Millie Vanilla’s Cupcake Café

She forced herself to look him in the eye. ‘Thank you, Arthur. I appreciate it.’ Then a thought struck. ‘How do you know all this?’

‘Dennis, the chairman of the trading committee, told me.’

‘Fuck.’ Millie caught herself. ‘Sorry, Arthur.’

He gave a small smile. ‘A certain level of profanity is acceptable in the circumstances, my dear.’ He patted her hand. ‘But you have no need for concern. This café and the Blue Elephant place are two very different animals, as Zoe would say.’

‘Maybe.’

‘Now, don’t look so gloomy. Think about it. You’ve lived alongside Kosy Korner and The Plaice Place all these years.’

‘I have. But you’ve got to admit they both offer different things. People go to a chip shop for, well, chips and the KK does its roast dinner carveries. The Blue Elephant will sell the same things as me – coffee, cake, sandwiches, that type of thing. They’ll be in direct competition with me.’

Arthur straightened. ‘I’m positive it will all be fine. When the tourist season begins there’s trade enough for everybody.’

‘That’s the problem, Arthur. I’ve got to get to the next season.’

‘Things that tight, eh?’ He looked shocked.

Millie didn’t trust herself to speak. She nodded.

‘Oh, my dear, I’m so sorry.’

‘Arthur, I don’t know what I’ll do if I don’t have this place. I can’t do anything else.’

He patted her hand again. ‘I’m sure it won’t come to that. Look, I’ll get my thinking cap on, shall I? See what I can come up with.’

‘Oh, Arthur, would you? Thank you.’

‘Best be off. Don’t want to leave Daisy too long.’ He stood up.

Now it was Millie’s turn to look shocked. ‘Oh, Arthur, I feel awful, I haven’t even asked after her!’

Arthur’s face clouded. He tucked his scarf around his neck. ‘I’m still waiting for test results. Never an easy time, is it?’

Millie rose and gave him a hug.

He shook her off. ‘Now, dear girl, don’t be too nice to me. That’s when the waterworks start. I’ll be off.’ And, with a quick wave to Zoe, he’d gone.

‘What were you two whispering about so secretly?’ Biddy asked, obviously miffed at being left out of the conversation.

Millie said the first thing that came into her head. It wasn’t a complete lie. ‘Oh nothing much. Think Arthur’s worried about vet’s bills and poor Daisy being so ill.’

‘Hmph, he needs to man up,’ Biddy said, sourly. ‘Eyes too near his bladder. Always said so.’

Millie ignored her, collected Arthur’s plate and mug and went into the kitchen. All romantic thoughts of Jed had fled.

Chapter 13

If Millie needed a diversion from worrying over the café, she got it on her early morning dog walk across the beach two days later.

Trevor saw him first. With a delighted bark, the dog belted across the flat wet expanse of sand.

The sun was shining in Millie’s eyes, so she could only see his silhouette but she’d know his walk anywhere. Confident, covering a lot of ground in a short space of time. Summed the man up, really.

Jed. He was back!

She ran up to him, but wasn’t in time to stop Trevor from jumping up and covering his jeans in wet sand.

‘Hi, Millie. Thought I’d join you,’ he yelled over a volley of barks.

‘I’m sorry,’ she gasped, horrified. ‘He really shouldn’t jump up at people like that.’ She bent to grab the dog’s collar and missed. She straightened. ‘Oh, Trev, get down!’

‘It doesn’t matter. These are old.’

Millie, eyeing the cut and the material, quietly disagreed. They looked thoroughly designer to her. Not that she had much experience to go on. ‘He really shouldn’t get into the habit of jumping up at people.’

Jed fussed the dog, who danced around and barked some more. ‘It’s my fault. I called him over. I really don’t mind, you know. It makes a nice change to get out of a suit sometimes and be scruffy.’

‘Is that your idea of scruffy?’ Millie looked down at her own cropped jeans and knee- length baggy grey sweater. It was another of her dad’s. She pushed her hair, made curly by sea spray, off her face and laughed.

Jed looked abashed. ‘Well, it’s all relative.’

With Trevor finally calm, Millie put her arm through Jed’s and turned westwards, in the direction of the café. ‘What brings you out this early?’

‘Thought I’d see what the attraction of a dawn start was and join you on your early morning dog walk. Oh, and you know, it’s too nice a morning to waste.’

‘Isn’t it just? Glorious. And it’s a spring tide today. The sea has gone out a long way. Loads of space for Trev to run.’

They wandered nearer the edge of the waves, where the dog was trying to tug a deeply buried bit of wood out of the sand.

