The Little Beach Café, page 21
20
Sitting up, she tucked her hair behind her ears, she must have fallen asleep here at the table. There it was again, the tap, tap, tap on the door. Was it Mike? Had he realised she’d found him out? What did he want?
Maybe if she stayed really still he’d think she was upstairs asleep and would go.
‘It’s Joe.’ His deep voice, though muffled, was unmistakable.
‘Joe, what are you doing here?’ She pulled open the door.
‘Can I come in?’ He walked past her, turning back to lock the door again before looking at her. ‘Sorry, did I wake you?’
‘No, well yes, but I’d fallen asleep at a table.’ Pippa indicated the table with the half-drunk cup of tea on and the chair pulled out and patted down her hair. ‘So it’s probably a good thing you woke me.’
‘My mum told me what happened.’
‘OK.’ Pippa could see Joe’s jaw clenching as he stood there, she pulled out a chair and picked up her cup. ‘Here, sit down I’ll grab you a coffee.’
Waiting for the coffee machine to warm up, she watched Joe as he paced towards the window and back again, finally sitting down in the chair, his knees bouncing against the underside of the table.
‘Here you are.’ Placing his coffee mug on the table in front of him, Pippa put her hand on Joe’s shoulder. ‘Joe, are you OK?’
‘Yes, no. No, I’m not OK. I’m worried about you and Joshua.’
‘Oh.’ Sliding into her seat, she took a sip of her coffee. ‘You don’t have to worry about us. We’re fine.’
‘No, you’re not. My mum said that it had been Mike who had stolen from you. How can you be OK with that?’
‘Well, obviously I’m not.’ She placed her mug carefully down in the centre of a coaster. ‘I’m not OK with it, but what am I supposed to do? If I confront him, Joshua loses out on having his dad around. If I don’t, I can never trust him that he has Joshua’s best interests at heart. I’ll always be checking he’s not stealing from us again.’
‘Then what are you going to do?’
‘I’m not sure yet. But what I’m not going to do is let him walk all over me again. I just need to figure out how I can word it so he knows I know and he won’t try anything again but also so that he doesn’t just walk out of Joshua’s life again.’
‘You can’t want him to be a part of Joshua’s life now, surely? Not after he’s stolen money from you? Money that, ultimately, is to keep a roof over his son’s head.’
Pippa looked down at her coffee, swilling the deep brown liquid around the white of the ceramic. ‘Yes, I think I do. Joshua has been so happy to have him back in his life and I can’t be the reason that bond breaks.’
‘It wouldn’t be you. It’s him. He broke that bond as soon as he put his dirty hands in your till. You must be able to see that?’ Joe gripped his mug so tightly that the tips of his fingers turned white.
‘No, he broke my trust, not Joshua’s. You must see that. Say, Mia breaks your heart again, you wouldn’t stop her seeing Harley, would you?’
‘I wouldn’t give her a chance to break my heart again, believe me.’
‘OK, maybe you trust her this time around and, you’re right, she probably has learnt her lesson and will stay faithful this time but…’
‘Hold on, what do you mean “this time”?’
‘Now that you’re back with her.’
‘I’m not back with her. Why would you think that?’ Joe looked Pippa in the eye. ‘Is this about what you were talking about when you were ill? When you gave me those flowers for her?’
‘Yes, no. Kind of.’
‘I told you then that I hadn’t meant it like that. I’m not back with her.’
‘It was something Mike said as well. I just assumed…’
‘What did Mike say?’
‘That he saw you two kissing at the fair.’
Joe spat the coffee he’d just sipped back into the mug. ‘What? I can assure you there certainly wasn’t any kissing at the fair. We were there together because Harley insisted we both went.’
‘Oh, OK. But you gave her a teddy you’d won? Sorry, it’s none of my business at all. You don’t need to answer that.’
‘I gave her the teddy because Harley wanted it to go in the room she’s making up for him at hers. She wants to have him overnight, starting with Friday night. Tomorrow.’
‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pry. I just assumed… well, I believed Mike when he told me I guess.’
