any bother, I’ll get Emma to sort them out.’

  I smile weakly. All I really want is to get on with my job but she’s determined. ‘Come and meet Isla.’

  Robyn points at the back of a girl standing by the vodka fountain in the centre of the bar. It’s Isla. I recognise her even though my previous sighting was merely across a crowded marketplace from a distance and even from the back. I know my theory was right. She is a shimmery girl. Her dress is a column of oyster silk ripples in the light of the chandeliers, accentuating her slender waist and perfect peach of a bum.

  Abandoning the tray temporarily on a table, I follow Robyn. Isla flicks back her hair and she must be smiling or saying something witty or sexy or both because Cal is enthralled by her. He laughs, and his eyes are lit with an intense pleasure I’ve never seen before.

  I can’t help thinking he should have stayed away tonight.

  ‘Come on. Don’t be shy!’ Robyn tugs at my elbow.

  ‘I’m not. I just don’t know these people.’

  ‘Don’t worry. They’ll love you and Isla is a sweetheart.’

  Yards away now, feet away and finally I come face to face with Isla for the first time and the shock hits me.

  She isn’t pretty after all. She’s beautiful.

  Beautiful in a way that makes me want to glance away, hoping that when I look again, she won’t be as perfect as the last time. But she is.

  ‘Demi, isn’t it?’ she says as I reach her. ‘I’ve been dying to meet you.’

  ‘Have you?’ I try to sound witty and sophisticated but end up sounding sarcastic and I really didn’t mean to.

  ‘Yes. Robyn told me how kind you were to help out here tonight. The organisers are really grateful and you must be knackered after working for Cal all day. I hope he isn’t working you too hard?’

  Cal rolls his eyes. ‘Of course I’m not. You know me better than that, Isla. Or you used to.’

  ‘I’ll bet you’re more than a match for Cal,’ Robyn says hastily.

  Isla lifts her glass to her lips, her engagement ring sparkling in the light of the chandelier. It’s an intricate Celtic love-knot with a
band dotted with sapphires. Cal is totally magnetised by her but if I had a knife from the kitchen, I’d be able to slice the tension between them. I really wish I hadn’t come over. ‘Sorry but I have to carry on working. Good to meet you, Isla.’

  ‘You too. Maybe we can meet up for coffee sometime with Robyn while I’m down here. If you want to, that is?’

  ‘That would be great,’ Robyn beams, obviously delighted to have spread sisterly affection all around.

  ‘Will Cal let you have any time off?’ Isla asks.

  Cal is stony faced. I’m not sure he likes the idea of the three of us cosying up together.

  ‘Oh, I don’t know about that. He’s a hard taskmaster.’

  ‘No, I’m not. Of course, Demi’s entitled to time off like any other employee.’

  ‘I think she’s winding you up.’ Robyn giggles and Isla smiles.

  ‘She knows you too well already, Cal.’

  ‘You all do, obviously,’ he says wearily but with a hint of a smile.

  I really don’t know what to say other than, ‘I have to get back to work before I get into trouble.’

  Out of the corner of my eye, I spot Mawgan Cade heading straight for us. Or should I say, shuffling, because that’s about all she can do in the emerald silk fantail dress she’s wearing. She actually has a good figure and the dress looks super expensive but it’s also sprayed on and has a sort of a train that makes it hard for her to walk. It reminds me of a green penguin and I have no idea how the top half is staying on. She air kisses Isla on both cheeks. Cal’s lips are pressed tightly together.

  ‘Isla! I’ve been looking for you everywhere.’ She turns to me long enough to rap out an order. ‘Fetch me a large gin and tonic. Not too much ice and absolutely no lemon.’

  Cal’s face is thunderous but Isla gets in first. ‘This is Demi, Mawgan, she’s working for Cal and helping out tonight.’

  Mawgan’s eyebrows make another attempt to shoot up her forehead. ‘What? Oh, you’re the girl he picked up in St Trenyan, then? I’ll bet you can’t believe your luck after you were sacked from the cafe.’

  ‘Not at this precise moment, no,’ I say, reining in the urge to tell her where to stick her lemon. God, those eyebrows really are something else. They should have their own Twitter account.

  She purses her lips. ‘You’re staring at me, is there anything wrong?’

  ‘Nothing, madam.’

  ‘It’s Ms, actually. Ms Cade.’

  ‘Actually, I always thought you always were a right little madam, Mawgan,’ Cal says before knocking back his whisky.

  ‘And you’d know all about that, wouldn’t you?’ Mawgan shoots back.

  ‘We mustn’t get Demi into trouble,’ Robyn says with a nervy laugh.

  ‘No we mustn’t,’ Cal says dangerously, ‘and I’ll get your drink from the bar myself, Mawgan.’

  Mawgan’s eyebrows bob up again. It’s hard not to become obsessed with them. She smiles at Cal. ‘Well, I can’t say no to a Penwith offering to buy me something.’

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  I should have known Mawgan Cade would never change and yes, maybe I should ignore her petty snobbishness but I won’t stand by and see Demi treated like a servant. I wish Robyn hadn’t asked her to work here tonight. I feel responsible for her and that only complicates things. I already knew this event was going to be a trial as my first public ‘outing’ with the great and not-so-good of the area.

  Where the hell has Luke got to? Isla said he was busy ‘networking’, but we’ve been here almost an hour and there’s still no sign of him. Why would he leave Isla here alone in this room full of men who’d give their right arms, most of them, to take her to bed? Why would he leave her alone with me, who feels like killing any of them who tried? And why have I put myself through the torture of standing so close to her, hearing her voice, drinking in her perfume, longing to undress her and feel her body next to mine one more time …

  If Luke knew what I was thinking, he’d probably kill me himself.