‘And he never gives up hope with that. Stubborn and persistent, that’s my Trevor.’

‘Wonder who he gets that from?’ Jed said, on a smile.

‘Hey!’ Millie jabbed in the side with her elbow.

‘I believe you promised me a sandcastle building lesson.’

‘What? Now?’

‘Well, the thing is, I have to do this thing called work and you seem to spend all your waking hours running the café. I find I have to make the most of any time I have with you. So, yes. Now.’

Millie stopped and smiled up at him. The chilly air had freshened his complexion and brought an impish gleam to his dark eyes. ‘You’re on.’

He clasped a hand, cold from the wind, around the back of her neck. His thumb hooked around her earlobe and he brought her face closer. ‘You could teach me so many things, Millie,’ he murmured against her lips. He began to kiss her and then yelled.

Millie felt icy sea water hit her wellies and shrieked with laughter as Jed danced around trying to avoid the incoming tide, which had soaked his expensive-looking boat shoes.

She grabbed his hand. ‘Come on then, Scruff Boy. Let’s go and find ourselves a bucket and spade.’

They ran over to a shack on the very end of the promenade, where it met the lane that led to the harbour. The dilapidated sign over the shop read: Barney’s Beach Supplies.

‘Looks in need of a bit of TLC,’ Jed observed.

‘It’s the rough winter weather. Always plays havoc with any paintwork on the front. Barney will repaint before the season gets going proper and it’ll look beautiful.’ Millie looked up at the front of the boarded-up wooden shed with fondness. ‘He does candy floss and yummy toffee apples in October before he closes up.’ She disappeared around the back and yelled out, ‘Barney always keeps a few buckets and spades back here. He does an unofficial lost-and-found service in the summer.’ She reappeared, brandishing a couple of spades and three faded plastic buckets. ‘Come on, let’s find us the right sort of sand.’

‘There are different sorts of sand?’ Jed queried.

‘Oh, you have so much to learn, my lovely,’ Millie responded, looking pityingly at him.

Jed grinned. ‘Apparently so.’

‘Bet mine will be bigger than yours.’

‘Are you challenging me?’ Echoing her tone, he added, ‘Oh, Millie, you have so much to learn!’

Millie gave him a quick peck on the lips and then bobbed out her tongue. She ran out to sea, to the flat sand, a euphoric Trevor at her heels and screamed as Jed began to chase her.

Squabbling like children, they worked furiously to build the biggest castles possible, in a race against the tide.

Watching all their hard work crumble into the sea, Jed put his arm around Millie’s shoulders. ‘I can’t believe I’ve got to the age of thirty-three and not done this before.’ He kissed the side of her head. ‘And you know what?’

‘You’re starving?’

‘How did you know?’

Millie giggled. ‘Lucky guess.’ She put her arms around his waist and hugged him to her. Standing on the beach of her home town and feeling his warm, solid body next to hers, she wondered if she could be any happier. Lifting her face to the sun and to the salty spray, she said, ‘I love it here so much.’

Jed tightened his arm around her. ‘You know what, Millie? So do I.’

Back at the café, they toed off their wet shoes.

‘These are never going to be the same again,’ Jed mourned as he examined his ruined loafers.

‘Oh dear,’ Millie said, without sympathy. ‘Totally unsuitable for sandcastle making.’ She adopted a lofty expression. ‘What you need is a pair of wellies like these.’ Taking her foot out of the left one, she held it up and dripped water from a sodden pink sock. Her face fell. ‘Ah. Think I’ve sprung a leak.’

‘Yeah, that’s exactly what I need, Millie!’ Jed caught her as she giggled and unbalanced. He kissed her soundly. ‘You make me laugh. You make everything so joyous. How do you do that?’ He kissed her again.

‘I don’t know,’ she replied, emerging blinking from the kiss. Wrinkling her nose, she said, ‘Maybe it’s something I put in my famous bacon sarnies?’

Jed groaned. ‘Speaking of which …’

Chapter 14

The following Saturday Millie locked up the café for the afternoon and went along to the grand opening of Blue Elephant. As she flipped the sign to, ‘I’m so sorry, you’ve missed our lovely cakes!’ and turned the key, her heart sank into her Doc Martens. The café had been as silent as a tomb and just as gloomy all morning. She was in no danger of losing trade by closing early. Even the weather refused to sympathise. It was a gloriously fresh and blue day and the sun beat down hard on the concrete of the promenade. Millie shoved on her heart-shaped sunglasses and hid behind her hair. This wasn’t going to be easy.