‘See, there you go. More evidence that he’s still lying to you. He had no reason to make something up like that.’
‘No, yes. But that was different. He wanted me to get back with him and I said no. I think he’d seen that we were mates and put two and two together so told me you were back with your ex.’
‘You can’t trust him, Pippa. Look, I know it’s not any of my business, but Harley told me that Joshua had said he was moving in here? If you’re telling me the truth, that you don’t want to get back with him, then I think it’s a rubbish idea. It’ll give him the wrong signal. Plus, you can’t let him now that he’s done this. No way.’
‘Excuse me. First off, Joe, yes, he said that to Joshua but I’ve told Mike there’s no chance of that. Second, it was not as a couple, he just wanted to move in for a bit to get to know Joshua.’ Pippa counted the reasons off on her fingers, her face reddening with each one. ‘And thirdly, the biggest one, why the hell do I have to justify myself to you? This has absolutely nothing to do with you, Joe.’
‘Well, I’m very sorry, but I don’t agree. It does have something to do with me.’
‘How? Whatever I do with my life is my business. Not yours. Mine! Mine! Mine! Plus, how thick do you actually think I am? I’m not going to trust Mike again. Ever. After what he put me and Joshua through, even if I had complete proof that he had changed I wouldn’t trust him again.’
‘I’m just trying to look out for you. I’m not saying you’re thick. Just that love can screw with your emotions sometimes.’
‘Love? I don’t love him. Even when we were together I hadn’t loved him, not for years. Give me some credit, I know what he’s like. I know he’s not changed.’
‘So, what are you going to do about it?’
‘I’m going to talk to him.’
‘When? I’ll make sure I’m around.’
‘What? No! I don’t need your protection. I think you should go now.’ Scraping back her chair, Pippa made her way to the door, holding it open for him. How dare he? How dare he try to control her life and tell her what she should do about Mike?
‘Pippa, please?’
‘Just go. You’ve made it perfectly clear what you think of me.’
He looked at his feet and stepped outside. Turning around, he looked at Pippa as she closed the door behind him.
Flinging the mugs into the sink, Pippa rubbed her eyes. How could he make her feel like this? Not that she should care what he thought of her.
‘Mum? Who’s here?’ Joshua’s head peered around the door to the flat.
‘No one, Joshie. It was Joe. He’d just popped round. He’s gone now.’ And he probably won’t be back for a while, not after the way she’d spoken to him. But he had deserved it, hadn’t he? Pippa swiped the tears away from her cheeks before turning her head and led him back upstairs.
21
‘Hi, I got your message.’
Pippa rested the wooden spoon against the side of the blue ceramic bowl, cake mixture dripping from the edges, and turned around. ‘Hi, Mike, thanks for coming.’
‘What did you need to talk to me about?’ Jumping onto a stool, he rested his arms on the counter.
‘Um, do you mind if we talk outside?’ She looked around the room at the customers eating scones and cake. ‘Carol, are you OK if I take a quick break?’
‘That’s fine.’ Carol looked over and nodded.
‘Thanks. You go and wait outside, I’ll grab us both a coffee.’ Pippa watched Mike leave to find a table on the patio outside and swallowed. This was going to be so awkward.
‘Pippa, stay at the tables where I can keep an eye, please?’ Carol tugged Pippa’s T-shirt as she walked past.
‘It’ll be fine. Honestly.’ Picking up the coffees, she made her way outside. The tide was out and the beach seemed to go on for miles until it eventually reached the water.
‘This one OK?’ Mike called her over to the metal bistro set furthest away from the café door.
‘Perfect.’ Placing the coffees down, she slipped onto the chair opposite.
‘I think I know what this is about?’
‘You do?’ Why had she assumed that he didn’t think he’d be found out? He must have realised.
‘Yes. You’ve changed your mind. You think it will be a good idea if I move in for a bit after all.’ Mike grinned and leaned across the table, his hand on hers.
‘No.’ She slid her hand from his grasp and put her hands in her lap. ‘I know what you did.’
