The Heartbreak Cafe (6 page)

She
rolled over in bed, wishing more than ever that her mother was
here. Cathy would travel back in a shot if she realised the full
extent of Nina’s situation, she knew that, but this was supposed to
be the trip of a lifetime for her and Tony and she didn’t want to
ruin it for her. Heaven knows her mother had sacrificed enough for
her over the years, raising her by herself until meeting and
falling and love with Tony when Nina was in her late teens. . He
was a wonderful man, kind, gentle and an absolute rock for Cathy –
for them both really.

Nina
sighed thinking about how different Patrick – her real father –
was. She wasn’t sure why she’d thought he might have changed,
change was anathema to a country man like Patrick. She wasn’t sure
if her father had ever even travelled outside the country, or even
outside Lakeview. Although he must have to get all those bits and
parts he needed for his TV repairs and suchlike.

Nope,
they had nothing in common really, nothing except genetics. How
long could she put up with him? Enough until she got her head
together at least, Nina thought. That was the plan after
all.

In the
meantime, she needed to focus on trying to get to sleep. Deciding
on the age-old solution of counting sheep, she was about to doze
off when she heard a loud snore from across the hallway. Typical
she thought, that the only time her father chose to be involved in
something she was doing was when she didn’t want him to
be.

Somewhere
in the middle of all of her frustration, she drifted off, only to
be awoken a few hours later by Patrick knocking on her door,
telling her to ‘Rise and shine.’

Nina
looked at the bedside clock. Of course; her father would have to
wake her up at the same time he got out of bed, wouldn’t
he?

Knowing
it was seven a.m. and not enjoying the idea of having to spend
another silent meal with Patrick so soon after last night, Nina
decided to get out of bed, throw on some casual clothes and head
down town for a coffee or something. Her father had always been a
tea drinker and Nina knew he didn’t even possess a jar of instant,
let alone a cafetière.

She went
downstairs to find Patrick in the kitchen, making his usual
breakfast.

‘
Morning Dad,’ she said blearily.

Patrick
turned around, as if he’d just remembered that she was in fact
there. ‘Oh good morning, Nina. Would you like some
breakfast?’

‘
No thanks, it’s a beautiful day so I thought I might go out
for a walk, get some exercise maybe. I’ll probably just grab
something while I’m out.’

‘
Hmm,’ he said, turning back to the frying pan.

She stood
there for a second longer, trying to figure out if this reply was
meant as some kind of acknowledgement. When she realised that it
was in fact a dismissal, she turned on her heel and walked from the
house. Goodness, she thought, how does anyone put up with him? Then
almost immediately, she was met by a wave of compassion,
remembering the fact that her father was a loner, and that her
mother in fact had left him. She said a silent apology and vowed to
not think about it. She had bigger problems than her
father.

She
walked briskly following the path along the side of the lake in the
direction of the village, not really thinking about where she was
headed, but allowing her feet to propel her naturally. She’d
forgotten how familiar she was with Lakeview, regardless of the
fact that she’d never done anything to endear herself to it, and
had in fact, worked eagerly to distance herself. Yet somehow, she
still had an innate sense of the place.

Following
her feet to the end of the lakeside path, she reached the corner
where Ella’s Heartbreak Café was situated. It was a small
two-storey building with an enviable position right at the edge of
the lake and on the corner where Main Street began. Until she
reached it, Nina was barely aware of the fact she had been walking,
her mind was so intently focused, and before she knew it she was at
the door and stepping through the entrance.

She was
met by the familiar scent of the place, the combination of grease
and the warm, fresh smell associated with baked goods. The interior
hadn’t changed much over the years – it was still the warm cosy
room she remembered, with its parquet oak flooring, shelves full of
dried flowers and old country-style knick-knacks, along with
haphazard seating and mismatched tables, one of which was an
antique Singer sewing table.

