The Seafront Tea Rooms Read online

  Euan put on his coat. ‘OK, you guys, see you later.’ Adam nodded goodbye to Kat and the two men left.

  Once he and Adam were out of the front door, Kat felt as if she’d made the wrong decision. She’d promised she’d start to be more open, grab life with both hands – and yet here, at the first opportunity, she’d let it slip away.

  Annoyed with herself, she walked through to the kitchen, and stared out the window. She wanted the coming year to be different, but it was clear her life wasn’t just going to change by itself. She looked out at the sea and someone came into her mind.

  She took out her phone and pressed her third speed dial. There was one person who she was sure would know what she should do.

  ‘Charlie, hi,’ Kat said.

  ‘Hello!’ Charlie said cheerily. ‘Merry Christmas to you.’

  ‘Thank you, you too.’

  ‘How’s it been?’ Charlie asked.

  ‘You know what, it’s felt surprisingly normal.’

  ‘That’s good. Same deal here. Must be something in the water.’ Charlie laughed. ‘Is Euan behaving himself?’

  ‘He’s been on top form – Leo’s loved playing with him. He’s so delighted to have a new uncle. Seems to have taken it all in his stride.’

  ‘I’m looking forward to joining you all up there in a couple of days.’

  ‘I can’t wait to see you again. Euan’s popped out for a drink, Adam came around and…’

  ‘Oh?’ Charlie said.

  ‘God, Charlie. I’m so hopeless at this stuff,’ Kat said, biting her lip. ‘Can I ask your advice?’

  ‘Of course,’ Charlie said. ‘Oh dear, am I really the closest you’ve got to a relationship expert?’

  ‘Afraid so,’ Kat said, smiling. Speaking with Charlie made her feel instantly more relaxed, as if she wasn’t on her own.

  ‘You’ve realised that you’ve got feelings for Adam. And that in a way you’ve known it all along,’ Charlie said.

  Kat laughed.

  ‘But now you think you might have missed your chance. And anyway, how do you go about asking someone out when you’ve both been out of the game so long – and you have children to think about.’

  ‘That’s pretty much it,’ Kat said. ‘Am I that transparent?’

  ‘You’re an open book,’ Charlie said. ‘Besides, it’s impossible to see you and Adam together and not realise that you’re both smitten with each other.’

  ‘I feel as if I’m fifteen again, Charlie. Where do I even start?’

  ‘Why don’t you go out for a drink?’ Charlie said, matter-of-factly.

  ‘He just asked me. I’m an idiot, I said no – he and Euan were going out and…’

  ‘Oh no, I don’t mean like that. Last thing you want is to end up in the friendship box. Thank God you said no.’

  ‘Oh, right,’ Kat said, relieved she’d made the right decision.

  ‘What about New Year’s Eve? Have you got plans?’

  ‘No,’ Kat said.

  ‘Why don’t you see what he’s up to?’

  ‘Just ask him?’ Kat said, her heart pounding at the thought.

  ‘Yes,’ Charlie said.

  ‘What if he says no?’

  ‘He won’t say no, Kat. Trust me.’

  On New Year’s Eve, Kat busied herself tidying the flat before Adam came round. She still couldn’t quite believe that he’d said yes – that any minute now he’d be here at her flat. After speaking to Charlie she’d got up the guts to text and invite him around, and he’d said yes as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He made it seem easy. Perhaps it was – she’d just put her energy into sorting out Jake’s problems for so long that it felt strange to be putting herself first.

  She had lasagne on the side, ready to cook, and melting-middle chocolate pots in the fridge for later. Leo was at her dad’s for the night, and the flat was quiet. In a good way, this time. She put some music on and straightened her dress.

  The doorbell went, and she ran to the window to check.

  ‘It’s me,’ Adam said, looking up. He was holding a bottle of champagne in one hand and flowers in the other.

  ‘Hi,’ she called down. She pressed the buzzer. She’d never felt surer that she was letting the right man in.

  56

  Please join us to celebrate our wedding

  The Spa Hotel, Scarborough

  3 July at 3 p.m.

  Dinner will follow the ceremony, with a live band till midnight

  Wear your best dancing shoes

  Charlie got into her car and put the top down. The sun was out in Scarborough and it warmed her bare shoulders, exposed in a strapless dress.