‘Hang on, you sound like one of those bimbos from the horror movies.’ Mike laughed and shifted in his seat.
‘Our till was down by a hundred pounds the day before yesterday.’
‘Right, well you do have all sorts of people passing through, it must happen a lot.’
‘No, no it doesn’t happen a lot. In fact, it has never happened before.’ Pippa tapped her foot against the concrete slabs. ‘I also found a betting receipt.’
‘OK, I’m not sure what this has got to do with me. Loads of people bet a hundred quid. It’s a nice round number.’
‘I didn’t say the bet was for a hundred pounds, Mike. I know it was you. I just don’t understand why you would steal from us? And then to use that money to place a bet, which you had told me you weren’t addicted to any more.’ She shook her head.
‘Pippa, you can’t go around accusing people of something like this. That is what you’re doing, isn’t it? You’re accusing me of stealing and using your money to gamble.’
Pippa looked him in the eye, his voice was very low and controlled. She knew she had to tread carefully. She didn’t want him shouting and turning the customers away. ‘Mike, I just want you to tell me the truth, that’s all. A hundred pounds went missing. The only time the till was left unattended was when you popped in and insisted on seeing me when I was sleeping off that headache. You asked Carol to come upstairs to get me. That was the only opportunity someone would have had to take it.’
‘So, you are accusing me then? I knew it!’ Mike slammed his mug down on the metal tabletop, coffee spilling over the top, the brown liquid forming a pool at the base of the mug. ‘There must be other times someone could have taken it. You can’t just blame me because I’m easy prey.’
‘I’m not. On the back of the betting receipt was the name and number for the hotel that you’re treating me and Joshua to.’
‘Circumstantial, that’s all it is. You can’t prove the betting receipt was mine. Besides, I don’t gamble any more.’
‘Is this not your writing?’ Pippa pulled the slip of paper from the pocket in her apron, smoothed it out and pushed it across the table.
‘No, yes, but who’s to say I used the money from your till?’
‘Well, you said a moment ago that you hadn’t gambled and now you’re saying you did?’
‘Yes, OK I hold my hands up, I placed a bet. I wanted to treat you and Joshie. I had a moment of weakness and placed a bet. OK?’ Mike held his hands up.
‘So you’re admitting to stealing the money?’
‘No, I didn’t steal the hundred quid.’
‘It’s a bit of a coincidence that a hundred went missing and you gambled with a hundred pounds too, isn’t it?’
‘For goodness’ sake, Pippa! If you’d let me move in half of it would be mine anyway. Half of all the damn café would be mine.’
‘You what? You left me. You left me. Remember? Not the other way around. You ran off with the tart downstairs.’
‘Don’t call her that.’ Mike thumped his fist on the table, the cutlery clattering in the pot in the centre of the table.
‘Whoa.’ Pippa reeled back. ‘You’re still with her, aren’t you? That’s why you don’t like me calling her a tart?’ Why hadn’t she seen it before? It was so obvious now. She took a shallow breath, the air hardly touching the sides of her lungs. How could he still be with her? Was it her who he’d been talking to when she’d rang him? Why?
‘No. It’s not really any of your business, is it? You don’t want me back anyway, remember.’
‘What? I don’t understand. Why would you have asked to move in with us if you were still with her? You asked me to take you back.’ She gripped the side of the table, standing up and backing away. It all made sense now. He’d been trying to wheedle his way back in, and his tart was in on it too. Pippa swallowed the bile rising to her mouth.
‘Do you know what, Pippa? It’s all a bit confusing, isn’t it? You wait until I left you because you were never around, may I remind you? You waited until I had gone and then this money maker mysteriously lands at your feet.’
‘What are you saying?’
‘I’m saying, I’m entitled to half of this. Half of all the profits you make, half of the whole damn place.’ Mike waved his arm, indicating the café.
‘You have got to be kidding me? I inherited this. Me. Not you, not us. There wasn’t even an “us” when I inherited it.’
