Christmas Romance Collection

by Melissa Hill

  She walked briskly following the path along the side of the lake in the direction of the village, not really thinking about where she was headed, but allowing her feet to propel her naturally. She’d forgotten how familiar she was with Lakeview, regardless of the fact that she’d never done anything to endear herself to it, and had in fact, worked eagerly to distance herself. Yet somehow, she still had an innate sense of the place.

  Following her feet to the end of the lakeside path, she reached the corner where Ella’s Heartbreak Café was situated. It was a small two-storey building with an enviable position right at the edge of the lake and on the corner where Main Street began. Until she reached it, Nina was barely aware of the fact she had been walking, her mind was so intently focused, and before she knew it she was at the door and stepping through the entrance.

  She was met by the familiar scent of the place, the combination of grease and the warm, fresh smell associated with baked goods. The interior hadn’t changed much over the years – it was still the warm cosy room she remembered, with its parquet oak flooring, shelves full of dried flowers and old country-style knick-knacks, along with haphazard seating and mismatched tables, one of which was an antique Singer sewing table.

  In front of the kitchen and serving area was a long granite countertop, where various solo customers nursed their coffees and pastries atop a row of stools. Alongside this was a glass display case filled with a selection of the most delicious-looking baked goods imaginable; muffins, doughnuts, carrot cake, brownies and cream puffs for the sweet-toothed, and pies, sausage rolls and Italian breads for the more savoury-orientated. The chalkboard menu overhead listed a selection of breakfast choices ranging from yoghurt, muesli and bagels, to the Full Irish heart attack complete with locally produced black pudding.

  If Nina wasn’t hungry when she’d set out, a single whiff of Ella’s famous home cooking now suddenly had her feeling ravenous. She looked around expectantly at the faces inside, wondering whom she would recognize, if anyone, behind the changes of the years.

  Her eyes scanned the room and then settled on the one person she would know anywhere, Ella, the owner. Nina observed her for a moment, rushing from table to table, cleaning surfaces, pouring coffee, saying a kind word to everyone she met. It was perhaps no accident that she’d ended up here; Ella was such a pleasant woman and a warm soul, that often as a teenager, Nina had felt more at home in this busy café than she did at her father’s house.

  Ella must have felt Nina watching her, because suddenly she looked up. Then the older woman studied her for a moment before recognition blossomed. She set down the pot of coffee she had been circulating and rushed forward. Nina had barely moved a foot before Ella had embraced her in a warm bear-hug.

  ‘Nina love, how wonderful to see you. I must admit I wasn’t sure at first, you’ve grown up so much but then I realised I would have known those green eyes anywhere!’ she exclaimed. ‘How long are you home? Is your mother with you? I haven’t seen you both in ages.’

  ‘No, it’s just myself – on a short visit,’ Nina replied quickly, wondering why she felt the need to be evasive over how long she would be staying in Lakeview.

  Ella looked at her and Nina glanced away, worried that she could read her mind and would guess all her secrets if she allowed her to look at her for too long. ‘Are you feeling alright honey?’ Ella asked. ‘You look a bit pale and you’ve lost so much weight since the last time I’ve seen you – I hope you’re not on some silly diet or something.’

  ‘Of course not. Actually I’m really hungry.’ Better to get Ella started on something other than her looks and her health, Nina thought, and sure enough, that did the trick.

  ‘Of course you are. Take a seat there at the counter and I’ll make you some breakfast. Then you can tell me all about what you’ve been up since the last time you were here.’

  Nina was oddly touched that Ella should be so interested in her life and happy to talk to her. It made a nice change from her father’s non-existent welcome.

  The two of them chatted on and off for a while, and Ella introduced Nina to the waitress, Alice, a friendly girl in her early twenties, with large blue eyes and freckles, whom Nina warmed to right away.

  In between all the hustle and bustle, Ella wanted to know everything about what Nina had been doing for the last few years in Galway, where she’d been living, working or if she was seeing anyone. Nina was creatively editing the parts that she didn’t feel like talking about, namely, everything that had happened after Steve arrived on the scene.

  ‘And what brings you back to Lakeview?’ Ella asked finally.

  ‘Well, I just hadn’t been back in so long and really, I … I just felt that I wanted to see Patrick, I mean, Dad.’ If that wasn’t a lie, she didn’t know what was. She had spoken so haltingly that she suspected Ella guessed there was something off, but the woman just nodded and poured more orange juice. ‘So what has been happening around here?’ she asked then, deciding to change the subject.