  It was a perfect day for it, she thought, with a sweet sense of anticipation. The light was glinting on the water, the air fresh. You couldn’t ask for a better day to get married.

  Kat put on a knee-length silk dress and tied her dark hair, longer now, with a delicate cream ribbon. Warm air drifted in through the open window.

  ‘You look pretty, Mum,’ Leo said, watching her from his place on the sofa in their living room. He was dressed in a suit with a white shirt, his second-hand shoes buffed to a shine.

  ‘Thank you,’ Kat replied. She felt different. Yes, she felt pretty.

  ‘It’s a special day, isn’t it?’ Leo said, kicking up his heels.

  ‘It is, yes.’

  ‘Why’s that?’

  She came and sat down beside him. ‘A wedding is a way for two people to show their friends and family that they love each other, and they always will.’

  ‘Like you love me?’

  ‘No, different.’ Kat considered how best to explain it. ‘It’s when you meet someone who’s not family, but is just as important to you, and you decide you want to go through life with them. For some people it’s a big, romantic red-heart kind of love, for others it’s a calm, peaceful thing. Some feel they’ve found the other half of themselves, and that being with that other person makes their life more complete.’

  As she talked to her son, Kat realised how well the last words captured the way she felt about Adam – that sense of completeness. It was different from how things had been with Jake – where once there had been friction, there was now openness, and patience, and laughter. They still trod gently with each other and in the new relationship between their two families. They didn’t take for granted Leo and Zoe’s tentative acceptance of what was happening, they worked every day to try and build security for the two of them, in the hope that one day their unit might feel more solid.

  ‘So it’s a happy thing?’ Leo said.

  ‘Yes. It’s a very happy thing, and it’s going to be a happy day. And I’m proud I’ll have the most handsome date there.’

  She tickled Leo, and he collapsed in giggles.

  She picked up the invitation on the mantelpiece. ‘Come on then, shorty. Let’s go.’

  ‘You have everything?’ Carla called out to Séraphine from the hallway. Séraphine gave her handbag a final check – wallet, camera, keys, lipstick.

  ‘Oui,’ she called back.

  ‘You’re sure you’re ready?’

  ‘No,’ Séraphine said, nipping back into the kitchen. ‘I forgot this,’ she held up a bottle of water and drank from it. ‘Do you want some? It’s hot today.’

  ‘I’m fine, thanks. Now?’

  Séraphine took a deep breath. ‘All set. I think.’

  A taxi tooted outside. ‘Come on, ma belle,’ Carla smiled. ‘Let’s go.’

  ‘Which one?’ Letty asked Euan, holding two flowers up for him to look at.

  ‘The cornflowers,’ he replied. ‘Blue’s always suited you.’

  She pinned the cornflower in her hair, behind her ear.

  ‘Perfect,’ he said.

  ‘Are you sure this dress looks OK?’ she asked, smoothing down the fabric.

  ‘It’s very elegant,’ he said. ‘Works well with your tan.’

  ‘All that fresh air in France did me the world of good, you know.’
>
  ‘It shows, Mum. You seem way more relaxed.’

  ‘I had such a wonderful time with Kat. And Séraphine’s family couldn’t have been more welcoming.’

  ‘You deserved a good holiday,’ Euan said. ‘I see Kat’s looking very happy too. Although I think there’s more than one reason for that, these days.’

  ‘She and Adam make a good pair, don’t they?’

  ‘They seem very much in love. In fact, I barely get a look in these days,’ Euan joked.

  ‘You have your own life to be getting on with,’ Letty said, giving him a nudge.

  ‘I suppose I do.’ Euan smiled. ‘Happens to the best of us.’

  ‘So, do I look OK?’ Letty said again. ‘Only… It’s been a while.’

  ‘You look lovely. Come on, Mum. Let’s go.’

  Charlie arrived at the hotel and stepped out on to the terrace. Sunlight glinted off the black-and-white chequered floor where deckchairs were laid out. Between them, the aisle was strewn with red and white rose petals. She spotted Euan, in a pale grey suit, standing with friends. He caught her eye and smiled and she made her way over to him.

