The Teashop on the Corner

by Milly Johnson

  Chapter 95

  Leni ironed the last of Ryan’s shirts. She couldn’t get them white, even on a boil wash. She stitched missing buttons on his trousers and his blazer but he needed a totally new uniform. Thank goodness it was almost the end of the summer term. She wondered if he would be with her when the new school year started in September or if his family would claim him back after calming down.

  She knew she would be in real trouble with the school if they found out she had lied when she’d rung that morning and said that she was Ryan’s brother’s girlfriend and that their telephone number had changed. The woman on the end of the phone hadn’t seemed to suspect anything though and merely thanked her for letting them know. Leni knew she hadn’t really thought this thing through, but what else could she do?

  Ryan must have got up to go to the toilet during the night and left his door ajar because Mr Bingley had sneaked in and was asleep on his bed, curled up behind Ryan’s legs. The boy was dead to the world. Mr Bingley used to curl up behind Anne’s legs just the same. Leni quietly opened the wardrobe and hung the ironed clothes inside, then turned to look a second time at the sleeping shape beneath the quilt and tried to imagine it was Anne, home with her again. Leni closed the door gently and went back downstairs.

  Chapter 96

  Carla was a mess of excitement and nerves as she loaded up her car on Monday morning. Will came into the kitchen as she was lifting the last box that would fit in her boot.

  ‘Oh God, I didn’t wake you, did I?’ she said, horrified, because she knew he wasn’t working today.

  ‘What? This is a lie-in for me,’ he replied. ‘I’m used to early mornings. Here, let me,’ and he insisted she hand over the box. Martin wouldn’t have done that. He wasn’t what she would have called ‘a gentleman’. She was beginning to wonder what Julie Pride had seen in him when they’d met up again. Maybe if he hadn’t won the lottery the relationship really would have fizzled out after the initial flare up of old passions after all.

  ‘I could come and help you, if you like,’ said Will as he shut the boot. ‘I haven’t got anything else to do today.’

  ‘Oh don’t be silly,’ smiled Carla. ‘Not that I don’t appreciate the offer.’

  ‘Well that’s settled then,’ said Will. ‘I’ll follow you up in the van and bring the rest of the boxes.’

  ‘You don’t take no for an answer very well, do you?’ she grinned.

  He didn’t say anything, just winked at her and Carla hurried into her car before he saw her blush.

  When she got to Spring Hill, she intended to get a couple of toasties and some coffee from the Teashop on the Corner, but was surprised to see that it wasn’t open, which was odd. She hoped everything was all right with Leni.

  Carla unpacked the box with the new kettle, the coffee and the cups in it first and was about to pour out when Will arrived with the last two boxes and the sweeping brush.

  ‘It’s taking shape isn’t it?’ said Will, looking at the vases ready waiting for the flowers.

  ‘Yep,’ grinned Carla. ‘I’m getting my phone line put in this morning and the credit card machine installed this afternoon.’

  ‘You just tell me what sort of counter you need and I’ll make it,’ said Will, taking a retractable tape measure out of his jacket pocket. ‘Won’t take me that long. It’ll be a bit more professional looking than this table.’ Carla had bought a cheap table to set her on for the time being. It would do the job but the thought of a proper purpose-built counter was making her quite giddy.

  ‘I’ve got some dimensions together.’ Carla reached for her notepad. ‘Do you need money for materials up front?’

  ‘Naw, it’s okay,’ said Will with a slow grin. ‘I know where you live.’

  ‘Thank you,’ said Carla, almost breathless with excitement. ‘I can’t believe after all these years I am actually going to have my own shop.’

  ‘What about the sign over the door?’

  ‘That’s coming first thing Wednesday morning, apparently,’ replied Carla. ‘And I’ve decided to have a uniform. Black dress and a white apron. Sort of French-maidy.’

  Will puffed out his cheeks. ‘That sounds great.’

  ‘Oh God.’ Carla was thrown into panic by his reaction. ‘I didn’t mean in a pervy way. It’s classy. It’s got a black cat on the bib thing.’

  Will let loose a booming laugh and Carla’s joined it.