As she neared the steepest part of the high street there was an air of palpable excitement. Approaching Blue Elephant itself she was accosted by someone in, of course, a blue elephant costume. He gave some passing children a bunch of blue balloons and thrust a glossy leaflet into her hands. It was, inevitably, elephant-shaped and exclaimed she could get a free muffin with her coffee today. Passing the acoustic trio cheerfully playing ’Nellie the Elephant‘, she went in. No expense had been spared for the launch, it seemed.

She paused for a moment to get her bearings. No trace of the old bank remained. Instead, the entrance hall rose uninterrupted to the ceiling, with a mezzanine level running around half. A spiral staircase led up to the second floor and it had been discovered by the town’s teenagers, who were running up and down, shrieking and giggling. The walls of the café were painted a chalky blue and there was a stunning abstract ammonite-themed mural on one. It had streaks of denim blue and sandy yellow, which was echoed in the striped material covering the banquettes and chairs. Millie took a breath. She’d half-hoped for more naff blue elephants or a cartoon theme. She was disappointed. Even she had to admit the decor was supremely tasteful. And the place was packed. Of course it was. It was the reason why Millie Vanilla’s had been empty all day.

Zoe appeared at her elbow. She tugged her arm. ‘Hi, Mil. Come to vet the competition?’

Millie gave her a weak grin and nodded.

‘Hand over your voucher and I’ll grab us some coffee. Quick, there’s a free table over there.’ Zoe pointed in the direction of a table where two customers were just leaving.

Millie made her way over to it, saying hello and goodbye to the people she knew as she went. Lots of them were her regulars. Perching on the very edge of a bench, she waited for Zoe and looked around. Mr and Mrs Levi, who ran the bed and breakfast on the front waved, as did Percy the butcher, who was sitting with Dean from the White Bear. Millie murmured a greeting to Dave Curzon from the newsagent and to Lola, his girlfriend, who ran a veggie restaurant in nearby Colyton. Even the Simpsons from the Lord of the Manor were here.

Zoe returned, with Sean in tow. They were carrying polystyrene cups of coffee and a paper plate of muffins.

No pretty mismatched pink flowery crockery here, Millie thought bitterly. And no washing up either. But, then again, it was not very eco-friendly. A little glimmer of hope dawned. Maybe that was something she could emphasise at Millie Vanilla’s? She was careful to use eco-friendly and reusable products.

Sean found Zoe a chair and toed it over for her to sit down. The girl looked around, a half-impressed, half-horrified expression on her face. ‘Awesome, isn’t it?’

Sean agreed with a muttered, ‘Well sick.’

Zoe sniggered at him. She turned to Millie. ‘Do you want the bad news or the really bad news?’ She pushed a coffee over.

Millie couldn’t trust herself to answer. She took a sip of her latte instead. It was delicious. Pinching off some muffin she found that was good too.

Zoe, watching her with concern, said, ‘That’s the one bit of bad news. The coffee and cake is good. The other bad news is they’ve got a barista from Rome.’ Her eyes widened. ‘A real-life Italian barista here in Berecombe. And to top all that, he’s bloody gorg!’

Millie pushed her food away. How could she hope to compete with all this? She felt like crying.

Zoe put her hand on hers. ‘Don’t worry, Mil,’ she said stoutly. ‘It’s busy today ’cos people are getting freebies. And there’s the novelty value, of course. But it won’t last. Things will settle down.’

‘Will they?’

‘’Course they will. Can’t see old Biddy or Granddad in here, can you? Or the knitting circle.’ She leaned closer. ‘And here’s the killer, they don’t let dogs in. That’ll reduce their trade by at least half come the tourist season. Chillax, Mil.’

Millie looked around. At the happy faces, at the buzzy atmosphere, at the children running about trailing blue balloons. Looking at the glossy dark-wood tables, the chandelier tinkling from the ceiling, the state of the art coffee-making machines, she despaired. In comparison, Millie Vanilla’s seemed all at once dated, shabby and insufferably twee.

Her misery was interrupted by Sean exclaiming he’d just seen his mum go through a door marked ‘Private’, accompanied by a bloke in a suit. Millie’s mood worsened. What the hell was Tessa doing here? And, more importantly, what was she doing having talks with the enemy?

Chapter 15

‘Right,’ she said, a week later, to her audience of Arthur, Zoe, Sean and Biddy, plus a snoozing Trevor and Elvis, ‘I need an action plan!’

