Christmas at The Heartbreak Cafe (Lakeview Christmas Novel) (Lakeview Contemporary Romance Book 7) (8 page)

H
alf an hour
later Heidi turned to leave, a considerable spring in her step. After spending a solid day going door to door and facing rejection after rejection, Charlie guessed that having someone like him on the case would certainly help ease her burden. He was intrigued by her idea but wasn't sure if it had legs. Well, he’d ask around certainly. Anything to help save poor Ella from a sorry fate.

Heidi grabbed several elaborately decorated Christmas cards from her clipboard. “Here, I am having everyone who contributes to sign a card for her. I already have a growing list of donors and if you could take another .… If you need more, just call me.”

“Sure. I can’t promise anything but …”

“You have no idea how much this means for the town, Charlie. I hope we can do this. Ella deserves it. Anyway, I’ll be out of your way. Say hello to Ruth for me and I look forward to hearing her perform next week.”

Charlie closed the door behind her. Scarlett had been blissfully unaware of everything that had transpired as she entertained herself with her zoo animal collection and the cartoons on the television.

Once she had been fed and the dinner dishes had been cleared and cleaned, Charlie began to notice just how quiet the house had been. Ruth had always been the life of the place. Dinners with her were full of songs and finger puppets. She often chased Scarlett around the house pretending to be the friendly tickle monster. The shrieks of joy between the two were what kept Charlie going every day. But in Ruth’s absence, Charlie tried to remember just how life was before he became a dad and a husband.

He retrieved his mobile phone from his coat pocket. No calls from Ruth. She would have arrived hours ago, but he figured she was either too nervous or distracted to remember to call.

Two hours later, the phone remained silent. Scarlett had been put to bed hours ago, and the house was both dark and silent. Charlie sat up reading a book from Ruth’s collection, occasionally glancing down at his phone to be sure he hadn’t missed her. It was just as silent.

Swallowing his pride, he made the first call to her. And then a second one an hour later. Then a text: “Are you all right?” It remained marked unread and went unanswered.

He reassured himself that he shouldn’t worry. She was fine. He knew it. She was simply at her meeting and had her phone off. Maybe she even forgot it and left it at the hotel. She was constantly forgetting her phone. This probably wasn’t an exception.

But in the depth of the night with the hours ticking by, all Charlie could do was think about what his mother had suggested. Perhaps this life wasn’t for Ruth after all.

Maybe she was made for important meetings with directors and agents and not for the provincial life he could give her.

Was this the end or the beginning?

T
he cold nipped
at Heidi’s face as she exited her car. She grabbed her clipboard, the envelope, and the Christmas cards as she hurried to the door. This was her third attempt at this house, but she wasn’t about to take no for an answer.

She rang once. No answer. She rang again. Nothing. Lights were on in the house, so she did what she had done at two others: she used the internet and her growing number of community friends to find the house phone number and call it. She could hear the phone ring from inside and then someone quickly walk or run to grab it.

“Hello,” she began in her cheeriest, most ingratiating voice, “This is Heidi. As I know you are in, I would really appreciate it if you could open your door for me. Thank you!” She hung up her phone and waited.

An older woman peered out as the door cracked a mere inch, enough for the woman to stick her head out. “For the third time,” she scowled disdainfully, “we are not interested.”

The woman’s obstinance only enraged Heidi further. “Mrs McGrath,” she pressed, “I understand that you said no the last time. But since we last spoke, I have learned from some very reliable sources that you patron the café for breakfast on a regular basis. You cannot make me believe that when Ella closes up shop for good that you will not miss her or her wonderful Irish fry-ups.” Eric McGrath’s mother squinted her beady eyes at Heidi, clearly both impressed and irritated at her salesmanship. “I’m are not asking for much. I just ask that you give what you can. It could be ten euro, twenty—whatever you can contribute. Your money will go directly to paying off the outstanding liabilities. Nobody but the bank will touch a cent of it.”