  ‘Cal. Are you OK?’

  ‘What?’

  Isla is right at my side, with Mawgan opposite, watching me like a hawk. ‘You seemed miles away.’

  Her lip gloss glistens in the lights and it would be so easy to lean in and taste it.

  ‘Did I? I’m fine.’

  ‘I was telling Mawgan about your plans for Kilhallon Park. Luke says you’re planning on turning the old caravan site into a sustainable eco-resort?’

  ‘An eco-resort? You make it sound much grander than it is, Isla.’

  I know Isla is trying to please me, out of guilt or pity or both, and my answer is rougher than I meant it to be. Or maybe I did mean it.

  ‘You’re putting yourself down, Cal.’

  I knock back the rest of my whisky. ‘I doubt it.’

  There’s silk in Mawgan’s reply as she joins in the discussion. ‘That sounds very expensive to set up, not that I’m an expert on the leisure industry, of course, but do you really think people with money will want to come all the way down here? Kilhallon’s very out of the way and from the last time I saw it, there is a lot of work to do.’

  ‘I’m not afraid of hard work.’

  She sniggers. ‘I can’t imagine Kilhallon attracting the right sort of people.’

  ‘I’m not only looking for ‘the right sort of people’.

  ‘But you will need families with plenty of disposable income. I assume you’ll be charging the market rate?’

  ‘For those who can pay, yes, but there’ll be a campsite too, which anyone can afford and I plan to open the site to school and community groups at a discount in the off-season. I want to make Kilhallon accessible to the widest possible range of people.’

  ‘How very noble, Cal, but you also need to make it viable or you’ll end up bankrupt.’ Mawgan sips her drink carefully. ‘Like your father would have ended up if he hadn’t, very sadly, passed away, of course.’

  Isla must have seen my expression because I find her hand on my arm. I can hardly bear to be touched by her, I want her so much.

  ‘It sounds like a great idea to me,’ she says, with the kind of smile I thought of every day in the desert. ‘I know lots of people who’d love to get away to somewhere as wild and lovely as Kilhallon. As long as there’s a Waitrose within shouting distance, of course,’ she jokes.

  ‘If the profit margins are big, it might be worth all the investment, I suppose,’ Mawgan says grudgingly.

  ‘All I want is to run a sustainable business and make a reasonable living so I don’t have to depend on other people.’

  Isla tightens her grip on my arm. ‘Go for it. I’ll tell all my friends and colleagues about the resort.’

  She’s trying too hard, and I can’t bring myself to hurt her. ‘Thanks for the offer,’ I say carefully. ‘But I need to get it up and running first. Mawgan’s right about one thing; there’s a lot to do before I can advertise it, but the work’s already underway.’

  ‘So. How are you financing it?’ Mawgan asks.

  ‘It’s all planned out,’ I say firmly.

  ‘I’m sure it is. A word of advice, Cal, whatever you do, don’t resort to mortgaging Kilhallon to the hilt as your father did. I know his life insurance paid off the loan but it was never a wise strategy.’

  ‘I know what I’m doing.’ God, the woman is like a bird of prey spotting a rabbit but I won’t be intimidated. Thank God she doesn’t know I’ve already looked into re-mortgaging the house.

  ‘I still think you’d be better off selling Kilhallon Park for re-development. I know you could get planning permission for a couple of premium properties on there. You could make a killing and never have to work again.’

  ‘I don’t want to make a killing. I’ve told you, I want to work on my own land and build something sustainable that helps the community.’ The Cades would get their hands on the place over my dead body.

  ‘So you want to protect the environment? I never had you down as a romantic, Cal.’


  Mawgan winks at me but Isla looks puzzled. I might have known Mawgan would never let me forget what happened that night but I don’t regret refusing to have sex with her. It happened when I was home from uni in the vacation before my exams and Mawgan had just finished a business course at the local college. We were young, she was drunk, and it would have been a mistake for both of us if we’d slept together. I tried to explain that to her but I know she was hurt and angry. I hadn’t realised quite how angry … damn, I seem to make a mess of everything I touch, which is why I’m determined not to make a mess of Kilhallon – or Demi. Thankfully she doesn’t look at me as anything but a grumpy boss. I’d die rather than mess up her life.

  ‘I’m not going to sell,’ I say.

  ‘Well, if you do change your mind, Cade Developments is waiting and if you don’t mind me offering some more advice, if you’re going to reinvent yourself as a business tycoon, you’d better toughen up. Business-wise, that is.’

  I try not to snort at the mention of Cade Developments, which is the property arm of the Cade’s ‘empire’ in West Cornwall. ‘You mean buy up places for a pittance from people who are desperate and throw up mansions that no local can afford? Hire a London lawyer so I can avoid my tax?’

  Mawgan laughs. ‘You’re so naïve, Cal, but you know I’d make you a fair offer for Kilhallon. Enough for you to retire on and leave Cornwall.’

  Luke bounds up.

  ‘What’s this about Cal leaving Cornwall?’ he asks, slapping me on the back like he didn’t steal the woman I love.

  ‘I’m not going anywhere, Luke. Where’ve you been?’

  His arm snakes around Isla’s back. ‘Meeting some business contacts.’

  ‘We’d started to think you’d decided to escape while you had the chance,’ Isla says lightly.

  ‘Escape from you? Why would any man ever do that? I love you.’ He plants a kiss on her lips.

  I down the whisky and dump the glass on the table. ‘Does anyone want a beer?’