She’d spent all week poring over the net and making muddled notes, but wasn’t much closer to coming up with a cohesive plan. All she’d succeeded in doing was having long, restless nights tossing and turning. Usually her white and gull-grey decorated bedroom was her sanctuary. She’d deliberately painted it soothing, calming colours so it would be a quieter comparison to the café’s more frantic decoration downstairs. But since going to Blue Elephant’s launch, sleep had evaded her. She’d lain awake until the first heavy steps and squawks of the herring gulls sounded on the roof. Then she’d fallen into an uncomfortably heavy slumber punctured by weird dreams of Jed running up and down Blue Elephant’s spiral staircase.

This morning, she’d woken, unrefreshed, to a turquoise sea and a sun so bright it hurt her eyes. It seemed Arthur was right, spring was determinedly on its way. And, with the better weather, came tourists. It was time to do something positive.

‘We need an action plan,’ declared Arthur, his eyes gleaming. ‘We’ll show the buggers.’

‘Way to go, Granddad!’ giggled Zoe.

He harrumphed and pushed his specs back up his face. ‘Yes well, you know what I mean.’

Despite the sunny weather, her little gang of faithfuls had congregated in the café to discuss what could be done.

There had been a noticeable dent in Millie’s trade already. The café had been deserted for much of the week. Once the season proper began, she anticipated she’d still be popular with tourists using the beach, but those window-shopping in town would favour Blue Elephant. She just hoped her dog-friendly policy would bring in a few customers turned away from the new boy on the block. The real crowning glory was Millie Vanilla’s sun terrace and its uninterrupted views across the bay. Once the weather really warmed up, it would be a huge asset – and one that a converted bank building most definitely lacked.

To Millie’s disappointment, most of her regulars had jumped ship already. The Yummy Mummies hadn’t been seen all week and the knitting circle had been lured away by the promise of cheap pensioners’ specials. Even Zoe’s gang of girls seemed to prefer Blue Elephant. Zoe, however, was confident they’d return. Clare had reported back that staff actively pushed additional orders, asking if a giant cookie or slice of cheesecake was needed to go with their hot chocolate – and getting stroppy when their suggestions were refused. To make matters worse, in Clare’s opinion, the staff had made it clear that once everything had been eaten and drunk, customers should make themselves scarce. It turned out Blue Elephant wasn’t tolerant of a group of schoolgirls loitering over one drink all afternoon.

Stick all that in your trendy pipe and smoke it, Millie had thought. Even with your hot Italian barista, the fight is on!

Buoyed by the realisation that not all was perfect in the rival camp, Millie distributed coffee, tea, hot chocolate, a specially made upside-down pineapple cake and dog biscuits and called the meeting to order. She outlined a few thoughts but explained she was open to anything they could suggest.

‘So, anyone got any ideas? Anything to say?’

‘Cake’s brilliant,’ Sean said, through a mouthful.

‘Not quite what I had in mind, Sean, but thank you for the compliment.’

‘Cheaper prices,’ Biddy yelled out, making Trevor jump. ‘Or free things?’

‘Good point, giveaways always go down well,’ Zoe agreed.

‘I can’t do that indefinitely, Millie pointed out. ‘I haven’t got the luxury of the profit margins Blue Elephant will have.’

‘Could you buy any supplies in more cheaply, my dear?’

‘No, Arthur. That’s one thing I’m not compromising on. Organic produce and homemade food. That’s what people know me for.’

‘And quite rightly so.’ Arthur put his hand on Millie’s. ‘But I’m happy to have a look at your accounts. See where economies can be made.’

‘Thanks, Arthur. I’d appreciate that. I’m pretty good at them, but a fresh pair of eyes might help.’

‘Ice-cream in the summer?’ Sean put in.

Millie pulled a gloomy face. ‘I don’t want to encroach on the Icicle Works,’ she said, referring to the ice-cream parlour. ‘And besides, I don’t want to wait until the summer before getting anything new going.’ She paused, thinking. ‘I could add in an ice-cream option with my apple pie or fresh strawberry tart, though, couldn’t I? Good idea, Sean!’

Sean blushed rosily and concentrated on eating his cake.

‘What about themed weeks?’ Zoe added. ‘You know, something to go with Valentine’s Day.’ At this she and Sean glanced at each other and giggled.

‘That’s an interesting idea,’ Millie said, slowly. ‘What sort of thing did you have in mind?’

Zoe shrugged. ‘I dunno. Heart-shaped biscuits?’

‘Pink iced cupcakes?’ Sean said. As his reward Zoe hugged his arm to her and kissed him soundly on the cheek.

‘Love Heart sweeties on the tables,’ Biddy added, somewhat unexpectedly.

‘And heart patterns in the froth on the coffee!’ Zoe said, bouncing on her seat with excitement. ‘It could so work! Clare and the gang would love it.’

‘And it wouldn’t cost too much extra on top of your usual outgoings,’ Arthur added, ever practical.

