Christmas at The Heartbreak Cafe (Lakeview Christmas Novel) (Lakeview Contemporary Romance Book 7) (9 page)

E
lla waited
for Heidi in her completely empty café.

In all her life, she had never seen the place without the signature picture frames on the wall, old Singer table in the corner, or the cherry red bar stools at the counter. Colm and the staff had done much of the work for her, allowing her to supervise from a chair in the corner.

After the furniture was gone, the few folding tables and chairs Heidi had borrowed from the community hall had arrived, just as Joseph walked through the door.

As he had promised, Joseph still visited Ella at the café every single day. Today would be no exception as he helped her son Dan and the remaining staff unfold and unbox the supplies, and even supervised the laying out of the empty trays to be filled tomorrow.

The place buzzed with both anticipation and sadness. Tomorrow would sadly be the last time her staff gathered here, and Ella was not about to waste it. She had already begun to hand out cards with heartfelt thanks and letters of recommendation to those she knew would want to move on quickly. There were hugs and memories shared while old and new joked and sang cheery Christmas carols to help keep spirits up.

Whenever she felt herself get emotional, Ella reminded herself that this party was exactly how her father-in-law and husband would have wanted things to end.

This ode to her loved ones was not only her way of getting closure but also a way to honour the community in this village that made this café what it was—a Lakeview institution. Therefore, everything would be perfect—from the mulled wine to the last mince pie. She wouldn’t take anything less.

Just as she began to supervise the kitchen cleanup crew, Heidi walked in holding Amelia’s hand and a large blue bucket in the other.

“Perfect weather for a Christmas party, isn’t it?” Her cheeks were bright pink from the chill in the air, but her eyes were lit up with energy. It was a complete change from the run-down, beat up Heidi that came into her café barely two weeks prior.

“Let me help you with that Heidi,” Joseph grabbed the heavy container from her arms and set it down in the corner.

“I didn’t know you two knew each other?” Ella couldn’t imagine where Heidi could have met Joseph.

“Oh, I know Joseph from ….when one time Paul and I were thinking about getting Amelia a pony. He gave us great advice.” She was totally floundering with her lies, but she couldn’t give away anything. Either way, it didn’t seem as if Ella was paying too much attention. Her gaze was set on Amelia in her cute festive outfit.

“Would you like to help me taste some Christmas cookies pet? I think there are some Santa ones with your name on them.” Amelia giggled excitedly as she rushed to Ella’s side. They disappeared in the back, leaving Joseph and Ella alone to sort through the of decorations and supplies.

As the two leaned down to untangle the ropes of lighting, Joseph whispered, “Are we all set for tomorrow?”

“Yes, I have everything prepared. Just be ready at eight sharp. Santa is supposed to arrive at that time, which I think it would be just the right moment.”

He nodded in agreement, and the two set off on their decorating.

B
y the time
the group had finished, the café was completely illuminated by large, white bulbs that arched from the wooden ceilings. Garlands of silver red and gold intertwined along the wall lamps, and a medium sized picture-postcard fir tree, adorned with Heidi’s finest designer decorations, sat in the far corner where a keyboard, microphone, and Santa’s chair would be set up.

As the last twinkling bauble was hung with care, Ella reappeared with Amelia in hand.

“So pwetty!” Amelia ran to the centre of the room, excitedly jumping and spinning under the sparkling lights and the shadow of the tree.

Ella was similarly entranced. “Oh it looks beautiful Heidi, you’ve done an amazing job.” She took the younger woman’s hand. “Thank you, I mean that. I know you and Paul will both go on to better things.”

“No, thank you.” Heidi was overcome with emotion and gratitude for this lovely woman who by rights should hate her guts. “Come on, Amelia,” she sniffed. “We better get going if we want to get a good night’s sleep. I have a feeling that a very special visitor might be here tomorrow and we want to get our beauty rest for it.” She turned again to face Ella and Joseph. “See you tomorrow at around four OK? Ruth and Nicky will be in at five to set up the music. And the party will officially begin at six. I think that gives us just enough time to get everything ready. But if you need anything else, just let me know!”

She quickly grabbed her empty containers and Amelia’s coat before taking off, leaving only Joseph and Ella in the café. It was almost silent save for the Dean Martin festive classics CD playing softly in the background.

For a long moment, the two stared at each other, unsure of what to say.

