The Cosy Teashop in the Castle Read online

  They ate a hearty, homely meal with the usual Hall family banter as background.

  ‘Well then, Ellie, how’s it really going?’ Her mum gave her a smile, but Ellie felt she was somehow testing her, ‘Is it how you thought?’

  ‘In some ways, yeah.’ She’d have to phrase this carefully. ‘It’s good being able to run the teashop as I like. Being my own boss, as such. Creating the menus, buying in the supplies.’

  ‘And the staff?’

  Instinctively, she thought of Joe. ‘We’re still getting to know each other.’ Some more than others. ‘But the waitresses are fine. There’s two of them work for me, Doris and Nicola. Hard workers.’ Keep the answers positive.

  ‘You bringing in enough cash? Are you managing okay for yourself?’ Dad was in on the financial and business side.

  Ellie felt her face burn. ‘Yes.’ Little white lies. She didn’t want to have to say anything in front of her mum. ‘It seems to be working out okay. Not rolling in it or anything, but it’s fine. It’s obviously early days yet. I’m just building the trade up.’ If Mum got wind there was anything wrong, then she’d have her back home and signed up at the job centre in no time, looking for something with a regular salary and a pension scheme.

  ‘No chance of a donation for my new footie boots, then?’ Jay looked across at her cheekily.

  ‘Not yet, Bro. Soz.’

  ‘So you’re okay there? You’re happy, then?’ Mum was still trying to whittle her down.

  ‘Yes.’ And despite the money worries, dour Doris and the Joe to-be-or-not-to-be relationship issues, she actually felt she was. She’d come a long way in just four weeks, spreading her wings, finding her independence, and her teashop dream was starting to take shape, albeit with several ups and downs. She so wanted to make it a success. Coming home had shown her that already she had changed, and that though she missed her family desperately and loved them to bits, tomorrow she’d be fine going back to the castle, to her new life.

  * * *

  Next morning, she managed to catch up with her dad at his van, just before he had to go off to work.

  ‘Alright, pet?’

  ‘Yes, well not quite.’

  ‘What’s up, lass?’

  ‘I-I’m sorry, Dad, I hate to have to ask and I know you’ll not have lots to spare, but can I borrow £500 to help with next month’s lease on the teashop? I promise I’ll pay it back as soon as I can. I’m just turning things around, and I know I can make it work with the summer season now coming up … It’s just to tide me over.’

  ‘Okay … I’ll find it for you.’ He gave her a wink.

  She felt dreadful having to ask. Had always stood on her own two feet. And if her mum found out, well, she’d get a right ear-bashing.

  ‘Give me a couple of days and I’ll get it moved across to your account.’

  ‘Thanks, Dad, I really appreciate it. I won’t let you down. I’ll pay it back the minute I earn it.’ She gave him a big hug. Mum was staring out of the window by now, curious as to why they were taking so long with their goodbyes.

  ‘Right, I’d better get on, got a living to earn. Better crack on, pet. You’ll make right, I know you will.’

  ‘Thanks. Love you, Dad.’

  A last bear hug in a boiler suit, and he hopped into the driver’s seat of his van. ‘Take care, pet. See you soon.’

  *

  It was always peaceful in the graveyard, calming somehow. She knew some people would find it a bit freaky, the thought of all those dead bodies lying just below you, but it never bothered Ellie. And it was the place she’d continued to come these past two years to chat to Nanna.

  ‘I’ve brought you some flowers. Those nice bright-yellow carnations you always liked.’ She had reached the headstone, picked up the glass vase and went off to fill it from the outside tap that was just at the end of their row. She began arranging them and popped the vase back on the grave.

  ‘Sorry I haven’t been for a little while, Nanna. It’s just been manic busy. I took the job. I really like it, and the castle and the people I’ve met.’ Joe popped up in her head, but she wasn’t ready to talk about him yet. Keep it simple for now. She chatted on for a while about the teashop, and Deana and Doris and Nicola. About Lord Henry and his big half-empty castle and the fact he hated all the visitors. She could almost hear Nanna’s throaty chuckle at that. Oh, and Kirkton and the flower shop with Wendy. Derek and Malcolm, the tour guides. Nanna was always very open-minded and without prejudice – she saw as she found. Needless to say, she had never actually warmed to Gavin.

