The Sunflower Cottage Breakfast Club

by Lynsey James

  *

  Diane’s assertion that we’d be overwhelmed with breakfast club members was ‘optimistic’, to say the least.

  We ended up with four in total: two old ladies named Marjorie and Dolly who wore identical twinsets and pearls, a kind-looking man named Fred, and a young woman named Alice whose eyes were fixed permanently to the floor. Not exactly the hordes of people Diane had said we’d be greeted with, but it was a start.

  ‘Right,’ I said, clapping my hands. ‘Thank you all for coming to the first ever Sunflower Cottage Breakfast Club! My name’s Emily and I’ll be your host today; anything you need, just ask me! Can I take your orders for breakfast?’ I looked around and realised we didn’t have any menus. ‘We do all sorts: pancakes, a full English, a New Yorker, eggs Benedict. Whatever you fancy, really! Oh, and there’s continental options while you wait too.’

  I gestured to the array of cereals, fruits and juices that I’d lovingly laid out for them.

  ‘Any prunes, love?’ asked Dolly, fluffing up her wisps of white hair. ‘I’m not a big eater in the mornings, truth be told.’

  I pulled on a smile. ‘We don’t have any prunes, but we do have mango, pineapple and a selection of berries for you if that’s any help?’

  Dolly’s lips pursed and she looked away from me, muttering something about her constitution.

  ‘Anyone else like to order something?’ I flashed them a hopeful smile, praying at least one of them would want to try the food we’d been working so hard on.

  Alice put a hesitant hand in the air. ‘C… can I try the New Yorker, please?’

  ‘Of course you can!’ I scribbled her order down in my notebook.

  The others began to mumble out orders; Marjorie wanted to try the eggs Benedict, Dolly decided to risk it for a biscuit and order some pancakes, and Fred fancied a full English.

  I took the orders in to Noah, who was as confused as I was.

  ‘I thought Diane said we were due a good turnout?’ he said, frowning at the scribbles in my notebook. ‘There’s only four orders here. Do the rest of them not want a cooked breakfast or something?’

  I shook my head. ‘Four’s all we’ve got, I’m afraid. It’s a start, though; if they like what they get today, they might bring some friends along with them next time.’

  Noah nodded and turned back to his sizzling pans of food. ‘Here’s hoping! Let’s get ready to rumble, eh?’

  As I walked through to check the club members had everything they needed, I was sure I could hear him mumble some very familiar song lyrics under his breath. Ones about watching us wreck the mic, psyche.

  *

  In my job with Walter Marshall Hotels, it had become slowly ingrained in me that a ‘job well done’ meant landing a prospective client and adding to the company’s profits. I measured my success by how many new additions I brought to the chain, but very rarely took the people behind the businesses into consideration. To me, they were voices at the end of the phone or an email that popped into my inbox. Very rarely did I get to see the owners’ hearts and souls or the passion they put into their businesses. I was too busy focusing on business to bring any personal sentiments into it.

  Until, that is, the Sunflower Breakfast Club started.

  As I interacted with the members, making sure their every need was catered for, I felt a strange sensation course through my veins. It felt as though a fog around me had been lifted; for the first time in forever I felt alive.

  ‘Does anyone need any more fruit juices or maybe some more toast?’ I asked.

  I was greeted with a chorus of happy noises in response as the members ate their breakfasts. Their faces had all lit up with sheer enjoyment and it was a pleasure to see. We were joined a moment later by Dixie, who’d come in to see what all the fuss was about and possibly cadge some free food.

  ‘Everything’s perfect, dear,’ said Dolly, who had almost polished off her pancakes topped with apple and cinnamon. ‘I’m glad you didn’t have any prunes now!’

  She reached down and stroked Dixie, who tried to climb up and steal some of her pancakes. The little white bundle of fluff made an excellent addition to the breakfast club.

  The biggest and most intriguing change was undoubtedly in Alice. As she tucked into her New Yorker, her sullen face had transformed into an expression of pure joy. She sat slightly apart from the rest of the group, as though she was in her own little bubble.

  ‘Everything OK?’ I asked, sidling up to her. ‘Have you got everything you need?’