Joseph went first. “Yes, the place indeed looks beautiful. It reminds me of how it all used to be.” He looked around the café noting just how so much and so little had managed to change since he first moved to the village.

“It does,” Ella said, blushing. She couldn't seem to feel anything but uncomfortable in Joseph’s presence now, especially given her recent realisation. “It really does.” She sighed and turned towards him. “Listen,” she began apologetically, “I wanted to talk to you. I’ve been meaning to apologise for the way I acted the day I told you about the eviction.”

Joseph shook his head. “Let’s not talk about this tonight,” he reassured her. “Let’s focus on what is happening here and now.”

“What’s happening here and now?” Ella looked up into his eyes that now practically danced beneath the twinkling lights.

“Us.” Joseph leaned down, gently kissed her forehead, and then slowly walked towards the door. She remained motionless, too stunned to speak. “See you tomorrow, Ella.”

Ella stood standing alone in the centre of the room for a very long time after that.

It was as if her whole life had flashed back and then forward with one innocent kiss.

It reminded her of what she had and what she had lost.

Yet in the silence of the empty café, she couldn’t help but wonder if this was what she actually had wanted all along.

“
C
harlie
?
Charlie!
Are you ready? We are
so late
. Ella is going to kill me.”

Ruth darted down the stairs while pinning her hair into a tight bun. She grabbed her black velvet Louboutin heels and quickly tossed them on.

“Charlie!” she yelled again. “Let’s go!” She hated to be late, and at ten minutes to five, she feared that she would have no time to warm up her vocal cords or to practice with the keyboard player.

“Go on ahead without us if you like,” Charlie replied. “We’ll take the van.” His voice wasn’t rushed; in fact, it was perfectly even. His lack of urgency irritated Ruth—not because he refused to be ready in time, but because he had been acting like this since she got back from LA.

She could still feel his coldness as she’d walked through the door from the airport, bags still in hand. Scarlett had run to greet her with a hug and to ask if she had brought anything back for her, but Charlie remained in the kitchen pretending to be preoccupied with dinner. When she found him, he walked up to her, rubbed her shoulders, and kissed her cheek—hardly the effusive welcome she had pictured.

The next few days were more of the same. Charlie had thrown himself into his work by volunteering to pick up an entire week’s worth of daytime sales shifts and be night-time mechanic on call duty. When Ruth did see him, he practically ignored her and instead focused on Scarlett, or another part of the house, like the broken step or the frosty path out front.

Ruth had so much to tell him about her trip, the reading, and her meeting, yet he never gave her the chance to fully talk about it. When she announced that she had been offered the part, he interrupted her, changed the subject completely, and then excused himself to prepare for work. She never got to explain herself or the situation.

And with the way their relationship was going, she was afraid that whatever was going on in Charlie’s mind would eventually boil over. She just hoped it wouldn’t be tonight. Tonight she would be returning to her roots. She wasn’t just going to be Charlie Mellon’s wife or the girl that used to be in that TV show. No, instead, she was stepping out as someone entirely different. And she planned to announce it during her set.

Before heading out the door, Ruth checked herself in the mirror one last time. Her red satin dress looked fabulous on her lightly tanned skin. She smiled at herself while repeating
“This is going to be a great night!”
over and over again in her head. She just wished she believed her own mantra.

Ruth sped towards the café, eager to try to make it at least within ten minutes of when she said she would. She parked her car and straightening her low-cut figure-hugging dress, quickly ran inside.

Once through the door, she gasped. The café that she had known and loved all these years had been completely transformed by the dimmed lights and the glittering tinsel. A tree straight out of a magazine spread stood at the very back of the room. A musician in a suit and tie, Colm’s partner Nicky, waited next to it, checking his watch.

“What. Are. You. Doing. Here.” The direct, pointed voice cut through Ruth like a knife. She spun on her heel to face it.

“Ita, hello. How are you doing?” She plastered on a fake smile, wide enough that her teeth showed like an animal ready for a fight.

“What am I doing here? I am Ella’s friend, a loyal member of this community. I have every right to be here.” The contempt in her mother in law’s voice was dripping and Ruth could tell by the way Ita sauntered slowly and feebly over to her that she had already been drinking the mulled wine.

“Ella asked me to perform tonight, so I am here and happy to help.”

“And how much did you demand to be paid?”

