Christmas at The Heartbreak Cafe (Lakeview Christmas Novel) (Lakeview Contemporary Romance Book 7) (3 page)

She sighed. At this point, she wasn't sure how anything could repair their relationship.

Taking out her Prada purse to pay for the food, her eyes rested on the Hollywood script in her bag that had arrived from her agent only that morning.

The fact that Ruth was of late considering a return to work in Tinseltown, certainly wouldn’t improve matters.

H
eidi Clancy was running late
. After spending a very pleasant morning in Dublin getting her hair and nails done, she was stuck behind the slow moving trucks of the old timber yard just outside the village.

Currently, her car, a brand new black BMW, was idling behind a large red semi carrying at least a dozen of unruly pine trunks. It took everything in Heidi’s power not to honk her horn, but she resisted out of fear of breaking her nails.

Behind her outward impatience was a smidgen of satisfaction though. While being late was always a social sin, being late to an occasion like the Lakeview Mum’s Club did have its benefits. Heidi knew that her late entrance to Cynthia Roland’s house, in which they were holding today’s gathering, would be fawned over, with the crowd of women asking her about traffic and her morning.

Everyone would rise to make a fuss of her gorgeous daughter Amelia, grab her box of ‘homemade’ cupcakes, and remark at her brand new DVF coat. Attention would be all hers and Heidi certainly knew how to milk it.

But most importantly, her absence would have everyone talking. The girls couldn’t resist an opportunity to gossip about the village’s wealthiest woman.

Well, maybe the second richest woman in Lakeview. Ever since that soap star moved back home a few years back, it was all that the town’s gossip crowd could chat about. If they were not whispering about Ruth Seymour’s scandalous affair with her co star, they were discussing how much her Los Angeles townhouse must have sold for.

Heidi did not mind the competition one bit. It gave her an excuse to step up her game. She had already laid out plans to redecorate the living room of their palatial home on the Dublin Road, and add on separate living quarters for their live-in nanny.

Of course her bank manager husband Paul certainly could also not resist her when she asked to borrow his credit card for a day at the salon because hers was already maxed-out. Whatever Heidi wanted, Heidi got, and she was never afraid to ask for more.

Finally past the literal log jam of timber trucks, Heidi put her pedal to the floor. She still had to pop by the house to pick up little Amelia and the nanny, and she also had to make it to Ella’s Cafe to pick up some of Colm’s special cupcakes. She had to hurry if she wanted to make a fashionably late entrance and avoid being outright rude.

Luckily for her, Miriam and Amelia were already waiting for her in the porch. Miriam had a pained look on her face that Heidi shrugged off with a couple of insincere apologies and promises to let her know when she would be late in the future. Amelia, on the other hand, was as pleasant as ever. At only two years, she had a glow and a smile that never failed to put a smile on Heidi’s face. As expected, she was a natural at motherhood and she found it hard to believe that after all the related fuss of her sister Cara’s wedding, whereupon a heavily pregnant Heidi had to travel to St Lucia to watch her sister walk down the aisle, that she’d still managed to retain a level head and good spirits for the remainder of her pregnancy.

Though in truth, she and her sister had a much better relationship these days, and while Heidi and her sister-in-law Kim still like to engage in an occasional war of words, they too had managed a truce of sorts, made easier by the fact Amelia and Kim’s son Jago, were the same age.

With Miriam in the back of the car entertaining Amelia, Heidi was soon back on the road. As she parked directly onto double yellow lines directly outside Ella’s café (her husband owned the building so she was entitled), her phone began to ring.

Looking at the caller ID, she sighed. It was her sister-in-law from the other side of the family, Gemma, Paul’s youngest sibling. She was what Heidi called a ‘Mummy Martyr.’ She spent her time at the club complaining about how hard it was to raise her twins and spent hours counting pennies and avoiding a much needed facial. It was so tiring to Heidi—so much so that she routinely ignored Gemma’s calls. Today would not be an exception.

Heidi raced inside the café to meet Ella at the counter. Her Lucy Choi heels clinked loudly on the wooden floor enough that the noise caught the attention of the rest of the customers.

“Hello Ella, do you have my order ready? I’m running 40 minutes late already.”

