The Cosy Seaside Chocolate Shop: The perfect heartwarming summer escape from the Kindle bestselling author. Caroline Roberts

cold. It was never good news when he turned up out of the blue. She tried to stay calm and smile as he entered the door, managing a polite ‘Hello.’

      ‘Good morning, Emma. How’s business?’

      It always seemed to be a bit of a leading question from him.

      ‘Fine,’ she answered, keeping her reply purposefully vague. If she sounded too positive, he might decide to put up the rent again. Who knew what schemes were going on in that greasy little head of his? ‘Would you like a coffee?’ Better keep him sweet. This place was her life and soul, and he held her future in his hands.

      ‘Yes, thank you, I will.’

      ‘I’ll make it,’ Holly offered. Em thought she might just be looking for a way to escape the room. The guy certainly had a knack of sucking the air of the place. Or maybe her young assistant was thinking of putting salt in it or something. Em gave her a stern glance just in case she had any such antics in mind. It wouldn’t do to annoy him.

      ‘The café seems to be doing well.’ He was perusing the room. The window-seat tables were taken up with two families.

      ‘Yes, I’m pleased with how it’s going.’

      ‘Hmm, it’s a good new addition.’

      ‘Yes,’ she agreed. And yes, she’d been the one to put in all the hard work and the finances to fund the conversion. He’d be the one gaining from it in the long run. Despite being the landlord, he didn’t do a lot for the upkeep of the property. One time, when the boiler had gone down, it had taken him five days to get an engineer out to repair it. The shop and her flat were freezing all the while. She’d had to borrow a fan heater to keep the shop warm enough during the day, and she and Alfie had had to move across to sleep at Bev’s for a couple of nights.

      ‘Here you go.’ Holly popped a cup of coffee on to a table which was set to the side of the café.

      Mr Neil took up the chair beside it. He then took out some paperwork from his black leather briefcase and leafed through A4 sheets. At least Emma didn’t have to stand making conversation with him for now, as he looked otherwise engaged.

      Holly raised an eyebrow and gave a pretend shudder. Emma held on to her fake smile, then a customer came in asking for suggestions for his mother’s birthday. Em was all too happy to help, though she was still aware that she and her shop were under scrutiny from the side table.

      Once the customer had left, she observed her landlord taking several photos on his mobile phone of the interior of the shop. He was definitely up to something.

      After clearing one of the window tables as one group had left and tidying the counter area which was already tidy to start with, she saw him make a move. He filed back his papers, then brought his empty coffee cup over to her.

      ‘About the rent. I’ve decided I’m not going to put it up further at this point.’

      Wow! Emma felt huge relief; last year had been such a struggle. Well, this sounded very positive. Had he had a personality transplant or something? She stared at his slicked-back black hair (he must use lashings of Brylcreem or some such product) and found herself waiting for the but.

      There was a second or two when he stared back. ‘But …’

       Argh, there it was.

      ‘I won’t be renewing your contract for the full year. Instead, I’ll be reviewing it on a month-by-month basis.’

      ‘Oh.’ She was a bit shocked. Why was he doing that? In fact, could he just go ahead and do that? There must be laws on all this. But then, he was the landlord. ‘Can I ask why?’

      ‘Just keeping my options open.’ He gave a thin smile. ‘I’ll get the formal paperwork on that to you shortly. Good day.’ He turned on his well-polished heel.

      It was obvious further questions were not going to get her anywhere.

      Emma felt her heart sink as he left. Holly started doing a mock throwing-up gesture behind the counter.

      ‘Ugh, can’t stand the man. He is such an eel.’ Holly’s nickname had stuck. ‘Makes my skin crawl. Can’t we ban him?’

      ‘Hah, don’t think so as he owns the place, Holly.’

      ‘Well, that’s a bloody shame.’

       7

      News of the monthly contract was spinning around in Emma’s mind all day after that. Max was away all this week through to Saturday evening, getting the new project in Leeds off the ground but as soon as the shop was closed and Holly had gone home, Emma knew she needed someone to chat it over with. She found herself sitting on a stool in the back kitchen, surrounded by large bags of chocolate callets and moulds ready to fill, but she knew she couldn’t settle to crafting yet. She picked up her mobile and dialled Max.

      ‘Hey,’ he answered in soothing tones.

      It was lovely just to hear his voice.

      ‘Hi.’

      ‘Something up?’

      How could he tell that from just one word? But over the past months, they had grown closer and were getting to know each other well.

      ‘Yeah …’ Her voice gave a little waver. ‘Oh, Max, Mr Neil’s been in. You know, the landlord of the shop.’

      ‘Ah, yes.’

      ‘There’s definitely something going on. He’s changing the contract for the shop to a month-by-month lease only. So, I don’t even know if I’ll get to stay here for the whole of this year. Do you think he’s planning on selling or something?’ Emma felt sick just thinking about that possibility.

      ‘Hmm, I don’t like to say it, but it sounds likely, Em. Or at least he’s keeping his options open to do that. He might also have a new rental in mind, where he intends charging a lot more. Sorry, Em. What a bummer for you.’

      ‘I know. I’ve been feeling dreadful ever since he was in this morning, worrying about it all.’ She felt fragile, vulnerable. How could she lose her Chocolate Shop? It was more than just a business, it was her home, her life. It had kept her going through the hardest of times, given her a purpose in life again.

      ‘Ah, Jeez. I’m sorry I’m so far away right now, Em.’

      ‘I know. Me too. I miss you.’ It was at times like this that she wished he didn’t have to travel miles away for work, that he lived nearer and could just pop in. Boy, she could do with his big strong arms around her right now.

      ‘There’s a virtual hug coming down the phone.’

      Aw, he knew exactly how she was feeling. ‘Thanks, Max … but somehow it’s not quite the same.’

      ‘I know, babe. I’ll be back with you soon. Saturday night.’

      ‘Yeah.’ A few more days to get through. She’d been on her own and got along fine for years. Weird that after meeting and getting to know Max, just days could seem such a long time.

      ‘I can take you out for some supper then – or maybe a night in with a takeaway would be better. Me, you, Alfie, a bottle of wine and fish and chips from the pub. What do you think?’

      ‘Oh, yes. I can’t wait.’ A cosy night in together sounded perfect.

      ‘Look, I’m sorry Em, but I’d better go. We’re just trying to get wrapped up here on site for this evening.’

      ‘Me too. I have a stack of chocolates to make.’ Flavoured choc bars, lemon-meringue truffles and dark chocolate coffee cups were awaiting her attention.

      ‘I love you.’ Max said.

      Aw. ‘Love you too,’ she answered.

      It