In front
of the kitchen and serving area was a long granite countertop,
where various solo customers nursed their coffees and pastries atop
a row of stools. Alongside this was a glass display case filled
with a selection of the most delicious-looking baked goods
imaginable; muffins, doughnuts, carrot cake, brownies and cream
puffs for the sweet-toothed, and pies, sausage rolls and Italian
breads for the more savoury-orientated. The chalkboard menu
overhead listed a selection of breakfast choices ranging from
yoghurt, muesli and bagels, to the Full Irish heart attack complete
with locally produced black pudding.

If Nina
wasn’t hungry when she’d set out, a single whiff of Ella’s famous
home cooking now suddenly had her feeling ravenous. She looked
around expectantly at the faces inside, wondering whom she would
recognize, if anyone, behind the changes of the years.

Her eyes
scanned the room and then settled on the one person she would know
anywhere, Ella, the owner. Nina observed her for a moment, rushing
from table to table, cleaning surfaces, pouring coffee, saying a
kind word to everyone she met. It was perhaps no accident that
she’d ended up here; Ella was such a pleasant woman and a warm
soul, that often as a teenager, Nina had felt more at home in this
busy café than she did at her father’s house.

Ella must
have felt Nina watching her, because suddenly she looked up. Then
the older woman studied her for a moment before recognition
blossomed. She set down the pot of coffee she had been circulating
and rushed forward. Nina had barely moved a foot before Ella had
embraced her in a warm bear-hug.

‘
Nina love, how wonderful to see you. I must admit I wasn’t
sure at first, you’ve grown up so much but then I realised I would
have known those green eyes anywhere!’ she exclaimed. ‘How long are
you home? Is your mother with you? I haven’t seen you both in
ages.’

‘
No, it’s just myself – on a short visit,’ Nina replied
quickly, wondering why she felt the need to be evasive over how
long she would be staying in Lakeview.

Ella
looked at her and Nina glanced away, worried that she could read
her mind and would guess all her secrets if she allowed her to look
at her for too long. ‘Are you feeling alright honey?’ Ella asked.
‘You look a bit pale and you’ve lost so much weight since the last
time I’ve seen you – I hope you’re not on some silly diet or
something.’

‘
Of course not. Actually I’m really hungry.’ Better to get Ella
started on something other than her looks and her health, Nina
thought, and sure enough, that did the trick.

‘
Of course you are. Take a seat there at the counter and I’ll
make you some breakfast. Then you can tell me all about what you’ve
been up since the last time you were here.’

Nina was
oddly touched that Ella should be so interested in her life and
happy to talk to her. It made a nice change from her father’s
non-existent welcome.

The two
of them chatted on and off for a while, and Ella introduced Nina to
the waitress, Alice, a friendly girl in her early twenties, with
large blue eyes and freckles, whom Nina warmed to right
away.

In
between all the hustle and bustle, Ella wanted to know everything
about what Nina had been doing for the last few years in Galway,
where she’d been living, working or if she was seeing anyone. Nina
was creatively editing the parts that she didn’t feel like talking
about, namely, everything that had happened after Steve arrived the
scene.

‘
And what brings you back to Lakeview?’ Ella asked
finally.

‘
Well, I just hadn’t been back in so long and really, I … I
just felt that I wanted to see Patrick, I mean, Dad.’ If that
wasn’t a lie, she didn’t know what was. She had spoken so haltingly
that she suspected Ella guessed there was something off, but the
woman just nodded her head and poured more orange juice. ‘So what
has been happening around here?’ she asked then, deciding to change
the subject.

‘
Well you know yourself, Lakeview is still Lakeview. Of course,
as you’ve probably seen on your way in, it’s a lot bigger than it
was before and we have lots of city people who escape to the
country only to spend all their time in the city,’ she said and
Nina smiled. Ella had echoed her own thoughts on the subject
completely.

‘
And how are the kids?’ If Nina remembered correctly, Ella was
the mother of three, but hadn’t she fostered a couple of children
over the years too? Along with every bedraggled cat/dog/rabbit that
happened to cross her path. Kind-hearted to the core, Ella Harris
liked to look after people, which was why her little café had
always been a hugely popular gathering place for the Lakeview
locals. Here, there was no need to specify ‘tall’ or ‘grande’ as
someone like Ella could guess a customer’s preference almost on
sight.

