Page 5 of A Recipe for Romance in Brambleton

Lauren laughed. Sam often brought out the daft in her. She glanced back towards the new guy and his sons, who still seemed to be enjoying their drinks. How awful for them, to have lost someone they loved. A flare of sympathy made her eyes prickle as she looked again at the two beautiful children. They were too young to suffer that grief.

‘Well, now you’ve given me an idea, you’d better leave me to it before I make you bring another slice of that glorious Christmas cake over. My waistline can’t take the temptation!’ Sam grinned up at her.

‘Well, there are a couple of bits left if you change your mind!’ Lauren drifted back to the counter and put Sam’s empty mug in the dishwasher. When she turned back around, she saw that the man and his sons were getting ready to leave.

‘Oh, don’t worry about that,’ she said as the customer went to bring their cups and plates to the counter.

‘It’s no trouble.’ He swiftly gathered up the crockery and as he went to put them on the counter, Lauren reached out and took the plates from him. A little jolt of electricity seemed to pass between them as their fingers touched.

‘You’re very kind,’ she stammered. ‘But honestly, it’s fine.’

He held her gaze for a moment, and Lauren noticed what a handsome face he had. Perhaps it was just the recent memory of what Sam had told her, but her heart started to beat faster.

‘Um, if you need anything, you know where we are,’ she said. ‘It must be hard work, moving into a new place, especially with kids to consider.’

He smiled at her. ‘Thank you. The cookies and hot chocolate seem to have done the trick. Before we came in, these two were fighting like cat and dog.’

‘I’m Lauren, by the way. Lauren Hope.’

‘As in Hope’s Café?’

‘Yup! Original, isn’t it!’ Lauren gave a nervous laugh.

‘Marc. Marc Hathaway. And these two are Luca and Liam, my sons.’ Marc gestured to each boy.

‘It’s lovely to meet you. I hope you’ll be very happy in your new home.’ As soon as she said it, Lauren regretted it. How could they be happy, if what Sam had told her was correct?

Marc, however, must have been used to conversations like this. ‘Thank you. I’m sure we will be.’ After paying his bill, he said goodbye and left the café.

It was only when Lauren went to wipe down the table that she realised one of the boys had left their gloves. The small, green, fleece pair had slipped down between the wall and the table and were sitting forlornly behind the table leg. Inside, clearly in preparation for school, was the name Luca Hathaway.

Hurrying out into the street before any other customers could come in, Lauren figured the best course of action would be to drop them into Noah’s shop, but when she got to the door she could see he’d shut up for the day. The air was already chilly, and she wondered if Luca would have a spare pair of gloves at home. If he didn’t, he was going to feel the cold the next time he ventured out. Putting the gloves by her phone so she wouldn’t forget, she resolved to pop them back to the lake house when she closed up later.

5

‘Daddy, my hands are cold!’ Luca’s plaintive wail was beginning to shred the last of Marc’s patience as they made their way back home. The walk seemed to take about ten times longer than it had on the way to the village. The sun had gone in and it was approaching four o’clock in the afternoon. The dull, winter twilight crept through their layers of clothes as they trudged, making them all shiver, despite the sustenance of the hot drinks and cookies from Hope’s Café.

‘Where are your gloves?’ Marc asked as he realised that Luca wasn’t wearing them. He stopped and rubbed Luca’s little hands between his, but the boy’s fingers were red from the chill.

‘Dunno.’ Luca shrugged. Marc kicked himself for not realising they were a pair short before they’d left the café. He’d text his brother later and ask him to pop in and grab them. It was yet another thing he’d had to learn on this lone parenting journey – check, double-check and triple-check that the boys had everything they left the house with!

‘Here,’ he said, pulling off his own gloves. ‘Put these on.’

‘Your hands’ll get cold, Daddy.’

‘Doesn’t matter. I’ll be all right.’ Marc gave his son a reassuring smile. ‘We’ll just have to walk a bit faster, won’t we!’

‘Stupid,’ Liam muttered, and as they reached the quiet lane that led to the lake, he ran past his brother and punched him on the arm.

‘Liam!’ Marc barked. ‘I’ve told you already. Stop hitting your brother.’

‘Baby, baby, you’re just a baby,’ Liam taunted from the safety of a few feet ahead. ‘Can’t even get dressed properly…’

Luca’s eyes filled with tears, and Marc felt his heart ache. Both boys were expressing their feelings sporadically, and in completely different ways. Guilt washed over him again about not being able to mediate between them when they squabbled.

‘It’s all right,’ he murmured to Luca. ‘Just ignore him. He doesn’t mean it.’

‘Yes, he does,’ Luca muttered mutinously. ‘He’s always calling me a baby, just ’cos I’m ten minutes younger than him. I hate him!’