It was a shame that it would be the start of the school half-term holiday week, but if she had the cushions and seat pads already made and put in a huge effort on the Sunday night once the joiner had finished, she might just get the walls painted and everything set up for late morning Monday. It would be hard work, but so worth it. That way, at least, she’d have the rest of the half-term to try and make the most of her new coffee shop earnings.

She felt excited and a little scared. Her parents had been more than happy to help her out, but she’d hated asking for their hard-earned savings when she didn’t know how soon she’d be able to pay them back. Would it really work out? How did she know how much extra income the shop might take, bearing in mind all the costs involved to set this café idea up? But she would work so hard to make this happen and be a success. It just felt right, something she had to do. She put her fears to the back of her mind. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

It would work out – it had to, or her little chocolate shop by the sea might not even make it to next year.

Emma kept herself busy, planning what she needed to put into place for when Ron, the carpenter, would arrive. She’d already sourced eight cafetières from a local homeware store that had a sale on (there was no way she could afford a posh coffee machine yet, much as she’d have loved to). She was also going to head over to a local car boot sale that had been advertised for this Saturday morning (she’d leave Holly in charge for an hour or so) and to some of the charity shops in Alnwick to see if she could find some pretty mix-and-match teacups, side plates and teapots.

She’d had a wonderful offer from Chloe, her sister-in-law, who was going to make six cushions in the red-and-cream colour theme that Emma had finally settled on and was planning to make the seat pads for the window seats herself; she’d just need to find some strong red material to cover them. It would really brighten the place up, and look cosy and inviting during the upcoming winter season.

The night after the phone call with Max there was a rapping at her back door. It seemed pretty insistent and was getting louder. She was a little concerned because it was dark out and she wasn’t expecting any callers. If someone decided to raid the shop, she was there all on her own; not that they’d get much, there were hardly any takings in the till from today – not that they’d know that.