The Sunflower Cottage Breakfast Club by Lynsey James Read Free Book Online Page B

some sausages and bacon onto a plate then turned to look at me.
    â€˜Yeah, it was great!’ I knew I was lying, but it was necessary in this situation. I didn’t want to explain that, while the bed had been lovely, I’d been awake most of the night worrying about being in the same village as my long-lost biological father. To avoid anything accidentally slipping out, I turned to my phone and the stack of unread emails that had to be dealt with. Business was the solution to every life problem, after all. If I was working towards my goals, everything would be OK.
    Or it would be if there were any Wi-Fi.
    â€˜Is there a Wi-Fi hotspot anywhere round here?’ I asked, trying not to let my frustration seep into my tone. ‘I need to get work done while I’m here.’
    Rose shook her head. ‘I’m afraid not, dear. The signal’s always been a bit patchy round these parts, so we just don’t bother with it in the B&B. You’ve got broadband at your place, haven’t you, Noah?’
    Some colour drained away from his face. ‘Yeah, but she needs to be here, doesn’t she? She won’t want to schlep up to my cottage to use the internet.’
    â€˜Actually, that sounds ideal,’ I replied. ‘If you don’t mind, that is? She can work anywhere, after all.’
    He didn’t say anything and went back to tending the sizzling pans in front of him.
    â€˜It’s too early to be working anyway,’ Rose said. ‘You haven’t even had breakfast yet; what do you fancy? Noah does a lovely full English.’
    â€˜Do you have any kale or avocado? A green smoothie would be amazing.’
    They both turned to look at me, blank expressions on their faces like I’d spoken in fluent Swahili.
    â€˜Huh,’ said Noah, ‘I didn’t think anybody actually drank those! Looks like chemical waste, if you ask me.’
    â€˜I didn’t.’ I kept my voice low, but judging by the look he shot me, not low enough.
    â€˜Oh, I’m afraid I don’t have either of those things.’ Rose wrung her hands with worry. ‘I… is there anything else I can get you?’
    I shook my head and got up from the table. ‘Nah, I don’t really do breakfast. Thanks, anyway. I’d better get going. I’ve got loads of work to do today.’
    Rose looked utterly crestfallen and I felt a stab of remorse in my chest. ‘OK, if you’re sure. I’ll get some in for you for breakfast tomorrow. Noah, watch this pan while I go and see if we’ve got any maple syrup for that Canadian couple in room two.’
    I smiled. ‘That’d be great, thanks!’
    As I left, Noah’s voice piped up. ‘Next she’ll be asking for bloody quinoa salad on a bed of pearl barley or something.’
    â€˜There’s nothing wrong with liking healthy food, you know. You are what you eat and all that jazz,’ I replied.
    He left the pan of bacon he was tending to and came over to me. ‘So, you’re some unidentifiable substance we’ve never heard of and don’t want in our kitchen?’
    Oh great, I thought, the verbal sparring was starting again. There was no way I was letting him win, though.
    â€˜And you’re something that might be popular but still liable to cause heart attacks?’
    â€˜I’ll miss this back-and-forth when you go back home,’ he shot back. ‘When is that exactly?’
    â€˜Not soon enough for my liking!’
    Our latest run-in was interrupted by Rose gleefully announcing she’d found the maple syrup and the Canadian couple bursting into the kitchen, full of the joys of summer.
    â€˜Till next time,’ I said, throwing him a sly smile over my shoulder.
    *
    As my stomach gurgled and lurched thanks to no green smoothie, I found a shred of phone signal to phone Paul with an update on Sunflower Cottage. You had to watch with Paul. He had a reputation for being slippery