‘If you need any help, Lola, let me know.’ He touched her elbow. ‘I’m really looking forward to it. It’s been a while since I’ve celebrated other people’s faiths. I love Polcarrow but sometimes I miss how diverse the city was.’ He grew wistful. ‘Although I wouldn’t trade my run along the coast followed by toast at yours for anything in the world.’ They exchanged a long, heated look. Lola pushed away the desire to kiss him.
‘I’ll stay and help you clear up, if you want?’ she said, trying to keep the suggestion of getting him alone out of her voice.
‘That would be very kind,’ he said before going to take a sip of his drink only to realise it was empty. ‘Come on, let’s be brave and get a top-up. I suppose I better mingle.’
Chapter Twenty-Six
Lola woke the morning after the carol service knowing she had to talk to Alf about Ruby. Mulling over what to do, thinking about Ruby and Charlie’s short-lived love affair, was distracting her from all her other Christmas chores and she knew she’d put ripping the plaster off for long enough now. To stop herself from chickening out, Lola texted Tristan to let him know what she was planning. Tristan responded to say he’d delay coming to the café and that Lola was to call him if she needed anything. Lola slipped her phone into her apron pocket alongside the small bundle of letters. As she opened the café she prayed for the first time for a quiet morning.
‘Morning, Lola,’ Alf called as he shuffled in with Scruff. ‘Enjoy last night?’
‘I did!’ she replied as she made his tea and slipped a mince pie onto a plate for him to have with his toast. She hesitated before adding another in the hope it’d provide a bit of extra sweetness to her questions. ‘It’s been a long time since I was in a church, my grandmother, Ruby, was always suspicious of them.’ She paused to see if he reacted to her grandmother’s name, but he was too busy trying to get Scruff to sit still.
‘Where’s Tristan?’ Alf asked as she placed the breakfast tray on the table. ‘Not like him to be late.’
‘He’s got something that’s come up this morning,’ Lola said as she sipped her own tea.
Alf chuckled. ‘About time you made an honest man out of him, Lola.’
‘What?’ she spluttered.
‘Come on, everyone can see it!’ Alf shook his head. ‘Ever since you arrived in Polcarrow you’ve been making doe eyes at each other across the toast rack. The whole village thinks the same.’
Lola paused. Tristan wouldn’t mind her telling Alf, would he? No, this was not the morning for it, she’d decided to ask him about Charlie and Ruby, she didn’t want any distractions. ‘We’re just friends,’ she said rather lamely.
Alf rolled his eyes. ‘Do you not see it? Or feel it? Anyone with eyes and half a brain can tell you’re both head over heels for each other.’
Resisting the urge to blurt out all the dates they’d been on, all the romantic moments and secret kisses, Lola just shrugged. Her palms grew sweaty, but Alf was on a roll with his chosen subject. Narrowing her eyes at him, Lola suspected he knew and was enjoying his line of questioning. She sipped her tea to hide the smile that was trying to escape.
‘I’ve watched him all along, he’s been into you since you arrived.’ Alf shrugged. ‘Has that surprised you? Well, take some time to think about it, Lola, love isn’t always that easy to come by and if the years have taught me anything then it’s that moments should be seized. Too much thinking, too much worrying about what might go wrong just steals away the happiness.’
Lola was silent for a while as she absorbed his words, taking them as her cue to seize the moment. ‘Alf, there’s something I need to show you, something I need to ask you. Before I do, I want you to understand I don’t mean any harm in this, but there’s a reason I came to Polcarrow.’ She paused. ‘Last Christmas I was alone, my previous relationship had broken down and my beloved grandmother had died. She left me some money with the promise that I’d use it to make my dream of running a café come true. I didn’t plan to come to Cornwall but the name Polcarrow was written next to her scone recipe and it felt like a sign. I also found a postcard of the bay. That’s why I came to visit and well, the rest, as you know is history.’ Lola smiled nervously.
Alf froze as if he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear what came next but lacked the power to move away. ‘Go on.’
Lola reached into her apron pocket and placed the photograph on the table. ‘That’s my grandmother; it seems she came here.’
Alf picked up the photo and contemplated it in silence for a long time. Lola tried to give him space but she couldn’t help but sneak a glance at him. The emotions that washed over his face surfacing for the first time in over seventy years. The momentary joy of seeing his brother’s young face quickly melted away into sadness about what happened next. Alf passed the photo back to her. ‘I remember her now. She visited with two friends. It was a good summer. You look like her. I always wondered why you were so familiar.’ He spoke cautiously, as if he wasn’t sure he wanted to travel any further into the memories.
‘Yes, we’ve always been very much alike, I miss her so much,’ she said as she took the photo back from him. ‘Alf, that’s not the only thing I have. I recently received a box of her belongings that had been hidden away in the attic of her house. Inside were these.’ She passed the pile of letters across to him and watched as his face blanched. Instantly she wished she could snatch them back, banish the pain that transformed his features.
Alf picked at the pile, shuffled through the letters but did not remove any from the envelopes. Instead he sat and studied the writing on the front, the black ink rewriting his memories. He carefully piled up the letters and handed them back to Lola, unread. ‘This is the past, Lola, and the past is where things should stay.’
‘I understand that, but I just want to know more about Ruby’s time here,’ she pleaded as she tried to push the letters back to him.
Alf refused them. ‘When you’ve lived as long as I have you’ll understand how important it is not to dwell on the hurtful or painful things life has delivered us. I can tell you this, Ruby was a ray of sunshine, very much the life and soul of the party like you are, but at my age I’d rather not dig up the dead. Things happened that summer that I’d rather stay buried.’ He finished his tea and stood up, whistling for Scruff. ‘Please respect that I don’t want to drag it all up again. That summer changed everything.’
Lola opened her mouth to plead some more but the words died on her lips as Alf pulled open the door and hurried out of the café. She’d never seen Alf look so old, so fragile, so hurt and the knowledge that she’d caused his pain rocked her. She watched him go, rushing along the seafront as quickly as his legs could carry him in his haste to get away from her, from the reminders of the past, Scruff barking in confusion at the hasty exit. Blinking back tears, she reached for her phone and dialled the number of the one person she relied on above all others.
‘I think I made a mistake,’ she said.
‘I’ll be there in two minutes, Lola.’ Tristan’s voice was hurried and it sounded like he was putting his coat on as he spoke.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Tristan arrived so quickly that he must have run down the seafront. He pushed open the door, making the bell jingle. Lola glanced up from where she was tidying away Alf’s breakfast things and trying not to blame herself for the fact he hadn’t finished his mince pie.
‘What happened?’ Tristan swept over to her.