“Of course I do. We never forget your orders.” Ella answered, a bit wounded.

“Thank you soooo much!” Heidi flashed her ultra-bright white smile at the older woman and quickly handed her Paul’s platinum credit card.

“Now that I have you, when you get a chance, with all the frost we’re getting lately, can you please ask Paul to salt the paths out front? I twisted my ankle the other day and am on crutches for the next month. I understand he’s busy but he really should get someone to do that if he can’t come to do it himself.” Ella was gently scolding Heidi, but Heidi was too busy checking her reflection in the display glass casing.

“Oh, yeah. I will as soon as I see him,” she replied, absent-mindedly.

‘Um…sorry Heidi, but the card has been declined,’ Ella said then, looking apologetic, and she immediately jumped to attention.

“What? But that’s impossible! I just used it this morning and — ” She rummaged in her wallet for some cash.

“Not to worry, sure you can sort me out some other time….” Waving the incident away, Ella smiled and handed her back the card.

“Are you sure? It’s just I don’t usually carry cash and — ”

Flustered, Heidi felt her cheeks redden. This could
not
be happening. She hadn’t gone too crazy in the city this morning had she? Yes, she’d been stocking up on Christmas presents (to say nothing of her own wardrobe) but it was a platinum card for goodness sake, the limit must be sky high. If there even was a limit …

Heidi couldn't understand it. “Thank you. I’ll pop back later when I’ve been to a cashpoint.
Au revoir
!” she called as she flipped her hair and strutted towards the door with the cupcake box in her free arm.

“OK, let’s roll guys - Mum’s Club time!” She proclaimed as she belted herself in, checked her lipstick and backed out of the space, the incident with the credit card already forgotten.

C
ynthia Roland’s
house was next door to her sister-in-law’s. Nestled in a modest estate, the house looked exactly like all the other boring others. Besides the amount of cars in the driveway and the sign on the front lawn, Heidi wouldn’t have even begun to know which house she was headed towards.

As she parked the car, she noticed the women subtly staring at her from the window.
This
was exactly the entrance Heidi had wanted. She confidently strolled in carrying the cupcakes with Miriam and Amelia about ten feet behind.

“Cynthia, darling. You look fabulous as always!” she crowed at the sight of the pale, meek woman answering the door.

“Not as good as you, I’m afraid.” Her friend’s insincere smile did nothing to faze Heidi as she was greeted by a gaggle of women all ready and eager to make note of her presence.

“Let me take that from you!”

“Oh! Look at your jacket! Is it new?”

“Who did your hair? It looks perfect.”

“You shouldn’t have gone to the trouble of baking all these, Heidi! It’s too kind of you.”

“How is Paul? I hear you bought another building in town recently.”

“Your nails are the most perfect shade. I wish I was bold enough to wear that colour.”

As the compliments rolled in, Heidi effortlessly swivelled back and forth to give each woman her answer and a polite peck on the cheek.

All except Gemma. While the rest of the Mum’s Club had greeted her at the door, her sister-in-law had remained in her chair by the fireplace. She was staring daggers at Heidi, but her look significantly softened as she spotted Miriam and Amelia walking through the door.

“Miriam, let me take Amelia from you. I never get enough time with her when I visit. And you must be exhausted from taking care of her all by yourself day in and day out.” Gemma proclaimed loudly so that each of the other mums would hear her. The women moved from Heidi and began to swoon loudly over Amelia. While Gemma’s barb should have ruffled Heidi, it only boosted up her self-importance that much more.

After the cordial greetings and compliments were sufficiently dispensed, Heidi led the gang back into the living room. Taking her place at the front of the room, she watched as Amelia gingerly toddled towards the other children to play with the plethora of toys assembled.

“So, what was your day like Heidi?” asked a woman she vaguely recognised but couldn’t be bothered to remember her name.

“Oh… the usual. I went to Dublin to get my nails done at the BT Nail Bar and while there I dropped an absolute fortune on the second floor. Then I went to have my hair done at Hair Box, before picking up Paul’s suits from the dry cleaner, and I barely managed to get in a light workout before heading out earlier. It’s been such a busy day already!”

“If only I could manage to get to the gym.” sighed another woman Heidi avoided.