‘
Fine, fine – all keeping well thank goodness,’ she replied,
her face lighting up at the mention of her children. ‘Dan my oldest
helps out here from time to time, Carly works as a special needs
assistant, and Lily’s still at uni,’ she said smiling fondly, ‘I
see them all from to time but they tend to do their own thing, you
know yourself ’

‘
I can imagine,’ Nina said politely. She smiled; unsure what to
say next, but soon found that she didn’t have to, because right at
that moment, the door of the café burst open and something like a
tornado blew in.

An
incredibly petite young woman with a shock of curly red hair tied
up in one of those messy, yet incredibly fashionable ‘half
ponytails’ came inside. She had a very chic pair of Chanel
sunglasses perched on the top of her head, and as she took a moment
to look around; Nina could feel the energy pulsating off of
her.

‘
Ella, what a great morning it is!’ she trilled. ‘So, did you
hear the news? Guess whose coming home this weekend? There is a big
welcome home party and awards do being planned at Clancy’s and I
was just on my way over there to see the set up, but I had no
breakfast so I said I’d pop in to grab a pastry and I….’ the
redhead stopped mid-sentence and stared at Nina. ‘Nina Hughes! Oh
my gosh! Speaking of homecomings …’ She lunged forward and pulled
Nina into a tight embrace.

‘
Trish. Wow, I hardly recognised you. I wasn’t sure if you
still lived here actually.’

‘
Well you would have known if you’d ever bothered phoning or
maybe dropping an email,’ Trish chided half-heartedly.

Nina
winced. ‘I know, I’ve been awful. I did mean to – ‘

‘
Not to worry. Sure, we’re both as bad as each other. I was in
Cork for a good while but I’m back now, oh about …two years now,
isn’t it Ella?’ she said and the older woman nodded in
affirmation.

‘
So tell me all. I want to know everything you have been doing
since the last time I’ve seen you. It’s been years. What have you
been up to? How’s Galway? How long are you here for? Are you
staying with your dad? How is he, I haven’t seen him in ages…’
Trish didn’t take a breath.

‘
Wow you really haven’t changed a bit,’ Nina laughed. ‘Don’t
you ever come up for air?’ Trish just grinned and Nina briefly
recalled their shared history. She and Trish were the same age and
had been one of the few friends Nina had as a child when she
visited Lakeview. She couldn’t remember when she had seen her last,
but even then, the encounter wasn’t in Lakeview but in Galway.
Trish had been up there for something – she couldn’t remember what
– but regardless, they had met up for dinner and a few drinks. It
was great night and a funny memory and right then, Nina couldn’t
understand why they hadn’t stayed in touch recently.

‘
Nina just got in yesterday. She’s staying with her father for
a little while,’ Ella replied, giving Trish the simplified version
of what Nina had just told her. She turned to Nina. ‘When Trish
gets her breath back, she’ll be able to tell you that she works for
the Lakeview News now. If you can believe it, she is quite the
interviewer when she allows her subjects to talk,’ she added wryly,
and Trish flushed a shade of red that just about matched her
hair.

‘
Fantastic. So you did end up a writer after all,’ Nina said,
recalling how Trish used to love making up stories in her
youth.

‘
Well, the local rag isn’t exactly Pulitzer-winning stuff, but
I enjoy it,’ Trish told her. ‘And even though we’re not
celeb-central around here, things are looking up,’ she added
excitedly.

When Nina
and Ella both looked blank, she went on. ‘Well, you’re not going to
believe this but Ruth Seymour’s coming home! The press release came
in during the week.’

Of
course, the actress. Nina had almost forgotten that she’d also
known Ruth Seymour from her visits here.

‘
I’ve heard all about the show. Isn’t it mad to think that we
all played together years ago and now she’s this huge Hollywood
star?’