  She nodded. ‘Yeah, this breakfast is lovely! Like a fry-up but even better.’

  Although her face had lit up since she’d started eating, I could still see a trace of sadness in her eyes like something was missing. For reasons I couldn’t quite put my finger on, it struck a chord with me. I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but wasn’t sure how to broach it, especially since we were strangers.

  ‘So…’ I began, searching for a conversation starter. ‘Have you lived in the village long?’

  ‘All my life, really,’ she replied with a thin smile. ‘I lived in New York for a while, though; I was on Broadway.’

  My eyes widened. Alice was such a small, slight creature who’d barely spoken a word since she’d arrived; it was hard to imagine her doing something as extroverted as performing on Broadway.

  ‘Wow! What shows were you in?’ I asked.

  ‘Quite a few: Chicago, Hairspray, Mamma Mia, Wicked. I gave it up, though… My heart wasn’t in it anymore.’

  All of a sudden, Alice seemed very far away. Her eyes drifted back to her half-finished breakfast and I knew it was best to leave it there.

  I went back to my old vantage point near the kitchen and watched the members interact with one another over their breakfasts. A warmth rushed over me that I’d never experienced before. I felt part of something, something that was bigger than numbers and spreadsheets and promotions. Getting back to Glasgow to claim my promotion was the furthest thing from my mind.

  Was I starting to feel at home in Luna Bay?

  Chapter 16

  The world of dating wasn’t one I was particularly familiar with. I’d been on precisely three in my whole life, all of which had been unmitigated disasters. So while the prospect of going out on an actual date with Noah excited me, it also filled me with dread.

  There was only one person I could think of to help me with my dilemma: Lucy. I raced over to see her after the breakfast club was over.

  ‘Wow, you are stepping out of your comfort zone lately!’ she said with a grin when I told her about my impending date. ‘When you came to this village, you were an uptight workaholic and now look at you! Can’t remember the last time I saw you glued to your laptop and now you’ve got a date with an actual human being instead of a conference call! What’s next? Are you finally going to ditch those trouser suits you love so much?’

  I looked down at the dove-grey one I was wearing and felt a rush of self-consciousness. ‘Actually, I was hoping you could give me a hand with that. I don’t really have anything to wear for a date and I don’t want to show up in a trouser suit!’

  Lucy flashed me a kind smile. ‘Then this is the perfect time for our day out, isn’t it? We said we were going to head out somewhere, so this is as good an excuse as any!’

  She called to Jake over her shoulder that she was going out. He gave us a little wave while he served a customer and told us to have fun. As we left, I noticed the look he gave Lucy: it was as though, to him, she was the most wonderful person on Earth. As though she exuded a special kind of magic only he could see.

  *

  An hour later, we found ourselves in a large department store in York, wandering around the womenswear department. I was pretty aimless and had no idea what I was looking for, while Lucy whizzed around the aisles picking up dresses, skirts and floaty chiffon tops. She looked like a woman possessed as her brown curls bobbed up and down with excitement.

  ‘Come on, there’s loads of nice stuff in here!’ Sh
e came over to find me, arms laden with piles of clothes. ‘What sort of thing are you looking for?’

  I shrugged and puffed my cheeks out. ‘This is the one area in my life where I have no idea what I’m doing. Well, apart from relationships. And emotions in general. Would you mind giving me a hand?’

  A huge, beaming smile spread across Lucy’s face. ‘Emily, you’ve just made my day!’

  Before I knew it, I’d been shoehorned into a dressing room with a variety of summery dresses, tops and skirts to try on. There were spaghetti straps, racer backs, A-lines and a variety of other terms I didn’t understand, but that Lucy used like it was a second language to her.

  I picked up my first item of clothing, a jersey teal maxi dress. It looked gorgeous on the hanger, but I didn’t see how it would suit my awkward, curvy frame. In fact, I thought as I sifted through the huge pile, none of these things would look good on me. On anyone else, they’d be fantastic, but definitely not on me.

  I was just about to tell Lucy that I wanted to go back out for another look, when her voice stopped me. ‘How are you getting on?’

  ‘Um… I’m not sure about these,’ I admitted. ‘Are you sure they’ll look OK?’

