The Tearoom on the Bay by Rachel Burton

Author:Rachel Burton [Burton, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781800241138
Publisher: Head of Zeus

16

‘Who’s Marcus?’ Ben asks as we step outside. He offers me his arm and I slip my hand into the crook of his elbow just as I had done after the pub quiz.

‘My ex,’ I reply.

He doesn’t say anything but I can feel his body tense.

‘He turned up out of nowhere last Monday night,’ I continue. ‘People seem to be making a habit of appearing in the café on Monday nights.’

He lets out a breath of air, somewhere between a laugh and a sigh.

‘I’m sorry,’ he says. ‘It’s none of my business – you don’t have to tell me.’

‘We used to work together at York University,’ I begin. ‘We broke up just over a year ago. It was really sudden and came out of nowhere.’ I miss out the part where I thought Marcus was going to propose. ‘He took me out for dinner one night and told me that he had quit his job and was leaving to go to Thailand in two weeks. It was…’ I pause.

‘A shock?’ Ben asks.

‘Amongst other things yes.’

‘Were you living together?’

‘Yes, it kind of threw my whole life into disarray to be honest. But it worked out for the best in the end.’

‘Because it brought you here,’ Ben says quietly. We’re walking down the High Street towards the beach. It’s a freezing cold night and the sky is very clear so that you can see the stars and the fingernail whiteness of a crescent moon. I stop and look out over the sea.

‘It brought me here at exactly the right time,’ I say. ‘Moby’s were really pressuring my aunt and uncle to sell the café. It was a really stressful time for them.’ I pause and turn to him. ‘My aunt has an arthritic condition that is just getting worse – you might have noticed she was in a wheelchair on the night of the carol singing?’

He nods and looks at me so intently I can barely hold his gaze.

‘By leaving my job, selling my flat, moving away and persuading the bank to lend me a large amount of money, I was able to raise enough to buy the café off them, which shut Moby’s up once and for all.’

My hand is still on his arm and I feel him tense up again.

‘It’s OK,’ I say. ‘I don’t blame you personally for what Moby’s does. I know it’s just a job.’

I watch as he swallows. ‘I’m sorry you had to go through that,’ he says solemnly and I’m not sure if he means splitting up with Marcus or dealing with Moby’s.

‘Like I said, it all worked out.’

We start to walk towards the sea again.

‘I missed this place,’ Ben says. ‘I’m surprised by how quickly I came to love it again after avoiding it for so long.’

I want to ask him why he’s been avoiding coming back but I don’t. He will tell me when he’s ready.

‘It has a habit of getting under your skin really quickly,’ I say instead.

He stops by the railings of the promenade and turns me towards him, his hands on my forearms.

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