  ‘Hello, there,’ she said, kissing him on the lips. He squeezed her hand.

  ‘You look beautiful, Charlie.’

  The guests all took their seats, sitting back in the deckchairs, chatting to one another. The band played the opening of ‘Here Comes the Sun’, and a hush gradually fell over the crowd. This was it – the wedding was starting. Kat clutched Charlie’s hand.

  As one, they turned around.

  As she saw the couple walking down the aisle, Kat’s breath caught.

  ‘They look stunning,’ she whispered in Charlie’s ear.

  Séraphine’s hair was swept up, with red roses pinned into it, strands falling loose around her face. Her warm smile was highlighted with scarlet lipstick. In an ivory dress that hung to just below her knee, and high-heeled satin sandals, she held hands with Carla – a red strapless dress setting off her tanned skin, chestnut hair falling loosely to her shoulders. Séraphine walked up the aisle, glancing around and smiling at friends, while Carla’s gaze was focused straight ahead.

  The brides reached the top of the aisle, and the celebrant greeted them warmly. ‘We are gathered today, to celebrate the wedding of Séraphine and Carla…’

  Kat felt the tears build up in her eyes, and bit her lip. Charlie turned to her.

  ‘You’re crying already,’ Charlie said, with a smile.

  ‘I can’t help it,’ Kat whispered back. ‘Look at them. So happy.’

  After the ceremony, Charlie and Kat went up to congratulate the couple and Séraphine’s family. In Séraphine’s calls and emails since the start of the year, they’d heard about everything that had led up to that day – Séraphine’s long, at times fraught, conversations with her parents about how she felt. How she now realised she’d always felt. The first time she’d explained that Carla, who served her mother croissants each weekend in the local patisserie, was the woman she was in love with. There had been false starts and disagreements along the way, but with time they’d managed to smooth everything out. In spring came her mother’s full acknowledgement that her daughter had taken a different path to her own – with the welcoming of Carla into their family and a long lunch in the shade of the apple tree.

  ‘A beautiful wedding,’ Kat said to Hélène and Patrick, kissing them both on the cheek.

  ‘This is Guillaume,’ Séraphine said, introducing her brother to Kat. Dressed in a beige linen suit with sun-lightened hair, he smiled warmly. From everything that Séraphine had told her, Kat felt as if she already knew him, and she got the sense he felt the same way.

  ‘It’s lovely here, isn’t it?’ Hélène said, interrupting Kat’s thoughts. ‘They had the choice of the Dordogne, or Barcelona – but no, they definitely wanted to get married here, in Scarborough. They said it had to be here.’ She smiled.

  ‘We wanted to come to the place that brought us together, even while we were apart,’ Carla said. ‘For Séraphine, there was no question.’

  Charlie held out her champagne glass, and the waiter dutifully filled it. ‘It’s brilliant to see you,’ she said to Kat.

  ‘You too. And from the sounds of things I’m going to be seeing a lot more of you from now on,’ Kat said, brightly.

  ‘It’s looking that way.’ Charlie smiled. ‘I can’t decide if what I’m doing is insane or not. Last month I had a steady job and a flat, now I’m moving cities and starting from scratch again.’

  ‘It’s fate,’ Kat said. ‘The buyers pulling out of Euan’s development – you inheriting that money from your great aunt. It was all meant to be.’

  ‘I still can’t believe I’m doing it. Starting up my own restaurant.’

  ‘It’s brilliant. I’m a bit envious, actually.’

  ‘You are? Well I have a sneaky suspicion we might find a way to get you on board, one way or another.’

  Kat smiled.

  ‘Let’s stay in touch on that. I’m not going anywhere, that’s for sure. I’m pretty settled round here these days.’

  ‘You seem it,’ Charlie said, warmly, glancing pointedly in Adam’s direction.

  ‘He’s part of that, yes,’ Kat said. ‘But there’s Leo and my dad and… well, I’ve got more family here than I know what to do with.’

  Charlie laughed.