  He didn’t admit to Carla that the idea of her in a French Maid outfit was the reason why he suddenly had to go out to his van and take a few moments.

  ‘Everything is happening so fast,’ she said when he came back in.

  ‘Yep, and there was you trying to convince us all that you wouldn’t be able to run your own place.’

  Will seemed to be as thrilled for her as she was, thought Carla, looking at his cheery face.

  ‘Will you be able to manage it all by yourself?’ he asked her.

  ‘I might need a part-time assistant. I’ll see how it goes,’ said Carla. ‘If I need help that means I’ve got good business coming in and can afford it.’

  A bucket of self-doubt splashed in her face. Oh God, I hope I’m doing the right thing, she thought to herself. Where would she go and what would she do if it all died a death overnight?

  It won’t, said another voice. A stronger voice. You’re going to be just fine.

  *

  Ryan eventually woke at eleven a.m. He might have slept longer had Mr Bingley not decided to snuggle up to his face and his whiskers tickled him awake. He came downstairs yawning, with mussed-up hair and pyjamas that had seen much better days and walked into a kitchen that was rich with the scent of cakes baking.

  ‘That was a mint sleep,’ he announced to Leni, who was washing up her giant mixing bowl.

  ‘Glad to hear it. Now, would you like some breakfast?’ she asked. ‘Or are you going to skip straight to lunch?’ She made a pointed look at the clock.

  ‘Breakfast would be nice, thank you,’ grinned Ryan.

  ‘Bacon, eggs, sausage? Beans on toast? Omelette? Cereal?’

  Ryan’s eyes rounded. ‘A bacon sarnie?’ he half-asked, unsure that Leni wasn’t joking.

  ‘Crispy or not crispy? Teacake, toast or bread?’

  ‘Er . . . crispy, and . . . teacake, please.’

  ‘Coming up. Help yourself to orange juice in there.’

  Ryan walked tentatively over to the fridge which Leni had just pointed to.

  ‘Go on, there’s nothing in there to bite you. Glasses in the cupboard to the right,’ she called.

  He poured himself a full half-pint of orange juice. ‘I like this stuff with bits in. Tastes more real,’ he said, lifting the glass to his lips and sipping. From the look on his face, he could have been drinking Cristal champagne.

  He wolfed down the bacon sarnie as if he hadn’t eaten for a fortnight, then dabbed at the crumbs on his plate with a dampened finger.

  ‘I’ve washed your clothes and put them in the wardrobe,’ Leni said, taking the plate from him and dropping it in the sink.

  ‘God, it’s like a hotel,’ said Ryan. ‘A nice posh one. Can I go and watch some telly please?’

  ‘You go and fill your boots,’ said Leni. ‘School tomorrow, though.’

  But not even the ‘s’ word could dampen Ryan’s spirits. He and Mr Bingley watched TV whilst Leni worked on her laptop until it was time for tea. He couldn’t remember having a day when he’d been as warm and fed and content as this ever.

  Chapter 97

  By four o’clock Carla had a working phone line and a credit card machine installed. She had experienced so many tremors of excitement that her bones had almost forgotten how to stop shaking. She wondered if Harvey would honour his promise to be her first customer after all. She allowed herself a moment’s reverie where she was taking his credit card and he was typing in his pin number so that he could purchase a huge bouquet for Molly. It was all too weird.

  Two months ago she had been Mrs Carla Pride – or
so she thought – wife of a not too successful salesman with an okay-ish life, although now she realised that she had settled for much less than she should have. She had been content with the crumbs of affection that her ‘over-worked’ spouse sprinkled from his table, but she had loved him and supported him hoping that the powers that be at work would eventually recognise his devotion to the company and give him the big fat pay rise he deserved.

  Now she was two stone lighter, outright owner of a strange little house that once belonged to a diamond smuggler, standing in her own florist shop and landlady to possibly the nicest man on earth.

