The Vintage Cycling Cafe 1 by Shelley Roberts

Author:Shelley Roberts [Roberts, Shelley]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-10-30T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

As expected, Nessa was delighted by the arrival of Benny – much more than Heather anticipated. She’d flung her arms around him as soon as she saw him enter the living room and he reciprocated, patting her back gently as he joked about something Heather couldn’t quite understand.

They were nattering away like school children, so Heather said, ‘Shall I get us some tea then?’ and retreated to the kitchen, where she could put the kettle on and finally take off her dirty wellies.

It turned out that this visit of Benny’s was not a spontaneous thing on meeting Nessa’s granddaughter, but an almost daily occurrence. He nearly always stopped in on his return trip from town and Nana nearly always prepared some kind of snack for him – ‘It’s hard work out there on the lanes,’ she’d said. ‘Got to keep him going somehow...’

Once Heather had ensured they all had their drinks the way they wanted them – no milk or sugar for Benny; milk and three sugars for Nana – they settled themselves down in the living room. Nana and Benny were next to each other on the sofa and Heather was in the plush armchair in between the bookcases and fireplace.

‘So, Nessa tells me you’re going to be staying a while, if you can stand it. Lord knows what there is here for you youngsters. My Emma left as soon as she could.’

‘Emma is his granddaughter,’ Nessa chipped in by way of explanation. ‘She was ever such a good dancer, she was, and she left for the big city.’

‘She’s in London, then?’

‘No, Cardiff,’ said Benny. ‘Just close enough to be in the same country, but too far for her to ever come visit.’ He chuckled. ‘But that’s OK. She’s doing so well. I’m sure she’s very busy with her job.’

‘She’s a professional dancer, then?’ Heather wracked her brain for anything she knew about the industry, which was surprisingly little. ‘The Cardiff ballet company?’ She took a stab in the dark.

‘Oh no, my dear. She’s not a dancer now. She’s a lawyer. She works on divorce cases, god knows why.’

‘But she was a beautiful dancer, wasn’t she Benny?’ Nessa offered, with a dreamy look. ‘Was always doing shows down at Cornbread Hall.’

As Benny nodded, Heather said, ‘I wonder if I knew her? Back from when I’d spend my summers here as a child?’ It was such a small town, it was very likely. She remembered the summers very clearly: playing in the lake trying to catch fish, going for strolls with her mum and Nana and their old dog, Bertie (God rest his soul), and all the while, wishing there were more young’uns for her to go exploring with.

‘No, my dearie,’ Nessa said just as Benny was opening his mouth to speak. ‘They didn’t live round here, then, did you Ben? They were down in Pembrokeshire, down by the coast.’

‘So how do you know Emma then, Nan?’ Heather was used to Nana’s stories winding around in impossible directions until she got to her point.

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