  ‘Positive! Now hurry up; I can’t wait to see what you look like!’

  I admitted defeat and pulled on the teal maxi dress. It felt so alien to not be wearing my work clothes, but quite refreshing at the same time. There was a full-length mirror outside the cubicle, so I stepped out from behind the curtain to look in it. Lucy’s nose scrunched up and she tilted her head from side to side.

  ‘OK, so maybe I was wrong about that one,’ she said. ‘It doesn’t do your figure any justice. Go back in and try another one on.’

  I did as she asked but, five dresses later, we were still no closer to finding The One. We found ones that were too short, too long, too baggy and too clingy, but none that made either of us go ‘wow, this is it!’

  Until the final dress, that is.

  I knew as soon as I pulled it on that I was in love with it. It was a white chiffon sundress with multicoloured butterflies printed all over it, sitting just above my knees and cinching in at the waist. When I first put it on, it felt like the moment in Harry Potter where he finds his perfect wand. There was no great rush of air, though; just a feeling that this dress was pretty bloody fantastic.

  I stepped out of the cubicle, hoping against hope that my suspicions were correct. Lucy turned round to look at me, and her jaw visibly dropped. Her bright-green eyes became dinner plates and her mouth worked wordlessly, producing words that didn’t quite reach the air.

  ‘Oh… my… God,’ she managed eventually. ‘Emily, you look amazing. Please tell me you’re buying that dress!’

  I shifted round to look at myself properly in the full-length mirror and was struck by what I saw. For the first time in forever, I had an actual figure. It wasn’t hidden under swathes of grey or black fabric; instead it was clad in a flattering dress that showed off my hips and legs. I hadn’t even known I had hips and legs to show off! I was overcome by a strange emotion that I couldn’t quite define, and felt a swell of tears at the back of my throat. I couldn’t remember ever feeling so happy about what I saw in the mirror.

  ‘I think I’ll take it,’ I choked out. ‘It’s quite nice really, isn’t it?’

  *

  After deciding on The Dress, it became quite easy to find other things I liked. By the time Lucy and I had made another tour of the shop, I’d ended up with a black playsuit dotted with cream and red flowers, a selection of tube skirts in various colourful patterns and several summery tops.

  Next stop was a local café for something to eat and to take the weight off our aching feet. We collapsed into wicker chairs on the café’s outside terrace, putting our groaning carrier bags on the ground and letting out contented sighs. A waiter brought over the two tall glasses of lemonade we’d ordered and we each took long sips from them.

  ‘Well, I’d say that was a success!’ Lucy glanced down at the pile of bags containing our spoils ‘You were like a bloody demon once you found that dress!’

  ‘I think I just needed to hit my stride,’ I said with a grin. ‘I’m really happy with what I bought, though; bye-bye trouser suits! It was nice knowing you!’

  Lucy looked at me as she languidly sipped her lemonade. ‘And I suppose this has nothing to do with the fact that you have a hot date with Luna Bay’s most eligible bachelor tomorrow?’

  I stuck my chin in the air. ‘Nope, none whatsoever! It’s purely coincidental.’

  She gave me a whatever-you-say look then tapped the table. ‘Oh, I meant to ask you how the first breakfast club went! It was today, wasn’t it?’

  I nodded. ‘Yup. We didn’t quite get the turnout we thought, but the people who did come seemed lovely. Do you know a woman called Alice, by the way? Small, brown hair, used to perform on Broadway?’

  Lucy paused for a moment, contorting her face into a thoughtful pout. I waited in anticipation for her answer; I’d thought about Alice all day, wondering about the sadness behind her eyes.

  ‘Oh yeah! Alice Woods; she’s from the village originally, but she spent a few years in New York while she was on Broadway. I’m not sure why she came back, though; I don’t think she ever really talks about it.’

  Damn. I was no further forward with finding out more about her.

  ‘Anyway,’ I said, changing the subject, ‘I’m freaking out about this date with Noah. I don’t know if you know this, but I don’t exactly have the best romantic track record in the world. Don’t really do romance or relationships, to be honest. Plus, I’m here to land a promotion, not get attached to anyone. It was such a shock when he asked me out as well; one minute we’re yelling at each other and he’s trying to get rid of me, the next he’s inviting me out to dinner! I’m not sure how I feel about him, really. God it’s like being back at school!’

