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Chapter Nine

James

When I slept, I thought about Llywelyn. And the first thoughts I had as I woke were of Llywelyn too. I couldn’t stop thinking about him, and it was starting to scare me.

But I also couldn’t stop thinking about this little village, and when I checked my phone for the time and saw yet another missed call from my boss I wanted to cry, or shrivel up into a ball or…

Or never leave. I knew it sounded stupid, even in my head. But I had found myself enjoying my time in Hiraeth more than I thought possible. I hadn’t even told my boss I’d be taking an extra morning off.

I swung my legs out of bed and pulled on my jeans, then the shirt I had been wearing the day before.

I felt my cheeks warm as I remembered Llywelyn’s fingers taking the shirt apart.

I’d arranged the night before that I would call the taxi service rather than have him pick me up, as I had a lot of stuff and no idea when I’d be saying goodbye to Nain.

He’d gone home the night before, saying he couldn’t stay with me in a single bed but that we’d definitely have somewhere to stay when I came over. I’d kissed him as he left. I didn’t know how I felt about him, but I knew there was something big there. I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to admit it.

My phone rang, startling me. I looked down with dread, expecting my boss again. It was Owen, and I smiled as I picked it up.

“Hey, you OK?” I asked.

“Fantastic thanks, how about you? How you healing up?” Owen sounded upbeat.

“I’m doing great. Really, really great. I…forgot about the injuries, to be honest.”

“Wow. Who’s the lucky man?”

“Shut up, there is no lucky man.”

Unfortunately, Owen could always tell when I was lying. “Fine then, who’s the unlucky man?”

“Twat. I’m just seeing someone whilst I’m here. A little holiday fling.”

“I don’t remember the last time you saw someone for longer than the 15 minutes it took you to get off.” Owen chuckled, and if he had been next to me I would’ve smacked him. As it was, I just huffed down the phone.

“Don’t you have some Tom, Dick or Enrique in your bed right now anyway?”

“Oi. We don’t talk about Enrique.” Owen paused for a second. “Glad to know you’re having fun though. Your new phone and cards have arrived at my place, by the way. So you’ll have your normal life back as soon as possible. I’ll let the nightclubs know the hurricane is on its way back.”

“Thanks, Owen. Miss you,” I said.

“I miss you too. Now get your arse back here tonight and we’ll crack open a bottle of wine to celebrate.”

“Sure thing. Bye.” I put the phone down, not entirely sure why I hadn’t told him I wouldn’t be back in London for another day. I’ll text him later, I reasoned. I got up and left the bedroom.

I trod quietly through the little bungalow to the kitchen in case I woke up Nain — she still hadn’t made an entrance by the time Llywelyn had left and I had gone to bed. I needn’t have worried as she was already in the kitchen at the table nursing a cup of tea.

“Here.” Nain thrust another cup at me as I sat down opposite her. She rubbed at her head and squinted her eyes against the light shining in through the window. “Did you enjoy your last night in Hiraeth whilst Beca had me on shots?”

“Yes, Nain. I did. Wait, did you say shots ?”

Nain waved away my question with her hand like she could physically bat it out of existence. “When’s your train then?”

“Well…tomorrow morning, actually. I’ll spend another night with Llywelyn.”

“You two are getting very close, then.” Nain smiled and then winced again at the light. “Almost makes you wish you stayed for the whole week, doesn’t it?”

I didn’t want to say anything to her about the plan that had started germinating in my mind.

It relied on too many variables , as well as my own ability to take a bigger risk than I ever had.

I couldn’t bring myself to say anything to anyone else until I knew what I was going to do.

No point getting my own hopes up as well as everyone else’s.

I checked my pocket — I had a few quid to get myself something from the bakery. “I’m going out for breakfast, do you want anything?”

“God no, I won’t be able to eat for hours. If you see Beca out and about, kindly tell her from me that she’s a cow. She only got me on the shots to avoid some awkward questions.”

“Noted. Self inflicted illness is someone else’s fault.” I gave a cheery wave as I left.

◆◆◆

It was sunny again, and still freezing. I pulled Llywelyn’s coat around myself as I made my way down main street, and buried my face in the big collar to keep my teeth from chattering. I passed the bakery and carried on to the little empty shop next to G&G’s.

I could see movement inside the shop and pushed the door open, smiling automatically. My smile faltered when I saw that it wasn’t Llywelyn stood inside, but an elderly gentleman with his hands on his hips and another slightly younger man in a suit who appraised me coolly.