  ‘Well you know yourself, Lakeview is still Lakeview. Of course, as you’ve probably seen on your way in, it’s a lot bigger than it was before and we have lots of city people who escape to the country only to spend all their time in the city,’ she said and Nina smiled. Ella had echoed her own thoughts on the subject completely.

  ‘And how are the kids?’ If Nina remembered correctly, Ella was a widowed mother of three, but hadn’t she fostered a couple of children over the years too? Along with every bedraggled cat/dog/rabbit that happened to cross her path. Kind-hearted to the core, Ella Harris liked to look after people, which was why her little café had always been a hugely popular gathering place for the Lakeview locals. Here, there was no need to specify ‘tall’ or ‘grande’ as someone like Ella could guess a customer’s preference almost on sight.

  ‘Fine, fine – all keeping well thank goodness,’ she replied, her face lighting up at the mention of her children. ‘Dan my oldest helps out here from time to time, Carly works as a special needs assistant, and Lily’s still at uni,’ she said smiling fondly, ‘I see them all from to time but they tend to do their own thing, you know yourself ’

  ‘I can imagine,’ Nina said politely. She smiled; unsure what to say next, but soon found that she didn’t have to, because right at that moment, the door of the café burst open and something like a tornado blew in.

  An incredibly petite young woman with a shock of curly red hair tied up in one of those messy, yet incredibly fashionable ‘half ponytails’ came inside. She had a very chic pair of Chanel sunglasses perched on the top of her head, and as she took a moment to look around; Nina could feel the energy pulsating off of her.

  ‘Ella, what a great morning it is!’ she trilled. ‘So, did you hear the news? Guess whose coming home this weekend? There is a big welcome home party and awards do being planned at Clancy’s and I was just on my way over there to see the set up, but I had no breakfast so I said I’d pop in to grab a pastry and I….’ the redhead stopped mid-sentence and stared at Nina. ‘Nina Hughes! Oh my gosh! Speaking of homecomings …’ She lunged forward and pulled Nina into a tight embrace.

  ‘Trish. Wow, I hardly recognised you. I wasn’t sure if you still lived here actually.’

  ‘Well you would have known if you’d ever bothered phoning or maybe dropping an email,’ Trish chided half-heartedly.

  Nina winced. ‘I know, I’ve been awful. I did mean to – ‘

  ‘Not to worry. Sure, we’re both as bad as each other. I was in Cork for a good while but I’m back now, oh about …two years now, isn’t it Ella?’ she said and the older woman nodded in affirmation.

  ‘So tell me all. I want to know everything you have been doing since the last time I’ve seen you. It’s been years. What have you been up to? How’s Galway? How long are you here for? Are you staying with your dad? How is he, I haven’t seen him in ages…’ Trish didn’t take a breath.

  ‘Wow you really haven’t changed a bit,’ Nina laughed. ‘Don’t you ever com
e up for air?’ Trish just grinned and Nina briefly recalled their shared history. The two were the same age and Trish had been one of the few friends Nina had as a child when she visited Lakeview. She couldn’t remember when she had seen her last, but even then, the encounter wasn’t in Lakeview but in Galway. Trish had been up there for something – she couldn’t remember what – but regardless, they had met up for dinner and a few drinks. It was great night and a funny memory and right then, Nina couldn’t understand why they hadn’t stayed in touch.

  ‘Nina just got in yesterday. She’s staying with her father for a little while,’ Ella replied, giving Trish the simplified version of what Nina had just told her. She turned to Nina. ‘When Trish gets her breath back, she’ll be able to tell you that she works for the Lakeview News now. If you can believe it, she is quite the interviewer when she allows her subjects to talk,’ she added wryly, and Trish flushed a shade of red that just about matched her hair.

  ‘Fantastic. So you did end up a writer after all,’ Nina said, recalling how Trish used to love making up stories in her youth.

  ‘Well, the local rag isn’t exactly Pulitzer-winning stuff, but I enjoy it,’ Trish told her. ‘And even though we’re not celeb-central around here, things are looking up,’ she added excitedly.

  When Nina and Ella both looked blank, she went on. ‘Well, you’re not going to believe this but Ruth Seymour’s coming home! The press release came in during the week.’

  Of course, the actress. Nina had almost forgotten that she’d also known Ruth Seymour from her visits here.

  ‘I’ve heard all about the show. Isn’t it mad to think that we all played together years ago and now she’s this huge Hollywood star?’