  Lucy made a little pyramid with her fingers and rested her chin on it. ‘When I came back to Luna Bay, I’d had next to no romantic history for eight years. Then I met Jake and everything just sort of fell into place. Took a while, mind you, but it happened. I dunno, maybe it’s because I’ve lived here all my life, but Luna Bay has a way of opening you up to possibilities you hadn’t even considered before. Are you saying it’s totally impossible for you to have started to feel something for Noah?’

  I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. ‘Not totally impossible, no. But I think it’s just because we’ve been getting on so well lately. I’ve probably just got carried away, that’s all. It’s not exactly practical for me to develop feelings for a guy who lives two hundred miles away, is it?’

  Lucy gave a wistful smile and fiddled with the straw in her lemonade.

  ‘That’s exactly what I thought too. I came home for my nana’s funeral and found out I’d inherited a cottage and a book club for broken hearts! Not exactly your typical inheritance, but my nana wasn’t a typical person! I’d lost my job in events, but just when I’d decided to stay, my boss rang to say I could have it back. It was all there for me; I could’ve had a company car, a pay rise and everything. In the end, though, it wasn’t what I wanted. Jake was. So here I am, running the Purple Partridge with him and chairing the book club every Wednesday night! It’s a million miles away from the life I thought I’d be living, but I’ve never been happier.’

  The dreamy look in her eyes gave away just how contented she was with the life she’d chosen. I felt a little pang of envy; I’d never felt so settled and happy anywhere before. I’d always been too driven and career-focused to notice if I was really happy or not.

  ‘I guess what I’m trying to say,’ she continued, ‘is that you have to let yourself be open to things happening. How does that saying go? Life’s what happens when you’re busy making other plans?’

  I nodded. ‘That sounds pretty familiar.’

  Lucy sighed and drained the last of her lemonade. A playful smile danced at the corners of her mouth, like she was struggl
ing to hold some really exciting news in.

  ‘Got something to tell me, have you?’ I said with a wink.

  She paused for a second, looking like she was about to burst with happiness. ‘Oh God, I have to tell someone! I found a gorgeous engagement ring rolled up in Jake’s socks the other night. Unless I’m very much mistaken, which I hope I’m not, he’s going to propose!’

  We squealed and hugged, attracting the attention of our fellow diners.

  ‘That’s amazing,’ I said, flicking some honey-blonde strands away from my face. ‘Were you expecting it?’

  Lucy shook her head. ‘No, not at all. He’s mentioned it a couple of times and we’ve talked about getting married one day, but I didn’t think he was going to propose so soon. I’m proper excited now, can’t wait for him to do it! The only trouble now will be holding it in until he does; knowing me, I’ll blurt something out before then. I’m the one who sang ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ at my nana’s funeral, after all.’

  As the sun shone down on us, bathing us in golden light, my thoughts turned to the elephant that followed me wherever I went: Derek. I wondered whether to confide in Lucy or not. I didn’t know her very well and we were having such a lovely day; I didn’t want to spoil it by dumping my secret on her. Yet there was something about her that told me I could trust her. She might even be able to offer a fresh perspective on the situation.

  ‘Listen…’ I began, ‘I know we’re having a really good day and I’m really happy for you and Jake, but I was wondering if I could talk to you about something?’

  ‘Sure,’ she said with a grin. ‘Is everything OK?’

  ‘The thing is… I’m not just in Luna Bay to buy over Sunflower Cottage. Before I got here, I found out something about my family that completely changed everything and… Well, it’s connected to this village.’

  Lucy stopped fiddling with her straw and focused her attention on me. ‘Emily, what is it? If it’s something bad, then I’m sure we can sort it out.’

  I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes, as if screwing them shut would make everything go away. The only other person I’d told had been Frankie – she was removed from the situation because she didn’t know anybody in Luna Bay – but telling Lucy was quite different. It was highly likely she knew Derek, with Luna Bay being such a small, close-knit community, and now I was about to blow her opinion of him sky high.