“Oh, sorry, I thought…” I started, but the younger man cut in.

“You thought what? The place is quite obviously closed. We’re talking business here.”

“Ah, if we could cool this down please,” said the older man. He gave me a genuine smile and reached forward to shake my hand. “I’m John Prentis. I own this cafe and the little flat above, and this is…”

The other man looked affronted at having to introduce himself to me. “Mr Albert Edwards, of Edwards Acquisitions PLC.” He didn’t hold out his own hand to me.

I knew now was my time to flex the big guns, even if I wouldn’t have them for much longer if all my plans went the way I wanted them to. “James Evans, Senior Executive at Jacobson and Co.”

Mr Edwards balked. Jacobson had snatched a few promising acquisitions from under his company years ago, and if he was higher up in the company he’d know how rapidly we were outpacing them in…well, everything.

“I had been assured that this was an exclusive chance to pick up real estate in a bustling seaside village. I was willing to overlook the lack of bustle, but I’m certainly not going to enter a bidding war for this…

place. Good day, sir.” Mr Edwards gave each of us a look like we’d gone off and flouted out of the shop.

“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to chase away potential business,” I said.

“No worry lad, the parish council would have stopped me selling before I even had a chance to put it to them…and I’m not sure I would have wanted to sell to that man anyway.

My nephew Hywel travels everywhere, and when I mentioned selling up he started sending these business lot.

” Mr Prentis gave a small smile. “This place seems destined to hang like a millstone around my neck until I pop my clogs.”

Mr Prentis slid one hand down the wooden counter that I’d polished to a shine.

“I always thought this place was beautiful,” he said.

“I just didn’t want to run it into my eighties.

Llywelyn and another certain someone did a brilliant job at bringing it up to snuff.

” He gave me a meaningful look and I blushed.

“How do you know I was involved?” I asked.

“When you’re friends with Glynis and Beca, there are no secrets in this town.

” Mr Prentis pulled off the tarpaulin from one of the tables and sat down in a little chair, then gestured for me to sit opposite.

I sat down and shrugged Llywelyn’s coat off onto the back of the chair.

“I moved here from Cardiff in 1965, all in pursuit of a man. Perhaps it was stupid, moving from the big city to such a small and close minded town. But I got my man. And the village came to terms with it, in time. He’s been gone for 5 years now, but I can’t regret what I did for a second.

We had a wonderful life. And since he died, I’ve had a wonderful support network here. ”

He stopped for a second and looked around the place with pride. I couldn’t imagine how difficult it must have been to live openly so long ago.

“You see, I loved my man. But I fell in love with this village just as much as I fell in love with him, despite the challenges they both caused me.”

“I know how you felt,” I said.

“I know you do. This place has an uncanny way of bringing lovers together. But it’s dying slowly now. Needs new blood, our Hiraeth.”

“I…agree,” I said with some hesitation. Knowing what I could say next could change the course of my life.

“Wonderful…” Mr Prentis said. “I don’t suppose a young London lad like you can find any work in a place like Hiraeth?”

“Well…actually. I wanted to ask how much you wanted for this place,” I said.

“How much I…? Oh, I understand — As I did mention, the parish council is likely to block any sales to larger companies, so I’m not sure Jacobson would be the best fit.”

“Mr Prentis…I would like to buy the cafe. Not my company. Me.” There. I’d said it. It was finally out in the open to someone, a life changing decision that had formed in my mind almost overnight.

“Well…” Mr Prentis rather dramatically took a pad of paper out of his chest pocket, wrote down a number and slid it over to my side of the desk.

“Twenty thousand? ” I said incredulously.

“I mean, that does include the flat as living space upstairs and I can negotiate if you feel it’s too much…” said Mr Prentis.

“Too much?” I asked. “I feel like I’m robbing you. I’ve got that much, easy.”

“Don’t be so silly, lad. It’ll be much easier with the parish council to sell to someone with some connection to the community, and it’ll be bloody hard work to get back up and running again. I’ve got money now and I don’t want this place going to waste out of greed.”

“Well…thank you,” I said. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say thank you, and call your solicitor.” Mr Prentis winked at me. “I presume you’ll be going back to London soon?”

“Yes, but I’ll call you as soon as I can,” I said. He scribbled his number on another scrap of paper from his notepad.

“I’ll wait to hear from you.”