  Trish wrinkled her nose. ‘Hollywood Star or not – she puts her pants on the same way I do,’ she giggled. ‘That’s if she remembers to wear any at all.’

  ‘Trish!’ Ella gasped shocked, and Nina smiled. ‘Although I read heat magazine too and I do think that botox or not, she’s a bit past the scraps of clothes she’s been wearing lately.’

  ‘What age is she?’ Nina asked. ‘She has to be at least thirty.’

  ‘Twenty-five according to the press release,’ Trish confirmed with a chuckle. ‘Does that mean we get to be twenty-five too? I do hope she realises she is attracting a swarm of press to her hometown, and someone might pull her birth certificate,’ she added her eyes sparkling mischievously.

  ‘Now, now, don’t be spiteful,’ Ella warned. ‘And don’t you be stirring up trouble just because you have access to records for that project you are doing.’

  Trish went on to explain to Nina how she was currently in the process of putting together a photographic history of Lakeview. ‘I’m publishing it for charity, so I get access to all the town’s records to compile it.’

  ‘Sounds interesting,’ Nina replied, thinking it was a very good idea indeed. The town was steeped in history, having been the site of a major republic rebellion a hundred years before. And seeing as it had changed immeasurably since even the last time she had seen it, it would be nice to have the changes down through the years documented.

  ‘Anyway,’ Trish continued. ‘The town has arranged to give her a Lakeview Person of the Year award – I know; as if we have this huge pool to choose from,’ she giggled, seeing Nina’s amused look. ‘There’s going to be a huge party at Clancy’s Hotel. You should come along. Everyone acts as if the queen is coming. Although I suppose it is very cool to think that someone from Lakeview, someone we know, is now so famous.’

  ‘Will you get to interview her?’

  ‘Yep and I can’t wait, for the sake of my career if nothing else,’ Trish smiled. ‘I would like to move on to one of the nationals eventually.’

  ‘Of course,’ Nina agreed, and no one better than Trish to do so. ‘Well when you do, do you think you can ask her a question for me?’

  ‘Of course, what’s that?’

  ‘What it’s like to spend her days on set snogging Troy Valentine?’

  Trish threw her head back and laughed aloud. ‘You must have been reading my mind! Well look, I’d better grab this pastry and get going. Oh, Nina it’s brilliant to see you back. Having you home will be just like old times. You should come to the awards thing with me and we’ll drink loads of champagne. I’ll give you a call later to arrange the plans, OK?’ she said, before breezing out the door.

  ‘Sure,’ Nina agreed, although Trish’s words had ruined the light-heartedness of the moment and brought her screaming back to reality.

  Ella was off serving customers, and deciding she’d already taken up enough of her time, Nina left some money on the counter and stood up to leave. Ella gave a friendly wave as she left but once outside, the weight of all Nina’s problems returned. It was nice to feel just normal and carefree for a moment with Trish and Ella she thought, sighing. And while she’d be happy to go to Ruth Seymour’s official homecoming with her friend, there would be no champagne for her.

  Nina couldn’t well be partying it up and drinking bubbly in Clancy’s hotel, not when she was twelve weeks pregnant.

  End of excerpt

  Continue reading THE HEARTBREAK CAFE.

  About the Author

  International #1 and USA Today bestselling author Melissa Hill lives in Dublin and is one of Ireland's most popular female fiction authors.

  Her page-turning contemporary stories are published worldwide and translated into 25 different languages. Her titles are regular chart-toppers in Ireland and internationally. SOMETHING FROM TIFFANY'S (aka A GIFT FROM TIFFANY'S) became one of Italy's 2011 Top Ten bestselling books overall, and THE CHARM BRACELET was a USA Today bestseller.

  One of her recent novels is currently in development with a major Hollywood studio.

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  Also by Melissa Hill

  Author Page

  Mulberry Bay (New)

  Lakeview

  The Heartbreak Cafe

  All Because of You

  Never Say Never

  The Last to Know

  Wishful Thinking

  The Guest List

  The Wedding Invite

  Christmas at the Heartbreak Café

  Summer at The Heartbreak Cafe

  New York

  A Gift From Tiffany’s

  A Gift To Remember

  Before I Forget (Christmas in New York)

  A Diamond From Tiffany’s

  The Gift of A Charm (The Charm Bracelet)

  Standalone Novels

  Something You Should Know

  Please Forgive Me

  Box Sets

  Lakeview – 4 Book Collection

  Christmas Romance Collection

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  For more info, visit her website at www.melissahill.ie

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