Heidi then smiled at the woman who had only allowed her head to show. Without a word, Maeve turned, leaving the door partially open. Heidi didn’t dare to take a step inside. Moments passed, but when she returned she handed Heidi a cheque that was more generous than she’d expected. Without a word, Heidi handed her the Christmas card to sign and left with a loud thank you.

Back in her car, she took out her notepad. With the McGrath’s donation, she, with the help and time of Charlie, had raised quite a lot of money.

Based on the outstanding liabilities though, it would take a lot more than that to bring the arrears back into credit and make the bank lift the repossession order.

That number sank in. With only a week left until the party, the full amount seemed impossible. Heidi had hit up every single house in the village and had even ventured to nearby communities for help. Her persistence had paid off. Just like Maeve McGrath, most households gave in to Heidi’s requests on the second or third try.

She used tactics like spying on frequent customers and having her mother Betty and sister in law Kim track down others for the cause, and Conor Dempsey, a popular local businessman (and another part of Heidi’s family of sorts), tap up some of his corporate golf buddy clients. Her network had pulled off a miracle, yet they were still short for what was needed.

Still, Heidi couldn’t help but feel satisfied. For the first time in her life, she had accomplished something on her own. And even more so, the community had actually turned itself around on her. While she was not looking to change her own reputation, she could feel that she was respected and taken more seriously than she was when word of Paul’s job loss hit.

Her only problem was just that—Paul had little idea what she was up to when she left for the day. Heidi had promised she was out job searching, but she hadn’t even attempted to find work. She was too busy focusing on this one task.

Heidi pulled out a map of the village. Little marks denoted homes, businesses, and the names of the owners. She had made a big “X” through the mark when a family had donated. And she highlighted those she had yet to go to or who had refused her. She was glad to cross the McGrath house of the list. It would be the last of this row to hold out on a donation. Even that itself was a major accomplishment that could not be ignored.

But there was no time to settle. With so little time left, Heidi had to practically double her outreach. Using her index finger, she searched and scanned the map for any other Lakeview homes or business that she may have missed.

In the western corner, a little way outside town she found the riding stables. Of course! The place was brimming with regulars to Ella’s café, and the owner, Joseph Evans, was forever holding up the counter in there. In her eagerness to grab all of the donors from the village itself, she had completely forgotten about this potential goldmine.

Heidi sped out of the centre and headed up the hill towards the stables, situated in a woody area outside Lakeview. As she entered a small reception just in front of the old stone building, a young woman greeted her with a reserved smile. “How can I help you?”

“I am looking for Mr Evans,” she explained, batting her eyes serenely in an attempt to look both innocent and appealing. “Would he happen to be in?”

“He is, but I am afraid Joseph is busy. Can I ask what this is in reference to?”

“I’m here about the café. I am a friend of the owner, Ella and am in the process of—”

A tall, grey haired man suddenly appeared in a doorway nearby. He looked at Heidi with concern.

“I’m sorry Nina, I thought I heard something about the café. I can take over from here.” He gestured Heidi to join him in his small office. Quickly, he gathered up the maps and papers that littered the office chairs and desk. She sat in the first empty one she could find.

“Mr. Evans, it is great to meet you. I am Heidi Clancy, and as I said, I am here about the Heartbreak Café. As you may have heard Ella, the owner, is planning on closing the restaurant after Christmas. While she is saying that she is retiring, the real reason is that her building is being repossessed. But I believe that the Heartbreak Café can and must be saved. It is a vital part of our community and culture, and I am sure that your customers and staff—all frequent café patrons—can and will agree. At this time, I have raised a substantial amount of money to clear the arrears and stave off the repossession order, but it is not yet enough. And that is why I am here.”

Heidi paused, waiting for the man to say something. Instead, he just stared at her with his hands cupped in front of his mouth, concealing his emotions.

“I understand that times are hard and that you may not be able to give much, but if you are able, I am accepting donations which will be used to pay off the arrears.”

Again, Heidi waited, but the man just looked directly at her.

“So would you be willing to contribute something to help save the café?” She had exasperated her entire sales pitch. Yet this man just sat there as if he was a stone gargoyle passing judgement.

