Page 73 of Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe

He was somewhat grateful that he had been able to practise extensively on his own paddleboard up to that point so he too didn’t look like a complete novice. He had even begun using it whilst on lifeguard duty for Dotty’s swim club.

That morning, the first of the advertised swimming sessions had been an eye-opener. As it was the Whitsun bank holiday weekend and the weather was glorious, at least twenty people had arrived for the 11a.m. opening and he had been grateful that Faye and Frankie had joined him to help organise everyone’s arrival.

He was grateful for all the preparations they had put in place beforehand. The signs to the additional car park for the swimming clubs had been put in place, keeping the hotel car park free for guests. In addition, there was now a reception hut where the swimmers could pay for their sessions and pick up their floats and swimming caps, if they hadn’t brought their own.

He was thankful that he had insisted on floats and swimming caps for everyone participating as there were far more people than he had anticipated and needed to keep an eye on everyone.

Despite still having doubts about the use of the lake, Walter had offered to keep watch on the other side with his walkie-talkie but thankfully there were no dramas that would need their lifesaving endeavours.

However, the first session did at least show Alex where some adjustments still needed to be made and he discussed it with Walter when it was over.

‘I did notice a few people struggling to get changed afterwards because there was nowhere to sit down apart from those couple of deck chairs that we brought over from the bigger beach,’ Alex told him.

Walter nodded thoughtfully. ‘That’s no use,’ he said, looking across to where people were sitting on the grass, relaxing after their swim. ‘I can make up a few picnic benches, if you like.’

‘That would be great,’ said Alex, although he was anxious not to upset Walter any further. ‘If it’s not too much trouble.’

‘It’s not like we haven’t got enough wood,’ said Walter, gesturing at the surrounding forest before he walked away.

Watching some people nervously test the water with their toes before going in led Alex to make a note to put up a noticeboard near the beach on which he could post the daily water cleanliness test results and temperature of the water. He also looked up a number of health and safety rules for guidance which he would also post on a laminated sheet alongside.

But he had been pleased with how smoothly it had gone and thankfully he was still smiling during the paddleboard class as well.

The group that had hired boards had included a number of relative beginners and, as such, he was able to tell them how hopeless he had been at the beginning. Especially when they were frustrated with their frequent dunkings in the water.

But Tiny always helped bring a smile to people’s faces, especially when he swam out to greet anyone who had just fallen into the water for the umpteenth time.

Alex was grateful for his many hours of practice which meant that he was able to stand on his own paddleboard for the whole session. He might not ever feel as graceful as Hannah had looked on a paddleboard, but at least he could pretend and not make a total fool of himself any more, he reckoned.

As the session finished later in the afternoon, the paddleboarders were all full of enthusiasm and lively chatter as they discussed their varying levels of ability. Even better, as far as Alex was concerned, was that as soon as they had gotten changed out of their wetsuits, they headed into the Boathouse Café for a drink which then extended into a busier afternoon session than during the week. Whilst he tidied up, he spotted Hannah rushing around on the veranda serving all the new customers and was thrilled for her.

Once he had packed away all the equipment, and with no more activities booked for that day, Alex headed into the café to check on her own success.

‘I thought you’d need this,’ she told him, placing a cold drink and slice of lemon drizzle cake on the table on the veranda.

The café had become quiet at last so he invited her to join him.

‘Sit down for a minute,’ he told her. ‘I could see how busy you were today as well.’

She nodded as she sat down. ‘Wasn’t it amazing?’ she asked, a smile lighting up her pretty face.

‘Absolutely,’ he told her, mesmerised once more by her eyes.

‘How did you find your first paddleboard session?’ she asked. ‘Did you enjoy it?’

‘You know what?’ he replied. ‘I did.’ He thought for a moment. ‘I think that all these years it was all about me, me, me. How fast I could run. How fit I was. The diet. The training. It was exhausting.’

She nodded. ‘You were always on the go,’ she told him.

‘Plus I’m not sure it’s that healthy, mentally speaking, to be so wrapped up in myself,’ he carried on. ‘So this afternoon, teaching that guy who kept falling in how to stand upright was really satisfying. Like I had some knowledge to pass on. Pay it forward, I guess.’

She smiled. ‘Yourknowledge of paddleboarding?’ she said, teasing him.

He laughed. ‘OK. So I should give you all the credit for me not falling in any more.’

‘Absolutely,’ she told him, standing up. ‘Listen, you sit there and relax after your busy day. It’ll do you some good.’

He found that he couldn’t disagree with her. He had been so used to running around, training and competing. For the first time, he had had to embrace a slower pace of life. And he was loving it. He enjoyed the downtime. A beer at sunset without worrying that it would affect his strict diet. Cake. Sunshine. The good weather.