Max would be here with her tomorrow, too. She wondered what he’d make of all this with Nate. But then, a part of her thought, she should just let it lie. She didn’t need to mention it. What if she got all upset in front of Max, like she just had with Bev? What might he think? They were just getting settled together. Yes, he knew about her fiancé Luke, but there was no point digging up the past. In fact, Nate might already be off on his way somewhere else and that’d be the last she’d see of him for years.
Bev stood up next to her, with her cleaning cloth in hand.
‘Thanks, Bev.’
Her friend realised she was saying thank you for more than the clearing up. ‘You’re welcome, hun. Hey, it was a great night. The prosecco party idea is going to be such a success, I tell you.’
‘I think you may be right, there, my lovely friend!’
They headed for the kitchen where they hand-washed the flutes and stacked the dishwasher with all the chocolatey pots and spoons. Then it was time for Bev to go. Em felt a little lonely pit in her stomach.
‘You okay? Shall I walk back with you?’ Em offered.
‘Don’t be daft. If you walk me, then I should have to walk you safely back too. Then we’d be to-ing and fro-ing all bloody night.’ She laughed. ‘I’ll be fine. This is Warkton we are talking about. The last major crime wave was when Mrs C left her walking stick at the post office section in the grocer’s and was convinced someone – in fact “a right bugger” – had stolen it. And it was only that Sheila had put it behind the counter for safekeeping.’
The friends giggled.
‘Night, Em.’
‘Night. Love you, Bev. Thank you … for everything.’ She found herself still feeling a bit emotional.
‘You are so welcome, my gorgeous chocolate-shop friend.’
‘Hah, you only love me for my chocolate.’ Em was smiling.
‘Foiled again,’ was Bev’s slick response.
The pair of them burst into laughter.
Emma’s head felt rather delicate when she turned the pretty wooden sign to ‘open’ on the shop door the next morning, despite her efforts to take it easy on the prosecco.
She served the early customers with their teas, coffees and brownies on autopilot, looking forward to ten-thirty when Holly would come in and she could then retire to the kitchen to do some crafting – something straightforward like making a batch of fudge might be good today.
Stan and Hilda, a sweet old couple, regulars from the village, appeared for a pot of tea and some cake.
‘So, how are you both keeping?’ Emma asked cheerily, after taking their order.
‘Grand we are, Emma. Just grand at the moment, thanks pet. Enjoying the better weather now that summer’s just around the corner. And you, pet?’
‘Yes, all fine here thanks, Stan. Keeping myself busy and out of mischief.’
He gave her a wink.
‘It’s lovely to be able to stop here a while now, Emma,’ Hilda took up, ‘what with the new café. It’s made a real difference. Very cosy.’
‘We make a morning of it now, don’t we, Hilda. Fetch the papers at Sheila’s on the way up, so we’ve got something to read. Then call back in for our weekend groceries on the way back down. Mind, when we saw Sheila earlier, she was looking a bit peaky. Reckon she’s going down with a cold or something,’ Stan added.
‘Ah, maybe.’ Emma smiled knowingly. There’d be a few sore heads in the village this morning for sure. She headed to the kitchen to prepare their tea and cakes. ‘Won’t be a minute,’ she called back over her shoulder. ‘Take a seat and make yourselves comfy.’
‘Oh, we will, lass,’ Hilda answered.
Holly arrived just as she was bringing a tray of drinks back out. Her assistant was carrying a brown paper bag that smelt suspiciously delicious.
‘Morning, Em.’ Holly sounded far too chirpy!
Oh, to have the recovery levels of a nearly eighteen-year-old, after a night out.
Emma served Stan and Hilda, then followed the aroma back to the kitchen. ‘What’s in the bag, Holly? And please, for goodness’ sake, say it’s for me or at least to share.’ She suddenly found herself with the appetite of a horse.
‘Hmm, thought you might like one. Mum made me a bacon sarnie just as I was coming out. There was one going spare, so I nabbed it for you before my brother could pig that down as well as his own.’
‘Ah, you are an angel – and thank your mum from me. This is so what I need right now.’ From feeling a little queasy when she’d got up, a little later than normal at seven-thirty, she had now turned ravenous.
She made a quick cup of tea for them both and dived into the soft malty bread and bacon. ‘Mmm. Just bliss.’
‘Right,’ Holly said, ‘I’ll head out to the counter and make sure Stan and Hilda are fine and have everything they want. Last night was brilliant by the way, such fun. Jess and I have been telling our mates all about it already.’
‘Great. Mind you, I’ll not be able to serve you as a paying guest until you’re officially eighteen, you know.’
‘Ah, yes. Well, Jess is already eighteen, and several of my friends. It’s only a month until my eighteenth birthday so I’m sure we can wait ’til then.’
‘So, have you got anything special planned for your birthday?’
‘I’m having a fancy meal out with the family. And then, I’m also planning a night out “on the Toon” in Newcastle with my mates. Yay – I can go out clubbing officially at last.’
‘Sounds great fun. Right, let’s get to work then.’ Emma finished off the sandwich, had another slurp of tea, then washed her hands ready for her fudge making.
The morning and lunch shift passed quickly. There was a lull by mid-afternoon, and the pair of them found themselves yawning once the shop emptied. Em offered to make them both a coffee to perk them up.
Sitting with a steaming mug in hand, Em started, ‘So, how’s the studying going? And are things still going well with Adam? All fine?’
‘Yes, pretty good. Just keeping my head down with the studies – needs must. And Adam, oh, he’s just so lovely. I don’t know how I got so lucky.’ Holly paused, looking thoughtful, then, ‘It’s going to be hard though, Em. I really want to go off to uni this September. I’ve got my nursing place for midwifery all sorted at Northumbria, as long as I get the grades in this summer’s exams, but then Adam’s going to be all the way back here because he’s got his job at the hotel.’
With
