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Gemma raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know. What is it you want to say?”

“From the way you’ve been talking, it feels to me like you’re taking every comment he makes about the café as a personal insult to you.”

“Well, it is. I’m the one who’s run it. I’ve run it for eight years.”

“I know that, and you’ve done a great job, but from what I hear, so has he. He’s just run very different types of places, that’sall. I think maybe you’re too close to the cafe to be able to see anything objectively.”

Gemma could feel her defensive muscles twitching as she went to defend herself, only Flick wasn’t done yet.

“I think it might be like me and Nate.”

“Nate?” Nate was Flick’s ex-husband, who was now engaged to book club member Jules. Gemma couldn’t possibly see how their situation had anything to do with hers and Kent’s.

“You are the coffee shop. You’ve been together so long, it’s practically a marriage.”

“I take pride in my business,” Gemma said, only to hear the anger in her tone. She swallowed it back down and tried again. “Sorry. I guess that’s a bit of a nerve. Robert always said I was married to the job. It’s one of the reasons he gave for the things he did.”

Flick nodded. “I get it. I understand. You love it. But when you’re in a marriage, you don’t see things clearly. Trust me, I’ve been there. And everyone’s different. Some people focus only on the parts that aren’t working and don’t realise what a great thing they have, others ignore all the crappy bits. Gloss over all the crap because they don’t want to admit things might not be as perfect as they’d hoped. It can be like that with a job too, and the café is just a job, Gemma. You give it your everything but…”

She stopped as if she had realised she was going to go a step too far.

“But?” Gemma pressed. Considering everything Flick had already said to her, she struggled to wonder what she was going to keep back.

Flick took a deep breath in.

“It’s not your business,” she said. “It’s someone else’s. You’re putting all this energy, building your life around something that belongs to someone else. Something that could be taken from you at any time and without any warning. Perhaps that energywould be best spent building something for yourself. Perhaps even a relationship.”

CHAPTER 38

Flick’s words rolled around and around in Gemma’s mind. Considering the chat had just been a quick exchange in the kitchen while they topped up the drinks, there was a lot for her to unpack, although she was fairly sure she wanted to keep it zipped up, sealed tight, and with no possibility of spilling out.

No, the business wasn’t technically hers, but it was as good as. And as for the possibility of her losing it without any warning, that just wouldn’t happen. Oscar wouldn’t do that to her. Then again, she’d never thought Oscar would employ someone else as an executive manager and would not even bother to tell her. He was undoubtedly getting old, and perhaps that could change things a little, but the cafe wasn’t the reason she was still single. Was it? No. Absolutely not. Flick knew nothing about Gemma’s past relationships. The reason she was still single was because she understood her worth now, and she wouldn’t let some man try to take that from her. The blind date had been all the reassurance she needed; she was better off on her own. And she was happy that way. She didn’t need a man to complete her. Not when she had her friends and her job.

Still, as much as she wanted to push the thoughts away, Gemma was still thinking about Flick’s comments as she opened up the shop a week later. They kept doing that, jumping into her head at unsuspecting moments, but she was trying her hardest not to pay attention to them.

Especially today.

To most people, it was likely nothing more than a normal Wednesday. That mid-week hump that so many nine-to-fivers were desperate to get over. But for Gemma, it was more than that. Today her countdown had reached day forty. That was it. Forty days to go, and she would inform Oscar that the working relationship was over and Kent would need to find a new place to stride into each morning. It might not have been going down as quickly as she’d hoped, but it was going down, and that was what counted.

Gone were the days when she would pop into the kitchen for a ten-minute chat with George while he made her breakfast. She had taken to having a croissant instead, and when they came out of the oven, she stacked them in trays. That limited the time she had to spend with Kent. Although they weren’t nearly as filling as a sausage sandwich and sometimes she had two. As a lovely morning bonus, Kent had already baked the croissants and other pastries and put them out front for her, meaning she didn’t even need to see him to set up.

Less than two minutes after turning the sign on the door from closed to open, the first customers of the day walked in, although unusually, it wasn’t any of their locals. Instead, it was a family of four.

“Just take a seat, and I’ll bring the menus over to you,” Gemma said, moving to the end of the bench where they kept the stack of menus, only to stop. They were gone.

Sophie had locked up the day before, Gemma realised. She had wanted to run to the bank before it closed, and Sophie hadbeen happy to stay and tidy up, particularly since Graham was there with her. Perhaps he was the one who had put the menus somewhere strange.

Gemma scoured behind the counter, where they kept the coffee cups and plates. Even in the boxes where they kept the napkins.

“Where are you?” she said, looking around her.

Five minutes in, and it was getting ridiculous. Adding to the issue, Mr Jordan had already taken his seat, too, and wanted his drink any minute.

Deciding that honesty was the best policy, Gemma headed over to the family

“Sorry, I’m having an issue locating the menus at the moment. I’m sure they’ll be in the kitchen. I’ll go find them now, but before I do, can I take any drink orders for you?”

The mother tilted her head to the side slightly.