‘Sean and me could do up some flyers,’ Zoe said. ‘Could easily do some A5 ads on the Mac.’

Millie looked at her loyal group of friends with gratitude. Tears welling, she reached out and grasped the hands of Arthur and Zoe, those nearest to her. ‘Oh, you guys. You’re amazing.’

‘There’s Chinese New Year and Pancake Day, Easter and –’

Millie cut Zoe off. ‘Oh, my lovely, that’s great but,’ at this she paused, ‘I really don’t want to seem ungrateful, I really don’t, but as fantastic an idea as themed weeks are, I don’t think they’d be enough. I need a really big event to re-launch Millie Vanilla’s.’

‘A party,’ Sean said. ‘That’s what you need. A party.’ His eyes became enormous. ‘A huge party!’

Everyone stared at him. Sean’s usual utterings were infrequent and monosyllabic but he’d been inspired during this meeting.

‘What sort of thing did you have in mind?’ Millie asked. ‘I can’t really see myself hosting a rave or anything like that.’

‘Mil,’ Zoe said scornfully, ‘that’s so over.’

‘Yes, well, you know what I mean.’

‘We don’t want any of that kind of trouble,’ Biddy sniffed.

Sean shifted in his seat and pushed his plate away. ‘Nah, we could have a beach party, here like.’

‘Ooh, ooh, ooh, a Valentine’s Beach Party,’ Zoe squeaked. ‘It would be cooler than a very cool thing!’

Millie looked from one young eager face to another. ‘Now that might be an idea.’

‘Or a tea dance?’ Biddy’s voice boomed into her thoughts.

‘What an excellent idea,’ Arthur said, in rare agreement.

‘Oh, Granddad, a party would be better than some naff dance! Can we have fireworks at the end?’ Zoe sneaked a glance at Sean. ‘It would be sooooo romantic.’

Biddy began to protest that young people wanted it all their own way and had they any idea how many older folk would appreciate a good old-fashioned afternoon of dancing? Zoe began to argue back and then Arthur tried to mediate.

Millie heard it all as if muffled, through water. Ideas were tumbling into her head so fast and furiously she could barely make sense of them all. ‘Let’s do both!’ she announced. At their stunned silence, she explained. ‘We’ll start with a tea dance in the afternoon, lovely Valentine’s-themed cupcakes –’

‘What did you say? Cupcakes?’ Biddy bellowed. ‘They were called fairy cakes in my day.’

‘Alright Biddy, fairy cakes. Lots of lovely good-quality tea, scones and clotted cream –’

‘And jam,’ Arthur put in.

‘And jam, of course. From Small’s. Strawberry. My Victoria sponge –’

‘Oh, your sponge is lush,’ Zoe added.

‘Thank you, Zoe. Dress code pretty dresses and smart casual for the men.’

‘With ties.’

‘With ties, of course, Arthur. And then we roll into a beach party for later. Let’s hope the good weather keeps up.’ Millie stopped. ‘Oh,’ she said. ‘I don’t have an alcohol licence.’

‘Alcohol’s so over, Mil,’ Zoe said. ‘Isn’t it, Sean?’

Sean didn’t look as certain. ‘I can get hay bales to sit on,’ he offered. ‘I know George Small.’

Millie nodded. ‘Thank you, Sean, that’s a fab idea. I’ve got a really good recipe for pink-coloured fruit punch. We could serve that instead.’

‘The tea-dancers would like that too, I reckon,’ Biddy suggested. ‘I’ve got a recipe for a slut-red raspberry and chardonnay jelly you could use. One of Nigella’s that is. Ooh, I’m looking forward to this. Reminds me of the good old days with the girls. We used to have some rare old parties.’

Millie looked askance at Biddy. She often mentioned ’her girls’. Fellow office workers, she assumed. She knew Arthur had been an accountant, but wasn’t sure what Biddy had done as a career. The slut-red jelly had come as a surprise. She put her hand on the older woman’s. ‘I’m glad you’re looking forward to it.’

‘And we can have heart-shaped ice cubes!’

‘Yes, Zoe, we might be able to manage those too.’ Millie grinned at the teenager. ‘What about those fireworks?’

‘I can sort all the paperwork for that, my dear,’ Arthur offered. ‘Consider it done. Dennis at the council owes me a few favours.’

Millie looked at her band of friends with affection. A motley bunch they might be, but none were more loyal. ‘I can’t tell you how much your support means to me.’ Her voice quavered. ‘It’ll be a new beginning for Millie Vanilla’s.’

‘Well, spring’s the right season for new beginnings, isn’t it?’