  Her thoughts drifted to Will, presently away buying materials to make a counter for her. They followed him quite a lot if she dared to admit it to herself. He was a true prize as a tenant: he was considerately quiet when he had to leave early in the mornings, paid his rent on time and even wiped down work surfaces after he had used them – Martin would never have stooped so low. Will Linton wouldn’t be single for long. Some very attractive woman would spot him and fall for him and soon he would be asking Carla if he could be released from his rental agreement and he would leave her at the mercy of having to find another tenant. Oh, she hoped that wouldn’t be too soon. The thought of not seeing his cheery, cheeky face in the kitchen, hearing him sing in the bath, or chatting to him as the kettle boiled was too sad to think about – especially as she was so happy at the moment.

  The idea of him leaving Dundealin made Carla realise she had become far too fond of Will Linton, far too quickly.

  Chapter 98

  Just after tea, Leni and Ryan both felt a stab of cold fear shoot through them on hearing the sharp knock at the door, although a second later they heard a strong Irish voice say, ‘It’s me, Shaun.’

  Leni jumped up to unbolt the door.

  ‘I came to see that everything was all right with you,’ he said as Leni moved aside to let him in.

  ‘Yes, yes, fine and dandy,’ replied Leni. ‘Come in.’

  ‘Have you got that injury looked at?’

  ‘No,’ Leni shook her head, dismissing it. ‘It’s okay. Really, just a bruise on my back. Can I get you a coffee?’

  He wanted to say no, that he’d popped by because he happened to be in the area and it seemed natural to check. He didn’t want to get involved. Even though he wasn’t in the area and had made a special trip over.

  ‘A wee one would be good, thank you.’

  ‘Ryan?’

  ‘I’m all right, ta. Hello Mr Mac.’

  ‘Hello,’ Shaun half-grunted in reply.

  ‘It was strange not seeing the teashop open today,’ said Shaun, following Leni into the kitchen.

  ‘I should have put a notice in the window,’ mused Leni. ‘I hope I didn’t miss much custom.’

  ‘The lady at the flower shop called over, I saw. Didn’t see anyone else.’

  ‘Ah she must be so excited. Two days to opening.’ Leni spooned some coffee into two cups. Shaun’s had Mr Rochester’s face on it, Leni’s had a quotation from Persuasion: But if Anne will stay, no one so proper, so capable as Anne.

  That summed Leni Merryman up perfectly, thought Shaun. Capable. Her boat coursed confidently through life with its sails slicing through the wind with no account of waiting storms. That’s why she had useless locks on her door and was stealing a boy from the roughest family in South Yorkshire. She made King Midas look like Mr Bean.

  ‘Have you thought any more on what you are going to do about the boy?’ asked Shaun quietly as he reached behind him and nudged the door between the kitchen and lounge shut.

  ‘The way I see it, Mr McCarthy, I can’t do anything other than what I am doing.’

  ‘I get the feeling you haven’t really considered what you’re dealing with,’ said Shaun, a sharp impatient note in his voice.

  ‘You think I should drop him back off at a home where he obviously wasn’t cared for?’ Leni’s large mud-coloured eyes rounded at him.

  ‘Do you think his family aren’t going to want him back when they find out any child benefits stop coming to them?’ Shaun tried not to raise his voice, but it was getting increasingly difficult with Mrs Idealistic here. ‘They might not care about the boy, but they’ll give a damn about the money they get for him.’

  ‘They can keep drawing their money. I don’t want it.’

  ‘Did he go to school today?’ Shaun asked, but he knew the answer already. Leni had stayed at home with him, it was clear, and that’s why she hadn’t opened up the teashop.

  ‘I kept him off. Yesterday was traumatic for him. He’ll be going tomorrow as normal.’

  ‘Normal?’ Shaun dropped a dry laugh. There was nothing normal about this set-up. ‘I bet you didn’t ring the school and explain the truth of it. You’ll have pretended to be his step-mother or his sister, no doubt.’

  She didn’t respond, which gave him all the answer he needed.

  ‘Oh, Leni, you’ll be wrapping yourself up in a web of lies and it’ll do you no good at all. The authorities will have to know what’s going on. His doctor, his school need to know a change of address. And when they do, the benefits people will be down on the O’Gowans like hawks wanting their money back. And they’ll come looking for you. Because that’s what they’re like. Nothing is their fault, so you’ll be to blame.’

