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‘Indeed. Your father and I got chatting and we decided we may as well share a table to free up space for other customers. You’ve been very busy here.’

‘That’s very thoughtful of you both. Thank you. Would you like some lunch?’ I asked him. ‘Rissa might not be coming, but you still need to eat.’

‘I’m not very hungry now,’ he said briefly. ‘Coffee will be fine.’

‘What about you, Dad?’ I asked, knowing the answer already. ‘Ready for that lemon cake?’

‘Always, pet,’ he told me. He beamed at Max.

‘You want to have a slice of that, you know. Never tasted anything like it. My daughter is a fantastic baker, just like her mum. If I were you, I’d grab a slice while there’s some left.

It will go down a treat with a coffee – although if you ask me, it would go down even better with a nice cup of tea.

That’s what I’ll have, love,’ he said, smiling at me. ‘Lemon cake and a pot of tea.’

‘Perhaps,’ Max said slowly, ‘I’ll have the same. Tea and cake is always welcome, and your father has made it sound irresistible.’

‘All right then,’ I said, feeling pleased for some stupid reason. ‘I’ll be right back.’

Susie was in full flow in the kitchen, taking over the cooking and food prep from Paige, who was now working the front of house.

‘Why don’t you take half an hour for your own lunch?’ Paige suggested. ‘You might as well sit with your dad while he’s here. I’ll take my break after you.’

I hesitated. Normally, I’d have happily agreed, but that would mean sitting at a table with not only Dad, but with Max, too. I wasn’t sure I could deal with that. I wasn’t sure he’d want me to, anyway.

‘Don’t turn it down,’ Paige advised. ‘You might not get another chance.’

‘Okay.’ What was I being so hesitant about anyway? If Max hadn’t been here, I’d have jumped at the chance of a natter with Dad. Why should I let a stranger get in the way of that?

Dad beamed at me as I approached the table, carrying a tray with a mug of coffee, two pots of tea, three slices of lemon cake and a plate of cheese sandwiches. Max smiled, too, which annoyingly made my heart flutter again. I’d end up on medication at this rate.

‘Your father can’t stop singing the praises of this lemon cake,’ he informed me, as he helped me unload the tray. ‘It looks delicious. And you make this yourself?’

‘I’m quite good at cakes,’ I said modestly. ‘Not quite as good with pastry but we can’t be great at everything, can we?’ I nodded at the spare chair. ‘Do you mind if I join you? It’s my lunch break.’

‘Course not, love. I’ve been having a nice chat with Max, here. Do you know he only lives in Chipping Royston? He’s a teacher at the academy.’

‘You are?’ I slid into my seat, grateful that Dad had opened the conversation so there’d be no awkward silence.

Max nodded. ‘Yes. I teach German, and I’m also head of the language department.’

‘German? So, is that where you’re from? Germany?’

I glanced at the framed photograph of Winston Churchill and the propaganda posters that adorned the teashop walls and wondered how he felt about those.

‘It is. From a small town near Hannover, actually. But I moved to England in 1997 when my wife got a job at a hospital in London.’

‘Oh, really?’ Married then. Not that it mattered. Not in the slightest.

‘She was a surgeon,’ Dad said, sounding impressed. ‘Proper power couple, eh?’

‘Hardly that,’ Max said quietly. ‘But she was very good at her job, and I was proud of her.’

Dad nodded sympathetically. ‘She passed away six years ago, Shona,’ he told me. He gave Max a rueful smile. ‘I know how that feels. I still miss Debbie every minute of every day. She was like your Nina – taken far too soon. Life can be very unfair at times.’

It brought me no pleasure to discover that Max was single after all. The sadness in his eyes was enough to make me realise that he still wasn’t over his wife’s death, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. I’d seen how much Dad had struggled.

I nibbled my cheese sandwich, realising that if anything had happened to me, Luke would have moved on pretty quickly. I’d hardly been the love of his life.

‘I’m sorry for your loss,’ I said. ‘It must have hit Rissa hard, too. She’s still only young, after all.’

He nodded. ‘Of course. Although, it must be said, she was always a daddy’s girl.

’ He shook his head sadly. ‘Hard to believe now, right? But when she was born, my Nina went straight back to work and I gave up my job to stay home and take care of our daughter. Rissa and I were very close. I was with her every day until she started school. Then I got another job in a local secondary school, and I was there until Nina died.’

I waited for him to continue but he didn’t. There was a moment’s silence and then, thankfully, someone’s phone beeped. I say, someone’s, but I knew it wasn’t mine as I’d left it in the kitchen, and Dad didn’t possess one, so it had to be Max’s.

Sure enough, he fished in his jacket pocket and frowned at the screen, while I took a big bite out of my sandwich, realising I was hungry and running out of time.

His face broke into a proper, genuine smile which made him seem ten years younger, and he looked up at us, his eyes suddenly brighter.

‘It’s Rissa. She’s changed her mind. She’s coming here for lunch, after all, and she’s on her way!’

‘Aw, that’s…’ I stopped, aware that my cheeks were bulging with cheese sandwich. Not a good look.

‘That’s smashing,’ Dad finished for me. ‘I’m sure you two can sort out whatever it is needs sorting.’

‘I wonder,’ Max said, shaking his head. ‘We were so close once, but now… I sometimes feel I hardly know her.’

‘Dads and daughters, eh? You’ll get through it, mate. And, trust me, it will be worth it. There’s no finer bond than that between a father and his little girl.’ Dad laid his hand over mine and squeezed it.

I swallowed my sandwich and smiled. ‘Dad’s right,’ I said. ‘I’m sure you two will patch it up. Whatever it is.’

I’m not sure if I’d meant that as a hint for him to tell us the problem, but if I had, it didn’t work. Max merely shrugged and said, ‘We’ll see.’

But there was a look in his eyes I couldn’t quite work out. Was it anxiety? Or sadness? Or annoyance? Perhaps all three. Whatever was going on with him and Rissa, it might take more than a quick lunch at the teashop to fix it.