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Two peas in a pod those boys were. And the loves of Jody’s life. Since the day she’d found out she’d fallen pregnant to a man she’d met during a shift at the pub, a random, a one-nighter, she’d sworn off all men until the boys were old enough to fend for themselves.
Tony watched as the boys grabbed a bag of crisps each and poured two glasses of lemonade and wondered at what point Jody would decide they were old enough, because at nine they looked pretty well sorted, and he was pretty sure he spotted flashes of loneliness in her eyes when she saw couples holding hands over the bar’s leaners.
‘So what’s with the shiny new toy?’ Jody jerked her head down towards the end of the bar.
‘It’s what’s going to save this place.’
Jody snorted and took a sip of Tyler’s lemonade, ignoring his wail of displeasure. ‘It’s going to take a whole lot more than coffee to save this dump.’
Tony bristled. Just because this place wasn’t the love of her life it didn’t mean it wasn’t the love of his, and just as she wouldn’t hear a bad word said about her boys, he didn’t like a bad word said…
‘And don’t get all grumpy on me, Tony McArthur. I know you love this joint, but it needs more than one person running it. You need to …’
‘If you say settle down, I’ll turn the soda dispenser on you.’
‘Oooh, soda water, colour me scared.’
‘Not soda, dear sister. Raspberry fizzy. Sweet, sticky and staining.’
Jody stuck her tongue out. ‘But you should, you know, settle down. It’ll do you good having a partner in crime.’
‘You’re one to talk.’
‘I’m well settled down and I’ve got two partners in crime, right, boys?’
Tony laughed again as the boys rolled their eyes, then took off upstairs to his quarters where his old gaming console lay gathering dust.
‘Besides, you’re only going to piss off the café girl with that machine in here. You’re treading on her turf, and frankly it’s not a particularly gentlemanly thing to do.’
Heat washed over Tony’s face. Even though he had a reputation for liking the ladies he always tried to treat them well. But that was pleasure, and this was business. Not just business, it was life and death. Actually, it was livelihood or death. And he intended to keep on kicking for as long as possible. Without the bar he was nothing. No one.
‘Well, I can see by the flaming shame on your face that she’s seen it.’
‘Yep,’ he sighed. The more he looked at the hunk of metal the worse he felt about what he’d done. There was an unspoken rule among the business people of Rabbits Leap that they didn’t poach customers. It was akin to stealing. Yet he’d done just that in a bid to save The Bullion. What was worse, he’d done it to a member of the community he actually respected and always had time for.
‘Tony, you’ve got to apologise, and then take the machine back. Do something. It’s a small town and the last thing you need is to be bad-mouthed or to lose customers. Find a way to make it work.’
***
Ting-a-ling.
Mel looked up from arranging a fresh batch of scones on a rose-printed vintage cake stand to see who’d walked in, her customer-ready smile fading as she saw her tall, broad-shouldered, blond, wavy-haired nemesis.
‘Get out.’ Her words were cool and calm, the opposite of the fire burning in her veins, in her heart. No one was taking away her café, her chance at a stable life, especially not a pretty boy who was used to getting what he wanted with a smile and a wink.
‘Is that any way to treat a customer?’
‘You’re not a customer. You never have been. I’ve not seen you step foot in here since I opened up – not once.’ Mel pointed to the door. ‘So get out.’
‘Well, maybe it’s time I decided to change that. And besides…’
She watched Tony take in the quiet café. Empty, bar her two regulars, Mr Muir and Mrs Wellbelove, who were enjoying their cups of tea and crosswords in separate silence.
‘…It looks like you need the business.’
Mel rankled at the words as they hit home. She’d hoped setting up in Rabbits Leap would be a good, solid investment, that it would give her security. But that ‘security’ was looking as tenuous as her bank balance. The locals weren’t joking when they said it was ‘the town that tourism forgot’. In summer the odd tourist ambled through, lost, on their way to Torquay. But, on seeing there was nothing more than farms and hills, they quickly ambled out again. As for winter? You could’ve lain down all day in the middle of the street without threat of being run over. And this winter had been worse, what with farmers shutting up shop due to milk prices falling even further.
‘Really? I need the business?’ She raised an eyebrow, hoping the small act of defiance would annoy him as much as he’d annoyed her. ‘I’m not the one putting prices up. Unlike someone else standing before me...’