  ‘But it’s perfect that I can stay here and still write for Indulge. I’m really enjoying it. The feature I did about the patisserie course in France was a treat to write. They’ve asked me to do a similar piece on a sorbet-making course for the next edition.’

  ‘Does that mean it’s goodbye to the call centre?’ Charlie asked.

  ‘Yes. Thank God,’ Kat said, laughing in relief. ‘I won’t miss that place. I’m doing a couple of shifts at the tea rooms to give us a steady income, then the writing as and when that happens. Jake’s also doing a lot more to help these days.’

  ‘How are things with him?’

  ‘Getting there,’ she said. ‘He’s had some counselling, which has helped I think, and the business is going well. There’ll always be a distance between us, but he’s regained my trust. He’s seeing Leo on his own now.’

  ‘That’s good.’

  ‘Yes. With one thing and another this year, Leo’s is getting pretty spoiled,’ Kat said, with a smile. ‘My flat looks like a toy shop.’

  The band started up, and Carla took Séraphine’s hand, leading her to the dance floor for their first dance: Van Morrison’s ‘Moondance’.

  They’d been practising the dance in Carla’s living room the past week, pulling back the rug and stepping barefoot on the flagstones, holding one another, sometimes serious, perfecting the movements, but usually laughing.

  Here, surrounded by family and friends, it felt different. Magical. Something that only six months before, Séraphine could never have imagined. She drank in the cheers, the celebration of her new marriage, and then the sound seemed to fade. The only thing she was conscious of now was Carla. Her smile, the warm brown skin of her bare shoulders, the smell of her perfume. They held each other and danced, their bodies moving in harmony, effortlessly, to each note of the music. Together – the two of them. The way Séraphine hoped they would always be.

  After the first dance had finished, and Séraphine and Carla had taken a playful bow to the crowd, the wedding band struck up a Supremes tune. Other guests joined the newlyweds on the dance floor, and it began to fill.

  ‘Join me?’ Euan asked Charlie, holding his hand out to her.

  She smiled. ‘I think there’s a spot on my card.’

  From the dinner table where they’d been seated, he led her on to the dance floor and brought her in close to him, running a hand over her hair.

  ‘It’s not too late to change your mind, you know,’ he said quietly.

  Charlie pulled back and smiled.

  ‘Euan – I’ve accepted an offer on my flat, given in my notice at work, and I’ve taken on a new res
taurant – that you’re building. So I think it probably is too late.’

  ‘Well, yes, when you put it that way,’ Euan said. ‘Please don’t back out.’

  She laughed. ‘I won’t. I can’t wait to get started. I’ve been dreaming up menus for days now.’

  ‘But, in all seriousness, what I meant was, it’s not too late to change your mind about moving in with me.’ He looked her in the eye. ‘You said when I asked you the first time that you weren’t ready. I want to be sure that this time you are.’

  ‘I don’t know if I’ll ever be completely ready,’ she said. Thoughts had drifted into her mind as she’d shown potential buyers around her London flat. She didn’t want to lose her independence. She wasn’t sure if she could ever trust a man, even Euan, one hundred per cent. She’d settled into her own way of doing things. And yet, those doubts and worries had drifted out of her head as quickly as they’d come. ‘But I do know it’s what I want. In fact there’s nothing I want more.’

  ‘That’s good enough for me,’ he said.

  He leaned in and there, on the dance floor, with a dozen other couples around them, they kissed – and the uncertainties that had been there for both of them since the day they’d met didn’t seem to matter any more.

  Epilogue

  Saturday 2 August

  In the garden of the riverside chateau, surrounded by spring flowers, we tasted the raspberry and chocolate tarts that we’d made. After a week of studying at Madame Yvonne’s patisserie school, we were now reaping the rewards.

  Adam smiled as he read the magazine on Kat’s sofa. ‘The course sounds amazing. How come you didn’t bring me anything back? I’m getting hungry reading about it.’

  ‘Those tarts would never have lasted the journey. Or any longer than five minutes with me and Letty, in fact. But don’t worry, it’s all in here —’ She pointed to her head. ‘I’ll make some for you and Zoe next weekend.’ She sat down next to him, curling her body in towards his. He put his arm around her and kissed her hair gently.