“Sure,” said John. He had the look of a cartoon character seeing stars, and Annie couldn’t blame him; she felt much the same.

—

Annie lay in bed that night wondering what on earth she was doing. At this point, she didn’t have access to a single penny of her money, yet here she was making make-believe offers on a property in the arse end of nowhere. Is this what a midlife crisis looks like?

She needed to get Max to agree to her terms. More immediately, she needed access to her bloody bank account; if she kept hitting the credit cards like this, she’d end up having to share the cove with Alfred! And there was another problem. She was becoming increasingly concerned about the prospect of Alfred spending winter outdoors. She found herself unable to drop off to sleep each night until she heard the familiar sound of him climbing into the café and knew that he was safe. And on the nights when he didn’t stay, she would sleep fitfully. It was like having teenagers all over again. She mentally added Alfred to her list of men to worry about.

Chapter 60

Gemma started her training the following Monday and took to the work with ease. Annie wouldn’t be letting her loose on the coffee machine anytime soon, but that would come in time and, in the meantime, Annie was hoping the extra help would mean she could deal with the ordering and baking for the next day during work hours, as opposed to after closing.

“So, you haven’t spoken to John since?” Gemma asked.

It was Tuesday afternoon and had been raining heavily since eleven o’clock. Customers had been arriving in fits and starts. Annie was smoothing shortbread dough into a round fluted tin, while Gemma cleared the decks after the last onslaught of bedraggled patrons.

“Not in person, no.”

Annie and John had been messaging back and forth—sometimes about the café, once about the patched hole in the ceiling that still needed painting, twice about which vegetables would win in a fight—almost as though they were friends.

“And he’s coming to stay in Willow Bay?”

“That’s what he said.”

“I wonder what that means,” said Gemma, sweeping cake crumbs with a dustpan and brush.

“He said he wanted to come down here to think and he’s staying in Raye and Aiden’s spare room for a bit. He’s been crashing at Paul’s place, but I don’t think he can stand sleeping on Paul’s sofa for any length of time.”

“Sounds like he’s planning on staying for a while. Do you think he’s seriously considering your offer?”

Annie had needed to thrash out her idea to buy Saltwater Nook with someone, and she knew she could trust Gemma to keep quiet. She didn’t want the whole village to know her plans, especially if they came to nothing.