Page 19 of A Recipe for Romance in Brambleton

Turning back to the coffee machine, Lauren was soon brewing an aromatic, rocket-strength espresso. With the swiftness of someone who did this all the time, she poured it into a takeaway cup and popped the lid on top.

‘There you go.’

She waited as Marc reached inside his brown woollen jacket but pulled out nothing.

‘Shit.’ He tapped his back pocket but still came up empty. ‘I’ve left my wallet at home, and the card on my phone has expired. Never mind. I’ll have to leave it.’

If ever a man looked in need of a double shot of a highly caffeinated beverage, it was Marc. Lauren pushed the cup over to him on the counter. ‘Have this one on the house,’ she said softly.

Marc, who was still rather forlornly checking his pockets, glanced back up at her. His eyes, as well as looking tired, registered gratitude and a warmth of understanding. ‘Thanks,’ he said gruffly.

Lauren’s heart did a little thump thump. She did her best to ignore it, but, just like Myriam, she never could resist sad eyes on a man. Even if he did owe her money.

‘You’re welcome.’ She pushed the cup a little closer to him. ‘You look as though you really need that today.’

Marc gave a short laugh. ‘Both the boys had nightmares an hour apart last night. By the time I got Liam back to bed, Luca was awake, and, well, trying to convince a hysterical nearly six-year-old that there isn’t a monster in the wardrobe is a mammoth task at three o’clock in the morning. In the end, it was easier to put him in my bed than leave him in his own.’

‘I can believe it!’ Lauren smiled back at him. ‘And did you manage to chase away the monster?’

‘Let’s hope so – I think we’ll all need an early night tonight.’

‘Do you have a busy day?’

Marc nodded. ‘I’ve got to grab a couple of last-minute things for the boys for school – they start on Monday – and I forgot to put an online order in from the supermarket. The boys are in the car, but I couldn’t resist dropping in to grab an espresso to go before I tackle it all. And now I’ll have to go home, anyway, and pick up my wallet.’

‘Are the boys excited about starting school?’

Marc raised a hand in a so-so gesture. ‘They flip-flop from being excited to not wanting to be cooped up in a classroom all day, but I’m sure they’ll get used to it.’

‘And hopefully, school will wear them out,’ Lauren replied.

‘I hope so, and that any wardrobe monsters will have disappeared by then!’

‘If they don’t, then my mum used to use her patented Monster Spray to help me forget about them,’ Lauren said. ‘It was just an old spray bottle with lavender water in, but she’d spray it in all the corners of my room, and inside the wardrobe, before I went to bed every night, and say that any monsters would be scared by the scent. Worked a treat when I was little, apparently.’

‘That’s not a bad idea.’ Marc quirked an eyebrow. ‘I might give it a go.’

‘Put in some camomile, too; they’re both great at sending you to sleep.’

‘Sounds like something we could all do with.’ At the mention of sleep, Marc yawned. ‘Sorry…’

‘Not at all. Enjoy your coffee.’ Lauren’s hand was still near the cup, and as Marc reached to take the espresso off the counter, their fingers brushed. Lauren felt the jolt.

‘Thanks again for the coffee,’ Marc said. If he’d felt anything, he did a good job hiding it.

‘You’re welcome,’ Lauren replied quickly. She tried not to watch his retreating back as he left the shop. She wished she could do something more to help than be his caffeine supplier, but she wasn’t sure how he’d react. And, she thought, shaking her head, what help could she offer, anyway?

18

After nipping back home to get his wallet, Marc undertook a hectic morning of last-minute school-shoe shopping, and then a long, frustrating trawl around the local Aldi supermarket. Two five-year-olds weren’t the ideal shopping partners, but, Marc figured, that was the price he paid for not getting his act together to organise a delivery. However, as he navigated the busy aisles, he found it easier than he’d anticipated. The boys, though needing to be dissuaded from randomly filling the shopping trolley with sweets and cakes, were well behaved, and even managed not to bicker until they got back to the car.

While at the supermarket, he glanced at the range of birthday cakes on sale, but, while colourful, none of them seemed quite right. Since the boys’ birthday was so close to Christmas, he’d always tried hard to make the distinction between the two celebrations, as well as treating them as individuals, and as it was also their first birthday in the lake house, he wanted something extra special.

Two pairs of school shoes had been bought earlier that morning, and as the boys fell silent on the drive home, engrossed in a DVD of their favourite Marvel movie, Captain America, Marc breathed a sigh of relief.

It was nearly lunchtime, and, mindful of the frozen goods in the thermal shopping bag in the boot, he decided not to pull into the vacant parking spot outside Hope’s Café, but to take a walk back out to the café with the boys a bit later. He didn’t feel comfortable not paying for the coffee – he felt as though he wasn’t supporting a lovely local business by accepting it – so decided he was going to pop back in and pay for it. A small voice in the back of his mind teased him that it was because he wanted to see Lauren again. He tried to ignore it and focus on what to get the boys for lunch.

God, it was hard work doing all of this on his own.