Tony threw his hands up in the air as if warding the words off.
Good, she’d got to him.
‘Look, Mel, I’m not here to fight.’
‘Then what are you here for?’
‘Coffee. A flat white. And a scone. They look good.’
‘They are good.’
‘Then I’ll take one.’ Tony rubbed his chin. ‘Actually, make that two.’
Mel faked ringing up the purchase on the vintage cash register she’d found after scouring auction sites for weeks and weeks. ‘That’ll be on the house.’
‘That’s a bit cheap, isn’t it?’ Tony’s lips lifted in a half-smile.
‘It’s on me. A man desperate enough to install a coffee machine in a pub clearly needs a bit of charity.’ Yes, Tony was trying to take business away from her, but really, how much of a threat would he be to her business anyway? It wasn’t like he could actually make a decent cup of coffee.
‘So, are you going to stand there staring at me like I’m God’s gift or are you going to give me my free scones?’
Mel blushed.
‘Sorry, I wasn’t staring. Just…’
‘Imagining me kissing you. Yeah, yeah, I know. Don’t worry, you’re not the first woman.’
‘I wasn’t.’ Mel sputtered, horrified. ‘I wouldn’t.’
‘I know. I’m teasing. Relax.’
The word had the opposite effect. Mel’s body coiled up, ready to attack at the next thing he said that irritated her.
Why was he having this effect on her? Usually nothing ruffled her feathers, or her multicoloured hair. She’d weathered so much change in her life that something as small as someone making an attempt to kill off her coffee business should be laughable. But as she looked into his handsome and openly amused face she wanted to take up her tongs, grab his earlobe in its metal claws, give it a good twist, then drag him to the door and shove him out of it. Instead she picked up the tongs, fished two scones out onto a plate, added a pat of butter and passed the plate to him.
‘Can you just… sit. I’ll bring your coffee to you.’
With a wink and a grin Tony did exactly as she asked, leaving her to make his coffee in peace. The familiar ritual of grinding the beans, tamping them down, smelling the rich aroma of the coffee as it dripped into a cup while she heated the milk relaxed her, so much more than a man telling her to relax ever would. Maybe the problem wasn’t that he was trying to ruin her business; maybe it was that he was trying to take away the most stability she’d had in years.
After her café in Leeds had shown the first signs of bottoming out, Mel had sold while the going was better than worse and decided to search out a new spot to move to. She’d had two rules in mind. One, the place had to have little to no competition. Two, after moving around for so many years, she finally wanted to find a place she would come to call home. So she’d packed up her life, headed south, and stumbled across Rabbits Leap after getting lost and motoring about inland Devon with a perilously low tank of petrol.
The moment she’d seen the pretty village filled with blooming flower boxes, kids meandering down the main street licking ice creams without parents helicoptering about them, and a store smack bang in the middle with a ‘for rent’ sign stuck to the door, a little part of her heart had burst into song. The plan had been to settle down, set up shop and make enough to save and survive. But, as she watched Tony flick through a fashion magazine, she could see her plans to make Rabbits Leap her forever home go the way of coffee dregs, down the gurgler.
She picked up the coffee and walked it over to Tony’s table where he was stuffing his face.
‘Your coffee.’
‘Thish shcone is amazhing.’ Tony swallowed and brushed crumbs from his lips and chin.
Full lips, strong angular chin, Mel noted, before mentally swatting herself. She wasn’t meant to be perving at the enemy. ‘Well, it’s my grandma’s secret recipe, so it should be.’
‘Can I have the recipe?’
‘What part of secret do you not understand?’ She set the cup down with a clank.
‘Sit.’ Tony pushed out the chair opposite him with his foot.
‘I’ve things to do.’
‘Sit.’
Mel huffed, then did as she was told.
‘So how are things?’ Tony picked up the cup and took a sip, giving a small grunt of appreciation.
‘That’s how good yours are going to have to be.’ Mel folded her arms across her chest and tipped her head to the side. A small show of arrogance, but for all the things she wasn’t great at, she knew she could cook and she could make a damn good cup of coffee.
‘It’s good to know the benchmark.’ Tony’s voice was strong but she was sure a hint of panic flashed through those blue sparklers of his. ‘Anyway, this isn’t about me. How are you? I haven’t seen you in the pub with that vet of yours for a while now.’