  Shaun raked his hand over his cropped peppered hair. Her ship was going to get a cannonball in its side before long. She was too intent on being a do-gooder to see it coming and it would sink her. He didn’t want that to happen to her.

  Leni put the coffee down in front of Shaun none too gently. It splashed up over the top and landed on the table. She noticed he had called her Leni for the first time and the word coming from his mouth had a strange effect on her.

  ‘I’m taking it one day at a time,’ she replied, her voice tight. ‘All I know is that what I’m doing feels right. At least right for Ryan. If I turn him in to the care authorities, the chances are he’ll be whisked away to strangers. I can fight my own battles, he can’t. I can keep him for a couple of weeks without informing anyone, I checked on the internet. We will see what happens after that.’

  She hasn’t a clue what she’s getting into, thought Shaun. He had warned her about employing an O’Gowan and she hadn’t listened then and she had no intention of listening now. Maybe if he had left her to get her face smashed in it would have made her realise that the world wasn’t made up of cakes and nice china cups and arty-farty stationery. She needed a reality check. He didn’t know why he was even bothering to have this conversation, really. It was none of his business. She was nothing to him. But he still didn’t want her to get hurt – physically or otherwise.

  The coffee was milky and he was able to drink it straight down without it burning his throat. He set his empty mug on the table.

  ‘Thanks for the drink. I’ll be away.’

  ‘Thank you,’ said Leni, calmly now, the tightness gone from her voice. ‘I mean it. You’ve been very kind.’

  Shaun shrugged away the compliment. Leni led the way to the front door. Ryan was playing Candy Crush on an iPad. He waved at Shaun and smiled. Shaun saw in the boy’s eyes that he’d been given semi-hero status. An O’Gowan looking up to someone who wasn’t another O’Gowan – that was a first. Then he remembered how the string of a boy had tackled his brother to protect the cat and Leni. That wasn’t typical O’Gowan behaviour. Then he recalled how Leni had thrown herself at O’Gowan to protect the boy. As a proper mother would do.

  As Shaun opened his car door he looked back at the cottage and saw Ryan and Leni framed in the window. He hoped the authorities didn’t find out about him. It was better that he stayed in a warm, kind house than experience anything like what he’d had to put up with. He humphed to himself. Care. Whoever came up with that word to describe the system he’d been through should have been strung up.

  Chapter 99

  Molly felt more lost and lonely than she ever had in her whole life. Even with her beloved sister and brother-
in-law glued to her side, she didn’t know what to do with herself. The house felt empty without Harvey’s laugh, his presence, the scent of his aftershave in the air. Molly had sunk her nose into his jacket and inhaled hoping to feel him near again, just for a second, but instead she had felt his loss even more.

  Dear Bernard had insisted on dealing with the coroner’s office and the funeral director and Molly knew that Harvey could be in no safer hands.

  ‘Darling, is there anything I can do for you?’ asked Margaret. ‘Do you want me to ring Graham?’

  Molly answered by way of a mirthless peal of laughter. ‘No. Definitely not.’

  She had no doubt that she would hear from her son again though. She expected him to try and prove she was insane and unable to handle her finances. Well, he could shove his power of attorney plans up his giant jacksey. Molly would be ready for him if he tried that one. She had reserves of long-saved fury to vent and a clarity of thought now that she didn’t have in her younger days.

  Her life had been tossed up in the air these past four weeks and nothing would ever be the same. For so many years her life had felt as if it were running on the wrong rails, a gauge that she had tried to fit to, but never had. Now she knew why; Harvey’s return had shifted her life back onto the proper track. He had gone but their brief time together had left her with a precious legacy. She felt she no longer had to try to love a son who would have seen her shoved in an old people’s home as soon as he had papers signed to say she was doolally. She had learned that Harvey had loved her and never stopped loving her and would have still loved her had he known what had happened to her in childhood. She thought by telling him that she would feel grimier than ever, but he had made her feel clean, as if all the dirt of the past had been scrubbed from her.

  ‘Margaret, dear, would you take me to the teashop on Spring Hill tomorrow. I’d like to let the people there know about Harvey. They were his friends,’ said Molly.