Instead, we turn our attention to Angus and Lauren mopping the floor, Angus at one end, Lauren at the other. Nina tells me Lauren can’t return to the shelter until six; residents have to be out all day, except for Sundays, and when they return in the evening, they are breathalysed. If they’re over the limit, they have until half past ten to sober up. Otherwise, they’re not allowed access until the following morning. But it’s a long day, so Nina wants to keep Lauren here for as long as she can, so she’s not left mindlessly wandering the streets until six. ‘I’m going to take her to meet Paul tonight,’ she tells me. Paul is the guy who Nina meets each Friday, at Tesco’s. Nina jokes, makes their meeting in the back storeroom sound naughty, when in reality all she’s doing is grabbing any food they can’t sell because it’s close to its best-before date. ‘I want her to see how the food gets here, understand how this place works.’
‘That’s a great idea,’ I say. ‘Can I come?’
‘Of course! Sorry, I um, I thought you might need to get back home… to your family?’
I shake my head. ‘My husband died, Nina, and I don’t have children,’ I say, before she can ask me the dreaded question.
‘I’m so sorry, Holly,’ she replies, though I sense, somehow, she’s not surprised.
‘He died eighteen months ago.’ I tell her how it happened. Jamie was on his way to work. A driver fell asleep behind the wheel.
‘Oh my God, Holly.’ She places a hand on my arm. ‘I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.’
I feel close to tears. ‘Well, compared to Craig or Lauren—’
‘No, don’t ever compare. We all have our stories. Each one is hard for a different reason.’ She turns to me, looks me straight in the eye. ‘How are you doing? And I meanreallydoing?’
‘Some days are better than others. Some days I want to stay in bed with a year’s supply of gin and Angel slices.’ Nina smiles. ‘Other days, it’s not quite so bad. I only want to stay in bed for six months with gin and Angel slices. The café is helping,’ I say, realising how much I mean it. ‘I’ve fallen in love with baking again.’
‘We all need something to get up for, don’t we? I get up for this place.’
‘I’m not surprised. This is your baby, Nina. I never used to get up so early on a Saturday morning.’ I turn to her. ‘Mind you, Sander’s cinnamon buns help. I missed them today.’
‘They are definitely worth getting up for.’ She smiles back. ‘Well, I’m loving having you here, and so’s everyone else, especially Angus. I reckon he doesn’t think voluntary work’s quite so bad anymore with you around. Oh heck, what’s he doing now?’ she mutters.
I hold my breath as we watch Angus approach Lauren. He hits her mop with his own, saying, ‘Your mop touched mine.’
She pulls hers away indignantly. ‘No, it didn’t.’
‘Are you calling me a liar? Pants on fire?’
‘No!’ She looks up at him, and finally I get to see her face properly. It’s as round as a peach, eyebrows almost meeting in the middle, and to hear her laugh like that is unbelievable. It’s like a glimpse of the sun after weeks of rain.
‘Take your mop and go over there. You’ve missed a patch.’ Angus points to the other side of the room.
‘That’s your patch!’ Her laugh is pure and childlike.
Angus places his hands on his hips. ‘Excuse me?’
‘You’re inmyspace,’ she argues. ‘Your mop touched mine. I was here first.’
‘Right, this is war,’ Angus says and before I know it, he is chasing her around the room with his mop and I reckon it’s the most fun Lauren has had in months, maybe in all her nineteen years. And judging from Angus’s laugh, it’s the most fun he’s had in months too. ‘You see,’ Nina says, ‘I asked him to look after Lauren for a reason.’
‘He’s a good bloke, isn’t he?’
‘The best. I tell you, Holly, you could pay a psychoanalyst a fortune for years and not hear Lauren ever laugh like that.’
Angus walks me home. It’s four in the afternoon. The sun is shining, people are out shopping and dog walking, friends are sitting outside pubs enjoying either a long lazy lunch or early evening drinks. I feel as if I’ve been in some kind of underground world, an alternative universe, surrounded by people I’d ordinarily have never met. If it weren’t for this café, I wouldn’t have crossed paths with Lauren or Craig, nor Angus and Nina. I realise now how small my life had become. ‘As soon as you have a routine, things don’t happen by chance,’ Jamie once said to me.
In the end I didn’t opt to go with Nina and Lauren to meet Paul at Tesco’s. I tell Angus I thought Lauren might have preferred to go on her own with Nina.
‘Yeah, she’s probably had enough of you too,’ Angus suggests. ‘I mean, she’s had to put up with you all day.’
‘Thanks.’
‘You’re welcome.’
‘You were good with Lauren today.’
