After the quiz is over and the usual complaints, swearing and accusations of “fixes” and “plants” have finished the rest of the evening becomes a blur of voices and people and glasses of wine. I talk to Marcus and Abi – who seem very much a couple tonight so that’s something else Sascha was right about – to Eric and Bessie, to Clara and Lisa and every one of them asks me about Ben. Are we an item now? Will Ben be staying in Sanderson Bay? Will he help get the café back on its feet? Does he still work for Moby’s?
Other than that last question I don’t know the answers. I smile and nod and tell them that Ben and I still need to talk. Marcus tells me he’s thinking of going back to Thailand in the new year and taking Abi with him.
‘And what am I going to do for a waitress?’ I ask. But I’m happy for him, happy he has someone to share his life with. It’s not like the café is ready for business at the moment and, when it is, some of the local teenagers will be happy to help out.
‘Are you still looking for something out in Thailand?’ I ask, curious as to why he wants to go back.
He shakes his head. ‘No,’ he says. ‘I think I found what I was looking for when I came here. Now I just want to share a beautiful country with Abi.’
I smile. ‘It’s funny how the two of you met here,’ I say. ‘The one place you always hated visiting.’
‘Don’t think that hadn’t escaped my attention,’ Marcus replies. ‘And I’m not running away this time.’
‘You’re not?’
‘No, we’ll be back.’
‘To Sanderson Bay?’ I ask, surprised.
‘I think everyone comes back to Sanderson Bay in the end, don’t they?’
I look over towards Ben, who is chatting with Eric and Bessie, as Marcus says those words and I wonder if he will come back in the end. If he’ll be able to face the tragedy of his father’s death and live here happily.
It’s nearly midnight before Ben and I catch a moment alone.
‘We’ve barely had a chance to talk,’ he breathes, his hands on my hips, his thumbs gently massaging my waist. I rest my hands on his forearms.
‘Perhaps we don’t need to talk,’ I reply. ‘Not tonight anyway.’
A Christmas song that I actually like starts playing, a slow one.
‘I love this,’ I say quietly as Ben pulls me towards him and my arms snake around his waist as we sway to the music.
‘I’ve made such a mess of everything,’ Ben says after a while. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘It’s been a messy few weeks for both of us, but in three minutes we get a whole new chapter to start over in.’
‘To mess up all over again.’ He smiles.
‘Or maybe to stop seeing everything as a mess,’ I reply. I know I have to change the way I see things, to stop living as though everything is my fault, as though everyone abandons me. I told myself that story for years but I know now that there’s no truth in it. I have the choice to move forward differently. I have the choice to be happy.
‘Not having a job feels like a bit of a mess.’
‘Or it could be an opportunity,’ I reply. ‘The fire at the café feels like a mess but perhaps I should see the fresh coat of paint it needs as an opportunity for something new.’
‘A new beginning,’ Ben says, his eyes sparkling again.
‘A fresh start for both of us,’ I say quietly, hoping I haven’t said too much.
‘Together?’ he asks, his face a question.
Behind us I hear everyone begin to count down to the new year.
Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five…
‘Is that what you want?’
Four, Three, Two…
‘Yes,’ he says, his lips so close to mine, his voice a whisper in the tension of the impending celebration.
One! Happy New Year.
He kisses me then as the clock strikes midnight, his arms holding me tight, his lips soft on mine and after a moment we realise together that the whole town that is squeezed into this pub tonight isn’t clapping and cheering for the new year.
They are clapping and cheering for us.
Epilogue
One Year Later
‘Ready?’ Ben asks as he parks the car outside The Two Teas café in Sanderson Bay.
‘As ready as I’ll ever be,’ I reply. ‘I can’t believe how nervous I am.’
‘Worried that Marcus has messed everything up?’ Ben asks with a smile.
‘He’d better not have done.’
Ben gets out of the car and walks around to open the passenger door for me, something he’s done since the night of our first date. He holds out his hand and I wrap my fingers around his as he leads me towards the café that was my whole life until Ben came along.
It had been Sascha’s idea to open a new branch of The Two Teas in York. She’d even found a suitable property to rent.
‘You know that I won’t shut up about it until you start branching out,’ she’d said, her hands on her ever-growing bump. ‘You can’t stay in Sanderson Bay forever.’
‘I like Sanderson Bay,’ I’d replied.
‘But do you like living so far away from Ben?’
That swung it for me in the end. It was time to move on, time to take the next step. Even my father thought it was a good idea.
It took the best part of two months to get the café up and running again after the fire – the insurance came through in the end and the whole town pulled together to help with the repairs just as Sascha had promised they would, although Sascha herself took a supervisory capacity in proceedings what with being pregnant. My father surprised me by coming over to help as well, and being better with a hammer than I’d given him credit for. I’d told him about the fire in early January in an attempt to postpone his visit and our trip to Paris, but he came anyway and, in a few short days had become an honorary resident of Sanderson Bay.
‘What you’ve done here is wonderful, Eloise,’ he’d said. ‘The café, the community… everything. And you seem so happy.’
‘I am,’ I’d replied.
‘And Ben seems like a good man.’
‘I’m glad you approve.’
When the work on the café was almost over James and Miranda insisted that they would put the finishing touches to the repairs while my father and I went on our planned trip to Paris before it was time to reopen. It had been a heart-wrenching trip but we were able to talk about things we’d never talked about before and remember Maman together.
It was while I was away that Sascha found the premises in York that she insisted would be the next Two Teas café.
‘At least go and look at it,’ she’d said on my return. ‘I’ve booked an appointment for you and Ben to see it.’
I’d run out of excuses by then. Ben was as insistent on this as Sascha and together they were a force to be reckoned with. I’d known they were right though. I’d always known I needed to stop letting fear guide everything and opening a new café in York might be exactly the right thing to do that.
To give Sascha her due, the premises were perfect.