Mel narrowed her eyes in suspicion. ‘Have you been staking me out? Figuring all the ways you can try and horn in on my bit of business?’
‘Rabbits Leap makes a habit of knowing Rabbits Leap. We keep an eye on our own. We take care of our own…’ A tightening of those lush lips. A moment of regret? No matter. He’d given her ammunition.
‘You take care of your own by taking over parts of their businesses? My, how civically minded you are.’
‘I know you’re annoyed about the machine, Mel, but you don’t have to be sarcastic about it. Can’t we deal with the situation like adults?’
Mel’s grip around herself tightened as her irritation soared. ‘I can be whatever I want in my café. And I can say whatever I want, however I want, especially when dealing with a coffee thief. What’s next? You’ll be calling my beans supplier? Good luck with that. They know what loyalty means.’
Tony’s lips thinned out more. Good. She was getting to him. Giving him something to think about.
‘As for the vet? Not that it’s any of your business but we’re over. He decided small-town veterinary work wasn’t for him and headed over to Africa to work with wildebeest or something like that.’
‘Thought he would.’
‘Really?’ Mel’s chin lifted in surprise. She’d never thought Tony was the kind of guy who delved below the surface of anything. With that easy smile and light laugh, he seemed… well, about as shallow as one of the puddles that amassed on the main street after a spring shower.
‘Yeah, he had that look about him, the “this place will do for now” look. I’ve seen it before. I knew it was only a matter of time before he left.’ Tony picked up his coffee and took a sip. ‘God, this really is good. Is everything you do this good?’
Mel’s ears prickled hot. Was she imagining it or was that a double entendre? She met his blue eyes and saw not a hint of sparkle or tease. Nope, no double entendre; he wasn’t trying to pick her up.
‘I guess that means I was “this girl will do for now”,’ she said out loud, more to herself than to Tony.
‘Then he was a fool. A man would be lucky to have a pink-haired barista and amazing cook loving him, cooking for him and making his morning coffee.’
‘That sounds more like a slave-master relationship than a real, true-love one…’
‘I’m sure the man would repay you in other ways.’
This time the sparkle was definitely in his eyes.
‘I’d make sure he did.’ The words came out before she could stop them, along with a wink. Traitor. She dipped her head to hide the flush creeping up over her cheeks. How dare her body flirt so easily with the enemy, even though, with his kind words, he was acting more like a friend. Or someone who might be angling for something more than that. Not that she’d ever sleep with the enemy. Uh-uh. No way.
Taking a long, slow, cooling breath she looked up into Tony’s eyes. Something flashed through them. Something quick, hot, fierce. A heck of a lot like desire. Had he been thinking about her… with him? Mel shook the thought clear. Nope, that’d never happen. They were chalk and cheese. Besides, there was no way she was playing around with the local lothario. He didn’t tick any of her boxes. Well, not all of them. Hot. Yes. Fun. Yes. But he couldn’t commit. She’d heard the village gossip. He was a one-man band. No woman lasted more than a night. Anyway, he was hardly boyfriend material. He only loved himself, and he was obviously careless with money, which meant careless with security, and that was the one thing Mel was always careful about.
‘So why did you come here, Tony?’
‘I need to apologise and then we need to have a conversation.’
Mel sat up straighter in her chair. An apology? She hadn’t seen that coming. ‘So, apologise.’
‘I’m sorry I bought the coffee machine. Actually, I’m not. But I’m sorry you had to find out about it like that.’
‘Not much of an apologiser, are you?’
He at least had the good grace to look slightly ashamed.
‘Well, I’m hoping we can come to an arrangement about it.’
‘Really? How about I arrange for it to be removed and you go back to bartending?’
‘How about you teach me how to use it… and maybe even teach me how to cook?’
Mel couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Was Tony mentally deficient?
‘Cook? What are you on?’
‘That smell, what is it?’
Mel sniffed the air and remembered she had lamb shanks slow-cooking in a tomato balsamic jus in the back kitchen.
‘That’s my dinner.’
‘It smells amazing.’
‘Don’t try and distract me.’ She waved her hand in impatience. ‘Why would I teach you my whole trade? Coffee and baking? I’d be out of business within weeks.’
‘No, I don’t want to know how to bake. I’m talking about learning to cook real food, like whatever it is you’ve got going back there.’ Tony’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
