“Oh, good news for both your businesses,” said Tudor in a conspiratorial whisper that made us both lean in. “I’ve been speaking with a big production company who want to film some fantasy series up on the cliffs and in some of the local villages. They want to rent out most of the hotel formonths!”
“What, so big actors, lots of mouths to feed?” I asked.
“Yup, and it’s being adapted from a really popular book so the nerd tourism will be off the charts! I’ll need to talk to Llywelyn about getting some of the rooms renovated if you can spare him for a minute. He’s obviously done a fantastic job here.”
I nodded and grinned. That was some of my worries about business assuaged so long as I could get a good first impression with the crew. “I’ll get my lovely boyfriend to bring you over the lattes so you can chat about it.”
“All going well?” asked Llywelyn as I got to the counter. I nodded the affirmative and got to making the coffees, and sent him over to Tudor and Glyn with yet more pastries. It felt cheeky sending one of Glyn’s pastries back to him but I was sure he could enjoy it as a customer.
Over the next hours the cafe filled up to capacity and beyond and I did my best to keep up with a trade even better than expected. Alaw had dropped in with her boyfriend and with Dinky, who she had kidnapped more and more over recent weeks as Llywelyn did his best to balance his newly blooming career, courses and helping me with the cafe.
Midway through the day I had to send Llywelyn over to Glyn’s to pick up more cakes and pastries. He returned with even more than we had in the morning.
“He’s not happy,” Llywelyn muttered as we placed them onto plates to be taken out to the tables.
“No? Should we stop ordering from him? Have I done something wrong?”
“No. Not with us. With this bloody TV production company deal. He’s struggling with too much trade at the moment, let alone once more people are coming into the village every single day.”
“And he can’t find the staff?”
“Could you?” Llywelyn asked. He had a point. Nain had offered to volunteer a few hours a day but otherwise I was running this venture on my own.
“Right. Well, I’ll do a bit more baking in house then if it comes to it.” I was no wonder with puff pastries but I could make the odd cake, and practice made perfect.
The door opened once more, but before I could rush to get it Llywelyn grabbed my arm. “Is that…?”
“Tom Brown, the substitute teacher? I think so. Who’s he with?” Tom had walked in with an older man, bearded with salt and pepper hair in a leather jacket. “What adaddy,” I said without thinking.
“Down, boy. That’s the headmaster at the school. Let me talk to them both.” Llywelyn crossed over to them and came back with their order a few minutes later. “Well that’s a story for another time…”
The rest of the day went by in a flash. A steady stream of customers flowed through the shop and a quick glance at the till exceeded my expectations.
Nain, who had sat dutifully at her table for almost 8 hours and surviving on a steady stream of tea and cake, stood up to give me a hug after the last customer had left. “I’m so proud of you,cariad,” she said. “I wish you all the joy in the world. And I’m so glad you’ve chosen to make Hiraeth your home.”
Once she had left and I’d locked the front door Llywelyn pulled me into a bone-crunching hug.
“So proud,” he whispered as he kissed the top of my head. “So, so proud.”
“Thank you,cariad.” I extricated myself from the hug to wipe over the last table.
“So, am I dropping you into work in the morning?” he asked.
“Staying at yours, am I?”
“Yes. And unless you agree to live with me, I’m never letting you leave.” Llywelyn’s eyes challenged me to disagree.
“I don’t know…”
“No, you do know. And you want to. But you’re scared and I get that. I really do. But you’re here in Hiraeth, running your own business. You took a risk, you made a massive jump. And you’ve landed on your feet. I want you to do the same again.”
Llywelyn had never been this assertive when we’d first met, but he seemed to have taken my lessons on negotiating a price to heart. “I’ve created a monster, haven’t I?” I said.
“You have. But I love you. That and my cottage still doesn’t have central heating so it’s a very cold morning waking up alone.”
“Fine,” I said as if it were a chore. “You’ve convinced me.”
Llywelyn pulled me in for a kiss and I knew despite our exhaustion we would be up for a wild night.
