Page 61 of Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe

Hannah smiled but he noticed that it failed to reach her blue eyes. ‘Thankfully there’s plenty to go around,’ she said, gesturing at the couple of cakes that she had brought in for dessert after dinner that evening.

He had caught her heavy sigh and wished that he some kind of magic wand to conjure up a whole load of new customers for the café to make it a success.

‘Is this my second?’ asked Ben, reaching out to take a brownie.

‘Third,’ said Lily, taking the brownie out of his hand. ‘This will be my second.’

Ben looked at his sister. ‘They’ll come, you know,’ he told Hannah. ‘The customers, I mean. It just takes time. Look at the hotel when we reopened it last year.’

Hannah nodded but didn’t look as if she believed him.

Alex wondered how he could take the pain away for her.

‘Any more of this and I won’t be fitting into my shorts this summer,’ said Lily, with a grimace. ‘No matter how delicious your cakes are,’ she added, reaching out to squeeze Hannah’s arm.

‘Well, you’ve got the perfect place to walk it off,’ said Walter, who had almost finished his chocolate cake.

‘Or swim,’ added Dotty, licking some icing off her finger and looking at Lily. ‘I think we’re up to seven people next week with Aimee again. Want to make it an even eight?’

Lily wrinkled up her nose. ‘I’m not that strong a swimmer,’ she replied.

‘At least they’re regular customers at the café,’ said Hannah.

‘So we need to fill up the café with elderly swimmers?’ said Ben, with a grin.

‘Excuse me?’ Dotty pretended to look affronted. ‘Who are you calling elderly?’

‘It’s certainly an idea,’ said Alex, his mind racing as he thought through the possibilities of bringing in more customers.

‘I’m not sure I’ve got that many friends, dear,’ said Dotty.

‘What I’m saying is that perhaps you should be utilising the lake a bit more,’ Alex found himself saying, thinking about the opportunities around Maple Tree Lodge and what that would mean for the success of the Boathouse Café.

Everyone turned to look at him.

‘What I mean is,’ he carried on, ‘I know how much I’m enjoying my morning swim. The setting is incredible. Seems a shame not to have more people using it.’

‘How?’ asked Ben, looking at Walter. ‘I suppose we’ve got those couple of boats.’

‘They’re hardly stable,’ Walter told him, making a face. ‘And one of them leaks.’

‘Anyway, I thought Del was bringing you some paddleboards. Isn’t that the latest fad these days?’ said Frankie.

‘It is,’ Alex told her, suddenly feeling inspired. ‘Actually, that’s a great idea. You’d probably need some safe areas, away from Dotty’s swim club,’ he added. ‘You know, you could even have classes for hotel guests.’

‘Are we talking about swimming or paddleboards?’ asked Hannah.

‘Both,’ Alex told her. ‘Why not utilise the water more?’

‘But why have it for just the guests?’ asked Faye. ‘I’m sure some local people would enjoy coming here. There always seems to be somebody on the river when I drive over it on the way to the supermarket.’

‘We could advertise locally,’ said Lily, looking at Ben.

‘So we’re going to have like a water sports centre?’ asked Frankie, looking confused.

Ben nodded. ‘Sounds a great idea but we just don’t have the money to invest in anything else. That’s why I thought about Del and his cheap paddleboards which was a mistake. We need proper equipment including wetsuits and all the other paraphernalia.’ He sighed. ‘The trouble is that all costs money we haven’t got. We’ve ploughed everything into the hotel and Boathouse Café. Even the lodges will have to wait until we’ve got some more money as well.’

The idea for lots more customers at the café suddenly dissolved and Alex caught the sudden downswing in the mood around the table. It was such a shame, he thought. The Jackson family had always been so kind to him, especially these past five weeks when he’d been recuperating. How could he help them out?