11 The Teashop on the Corner Read Online Free

tell at first glance, of paper and pens and other
items of stationery. The central space was taken up with six round tables, cream-painted ironwork, three with four heart-shaped-backed chairs around them. It was all very pretty and girly and
French-chic. He gave it another two months before she did a moonlight flit and he turned up on site to find her and her fancy furniture all gone.
    She was smiling. Again. He could see her lips curved upwards as she turned to one side. That sort of constant chirpiness irritated him. What the hell was there to be so cheerful about, anyway?
Everyone he knew was complaining about it being the crappiest spring in history. Sub-zero temperatures without let-up ever since November, even snow on May Day Bank Holiday. Only now, in mid-May,
was the sun attempting to blast through the clouds with its rays; but bright as its beams were, they were half chilly too.
    Leni turned without warning and caught him staring at her. ‘Mr McCarthy!’ She waved. ‘Hello there. Have you got a moment?’
    Shaun cursed himself for not averting his eyes quickly enough. ‘Sure,’ he said, grumbling under his breath. He strode over to the pretty teashop and nodded a man-greeting.
    ‘Good morning, Mr McCarthy. The square is really coming together now, isn’t it?’
    ‘Yes, it is,’ he said, thinking,
Did she call me over just to ask me that
? He had neither the time nor the inclination for idle chit-chat.
    ‘I hope you don’t mind me mentioning that the tap in the teashop sink has a leak. It’s just a small one but I don’t want it to get any bigger.’
    ‘I’ll get my tool-bag and come back in a couple of minutes.’
    ‘Thank you.’
    The tearoom was invitingly warm and smelt delicious when he walked in.
    ‘I’ve made a jug of vanilla hot chocolate. Would you like one?’ Leni smiled at him.
    Shaun hadn’t had time to stop for lunch and was both hungry and thirsty in equal measures. ‘Thank you,’ he said.
    ‘Cake?’ She pointed to two glass domes on the counter. A dark brown cake sat under one, a lemon cake under the other. They looked good but he passed. He’d mend the leak and
then get quickly off before she started talking girly things to him. Rainbows and teddy bears and how to make cupcakes.
    She poured him a mug of chocolate with a swirl of cream on the top and stuck a flake in it.
    ‘New recipe,’ she said. ‘For when all the crowds come.’ Her eyes were sparkling with mirth.
    He humphed inwardly.
    ‘Do you think they will?’
    ‘Of course,’ she smiled. She had white, even teeth, he noticed. ‘I’ve had someone in who has been back three times so far for lunch. A Sikh gentleman. He’s bought
two pens from me as well.’
    Wow, you’re just months away from retiring on the profits
, thought Shaun, digging his wrench out of his bag whilst taking a swig of chocolate. The cup had a large ginger cat on
it.
    ‘
Miaow
.’
    For a moment, Shaun thought the cup had made the noise.
    ‘Now Mr Bingley, you get back to your bed and stop being nosey,’ said Leni, bending down to a huge ginger cat who had wandered over and was sniffing around Shaun’s bag. She
lifted him up, turned him around and he toddled off to where he had come from.
    ‘Are you allowed that thing in a café?’ asked Shaun, wrinkling up his nose.
    ‘I don’t know,’ said Leni. ‘But he’s staying. Chocolate okay?’
    ‘Er, yeah,’ said Shaun. Environmental health would be swooping down on her very soon, he reckoned. Surely cats and cafés didn’t mix?
    ‘Is it too thick? Does it need more milk in it, do you think?’
    Dear God
, thought Shaun. It was a cup of hot chocolate, not an entrant for
Masterchef
.
    ‘It’s fine,’ he said, tinkering with the tap. He noticed her apron was patterned with covers of old Penguin books but the pocket at the front was an orange sleeping cat.
She’s added that herself
, he thought.
And made a good job of it
. She looked the arts and crafty type. He could imagine