A Season for Second Chances(82)
Later, tucked up in bed, with a mug of cocoa—containing a generous slosh of brandy, and with hands shaking slightly in anticipation—Annie finally opened the little note containing big numbers from John. They were, in fact, big numbers. With this offer he could not only afford carers for Mari, he could probably buy the company. But Annie had never been one to balk at the throwing down of a gauntlet, and she reasoned that John was a fair man, with an emotional attachment to Saltwater Nook. She could work with this; she just had to get Max to agree to her terms before it was too late.
Chapter 63
A ting emitted from Annie’s and Gemma’s phones as a message came through on the book club chat.
Sally: Sorry ladies, I’m going to have to bail on tonight. Susan’s got the worst cold. I’m playing nursemaid.
Gemma: Oh dear, poor Susan. Why don’t we postpone till next Wednesday?
Sally: I don’t want you to miss your club just because of me.
Maeve: Poppycock! We’re not doing it without you. All for one and one for all and all that!
Annie: Same. Pass my love on to Susan. Hope you don’t catch it!
Gemma slipped her phone back under the counter. She liked to keep it handy in case there was any kind of emergency at school with the children.
“Oh, well, that’s a shame,” said Gemma.
“Yes. Although to be honest, I hadn’t quite finished it yet anyway. I was going to have to Google the end of the plot.”
“Cheat,” said Gemma. “You’ll just have to enthrall me with the details of your tryst with John instead. I have very little excitement in my life and with no book club to look forward to I need some drama to keep me going.”
“I keep telling you, it wasn’t a tryst! Who even uses that word anyway?”
“I do! My husband is away a lot, I read a lot of romantic fictions, trysts are a prominent feature.”
“We were probably just on a sugar high from all the marshmallows.”
“But you did dirty dancing.”
“It was hardly dirty dancing.” Annie’s stomach thrilled at the remembrance of John kissing her throat. “Well, all right, maybe it was a little bit dirty dancing.” She had suddenly come over rather warm.
Gemma punched the air.
“I knew it!”
“It can’t come to anything,” said Annie. “It’s just not practical, for either of us.”
Gemma pouted but didn’t push it.
John had had some design consultations in London and had spent several days at his place in Clapham. It seemed John was as incapable of taking a step back workwise as she was. Their messaging had taken on a much flirtier tone in his absence. But Annie hadn’t just spent her time thinking up peppy repartee—not all of it, at any rate—she had been doing her financial homework and number crunching, in readiness for John’s return.
Annie had anticipated that the developer’s offer would far exceed what she could reasonably offer, but she wasn’t disheartened. She had something that the developer couldn’t offer: She had the expertise and drive to save Saltwater Nook and all the happy memories it contained for John and Mari.
After a consultation with her solicitor—which resulted in a reasonably threatening letter being sent to Max—Annie arranged a meeting with her financial adviser, and they worked out roughly what settlement she could expect, according to the Pomegranate Seed’s last-year figures and her halves of the properties she owned with Max. Annie had always kept her eye on the fluctuating market of the hospitality industry, and she knew how much a small business like Saltwater Nook was worth. A local estate agent had given her a valuation for the building as a whole, and Annie had put together an offer accordingly. She’d written it down on a piece of paper and it had been burning a hole in her pocket ever since.
Annie could hardly wait for John to get back so that she could present him with her counteroffer. It had to be enough, it just had to be. She needed to buy Saltwater Nook. Of course, that wasn’t the only reason she wanted to see him. Every time she thought about John—which she did a lot—a whizz of excitement thrilled in her stomach. It was ridiculous; it was like being sixteen again and unable to concentrate on anything but her latest crush.
Chapter 64
The swimmers had just left, having taken their dip early on account of the forecast looking choppy for later. All-weather-flip-flops had cleaned out Annie’s supply of tiffin bars for when her grandchildren visited later. There were no other customers at present, and by the looks of the empty promenade in both directions, there wouldn’t be for at least twenty minutes. Annie picked up a basket and rested the handle over her forearm.
“Right, I’m going to collect some stones. You’re in charge.”
Gemma gulped dramatically, and Annie laughed.
“Call me if you need help.”
“No problem,” said Gemma brightly. “I want to crack on with getting the sauces and honeys on the back shelf.”
Annie smiled. Gemma was an absolute godsend, well worth maxing out her credit card to pay her wages; she had already transformed the shelving into delightfully chaotic deli displays that drew the eye and encouraged lots of browsing and ultimately, buying. Annie was going to have to up her orders from her local providers and was already searching for new lines to add to her artisan foods collection.