  The sun was warm on Ellie’s back as she sat watching a rabbit nonchalantly chewing grass. He looked over at her, no doubt eyeing up the nice fresh carnations to have a go at later. She was quiet for a while. An old man wandered by, smart in a tweed suit that looked well worn, a small bunch of freesias in his grasp. He tipped his flat cap at Ellie who said ‘hello’. She wondered if it was his wife he was visiting, what kind of relationship they might have had, and how he must still miss her. She wondered if anyone would ever love her like that. Like Nanna and her Norman – she was always talking about her Norman, all those years after he’d passed away. If there was a heaven or an afterlife, however it might be, she hoped they’d found each other again. There was a little tight lump in her throat.

  ‘Nanna, there’s someone … Someone called Joe, at the castle.’ It was hard to know how to put this into words, but she found she wanted to try. They hardly had a relationship to speak of, and now he wasn’t even talking to her. But something deep inside told her there was something special about him. ‘But he’s my boss, you see. Well, not quite my boss, but it feels like it. I lease the tearooms from him, well, from the castle I suppose, but he’s in charge of it all. And one minute I think he likes me and the next, well, he’s really hot and cold, you know …’

  She could hear Nanna’s voice loud and clear in her mind, those lovely warm Geordie tones, ‘So you like him, hinnie.’

  ‘Yes, I do’, she wasn’t sure if she answered in her head or aloud.

  ‘So does he like you, lass?’

  ‘I’m not sure, that’s the problem.’

  ‘And you say he’s blowing hot and cold. Sounds to me that he likes you, then. That’s a sure sign.’

  Was she really chatting away like this in her head? Was she going crackers or was her brain just making it all up to try and convince herself Joe had actually fallen for her?

  Just follow your heart, were the last words that filled her mind. It’ll tell you what to do.

  The old guy was kneeling at a grave a few rows across. Ellie could see his lips moving, too, though she couldn’t hear a word. So she wasn’t the only one chatting away to the dead. He looked serene and matter of fact, as though this was a regular date. Ellie sighed, happy-sad all at once. Sad for all the people who had gone and for those left behind, but happy for the love they had had and still had. Her bum was feeling a little damp from the dewy grass. She’d need to go soon and get ready for her lunch out with Gemma – catch up on the office gossip and the social scene she had left behind. No doubt she’d be required to tell all the ins and out of castle life, though she didn’t intend being quite so open with Gemma as she had just been with Nanna, not until there was something definite to tell, anyhow. Anyway, it might just all fizzle out and that would have been that. One kiss, one hug, consigned to history.

  * * *

  Lunch was good. She slipped back into old times with Gemma, tucking into gourmet burgers at a busy American diner in the city centre. Then they had a good mooch about the shops. Boy, did she miss shops, the shoes and fashions. She gazed longingly at a pair of hot-pink stilettos, but knew she’d not get chance to wear them, so picked up a couple of bargains instead; a new pair of black trousers for work, very practical, and a pretty red lace top that took her fancy – she might just get away with it at the village pub on an evening out, teamed with a pair of jeans.

  She found out all the goss; who was dating who back at the
office, that Moaning Margaret from their call centre claims team had been sideways moved to Sales – much to Gemma’s delight, the latest antics of the girls’ night out last Friday, which included much vodka, flirting and laughter by the sounds of it.

  ‘So, come on, then, spill the beans. What’s it really like up there in your castle pad? And, more to the point, what’s it like running your own teashop?’

  ‘Well, it’s all going really good … overall. Been a few hair-raising moments to start. And Easter weekend I was running around like a blue-arsed fly. But now it’s quietened down … a little too much.’

  Gemma noted the hint of concern in her voice. ‘So, is it hard to make much money out of it? We’ll not be flying off to New York for a shopping spree anytime soon, then.’

  ‘Not likely, hah. At the moment, yeah, it’s a bit of a lean period. I’m inexperienced, I know. And I hadn’t realised how much business would dip in April. But I’ve been told it will pick up soon. It’s just a seasonal trade.’

  ‘I’m sure you’ll be fine, hun. Just hang on in there. You can do it! Oh, and how’s the old bossy bag of a waitress?’

