Chapter Twenty One
‘ H ave you heard anything else from Diane, Elsie?’ Brooke leaned her elbows on the bakery counter and called Elsie as she made her way from the wedding planning office.
‘Oh yes. She’s been messaging every five minutes, bless her.’ Elsie paused in front of the counter. ‘She’s thoroughly fed up with waiting for this little one to arrive.’
Lynsey frowned. She’d heard Elsie and Ian come home at just before midnight after Diane had been discharged from the labour ward, reassured that what she’d felt had in fact been Braxton Hicks rather than the start of labour. ‘Is she coming in today?’
‘Not today, love. Harry is taking a couple of days off work and is looking after her.’ Elsie shook her head and chuckled. ‘Or as Diane puts it, he has her under house arrest. I’ll pop by there this afternoon and try to distract her for a couple of hours, I think.’
‘That’s a good idea.’ Lynsey nodded. She wasn’t really sure what else to say. She could imagine poor Diane was feeling deflated and frustrated after the false alarm.
‘Yes, I’ll do that.’ Elsie smiled as Teresa balanced a tray full of coffee mugs on the counter. ‘I’ll get back to the kitchen and let you three enjoy the morning lull.’
‘Here we go.’ Teresa handed to the coffees before taking one for herself. ‘I remember when my youngest, Pippa, was born. She was a whole week late and I can tell you, those seven days literally did not feel like they were ever going to end.’
Brooke grimaced. ‘I hope you didn’t tell Diane Pippa was so late. I think she’s expecting to give birth either before or on her due date!’
‘Nope, I didn’t have the heart to tell her. Plus, I don’t think she’d ever speak to me again if I told her that.’ Teresa smiled. ‘Their baby will come when he or she is ready.’
‘Yep.’ Brooke nodded.
Wrapping her hands around her mug, Lynsey yawned. She still hadn’t caught up from her night of no sleep. Not that she regretted it. That had been the pivotal few hours when she’d decided to jump all in with the renovation project.
‘How’s the cottage coming along?’ Teresa took a sip of her drink.
‘Great, thanks. Well, I mean we’re getting there. Sadly, there’s no quick fix, but we’ve taken down the wall between the dining room and kitchen, and Zac is finishing removing the remaining plaster today. She was still walking on cloud nine after their discussion yesterday about their intentions for the relationship.
‘Sounds like you’re more than getting there. Sounds as though you’re smashing it.’ Teresa nodded.
‘Yes, quite literally.’ Brooke threw her head back and laughed as Lynsey and Teresa joined in.
‘And things are going well between you and Zac? You seemed pretty cosy last night at the pub.’ Teresa placed her mug down on the counter as she looked at Lynsey.
Feeling her cheeks begin to warm, Lynsey nodded. ‘Yes, things are good.’
‘I’m pleased for you.’ Reaching out, Teresa placed her hand on Lynsey’s before picking up her coffee again. ‘You feel as though you’re part of the Penworth community already and you haven’t even officially moved in yet.’
‘I feel it too, to be honest. Everyone’s been so welcoming.’ She nodded. ‘I think I’m going to really like it here.’
‘You will. There’ll be no dragging you away now you’ve stepped into the bay.’ Brooke grinned. ‘And luckily for us, you already have your new home here, so you won’t have any excuse to leave and abandon us.’
‘Thank you.’ Lynsey swiped at her eyes. ‘You’ll make me cry.’
‘I’m being serious. It’s good having you around.’ Brooke rubbed her on the shoulder.
‘Here, here.’ Teresa held up her coffee before taking a sip and picking up the tray as a customer walked through the door and headed towards the coffee and cake counter. ‘Right, work is calling. Enjoy your coffees.’
‘Thanks.’ Lynsey turned and paled her now half-empty mug on the back counter as Nora stepped inside, shortly followed by a group of suited office workers presumably having decided to stop by on their lunch break. Stepping towards the counter, Lynsey smiled at Nora. ‘Hi, Nora. Lovely to see you today. How’s the weather out there?’
Pulling one of her silk scarves – a midnight blue one decorated with stars and moons today – Nora answered, ‘A bit too nippy for my liking, Lynsey. I’m hoping for better weather this weekend as my daughter is bringing my two grandsons for a visit.’
‘That sounds nice. Have you got anything planned to do with them?’
‘Well, on the Saturday I’m hoping we can spend the day on the beach. They live in the Midlands, so about the furthest point you can get from any beach in England so I’ve promised them we’ll build sandcastles and eat ice cream all day. And then we’re off to play some crazy golf on Sunday.’ Nora plonked her handbag on top of the counter.
‘That sounds perfect.’
‘Oh, I’m sure it will be if only that sun would grace us with its presence again.’ Nora glanced outside at the cloudy sky.
‘Fingers crossed then.’ Lynsey held her hand up and crossed her fingers.
‘Precisely.’ Nora mirrored her and crossed her own. ‘Right, could I have two of your scrummy cupcakes today, please?’
‘Of course. Coming right up.’ Taking a cake box from beneath the counter, Lynsey placed the two cupcakes with the most icing inside before closing the lid. ‘That will be two pounds and fifty pence, please?’
‘Thank you.’ Nora began rummaging in her bag before frowning and sliding the bag across the counter towards Lynsey. ‘I’m sorry, dear, I can’t seem to find my purse. I’ve got that much rubbish in there. It’s probably at the bottom somewhere. Do you mind getting it out, please?’
‘Yes, okay.’ Lynsey pulled the bag closer before carefully moving a collection of scarves from the bottom of the bag and pulling out the flowery purse. ‘Here it is.’
‘Thanks, dear.’ Taking the bag, Nora counted out the money. ‘I should tidy that out really, shouldn’t I? I don’t even know how my scarves always end up in there. After all, I’m wearing them when I’m out! You’d think there was no need for me to put them in my bag, wouldn’t you?’
Lynsey smiled. ‘You must take them off more than you realise.’
‘I must do, mustn’t I?’ Nora chuckled before picking up her bag and the cake box. ‘Thank you for these. Have a lovely day.’
‘You too. And enjoy the cakes.’ Lynsey waved before turning to her next customer. Just as she was about to ask what they were after, she realised it was Zac. ‘Hi, what are you doing here?’
‘I’ve finished taking off the plaster, so I thought I’d treat myself to a coffee and cake whilst doing some paperwork.’ He leaned forward and pecked her on the lips. ‘And more importantly, I thought it would be a good excuse to come and say hello to you, too.’
‘Aw, well, it’s a nice surprise to see you too.’ Lynsey grinned. ‘You’ve really finished removing the plaster?’
‘From the living room, yes.’ Zac grinned. ‘Still a long way to go, mind, but you’ll soon be needing a sofa.’
‘Oh yes, furniture.’ Lynsey grimaced. ‘I kind of hadn’t given that much thought. Does that sound daft?’
‘Not at all. It wasn’t so long ago that you weren’t sure you were going to keep the cottage.’ He held up his phone. ‘I’ll take a look at some furniture places. Maybe we could have a road trip and go to see some at the weekend?’
Lynsey nodded. Zac was being so supportive over this renovation. She knew it was his job, well, the building parts, but he was definitely going above and beyond. ‘I’d like that.’
‘Great. I’ll see what I can find.’ Smiling, Zac turned and headed towards the coffee and cake counter, ready to order.