“Excuse me?” Ruth wasn’t completely sure where she was going with that.

“Don’t play stupid with me, madam. I know that you would do just about anything for money.” Ita’s voice echoed around the nearly empty room, yet Ruth could spot some of the volunteer staff’s gaze directly pointed at two, watching and waiting for what would happen next.

“I’m sorry, but I need to speak with Nicky now so I can warm up and be ready for when the party begins.” It was all Ruth could do to compose herself. She walked away from Ita, leaving her standing alone in the centre of the room clutching her glass of mulled wine and grinning ear to ear.

By the way she was smiling, Ruth could tell that Ita felt like she had won.

She distracted herself with her music partner’s notes. He handed her a stack of sheet music and played a bit of every song to give her an idea of what key would begin each one. He then assisted her by playing a couple of vocal warmups. Ruth was ready, but she had yet to spot Ella for further direction.

While Nicky went outside to take a phone call, Ruth ran to the back in hopes of finding the hostess there. Unsuccessful, she found a different volunteer placing cookies on the trays. He pointed her to the closed office door in the far corner of the kitchen.

Ruth knocked and let herself in. Inside, Ella sat in tears, her head in her hands, Heidi kneeling alongside her.

“I’m so sorry,” Ruth blushed, mortified. “I should have waited for you to tell me to come in.” She looked over at Heidi, who had already exhausted a box of tissues.

“Nonsense,” Ella insisted, collecting herself. “Come on in. I’m just a little emotional today. I thought I would be ready to say goodbye, but here I am, blubbering like a baby.”

Ruth took a seat next to the older woman and reached over to pat her on the back of her deep jade velvet dress. “It’s all right,” she said consolingly, “I completely understand. I mean, you’re losing a part of you that you never thought you could give up. That’s tough.”

“She’s right,” Heidi said, wiping her own eyes. “This place has been yours for so many years, and…” She trailed off and shook her head, composing herself. “But today is a new day Ella. It’s not an end; it’s a beginning.”

Ruth thought this was a little bit rich coming from Heidi Clancy, considering. She’d heard about her fundraising exploits and wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about them. Yet she seemed genuinely concerned for Ella now.

“You’re both right,” Ella smiled. “I just thought I had come to terms with it by now. I don’t know. I suppose it’s silly but I’ve never been one to give up on a desperate case. My cats and dogs will tell you that.”

Ruth smiled and handed her a fresh tissue from her clutch. She patted her shoulder reassuringly. “No one would ever think that you’re silly,” she said.

“Yes, you mean everything to this town.
Every
thing. You’ll see tonight.” Heidi winked at Ruth, who had no idea what to decipher from that. Had her fundraising come good after all? She couldn't see how…

“Come on. It’s almost six, and I already saw a line outside waiting for you to open the doors,” Heidi urged Ella. “Let’s go out there and throw the best damn Christmas party this place has ever seen.”

Ella nodded, smiled, and dabbed her eyes. She used a small pocket mirror to check the rest of her makeup and then boldly opened the door. “Colm,” she said, “are we ready?”

“‘We are sweetheart,” he said, smiling. “Are you?”

Ella dabbed her eyes one more time and straightened her dress. “Yes,” she replied, smiling through her tears.

It was time to say goodbye.

A
few volunteers
gathered to the front of the café as people began to stream in, each batting the light snow off of their shoes and coats before entering.

Ella welcomed them all with a warm hug, and Heidi passed out mince pies and glasses of mulled wine. The guests then dispersed around the room, each stopping to look at the old photos from down through the years that Ella had put on display.

Love and friendship filled the small space within minutes. It was beyond Ella’s wildest expectations. Every corner was packed with customers—friends. Everyone had kind words to say about the café—a moment or a memory they wanted to reminisce about.

When Paul tentatively arrived with Amelia a few minutes later, he spotted Heidi and waved at her from across the crowded room. She smiled back, proud that he had in the end decided to show his face, but her face quickly fell as she spotted the Lakeview Mum’s Club following closely behind.

Cynthia was in the lead (of course) and her husband towing ten steps behind as if he was dragged on a leash. Deirdre and Emer quickly followed, obviously perturbed at the lack of space in the tight room. Paul’s sister Gemma and her husband entered last, clearly looking out of place and unwilling to join in.