“What was your name again?”

“Heidi Clancy.

“Can I ask you a question, Ms. Clancy? Do you happen to know the owner of the building—the person who is responsible for evicting Ella from the café she has run for almost thirty years?”

Heidi sank in her chair. She sighed. She had imagined this happening several times, yet no one had yet to ask her about her conflict of interest. And now, she was found out. While she had every intentions of saving the café and none at all for improving her family’s financial situation, she knew how this had to look to someone in the know.

“Yes, I do. And yes Paul Clarke is my husband, but please allow me to explain …”

“I am not sure there is much explaining that can be done here. Despite Ella’s dutiful payment of rent, your husband is underwater on the property. And here you are, trying to get the community to chip in and pay your debts for you. While I have never seen this kind of scheme before, I have to admit it’s a good one. You almost had me believe that this
was
charity.” Joseph’s eyes burned bright in anger. He leaned forward, practically hovering over his desk.

“I know how this appears. I do. But please believe me when I say that this have nothing to do with my family’s situation. My husband lost his job at the bank …he’d got behind on the repayments of some of portfolio… I had no idea how awful the situation was or that other people would be affected. Please believe me. I am here because Ella is my friend, and I believe that she deserves to keep the café. She has been good to me. She has defended me when no other would even glance at me. She has become my friend, and I cannot imagine this town without her or the café. This is why I am here, if you want to know the truth. I am here to make this right.”

Heidi’s voice was firm, yet sincere. While she knew there was little chance in him believing her, she had to try to explain her side of the story. At this point, she did not care what he thought about her.

“Does Ella know that you are doing this?”

“No. At least, I don’t think so. Ever donor I have found so far has been told not to say anything, because I don’t know if we’ll have enough…”

“And how much exactly have you raised?”

She momentarily let her guard down and let her pride shine through. “Approximately a quarter of the outstanding arrears in little under a week.”

Joseph nodded, clearly impressed by her accomplishment. “And how much more do you need to stave off the repossession order?”

Heidi held her breath as she whispered the number to him.

“And does your husband know that you are doing this?”

“No. This is my cause, not his.”

After a very long pause, Joseph spoke. “I’m sorry, I think I understand why you are doing it and I admire that. But I very much doubt that you can achieve what you need to in such a short space of time.”

Heidi sighed. He was right of course. She supposed that deep down she’d realised that all along. But she’d still felt she needed to do
something
. Be it out of pride, guilt or god forbid the goodness of her heart.

“However as I said, I admire your ambition and clearly you are a determined lady.” Then he paused his eyes twinkling. “But I wonder if you could use some of that same determination to do something for me…”

“
P
aul
? Can you bring down all the boxes labelled ‘Christmas Indoor Lighting?’” Heidi shouted loudly at her husband who was currently rummaging around in their attic. “Oh. And grab that blue bucket of baubles underneath the box of summer clothes.”

She impatiently watched as her husband brought box after box down from the attic. Each one was full to the brim with holiday decorations they had planned to donate or leave behind now that a move from their beloved house was all but finalised.

Exhausted, Paul looked at her as if she was crazy and then when she’d finally finished her list of requests, he retreated to his study.

She did not blame him for not understanding why she was still so heavily involved in the café Christmas party. After all, their entire lives were now in boxes and her going through some of the most useless ones seemed pointless considering the coming and goings of their life.

They’d decided to sell the house to Paul’s interested friend and use any profit from the sale to pay off some of the outstanding debt, which was also where much of Paul’s redundancy package was going.

The sale was going through at the moment and after Christmas, the family were moving in with Heidi’s parents until they found something else, perhaps something small to rent.

Betty and Mick had been insistent, although Heidi had nearly died of shame having to admit to her folks and the entire Clancy family the full extent of her and Paul’s situation.

But to be fair, her siblings and in-laws were wonderful, Kim even going as far to offer Heidi a job in her beauty products company. “Clearly you’re a born saleswoman,” her sister in law had joked, referring to Heidi’s efforts thus far at raising money for the café, “and I could really do with another rep for the Dublin area.”

