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Gemma knew Melissa said something else. She probably wished her well and perhaps even apologised for dropping the bombshell on her, but Gemma didn’t hear. She was already marching out onto the street with her phone in her hand. For the second time in less than two weeks, she was sending an SOS message to the book club, and this time, everyone was included.

CHAPTER 78

Every member of the book club, including Sophie and Graham, met at Flick’s house. Flick had her daughter Evie, after school, though she was currently upstairs with their golden retriever, leaving the adults to talk through the situation. Fleur had also brought Henry, at Gemma’s request, hoping the lawyer might suggest some ways of helping her. Although given that his expertise was in divorce, she knew it wasn’t likely. Still, it helped to have another person to talk through things with.

“There’s nothing I can do, is there?” she said. “He’s going to sell it to Coffee-X and everything about it is going to change.”

“I can’t believe he fooled me,” Sophie said. She’d been red with rage since Gemma had told her the news. “I thought he was such a nice guy. I feel utterly betrayed,” she added, before wincing at her own words. “Obviously not as betrayed as you feel.”

“It’s alright, I understand,” Gemma said. “He fooled you, too. But that doesn’t matter. Mine and Kent’s relationship, whatever that was or wasn’t, doesn’t matter. What matters now is the coffee shop. I looked online at Coffee-X’s prices. They’re astronomical. There’s no way half our regular customers will beable to afford them. And they don’t even have low seating, just lots of bars and high stools. Our clients with mobility issues won’t be able to use those.”

“But the sale hasn’t gone through yet,” Marie said. “That’s what you’re telling us.”

“I don’t think so,” Gemma said. “The impression I got from Melissa was that the measuring up was the final stage before they made an offer.”

She was annoyed at herself for not asking Melissa more, but had already been back on the bus when the thought had crossed her mind.

“They might not make an offer,” Sophie said, her voice laden with forced optimism. “They might not want it.”

“With that location they will,” Jules’s words echoed Gemma’s own thoughts.

“I agree,” Gemma said. “Which means I need to have a contingency plan.”

“Well, could you buy the place?” Flick said.

Gemma shook her head. “I wish I could, but with my credit rating, there’s no way I’d get a mortgage for it. There’s not even any point in me going to the bank to ask.”

“Graham’s got loads of money,” Sophie said nonchalantly. “Really. He has millions from his inheritance. But I’m not a gold digger, because I didn’t know that before I fell in love with him,” she added hurriedly. “I really didn’t know. But I’m sure we could arrange something, right, Graham?”

Graham looked at Gemma. “I mean, we could look into contracts and things, business loans, that type of stuff.”

Gemma smiled gratefully. It said something about her friends that they would come together like this for her, but she hadn’t come to them to beg for money; she’d come for practical solutions. It wasn’t about her wanting the place. It was making sure Coffee-X or another soulless franchise didn’t get hold of it.

“Is there any way we can look at local councillors?” she said. “Surely there must be something in place which limits the number of chain stores. Particularly somewhere like the waterfront. Isn’t it of historical importance?”

“We could get a petition going,” Nina said. “I could put one up in the library. People would support you.”

Gemma nodded in agreement. “That’s not a bad idea. I could put one in the coffee shop as well.”

“But how many people would you need before the council took notice? I’m sure it’s a lot, like ten thousand or something,” Jules said.

That was a lot. It was over ten per cent of Maldon’s population. But it was a place to start.

“I don’t mean to be the one to state the obvious, but you know there’s one thing you could do that would probably help more than us brainstorming ideas that might or might not work,” Flick said.

“There is?” Gemma was open to any ideas.

“Yes. You could talk to Kent. You never know, it might just be a misunderstanding.”

Gemma scoffed. “There’s no misunderstanding,” she said. “That man bought the coffee shop for one reason and one reason alone. He pretty much told me that, but don’t worry, I’m going to talk to Kent. I am definitely going to talk to Kent.”

CHAPTER 79

When Gemma arrived at work the next day, she marched straight into the kitchen. She had been up half the night, wondering how to confront Kent because she had to confront him. She couldn’t just pretend she didn’t know. That wasn’t her style. But after rehearsing a thousand scenarios in her head, she considered the old saying, a picture is worth a thousand words, and as such, she held a piece of paper folded in her hand.

“Hey, morning you,” Kent said when he saw her come in. Wordlessly, he walked across the kitchen, placed a hand on her hip, and kissed her. Gemma stood stoically, although Kent didn’t seem to notice. “I’m glad you’re in early. I was hoping you and I could have a conversation today.”

A strained smile stretched her lips.