“It’s all about priorities, really. You can do it if you set your mind to it.” She smiled at her own encouragement.

“You mean, you could set your mind to it if you had plenty of money and a live-in nanny, and a cleaner, don’t you?” The women giggled as Gemma snarked. “You have to admit that you have it lucky with Paul’s money paying for everything. You don’t have to lift a finger.”

“I suppose, but he does work hard, and we have the same worries as everyone else. I just don’t talk about them non-stop.” Heidi felt a bit defensive at the insinuation that her life was easy.

“Not all of us marry for money. Some of us do so for love.” Gemma’s comments came across as a slap in the face. While Heidi had known that her sister-in-law harboured resentment towards her, she had never heard her express it so openly or in such a public space before. She could do nothing but look down at her shoes. Which of course was no great hardship.

“Did you girls hear about Ella’s big Christmas party? I remember those from when I was a little girl.” Cynthia interjected, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen after Heidi and Gemma’s sparring.

“Really? A party? Here in Lakeview?” asked one of the other mothers whose baby was currently drooling contently in her arms.

Heidi was intrigued. Any social occasion piqued her interest, especially if it gave her a chance to do a little good old fashioned showing off.

“Yes. The village Christmas parties used to be great fun. Free food, free drinks, music, lots going on for the kids.The whole place would turn out.” Cynthia practically beamed at the memory.

“Where on earth is Ella hosting it? She certainly cannot fit the entire village in that tiny café.”

Heidi thought Gemma had an excellent point and it got her thinking.

“I’m not sure actually. I remember they used to have people back to the house, but after her husband died, I doubt she would want to have anything there.”

“I know where it’ll be.” Heidi interjected, deciding. “Our house. Ours is the only one big enough to hold the village anyway. We have already have our own marquee and I’m working with a party coordinator now about where to place everything, but I am thinking red and green linen with poinsettia centre pieces accented with mistletoe, of course…”

The last bit was a bald-faced lie, but she was sure Ella Harris would only jump at the chance to save herself the bother of holding a messy gathering at the café.

Gemma kept her eyes squarely on Heidi as she continued to ramble off her imagined plans for the café Christmas party. She suspected instantly that Heidi was lying, but she held her tongue.

As the women chatted excitedly about the party, Heidi excused herself to the bathroom. As she snuck upstairs she quietly dialled Ella’s number.

“This is Ella speaking.” Ella’s soft voice momentarily soothed Heidi. “Hello?”

“Ella, this is Heidi. I just heard that you were throwing a Christmas party for the whole village to celebrate your thirtieth year in business! Is that true?” Heidi couldn’t come across as too eager.

“Oh, hello Heidi.” Ella said in a significantly lower tone, her voice losing her friendly chirp. “That’s right, I am throwing a Christmas party on December 22nd. You, Paul, and Amelia are certainly invited.”

“That’s great! Do you have a location in mind?” Heidi asked innocently.

“Well naturally I was thinking the café and -”

Heidi cut her off, ready to bite, “No, no, no. The café is way too small. I insist that your party be at our home. As your landlord, Paul would be only too delighted to allow you to do so for free. We will arrange the marquee, the tables, the heating, everything. Guests can use our bathrooms and your staff can set up in our kitchen. It will be more than enough room for the town.”

The silence that followed was almost deafening. If Ella said no, she wouldn’t know what to do. “And naturally we’ll arrange to have someone in for the clean-up afterwards. Honestly, do you really want your café to be subjected to such upheaval, especially so close to Christmas?”

“I suppose you have a point and it looks like there’ll be a lot of people…” Ella trailed off, Heidi’s words obviously hitting home. “Are you sure Paul is on board with this?”

“Yes, we insist!” Heidi said as loudly as she could without potentially drawing attention to herself.

“All right then. How about you pop back in soon, and we’ll discuss it.”

“It’s a plan. Chat with you soon, Ella.”

Heidi hung up her phone, tucked it back into her trouser pocket, and strolled confidently back into the living room. Her smile was as bold as ever as she practically burst in anticipation.

Not only would she be hosting the most talked-about Lakeview party in years, she would be doing it in her own gorgeous house in front of the whole town.

Heidi lived for opportunities like these.