‘Don’t mind me, I’m a morning person. I’ll go home as soon as this lot is finished.’
Ally caught a glimpse of her in the artificial light and judged her age to be in her late sixties, possibly seventy. Surely, she was on a pension?
‘Couldn’t you knock off early and take it easy? We could cover here.’
‘Ah no, I’ll be grand. Anyway, I’m only sixty-two and I’ve no pension – I need the shift.’
Ally tried to hide her surprise. It just showed how a hard life could take its toll.
Only then did she realise Evelyn was looking at her.
‘Are you all right? You look worried,’ observed the older woman.
Ally explained about her situation with her flat if she didn’t find a better-paid job. She made no mention of Pete.
The older lady seemed to be lost in thought for a moment as she smoothed cream onto a cake and decorated it precisely with a pattern of strawberries. Ally wondered if she’d lost interest.
‘You know,’ she said at last, ‘there’s two floors above this. Dave has the lease on the whole building, you should talk to him. Sure, not long ago all of these places were rented out as affordable flats, until the standards got too high and the law changed.’ She sniffed. ‘Now perfectly good premises like upstairs are lying idle. It’s a scandal, really. It has a kitchen and all, it just needs a bit of fixing up.’
A light began to glimmer at the end of Ally’s financial tunnel.
‘And do you think he might let me move in?’
‘You can ask him. Nothing ventured .?.?.’
Just then the door opened and Dave bustled in, looking like he was barely holding it together. He replied to their enquiring expressions without being asked. ‘The baby’s still in place. Twenty-six weeks. Fia’s going stir-crazy – she can’t move, but they say every day they hold off the birth is going to make all the difference. So, we’re sitting it out.’
He was going through every step of it with her. Which just went to show, there were some really great guys out there. Despite that, it was definitely not the moment to bring up crashing in the flat upstairs, possibly illegally. Still, she mused, there was one person who would be ideal to do a bit of fixing up. And that person was Pete.
* * *
As the breakfast shift began, she greeted the regular customers by name – Christie and Noel had moved their coffees inside as the winter set in; both widowers considered The Owl’s Nest a home from home. Throughout everything, she kept one eye on the door with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. By eleven o’clock there was still no sign of Pete and her heart began to sink. On the other hand, she noticed a distinct improvement in her barista skills, finding herself able to use both hands as her muscle memory kicked in, prompting her movements seamlessly.
Niamh, the Gym+Coffee lady, hadn’t tried it on with the big reduction since the last time and had become a regular acquaintance, although Evelyn always gave her a wide berth. ‘I’ll let you do the honours with this one,’ she’d mutter.
There was a tightness around the young woman’s mouth, as though every piece of her was toned into obedience. Underneath, Ally could pick up her agitation.
She began to prepare a large latte with a shot of hazelnut – a lot more calorific than Niamh’s usual Americano – so something was definitely up.
‘Busy day?’
Niamh rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t get me started, Ally. Do you have kids?’
‘No .?.?. Well, not yet.’ She smiled conspiratorially as Niamh glowed a little at being taken into her confidence, before fixing her with a glare that made Ally feel like a pinned butterfly.
‘I’m driven demented with my twelve-year-old. I had her booked in for orchestra camp – and bear in mind this child has the talent, if only she’d put her mind to it .?.?.’
Ally was finding herself compelled to nod.
‘But no, what does she insist on? Ice skating and hanging out at Dundrum with her classmates. You know what that means? Sitting on a dirty floor like ragamuffins, slurping some ghastlyblue concoction .?.?. But as I said to her: Rebecca, if you want to be exceptional, you have to be prepared to behave exceptionally, not just trail along with the rest of the gang.’
‘And .?.?. how did she react?’
‘Ally, I will not repeat in public the word she used.’
Wow, reflected Ally, it must have taken some character to push back against this tiger mom.
‘Funny, when I was twelve, my mum wanted me to be a dancer – ballet, if you don’t mind,’ said Ally airily.
