Christmas at The Heartbreak Cafe (Lakeview Christmas Novel) (Lakeview Contemporary Romance Book 7) by Melissa Hill Page B
Authors: Melissa Hill
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familiar. Colm typically let himself in, but this person insisted on knocking. Whipping her eyes and clearing her mascara from her face, she replied “Come in.” She kept her back facing the door. She would hate for anyone to see the mess she looked.
“Ella, when were you going to tell me?” The voice was firm, yet soothing. Ella swivelled in her desk chair, meeting Joseph's eyes.
Without speaking a word, she stared at him for a few seconds, maybe even minutes.
He looked tired and worn. She couldn’t imagine how she appeared in that moment to him.
As time passed, she attempted to speak but was wordless in her response. She couldn’t do more than to stare in his icy pools of blue irises and to study the way his greying hair shone in the desk light. Goodness he was a handsome man.
He waited though. He kept his hands firm on the doorknob as if he would need to make a retreat at any second. He too couldn’t help but survey Ella and the way that she looked small and wounded. Her cast still on, her body bent over the desk, her pile of paperwork carelessly tossed in the black bin next to her. He wanted nothing more than to kneel down next to her and to hold her hand.
“Joseph. I’m so sorry.” She began to sob. Her voice quaked and rattled. She had forgotten to tell him. She had forgotten that her old friend and most loyal customer should know first. Not that he needed to, but she had wanted to tell him. She had wanted to tell Joseph everything.
With her cries, he moved next to her, gently placing his one arm on the top of her heaving back as the other grabbed the chair next to her. He sat down quickly, facing her directly. His hand casually rubbed her shoulders and her neck.
“Ella, Ella. Please, please stop crying. Let’s just talk. Just tell me what you are thinking, what you are doing?”
“What I am doing? I am not doing anything!” Her outburst took him aback. He had never seen her act this way. He felt as if he should spring into action, yet she was giving him no direction.
“But, I heard you were retiring and closing down the café. Is that true? If it is, it’s okay…. it’s exciting. A big step but you would probably lo—”
“No, Joseph, I’m not retiring. I’m being evicted.” Ella hadn’t planned on telling anyone the truth, yet here she was confessing all to Joseph. Maybe it was the way he touched her tenderly or how he faced her head on. She couldn’t help herself as she went on to explain how she received the estate agent’s letter, and had no other option but clear out. How she had lied to Ita and Colm to soften the blow on everyone.
“Why couldn’t you tell everyone the truth? Maybe it would help you keep the café?”
“I just couldn’t. Look at me. I don’t ask for help. I give help. For thirty years I have helped people in this town find jobs, mind their children, sort through their marriage problems, take in their abandoned animals. Yet I wouldn’t dream of asking a thing of anyone. Gregory would have never let me ask for help. He always said ‘Our problems are our problems.’” Until she had said it, she had forgotten that her husband had always lived by the unwritten rules that those who stepped into the café were allowed to share their problems while those working in it would keep theirs private. It kept up a mystique and the charm.
“You cannot live your life like that. I know that you want to keep this café. I know that you would never, ever retire—much less to go take up golfing .”
He was right of course—but that didn't change her resolve. “This is how it is, Joseph. This is how it has to be. It breaks my heart to have to close but I have no choice. The Heartbreak Café is finally living up to its nickname.” Just as he was so certain that he knew her well enough to keep her from retiring, Ella was certain of what she had to do.
“Come on. Let’s just talk this through. You could talk to the estate agent, find out if the bank might let you
“Ella, when were you going to tell me?” The voice was firm, yet soothing. Ella swivelled in her desk chair, meeting Joseph's eyes.
Without speaking a word, she stared at him for a few seconds, maybe even minutes.
He looked tired and worn. She couldn’t imagine how she appeared in that moment to him.
As time passed, she attempted to speak but was wordless in her response. She couldn’t do more than to stare in his icy pools of blue irises and to study the way his greying hair shone in the desk light. Goodness he was a handsome man.
He waited though. He kept his hands firm on the doorknob as if he would need to make a retreat at any second. He too couldn’t help but survey Ella and the way that she looked small and wounded. Her cast still on, her body bent over the desk, her pile of paperwork carelessly tossed in the black bin next to her. He wanted nothing more than to kneel down next to her and to hold her hand.
“Joseph. I’m so sorry.” She began to sob. Her voice quaked and rattled. She had forgotten to tell him. She had forgotten that her old friend and most loyal customer should know first. Not that he needed to, but she had wanted to tell him. She had wanted to tell Joseph everything.
With her cries, he moved next to her, gently placing his one arm on the top of her heaving back as the other grabbed the chair next to her. He sat down quickly, facing her directly. His hand casually rubbed her shoulders and her neck.
“Ella, Ella. Please, please stop crying. Let’s just talk. Just tell me what you are thinking, what you are doing?”
“What I am doing? I am not doing anything!” Her outburst took him aback. He had never seen her act this way. He felt as if he should spring into action, yet she was giving him no direction.
“But, I heard you were retiring and closing down the café. Is that true? If it is, it’s okay…. it’s exciting. A big step but you would probably lo—”
“No, Joseph, I’m not retiring. I’m being evicted.” Ella hadn’t planned on telling anyone the truth, yet here she was confessing all to Joseph. Maybe it was the way he touched her tenderly or how he faced her head on. She couldn’t help herself as she went on to explain how she received the estate agent’s letter, and had no other option but clear out. How she had lied to Ita and Colm to soften the blow on everyone.
“Why couldn’t you tell everyone the truth? Maybe it would help you keep the café?”
“I just couldn’t. Look at me. I don’t ask for help. I give help. For thirty years I have helped people in this town find jobs, mind their children, sort through their marriage problems, take in their abandoned animals. Yet I wouldn’t dream of asking a thing of anyone. Gregory would have never let me ask for help. He always said ‘Our problems are our problems.’” Until she had said it, she had forgotten that her husband had always lived by the unwritten rules that those who stepped into the café were allowed to share their problems while those working in it would keep theirs private. It kept up a mystique and the charm.
“You cannot live your life like that. I know that you want to keep this café. I know that you would never, ever retire—much less to go take up golfing .”
He was right of course—but that didn't change her resolve. “This is how it is, Joseph. This is how it has to be. It breaks my heart to have to close but I have no choice. The Heartbreak Café is finally living up to its nickname.” Just as he was so certain that he knew her well enough to keep her from retiring, Ella was certain of what she had to do.
“Come on. Let’s just talk this through. You could talk to the estate agent, find out if the bank might let you
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