We walked over and Blake held the café door open for me to step inside. It was still the quaint café it had been when I used to visit Birchbrook. There were round tables with baby-blue gingham cloths on and a small vase of pretty flowers on each. Like the High Street outside, colourful bunting was strung across the wall behind the counter where three people stood. In front of them was an array of yummy-looking treats that instantly made my mouth water and stomach rumble.
‘Hi, Pat,’ Blake greeted the woman behind the counter, who smiled as we approached.
I raised an eyebrow. ‘You just arrived and you already know everyone?’
‘I chat to people,’ he replied with a shrug.
‘Hi again,’ I added to Pat, short for Patricia, who owned the café with her husband, who was also called Pat, short for Patrick. It was a bit confusing.
‘Daisy, we heard you were back in town,’ female Pat said to me.
‘Plus Daisy was in here the other day in her wedding dress,’ a dry voice said behind her. I glanced at the man who looked around our age with a scruffy beard and hair, making a coffee at the machine. I recognised him to be their son.
Pat turned around. ‘Yes, okay, Paul, I was trying not to refer to that, actually,’ she said crossly. ‘Sons, who would have them? Anyway, you’re both staying at Birch Tree Farm for a bit, I hear?’
I nodded, glad she had moved away from the topic of my wedding dress at least. I could feel a few curious eyes in the café on me, though. ‘Yes, I’m helping Willow out with the pick-your-own season.’
‘Oh, how lovely. I think we’ll have our café van there like we did for the pumpkin patch. Paul is looking forward to it, aren’t you?’
He just rolled his eyes.
‘Anyway, what can I get you both?’ she asked us brightly, as if Paul had given her an excited reply.
Blake ordered a latte and I asked for an iced one. ‘Now, Pat,’ Blake continued, ‘all your food looks so good; what shall we try?’
I watched him talking with her and thought about Sarah telling him his conversation on dating apps had been rubbish. He seemed confident and friendly here. He ordered a piece of lavender-flavoured shortbread and a slice of strawberry cheesecake and refused to let me pay for anything. ‘Why don’t we sit in and have these? We deserve a break,’ he suggested.
‘Okay, sure.’ I was happy to sit down for a bit. Working outside on the farm was using muscles I hadn’t used for anything other than in a yoga class that Henry’s mum had dragged me to. We found a table by the window where the sun was shining in and when I took a sip of my iced latte and tried a bite of the treats, I remembered instantly why everyone loved this place so much.
‘Good, right?’ he said. ‘I stopped in on my way to the farm, and I’ve popped in every day since so far.’ He smiled at the expression on my face. ‘I’ll put on a stone while I’m here at this rate.’
‘I doubt it; you’re so tall, you can probably eat anything and be fine.’
‘When I was young, my dad said I’d eat him out of house and home; I haven’t changed much since.’ He shrugged.
‘You got yourself a fan back there,’ I added softly, nodding back towards female Pat, who was telling her husband they needed to order more coffee beans, but was definitely keeping an eye on Blake.
‘I have?’ Blake looked confused.
I chuckled. ‘You are a bit clueless when it comes to women, aren’t you?’ I couldn’t resist teasing him. I thought about how Willow said he would be every woman’s type; Blake hadn’t got that memo. Which was a relief. It meant he wasn’t at all arrogant. It was kind of sweet, actually.
Blake took a sip of coffee to hide the blush on his cheeks but I clocked it. ‘Well, maybe, yeah. I have always been a bit shy around women. At school, Dylan told me once that I could never tell if a girl was flirting with me. I think maybe that’s still the case.’
‘Is that what Sarah meant when you matched with her on a dating app?’ I thought the two of them seemed to be a very unlikely pair but somehow, they had come together so there must be more than I was seeing.
Blake sighed. ‘Yeah. She said my messages were dry and asked if I was actually interested in her. I thought I had been flirting! I guess talking online has never been easy for me. I didn’t want to try dating apps at all, but my sister made me do it, and filled the profile out for me. I’ve always been better face to face, but it’s so hard to meet people now. Sarah used so many emojis, I had trouble deciphering what she was saying, to be honest,’ he said with wide eyes. ‘I told her I was interested and when we met up, it was easier. She was so talkative, I didn’t have to worry too much about the conversation and she told me she liked that I was quiet.’
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him she probably liked anyone who didn’t disagree with her, but I kept that opinion to myself. ‘You’re not quiet with me. But I guess that’s because we’re only fake dating, right?’ I said with a laugh.
‘You don’t make me nervous,’ he replied softly. ‘You’re easy to talk to,’ Blake said then, which stopped me laughing.
It was nice to hear. ‘But if we were dating for real, you would be nervous?’
‘I don’t know. Not now that I know you. I don’t know what would have happened if we’d also met on an app. Were you nervous when you started seeing Henry?’
Considering his question for a second, I shook my head. ‘No. Maybe because I wasn’t sure if I was interested in dating him. He asked me out and I took a while to say yes, and then…’ I hesitated. ‘Maybe I kind of went along with who he thought I was, and didn’t let him see who I really am. So, I wasn’t nervous because I didn’t put my heart on the line.’
‘You were scared to,’ Blake said, no needing to phrase it as a question.
