Page 83 of New Beginnings on Railway Lane

When he let go of her hand to switch off the lights and lock up the restaurant, Katy found it strangely empty without Ryan’s warmth in hers.

44

The following morning, Ryan was still feeling a sense of relief that the pizza restaurant had been such a success.

He could still cook, he told himself. Not just for Katy, but for customers. His love of preparing and serving food was back and so was his confidence.

Even better, all of his belongings had finally arrived from Italy and he was eager to search his favourite recipe books for some different toppings for the pizzas.

However, when he checked the figures and calculated future earnings based on that week’s performance of Platform 1 alone, it wasn’t quite enough. They still needed more money, another source of income. But from where it would come he had no idea. They would still need to sell an awful lot of pizzas and coffees to cover the mortgage.

Because however he had felt when he had first arrived back here, Cranfield was most definitely home now. And he wanted to stay there. For good.

Trying not to feel despondent, he headed downstairs and out onto the platform. The air was crisp and cold, one of his favourite type of mornings.

He sat down on the bench, enjoying the view across the fields.

He saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and spotted Katy heading out of the workshop, presumably she had been visiting his dad and grandad.

Katy had been the highlight of a very good evening, especially that soft kiss at the very end of it. Now when he looked back, he couldn’t believe that he hadn’t dragged her into his arms and kissed her properly. What surprised him more was that he still wanted to kiss her even in the cold light of the morning. Somewhere, somehow, she had snuck into his heart and he had true, strong feelings for her. What on earth could be done about them was anyone’s guess.

But he knew the answer why he was still holding back. She would be leaving, of course.

In those first early days when she had bossed him around, he would have been grateful to see the back of her. But something had shifted between them. They were friends now. Friends that kissed, he thought with a smile to himself. But it had only been a kiss when she had drunk too much and another soft kiss the previous evening when emotions had got the better of them. Not the proper, deep kiss of desire that he longed to give her.

He gave his head a shake. Katy had her own home, her own life that didn’t include Cranfield.

He looked up as she came down the platform, shivering in the cold air. The wind had spun around to the north and the temperature had dropped significantly to remind everyone that winter had arrived with a vengeance.

Katy wrapped her arms around herself. ‘Aren’t you cold sitting out here?’ she asked, sitting down next to him.

‘You’re going to need to harden up if you’re sticking around here for a while longer,’ he told her.

He held his breath, waiting for her response.

Katy looked at him before breaking into a smile. ‘Lucky for you that nothing’s come up yet on the job websites,’ she told him. ‘Hardly surprising with the hospitality sector taking such a hammering these past few years.’

He realised at that moment that despite Katy knowing all about his love of cooking, he knew nothing about her own dreams and aspirations.

‘What got you into the hotel trade in the first place?’ he asked.

‘I needed a job after the bankruptcy,’ she told him. ‘The first job I could find was a chambermaid at an upmarket hotel. And the career went from there.’

‘And do you enjoy it?’

She looked surprised at the question and broke into a warm smile. ‘Actually, I love it,’ she said, looking equally surprised at her own words. ‘I just think there’s something special about helping people have the best holiday ever. That’s what drove me. I work hard and I’ve been competitive in all my jobs.’ She suddenly frowned. ‘But now, I don’t what excites me any more. The corporate side took me away from the all the customers and I lost sight of that.’

She stared across the fields into the distance for a moment, lost in her own world.

‘Well, you know that you’re welcome to stay as long as you want,’ Ryan found himself saying. ‘I’ll need a waitress if it’s going to be a success.’

‘It will be,’ she said softly. ‘We had a waiting list for last night’s meal.’

‘Thank you for persuading me to cook again,’ he told her. ‘Turns out it was a really good idea of yours.’

‘Don’t I always have the best ones?’ she said, joining in with his laughter.

‘Wish you could think up one more idea to help pay the mortgage,’ he told her.