Heidi held in her breath as she made her way to the entrance. She gave Amelia a hug and kissed Paul. She then faced the women. “Hello ladies,” she said in the kindest tone she could muster. “Welcome to the party. Here are your tickets for the kids’ carriage ride. They have a time on them but if you need to exchange for an earlier time, feel free to swap with someone.”

To the surprise of no one—least of all Heidi—Cynthia took the opportunity to be catty. “I never took you for a horsey organiser, Heidi,” she crowed sarcastically, “but then again, I never believed you when you said you were hosting this party in the first place. Tell me, is Ella paying you for this or are you just hoping to network yourself for a job as a stable girl?” The three laughed at Cynthia’s ‘wit’ while their husbands slipped away.

Heidi ignored them. Impressing or entertaining these women was no longer on her agenda. Instead, she whispered a hello to Gemma and offered to hang her coat.

“I heard you were doing some
fundraising
,” Cynthia called at her as she walked away. Paul put down his drink and looked interested. “You stopped at every house but mine. I wonder why that is? Is it because you knew I wouldn’t help you, or was it because you knew that I knew exactly what you were up to?” Cynthia had been waiting for this moment, Heidi could feel it. Every word she said was calculated and said at a rate that was slow and deliberate.

“I’m sorry, what’s all this?” Paul asked, looking searchingly at Heidi.

“That’s right,” Gemma sneered. “I know that while you have been pretending to raise money for Ella, all along, you have been raising the money for your husband. If you were able to save this place, your husband’s debt on it would be paid or, or is there another scheme you are working on? Con-artists like you always seem to have something up their sleeves.”

Half of the party had now turned to watch. Christmas carols playing softly over the loudspeaker were practically the only other sounds. Heidi scanned the room for Ella, but she was nowhere to be seen. She was most likely in the back, preparing to refill the drinks bowl or gathering up more food.

“Heidi, what is going on?” Paul looked at her sternly.

She tried to explain quickly. “Honey, I was just helping Ella. I owed it to her, so I helped her out by raising money to try and pay back the arrears.”

“Raising money from this community to pay our debts? Why? Why would you do that? You know what this looks like, surely?” His anger was growing as faces burned a hole into the couple.

Taking a deep breath, Heidi took her husband’s hand and turned and faced the onlookers. “I didn’t try to do this for Paul or myself,” she told the crowd. “I tried because Ella is the one person in this village that deserves our love and respect. She doesn’t deserve to be evicted. I know what Paul did was wrong.” She faced her husband directly. “But he didn’t mean …we never meant for this to happen.” Her voice was passionate, pleading. “I never meant to swindle or deceive anyone. I just wanted what was best for Ella.”

“I believe you, Heidi.” Ruth’s voice reached over the tops of everyone’s head.

“I believe you too,” Colm chorused and Ella’s staff also followed, joining Ruth as they made their way to Heidi.

“A true Clancy woman never lets anything go without a fight.” Kim, Heidi’s sister in law, suddenly appeared from nowhere and stood beside her, along with her brother Ben and the rest of the Clancy family.

“I believe you too,” Her other sister-in-law piped in quietly. Cynthia and the girls shot Paul’s sister Gemma a look that permanently sealed her fate in the group.

Similar agreeable mumbles began to pop up around the café, as Lakeview friends and neighbours gathered around Heidi to shield her from the dreaded Mummy Martyrs.

Some shook her hand, one of her mother’s and Ella’s mutual friends gave her a bear hug, and thanked her for her efforts.

Despite herself, Heidi swelled with pride.

S
eeing someone outside
, Ruth ran to the back of the room as she spotted Ella entering, party platter in hand. “Merry Christmas, everyone,” she called out huskily over the microphone. “While we know it’s not the big night just yet, I heard that a very special visitor is making his way to Lakeview a couple of days early. Let’s give a big round of applause for the man himself, Santa Claus!”

On cue, in walked a very convincing Santa Claus complete with long white beard, red velvet suit and black boots. He greeted each child as he made his way to the back of the room. Children gathered around him all ready to tell him their holiday wish lists.

Ella watched from the kitchen, smiling at the joy and happiness that came with her Santa Claus. As she put down the platter, Heidi approached her in a hurry, looking panicked.

“Ella, Ella. The carriage is here, but there’s some kind of problem. I think there’s something wrong with one of the horses.”