‘I know. I used to look out when I was a kid and think I could see the entire world from here. It was only later I realised it wasn’t Australia in the distance. It was Lake Heath.’
He looks across at me and grins. ‘You’re funny. Attractive and funny is a wicked combo. Did you really think it was Australia?’
I nod, covering my blushes and sudden confusion by sticking my nose in my empty glass. Attractive and funny?
‘Easy mistake to make when you’re a kid, I suppose. Is there any more lemonade in that flask?’
I shake it, unscrew the lid and pour the remainder into his glass.
‘You should have saved some for yourself.’ He turns slightly, offering to tip some into my glass and his thigh brushes mine.
An odd little shiver runs through me. ‘Sorry? No, no, it’s fine.’ Theo thinks I’m attractive and funny.
‘You look a bit dazed. Have I worn you out with the run?’ He smiles apologetically.
‘Well, yes, obviously,’ I joke. ‘But it’s fine. It’s high time I did something about my fitness.’
Does he really mean it? Or was he just being kind? Trying to boost my confidence in myself, the way a good personal trainer should?
He takes a long drink of the lemonade and my eyes are drawn to his strong, tanned throat, the leap of his Adam’s apple as he swallows. His dark hair is raked back, slick with perspiration after our session. The strong chin and jaw line hint at determination but there’s something attractively vulnerable about his blue eyes that I hadn’t noticed before, possibly because he’s not wearing his glasses today. (He told me he wears contact lenses to work out.)
Of course, now that he’s said I’m funny, I’m racking my brains to think of something hilarious to say, but my mind is a complete and utter blank.
‘So, it’s a shame more people don’t know about The Twilight Café,’ he says, putting his glass down on the deck. ‘I can’t imagine Olivia is your favourite person right now, after the trick her friend Lucy Slater pulled. If it’s any consolation, she feels really bad about it.’
‘She told you that?’ I shoot him a glance, feeling my stomach plummet. Theo and Olivia seem very friendly. Does he know how catty she can be? But perhaps it’s not strictly her personality that’s the draw …
The thought makes me feel ridiculously cross.
I might have known Theo would be a typical man and succumb to Olivia’s obvious attractions!
He nods. ‘I kept bumping into her on the high street and at the gym. We laughed at the coincidence. Then the last time, she was feeling a bit faint, so I drove her home and she made me lunch.’
Coincidence indeed! She’s probably been stalking him!
‘I asked her what they were playing at, launching the Clean Food Café that Saturday, but she swears she didn’t even know yours was opening on the same day.’
I almost laugh out loud. Of course she knew! ‘So she got over her fainting spell fairly speedily, then? Enough to cook you lunch?’ As soon as it’s out, I could kick myself for sounding so waspish. ‘What did she make you?’
‘Tofu pancakes.’
‘Ooh, how … healthy!’
He’s silent for a moment, observing me with a little smile, while I cringe inwardly and concentrate hard on spooning a lemon pip from the jug.
At last he murmurs, ‘I much prefer your cherry and coconut cake.’
My heart does an odd little leap. ‘Only because it doesn’t contain celery.’
He laughs softly. ‘Well, there is that.’
I’m partly mollified, although I can’t believe Theo would fall for Olivia’s lies. But it’s good that he’s seen Lucy’s foul play in action and is fighting my corner. I wish more people would see her for what she is.
‘The tide will turn,’ says Theo.
‘Wish I shared your confidence. I really need the café to do well.’
‘For your dad?’
I nod, feeling my throat thicken with emotion. I’m hovering on the brink of tears just at the mention of him. I twist my mouth into a bitter smile. ‘We’re hoping for a miracle.’
He looks genuinely sorry. ‘I hope things work out.’
‘Don’t be nice to me or I might cry.’
‘I don’t mind if you do. I’ve got a choice of two fairly broad shoulders here if you need them.’
He regards me solemnly, and I stare up into the depths of his blue eyes and my head spins. For a second, I can’t even remember what we were talking about. Dad. That’s right. I can’t seem to drag my eyes away from Theo’s – and neither, it seems, can he. My heart is suddenly beating so incredibly fast …
Then a crow caws loudly from a nearby tree and Theo’s eyes flicker. He clears his throat and leans back against the treehouse, staring out over the garden.
In the silence, my heart slows its beat, finally steadying to its normal rate. What’s wrong with me? I can’t be attracted to Theo Steel! It’s obvious he fancies Olivia, however disparaging he might be about her food preferences!
‘You need an angle,’ says Theo after a while.
‘An angle?’ I look at him, confused.
‘Yes. Something different that sets you apart.’
I realise he’s been thinking about The Twilight Café.
‘A USP, you mean?’ It rolls airily off my tongue.
He grins at me. ‘Exactly.’
‘Yes, but what?’ I shrug. ‘What could my angle be?’
He leans his head back, thinking. ‘Something that would get you in the Guinness Book of World Records,’ he says at last. ‘What about the smallest café in the world? Just the one table.’
I laugh. ‘Doubt if I’d make a great living.’
‘True.’
‘Or a café where the staff are all movie star lookalikes?’ I suggest. ‘That would be different. I could have Melissa McCarthy waiting on tables and Tom Hiddleston showing people where the toilets are.’
‘Wages bill might be a bit steep.’
We exchange a warm smile and my insides respond by turning a pleasurable little somersault.
‘Of course … there is an answer that’s staring you in the face.’ He frowns.
‘Go on.’
‘To be accurate, it’s not staring us in the face. We’re actually leaning
