I tell myself to relax. All will be fine. The café will have some lovely curtains to complete the look. But every now and then I feel compelled to run upstairs and peer out of my bedroom window to check if Lucy’s car is still there.
After I’ve done this three times, I hear the letter slot rattle and something falls onto the mat. Going through to the hall, I see that she’s pushed the café keys through the front door. Once all the cakes are out of the oven, I slip out the back door then through the garden gate and along to the café.
Holding my breath, I open up and walk in.
I’m not sure what I was expecting, but actually, Lucy has done a brilliant job. The curtains are really beautiful, long swathes of soft fabric billowing all the way down to the floor, in lovely pastel-coloured stripes. They’re absolutely perfect.
I look around at my lovely café and my heart swells with happiness and pride. It’s time to put the past well and truly behind me and concentrate on the future. Paloma is right. Lucy has changed. She didn’t have to offer me the curtain material, but she did and it turned out perfectly.
A calm feeling settles over me.
It’s high time I forgave Lucy …
*****
Later, around eight, when all the baking is done for the day, I head out into the mild summer evening to make sure Paloma’s café sign is still in place. I know it will be because I paid a local company to do the job. Secretly, I just want to stare at it again and marvel at what it represents. My very own café.
I’m standing there in front of it, shaking my head in wonder at the word ‘Twilight’ in such large letters, when a voice behind me says, ‘The Twilight Café. What do you think? Will you be risking it?’
Turning, I find Theo Steel standing there, dressed in tracksuit bottoms and T-shirt, a sports bag slung over his shoulder.
‘Ooh, I’m not sure. The owner sounds a bit weird. But apparently she can bake good scones.’
He grins. ‘Yeah, I heard that.’
‘She’s not great at 5k runs, though.’
He shrugs. ‘It shows great ingenuity, though, hopping on a bus to save her injured ankle.’
‘You think so?’
‘I do.’
‘I think she’d like to get fit, actually. At long last.’
‘Really?’ His brow knits. ‘Why hasn’t she wanted to before now?’
I frown and look away. ‘The problem was,’ I tell him a moment later, meeting his steady blue gaze, ‘she spent so many years trying to escape from the clutches of a school bully, she went right off the whole idea of running.’
He looks at me thoughtfully. Then he nods. ‘I can see how that might happen. What’s changed her mind?’
‘Oh … she’s fed up with letting the past get in the way of her future.’
‘Very sensible. Do you think she might accept some free personal training sessions in exchange for regular supplies of cake?’
I make an awkward face. ‘Seriously?’
He nods. ‘It had better be good cake, though.’
‘Oh, it will be.’ I smile at him. ‘Trust me.’
‘Great. Well, wish her luck for tomorrow if you see her and tell her to save me a slice of cherry and coconut cake.’
I gaze at him. Cherry and coconut cake was on my list. The one Olivia read out with such disgust on the train that time. I can’t believe he actually remembered that.
He grins, holds up a hand and strolls away, along the high street.
I stare after him for a moment, admiring his back view for a little longer than I probably should. Then I laugh out loud at the bizarre nature of our exchange. I think he just offered to be my personal trainer for free.
Thoughtfully, I pinch the flesh at the sides of my waist. I hate to admit it, but Olivia’s right. I could afford to be leaner and an awful lot fitter.
But do I really want to be Theo Steel’s charity case?
Chapter 16
The big day dawns.
I’m a bundle of nerves and excitement as I rise with the alarm at five to bake my three varieties of scone. I glance out of the bedroom window. It’s going to be a beautiful day. You can just tell. The sky is clear, the crescent moon still faintly visible, and the sun, poised on the horizon, is a sphere of molten gold.
It’s a good omen, I decide, as I pull on shorts and T-shirt and run downstairs to the kitchen. It’s day one of a brand-new life for me. I’ve had a bit of a cold over the past few days but luckily it hasn’t developed into anything bad. A blocked nose I can cope with!
The postman rings the bell just as I’m taking the last batch of cheddar, thyme and cracked black pepper scones from the oven. They look golden and inviting but I couldn’t eat a thing, my stomach is in such turmoil. I transfer them to a rack, quickly because they’re piping hot, then dash to the door. The postman hands over three cards in pastel envelopes and a parcel.
‘Your birthday?’ he asks.
I smile. ‘No. My café opening.’
‘That’s today?’
‘Yes. Haven’t you seen the posters?’
He frowns. ‘What posters? I saw the one you put up a few weeks ago in the post office but it’s definitely not there any more. I thought you’d taken it down for some reason.’
‘No way.’ I stare at him in surprise. ‘Who on earth would remove it?’
‘Beats me.’
I wave him off and close the door, my mind working overtime. The fact that our postie wasn’t aware of the date the café opens is quite worrying because he, of all people, should have noticed the posters Paloma put up around the village. If the one in the post office has gone, have the others survived?
There’s only one way to find out.
Abandoning the letters and parcel, I grab my bag and head out along the high street to the village hall, where I know for certain Paloma placed a
