John finished setting a tray of drinks down for the swimmers and came over to Annie. “Good morning,” he said, and bent down to brush her lips with a kiss. Annie felt herself swoon. She heard Gemma hiccup a squeak of delight.
“I’m sorry about this, John; you’re meant to be resting and instead you’re running around the café. Sit down. I’ll take over. How are you feeling? Okay? Not woozy? No shortness of breath?”
“Blimey, take a breath, will you? I’m fine. Feel like I’ve done a bloody good workout, but otherwise I’m fine. Besides, I’ve got my bodyguard keeping an eye on me.”
Tiggs was rubbing herself against his legs.
“She woke me up by licking my eyebrows.” John raised his eyebrows incredulously. “Never had that experience before.”
Annie made John sit down and set to with the coffee machine. Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, all indignance after having her bottom unceremoniously sniffed by a cockapoo, jumped up onto John’s lap and made herself comfortable.
The café was buzzing with talk of last night’s dramatic events. John played the whole thing down, saying it was luck that saved them and Alfred’s tenacity that kept them going, but Annie knew better. She’d heard the account John had given to the paramedics. The force of the wave had smashed Alfred’s head against the rocks and knocked him unconscious. Alfred was sucked under by the current, but John had managed to grab him and had swum them both into the mouth of the cave. He had half carried, half dragged Alfred up through the narrow tunnel to the cellar door at Saltwater Nook. John had undoubtedly saved Alfred’s life.
The café emptied out, and there was a lull, during which Gemma flitted about clearing tables ready for the lunch rush. John, still chairbound by a large ginger cat, caught Annie’s arm as she carried a box of kettle crisps.
“Can we talk for a minute?” he asked.
“Sure.” Annie stashed the box beside the door to the hallway and came to sit across the table from him.
“I’m going to tell my developer friend that the deal’s off. I want you to have Saltwater Nook. And if Max drags his heels, then I’ll sell my flat and take a loan to tide Mari over. We’ll work it out.”
Annie reached for John’s hand.
“Max agreed to buy me out.” She smiled. “He’s got the cash.”
“Oh my God, Annie, that’s amazing!” John beamed back at her.
“But if my offer isn’t enough to get Mari what she needs, then go with the developer. I mean it. It won’t change how I feel about you.”
John brushed a wisp of hair that had escaped her ponytail behind her ear. “When I was lying in that tunnel last night, hoping to God someone would find us, I kept thinking, This place has been saving my life for years. How could I flatten it? Everything good that has ever happened to me has come about in some way because of Saltwater Nook.” He was looking directly at her, his eyes boring into hers. Annie could hardly breathe.
“Everything?” she asked.
“Everything,” said John. “We’ll make this work. I promise.”
Chapter 87
The café door flew open and Maeve entered, pushing Alfred in a wheelchair.
“Tally ho, chaps!” she shouted. “Get me a coffee, would you, Annie? There’s a girl, the coffee in the hospital tastes like sheep dip.”
Gemma squealed delightedly and rushed at them, hugging first Maeve, then Alfred, who did not look pleased at the attention but took it with good grace, only scowling minimally beneath his shaggy hair.
“How do you feel?” Annie asked.
“Like I drank a several pints of the Atlantic Ocean and got dragged through a cliff,” said Alfred.
“Still, well enough to be a grumpy old bastard, eh?” said Maeve. The insult brought a smile to Alfred’s weathered face.
“Thanks for saving my life, John,” said Alfred. “I’ve come to shake your hand.” He went to get out of the wheelchair but was stopped by a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Stay in the chair, you daft bugger,” said Maeve. She wheeled him over to John, who was unsuccessfully trying to extricate Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle from his lap so that he could stand.
“You can stay where you are as well, young man,” added Maeve forcefully.
John and Alfred did as they were told and shook hands from their seated positions.
“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have been there in the first place,” said John. “I’m sorry if I pushed you into something you weren’t comfortable with.”