Page 27 of Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe

Once in the boathouse, Hannah led them up the staircase. Thankfully the stairs were wide and Alex was able to navigate them on his crutches with relative ease.

To her surprise, having not been up there before, it was a very large room, despite being in the eaves. The ceiling pointed up high into the roof, giving the illusion of an airy space and a huge porthole window brought in much-needed light as well as a great view of the lake.

‘All you need is a bed and a few bits of furniture,’ she said, slowly turning around and spotting a door. She opened it up and found a small bathroom with a walk-in shower. ‘This is great. Perfect for you.’

They both looked at Alex, who was nodding thoughtfully. ‘It is,’ he agreed. ‘Are you sure that the family won’t mind me being up here for a while?’

‘Of course not,’ said Ben. ‘We can get some furniture delivered here in a couple of days, I reckon.’

‘I think it’s a lovely idea you staying here.’ Hannah spun around once more. ‘And there’s room for Tiny too.’

‘Well, it seems as if I can’t exactly say no, can I?’ said Alex.

But his eyes were twinkling as he smiled at her.

She grinned back at him. ‘I don’t think you can actually,’ she told him.

‘Agreed,’ said Ben, with a nod. ‘Well, once the furniture is in, you and Tiny can move straight in.’

They went downstairs once more, Alex carefully on his crutches until they were in the large room that would be turned into a café.

Hannah wandered over to open up the large patio doors onto the veranda that ran the length of the boathouse to let in some cooler air.

‘That’s better,’ she said, stifling a yawn. ‘It’s so lovely and warm in here it’s making me feel sleepy.’

‘You’ve got work tonight, haven’t you?’ asked Alex.

Hannah grimaced. She had been dreading telling anyone about her job, particularly Ben, but she found she couldn’t lie to her family. After lying to her family about Sean, she had no more room for any other falsehoods.

‘No,’ she said slowly. ‘There might be a problem with that.’

‘Is it your bolshie boss?’ asked Ben, looking concerned. ‘Is he messing around with your hours again?’

‘We should go down there and have a word with him,’ added Alex, looking stern.

Despite his crutches, the size and width of Alex meant that he would be particularly threatening if he wanted to be.

She wasn’t surprised to find Ben nodding in agreement, always ready to defend his younger sister.

She quickly shook her head. ‘Please don’t,’ Hannah urged them. She hated the thought of a scene. ‘Besides, you don’t need to because the pub shut down. I’m out of a job.’

Ben stared at her and even Alex looked shocked.

‘You are?’ asked Alex.

Hannah nodded. ‘So there’s no need to go down there. Anyway, like everyone kept reminding me many times, it wasn’t a great job.’

It was true, she thought. She was tired of the late hours and the manager who never seemed to appreciate how hard she worked. There had to be better places to work at in the area, although she still didn’t relish the thought of working each evening. She’d have to find something that fitted in more with her helping out at the hotel.

Ben was still studying her. ‘When did you intend to tell me?’ he asked.

‘I meant to say something over the past couple of days but it’s been so busy.’ She looked away so that she didn’t make eye contact, despite feeling both Ben and Alex’s eyes boring into the top of her head. Instead, she looked back around the room, enjoying the natural light flooding in.

But she couldn’t put off Ben’s reaction any longer. She stole a glance at her brother but instead of him looking upset and concerned for her, he was breaking into a smile.

She straightened up. ‘Well, I’m glad to see that you’re taking my unemployment so well,’ she told him, feeling a little hurt. ‘Embracing poverty and all that.’

‘I’m all for new starts,’ he replied, still smiling. ‘As the past twelve months has testified. They haven’t done me any harm.’