Though it still broke Heidi’s heart to see her beloved home sold out from beneath her, she knew that there were worse things in life.

So first thing in the New Year, the family would be completely moved out and Heidi would be going out to work for the first time in her thirty-odd year life.

Now, seeing the brown boxes all taped up with labels like ‘sell ASAP’ or ‘from Amelia’s nursery’ depressed her to the core. While she had begun to accept a lifestyle that wasn’t all glitz and glamour, going cold turkey with her savings had been traumatic enough. Yet she knew she would get over it in time, with the help of family, friends, and a new purpose.

But with the café Christmas party less than twenty-four hours away, Heidi couldn’t help but feel a bit out of sorts. She truly had no idea how her family would survive all these changes. She had hoped that Paul would quickly find a job in his old industry, but he’d had no luck securing interviews or even meetings with former colleagues.

Instead, he had spent hours upon hours in his office working on business plans for his remaining investments. While she was doing her utmost to put Ella’s building back in the black, he was content working on something of his own.

He seemed to actually enjoy the hands-on aspect of managing the properties, instead of from afar, which was what had got him in to trouble in the first place. At dinner several nights ago, he’d even casually mentioned something about perhaps trying to do something in rental property maintenance. While he managed to keep his optimism at bay, Heidi could feel hope coming back to him.

It seemed that both Heidi and Paul had new roles to fill now, but while Paul had kept her up to date on his plans, she neglected to fill him in on her stint as a small business activist and fundraising mogul.

She wasn’t sure how he would take it. Her saving the café was ultimately at his expense, and she didn't know how he would feel if she knew she’d been basically asking the entire community for a handout to pay back his financial misadventures.

It would be a blow to any man’s ego.

Early on, she had made a plan to keep her actions a secret. Firstly, she had all correspondence from the bank regarding the building forwarded to her, and she had been keeping the local estate agent up to date on her efforts so he wouldn’t unexpectedly sell the property without her knowledge.

All this and still she wasn’t sure that it would be enough to save Ella’s business. Especially given Joseph Evan’s request last week.

Yet she had come so far, and she was not about to give up just yet. With one day until the party, she just needed to hold Paul off for twenty-four more hours by keeping him out of town (where someone might mention Heidi’s door to door soliciting) and more importantly away from the party preparations. The truth was she didn’t know if Paul would go to the party at all.

She knew he wasn't much in the mood for celebrating and she guessed that the last thing he wanted was to face the community in the wake of his financial disgrace.

After Heidi had finished loading the car, she began to make her retreat. “Okay, I got what I needed,” she called back to her husband, “and I’m taking Amelia to the café with me. We’ll be back around eight. Do you need me to grab anything while I’m in town?”

Paul peeked his head out of the office as Heidi zipped up Amelia’s coat. “Actually, I was thinking about going down with you. I’d like to talk to Ella … maybe try and explain. AndI’m sure you all will need help with decorating the place.”

“No, no we’re totally fine! Ella’s son is there and Colm too - that’s more than enough people to help with the decorating.” She tried her best not to snipe at him or to look him directly in the eyes. “Anyway, this is for Ella’s big night and I’m not sure now is the best time. It might only drag her down.”

“Oh, OK. You’re right of course. For what it’s worth, tell her I’m sorry anyway, OK?”

“Sure. I’ll give you a full report when I get back.” She kissed Paul, scooped up Amelia, and headed out the garage door. She briefly turned to smile and wave after seating her daughter in her carseat.

Paul still watched, somewhat dazedly from the doorway and she felt sorry for him having to hide away from everyone during such a big community gathering.

Heidi gulped, realising that tomorrow night she was just about to do the opposite of hiding away. The whole village would be at the party, and some of them would be whispering, pointing and looking down their noses at her.

Yet, she realised taking heart, as she drove over the stone bridge and towards the café, snow gently falling around them, that there would be many others, including Ella that would empathise with her family’s woes and go out of their way to include in the celebrations.

She was one of Lakeview’s own after all.