  ‘Ah, Doris, well she still has her moments, but we’re getting on okay. I think she’d be like that with anyone she worked for, to be honest. She can be a bit intimidating, mind.’

  They laughed.

  ‘And, more importantly … anyone hot in the new set-up?’

  Phew, now there was a question. The only one hot right at that moment was Ellie, who felt the blush creep up her neck. ‘No,’ she answered a little too quickly.

  Gemma took a sideways look at her, sussing her out, ‘There is, isn’t there?’

  Damn, she was never any good at lying.

  ‘It’s nothing, honest. Early days and all that. And it’s probably never going to happen. Should never happen. Remember what it was like between you and Mark at the car showroom. Well, I’ve taken heed. Enough said.’

  ‘Ah. Steer clear, Els. If he’s boss material, that’s a full-on danger zone.’

  And didn’t she know it.

  ‘Well, when are you back next? We need a proper night out not just lunch next time.’

  ‘Probably in a few weeks’ time. I’ve missed you all.’

  ‘Well, it’s you, me and the girls at Jack’s Club, then. And we’ll get you sorted with a proper bloke.’

  Ellie felt a sense of gloom. Gem was lovely, but her idea of a ‘good bloke’ was way off Ellie’s. But then, she’d failed miserably on the bloke front up to now, hadn’t she?

  They finished chatting. Gemma was due back at work after a slightly extended lunch hour (‘dentist’s appointment’). Ellie headed back home to be in time for Jay coming in from sixth form (he even offered to make her a cup of tea, which was a miracle) and her mum and dad coming back from work. She was helping prepare the supper, peeling potatoes for a cottage pie – though her mum protested, wanting to be the one to spoil Ellie before she had to drive back. Mum stood still, stopped peeling her onions. ‘Ellie, your dad’s told me about the money.’ She had a stern look on her face and Ellie felt her stomach sink. She’d hoped Dad might have kept it quiet for a little while, at least.

  ‘We don’t have secrets between us.’ As if she was reading Ellie’s thoughts. ‘Your dad’s worked really hard for that money, Ellie. There’s not an awful lot to spare. I just hope you know what you’re doing, that’s all.’

  ‘I know, sorry, Mum. I wouldn’t have asked unless I felt I had to, but I just have to give it my best shot. The summer months are coming, and I’m just getting there, starting to see more people coming in, building the trade. I promise I’ll pay you back, whatever happens.’ Even if it meant finding another job, or coming back to the insurance office, then needs must. God, that was such a depressing thought, but she would if it came to it. But she’d give the teashop her absolute all first.

  She could feel the disappointment, the uncertainty almost vibrating from her mother.

  ‘I promise,’ she repeated.

  Her mum didn’t reply. Her face said it all. Was she being selfish, chasing some silly dream? Wasting all their money, and Nanna’s savings too?

  Dad had brought home a big apple pie from the local baker’s for them all for pudding. She’d felt a little sick eating her farewell meal. She went upstairs soon after to repack her bag, ready to get back in the car and head north again. She aimed to leave at around seven-thirty.

  She was fine about going back to the castle; her life felt almost as much there as here now – it was like she was straddling two worlds. And she was looking forward to getting back into the teashop for the summer season, hopefully the visitors would start flocking in now. She was determined to make it a success. She had to make this work. The next two months were crucial. She had to earn enough to pay her parents back, every single penny, and then to save for the coming months’ lease to see her through the rest of the season.

  She was going to speak with Joe about advertising, get the teashop mentioned more prominently in any publicity the castle might do, and maybe create a little flyer herself to pop into local shops and the tourist information centre – let people know she was there.

  Joe. She pictured his face, his smile, and felt a warm glow within. She couldn’t deny that she was looking forward to seeing him again, even if things were a little awkward between them. Yet her heart also felt a little heavy as she drove away from her childhood home, watching her family waving on the step. She waved back out of the open car window and gave a cheery toot, which had a hollow ring to it. No doubt it would always feel strange leaving them behind. She just hoped she wouldn’t let them down.