‘That’s what you claim. I’d like to know what a solicitor would say.’ Mike scraped his chair back, knocking it to the floor, the dull sound of metal on concrete filling their ears.
‘Are you being serious?’ Pippa held on to the back of her chair.
‘You know what? Yes, I am. I’m being deadly serious. You always land on your feet, you do. Ever since I’ve known you, it’s been me having no money and having to ask you for money. And I’m bloody sick of it.’
‘Hold on. Me with money? Yes, because I worked for it. I worked twelve-hour shifts six, sometimes seven, days a week and you know it. I hadn’t hidden this place away whilst I was missing my son’s first assembly or his first day of school. I found out about the café after you left, months, no over a year, after you left in fact. This has nothing to do with you. Nothing.’
‘I spent the best years of my life with you, Pippa. I deserve something from it.’
‘No, you don’t.’ A hollow laugh escaped her throat, had he really just said that? ‘You made mine and Joshua’s lives a misery for so long and like I said before you decided to leave.’
‘You’re pathetic. Do you know that? Absolutely pathetic.’
‘Oi. Don’t you speak to her like that.’
Looking across towards the bottom of the slope leading to the café, Pippa saw it was Joe, he was running towards them. Biting the bottom of her lip, she blinked her eyes, she would not show Mike what he was doing to her.
‘You, mate, don’t need to get involved.’ Mike yelled, his eyes wide and fixated on Joe.
‘I think you should leave.’
‘You do, do you? Is that what you think too, Pippa? Or are you going to get your grease monkey to speak for you too?’
‘Mike, please go. I’ll text when you can visit Joshua.’
‘You what? You think I want to spend any more time with that snivelling complainer? Get lost, Pippa, you’ll hear from our solicitor.’
‘Don’t you dare talk about your son like that. You know what? He’s better off without you. Go back to your tart. I don’t want you anywhere near us again.’ Pippa could feel her heart banging through her chest, she gripped tighter on to the back of the chair, her wrists hurting with the strength of her grip.
‘You heard her. Go!’ Joe was next to her now. Pippa could feel the warmth from his body against her side.
Pippa ducked as Mike’s coffee mug flew through the air, landing on the floor inches away from her feet.
‘Get away before I make you!’ Joe yelled and punched his fist into the palm of his other hand.
Standing side by side, they watched Mike slope away, no doubt going back to his mistress to tell her they’d get no more money from Pippa.
‘Pippa! Are you OK? I saw what happened and rushed out as fast as I could.’ Breathless, Carol joined them.
How could he have said that about Joshua? His own son? Had he really been playing the daddy role to get money?
‘Pippa, love?’
Pippa could feel Carol’s touch on her arm but couldn’t seem to pull herself away from watching Mike’s figure getting smaller and smaller in the distance.
‘I’ll take her for a walk, if you’re OK for a bit, Mum?’
‘Of course, take as long as you need.’
‘Pippa, come with me.’
Joe’s arms enveloped her shoulders, strong and safe, and she let herself be led away from the café. They walked down the slope away from the patio and onto the sand. She let herself be guided in the opposite direction to where Mike had stormed off until they reached a small outcrop of rocks.
She watched as Joe wiped a piece of stray seaweed from one of the rocks and lowered Pippa to sitting. Sensing him sitting down next to her, she let the warmth from his body penetrate her skin. In a rock pool at her feet, a small crab walked around the perimeter, waiting eagerly for the tide to return to collect it. They listened to the waves splash mesmerisingly against the sand of the shore.
Pippa didn’t know how long they’d been sitting before the tears came. She felt them against her cheeks and then on her hands in her lap. She let herself be gently pulled into Joe’s arms, laying her head against his broad shoulder.
‘He had only come back for the money, hadn’t he? He didn’t really want to get to know Joshua again.’
‘I don’t know what to say.’ Joe’s breath tickled the hairs on her head.
‘You don’t need to say anything. You tried to warn me when that money went missing. I should have seen him for who he was. He’s not changed one bit, and yet I let him twist me around his little finger. Again.’