  16

  Ellie

  On the Monday morning, Wendy came into the teashop with her mother. Ellie served them a pot of tea and fresh strawberry scones with jam and cream, on the house. They managed to chat between Ellie serving other customers. Ellie mentioned she’d be back in to Kirkton on Wednesday to buy some fresh flowers again. The takings had been slightly better over the last week, and Ellie also wanted to broach an idea she’d been mulling over about the castle weddings, see if Wendy might be interested in helping out with the flowers – they’d need bouquets, posies for bridesmaids, decorating the hall, or the castle chapel – wherever the weddings would take place – table decorations, button holes, and who better to use than the local friendly florist. It was a gem of an idea, and if Wendy was keen, then Ellie would mention it to Joe. It could help secure the proposal for the castle becoming a wedding venue, and help to convince Lord Henry – they could provide the whole lot, the venue, catering, flowers.

  She’d only seen Joe in passing since she had got back from her trip home, but he did come through for a take-away coffee on the Friday morning, which seemed a bit odd as Deana often took him one up to his office. Ellie had been busy with orders at the time, gave him a brief smile, but didn’t get a chance to chat. But then, she hadn’t seen sight nor sound of him since, other than a creaky floorboard above her of an evening.

  Monday night, she stayed on a little later in the kitchens once the waitresses had gone and the castle had closed. She saw the blink of Deana’s light going off in the office across the way. She liked the peace, turned the radio on to Classic FM. It was usually set to Radio 1 throughout the day, but she had started tuning in of an evening and liked baking to something a little gentler (and sometimes more rousing, in fact), mixing to Chopin or beating to Bach. There was a knock on the swing door and Joe popped his head around, holding a white china jug before him hopefully.

  ‘Milk?’ she guessed. It was nice to see him again. He’d definitely been keeping a low profile, but perhaps he’d just been busy.

  ‘Please. Run out again, sorry.’

  How could anyone resist that grin? ‘I suppose I might have a little spare.’ She filled his jug from the six-litre plastic bottle that she took from the fridge.

  He looked a little awkward.

  She carried on rolling out the cookie dough she’d been working on b
efore he had come in.

  ‘Umn, well … I just wondered … would you like to come out for the day with me on Wednesday. Umn, maybe a walk on the beach, some lunch?’

  She raised an eyebrow curiously, ‘Is this a date?’ She needed to know exactly what he was asking – there had been way too many confusing signals of late.

  His face reddened. ‘Ah, it can be, if you want it to be.’

  Did she want it to be? Yes, yes, yes, you bet! Her heart did a double flip. But then, every warning bell and siren was going off in her head too. ‘Ah, okay, then.’ Her voice sounded amazingly cool, despite her inner antics. What was she doing? But that kiss, whoah, that kiss. And every nerve in her body came alive with him just standing near her. She gave him a wry smile that broke into a grin.

  ‘Great.’ He sounded relieved. ‘I’ll knock on your door about ten on Wednesday morning, then.’

  Two o’clock, Wednesday morning, her heart was flipping like a pancake, keeping her awake. What the heck was this guy doing to her? And she, who was never going to get involved with any man again. And certainly not anyone she worked with. In fact, why was she doing this? Why had she let him get to her? But it had sneaked up on her, hadn’t it? Letting her heart rule her bloody head again. That was a very dangerous business.

  Eight o’clock – what to wear? Casual for a beach walk, but nice too, like she’d made the effort for the lunch. Smart jeans and the new red top? But it was a bit fancy, and lacy, nah, more for an evening – she didn’t want to look overdressed. She frisked the wardrobe, found a pretty floral top with a chiffon effect. Yes that, jeans, a cardie – sorted. Shower time, wash hair. Get ready.

  * * *

  Joe

  He took a slow breath. Ten o’clock on the dot. He was going to take Ellie to Bamburgh for a walk on the beach, and then some lunch. Casual, but hopefully a nice day out – see how they got on.

  He knocked. He noticed his palms were slightly sweaty. He still wasn’t certain that it was a good idea – taking a member of the castle staff out on a date. It was against all his better judgement, but something inside wouldn’t let it go. He’d been feeling miserable and restless since that hug in the kitchen that night a few weeks ago, and even more so after the walk, until he realised he just had to go ahead and ask her. Get it out of his system one way or another. See how things worked out. And that kiss – it had lingered in his mind. It was bloody great and he’d like more of them, hell, yes … Right, that was enough of that. He couldn’t let his mind go any further or he’d start getting horny.