The Midnight Bakery

Chapter 35

35

Frankie

Frankie turned the key in the lock and pushed open the bakery door. It was her and William’s last shift together, and the way she was feeling it might as well be her last one, too. But William was right behind her, so she kept the smile on her face and held the door wide for him before closing and locking it. She was determined they would have a good night.

‘Well, here we are,’ she said, as they walked through to the back and she turned on the lights. ‘I bet you’ll be glad to see the back of this place. The boss is an absolute tyrant.’

William grinned. ‘Worst I’ve ever had.’ He paused, looking at her. ‘Are you sure your wrist is going to be okay?’

‘William…’

‘I know, I know. I have to go back to the club sometime, but you can’t blame me for trying. It’s been good though, hasn’t it?’

‘You know it has. And no being maudlin,’ she teased, wagging her finger in mock severity. ‘I’ve no idea how long I’m going to be here for yet, so I’m going to make the best of the time I have.’

‘And I’ll still be able to call by on my way home each night,’ he said. ‘And get to spy on you when you’re dancing around the room, with a bowl in your arms, singing like you’re Doris Day.’

Frankie rolled her eyes. ‘I’ll get you dancing yet, just you wait.’ She hung up her things and went to the storeroom. ‘Right, pinny for each of us and then we’d better get rolling. Or Vivienne will sack me, never mind the rest.’ She winced slightly, glad she had her back to William; she really hadn’t wanted to mention Vivienne.

She handed him an apron and was about to switch on the ovens when there was a series of knocks at the door – jaunty ones – rat-a-tat-tat. Two heads appeared in the window.

‘Is this your doing?’ she asked William, an amused smile on her face as she went to open the door. ‘What are you two doing here?’

‘Day off,’ said Beth, grinning. She was holding a large round tin.

‘And I just came for the cake,’ said Tam, taking the tin from Beth’s arms. ‘Get the kettle on and I’ll sort some plates,’ he said.

Frankie looked at William, but he shrugged. ‘Nothing to do with me,’ he said.

‘You do know we’re supposed to be working,’ she said. ‘Although if you’ve brought cake, I suppose a quick cup of tea won’t do any harm.’

‘They’re brownies,’ said Beth. ‘And blondies. I wasn’t sure which you liked. Probably not a patch on your pastries, but…’

‘She’s lying,’ said Tam. ‘I sneaked one earlier.’

Frankie laughed. ‘Lovely as it is to see you, why are you here?’

Tam cranked the lid off the tin and set it down on the table. ‘It’s your last night working together, so we thought we’d come and surprise you. Plus, we’re celebrating my new job, of course.’

‘You’ve got a new job?’ said William. ‘But that’s brilliant! Fast work, too. Where is it?’

Tam grinned at Frankie. ‘You haven’t told him, have you?’

‘Well, in my defence, I didn’t know for certain that you’d accept it, so…’ Frankie took a seat at the table and pulled the cakes towards her, breathing in the heavenly aroma of chocolate. She looked up, giving Beth a warm smile.

‘Okay…would someone like to tell me what’s going on?’ William’s hands were on his hips.

Tam bustled past with a stack of plates. ‘That pinny suits you, you know.’ He sat down beside Frankie. ‘It’s very simple, really. Actually, Frankie, why don’t you explain?’

Frankie helped herself to a blondie, looking at William with a smile. ‘It was after I met with Robert yesterday,’ she said. ‘And you and I got talking. Well, I got thinking…about us – all of us – and all the things which have happened recently and all the things which haven’t.’

‘Carry on,’ said William, sitting down.

‘And I realised that without you guys, none of those things would have been possible. I’d never have dreamed of meeting Robert if I didn’t have you. I’d run away so that I wouldn’t have to stand up to him. Because I couldn’t. Didn’t ever think that I would. And the only thing that made that meeting possible was knowing you had my back, knowing that I had people to talk to who would understand, being buoyed up instead of weighed down. It gave me the strength I needed.’

She took a bite of her blondie, chewing thoughtfully. ‘Then, of course, I realised it’s the same for each one of us – shared friendships, shared kindnesses which have brought so much good into our lives in so many ways, and yet…we’re still stuck in the same position we were in before – Beth having kept her job, but unable to find a way to have the life she and Jack so deserve, Tam without a home or the means to get one, and you, William…’ She sent a warm look in his direction. ‘Perhaps beginning to move on with a part of your life and yet unable to resolve an issue from your past. And once I’d realised all that, then the rest was easy. Because if the reason we’ve all come so far is each other, then we’re also the reason to go even further. Because, as someone very wise once said, if it’s not all right in the end, then it’s not the end…’

Beth leaned across the table to give Frankie’s hand a squeeze. ‘Which is when, I suspect, she rang me. Isn’t that right, Frankie?’ At Frankie’s shy nod, she continued. ‘And what she had to say made a lot of sense, at least it did when I stopped arguing, telling her all the reasons why it wouldn’t work, and instead started thinking about all the ways in which it might. Because what I didn’t know at the time was that Tam had lost his job. And what he didn’t know was that despite having kept my job at the hospital, Jack and I were in a worse position than ever before.

‘I should have realised that Tam was at the farm not because he was on holiday, as he claimed, but instead that his holiday had started on the day he had his review at work. I should have realised it was no coincidence. Frankie felt awful about breaking her promise to Tam – not telling me he’d lost his job – but she was right to do so.’

Tam, who had been about to snaffle a brownie of his own, sat back with a broad smile on his face. ‘And I forgive you, Frankie, obviously…You see, I was worried that if Beth knew I’d lost my job, she’d feel even more awkward about the fact she couldn’t pay me for the work I was doing. She might also feel that I was taking advantage of them – working at the farm when it suited me, only to take off the minute I got another job, leaving Jack to flounder again. I couldn’t do that to them.’

‘A fact I very helpfully all but pointed out to Tam in case he didn’t come to the conclusion himself. Because I was worried that we were taking advantage of him . Using him for free labour, because there was no way we could pay him. And given how badly he’d been taken advantage of in the past, I wasn’t going to have him think we were doing the same. So there we both were, both fearing we were taking advantage, and it was all a bit of a pickle really.’ She gave William a wry smile. ‘It took Frankie to point out that taking advantage needn’t necessarily be a bad thing. In fact, the clue was in the name. What we needed to do was to take the advantage that was being given to us. So, I offered Tam a job.’

‘The pay is rubbish,’ said Tam. ‘Actually, there’s no pay. But we hope in time there will be. But what I do get is full board and lodging…that’s all the cake I can eat, and the chance to do something I love, working on the farm. The downside is that while Beth is out working her new day shift, I get to look after Jack, but…fortunately, I really like him, so it’s not a problem. I’ve been working as a carer, after all, so that side of things isn’t much different from what I’ve been doing. It’s a win-win. We just needed to put our pride in the bin and see the solution that was staring us in the face. And it’s all thanks to Frankie.’ He picked up a brownie, saluted her with it and then took an enormous bite.

William beamed at her. ‘I knew there was something about you the minute I saw you…’

‘You did not. The remains of my sandwich were all over the floor and I suspect I was very rude to you.’

William waggled his head from side to side. ‘Okay, maybe not the first time…But soon. It was very soon after that.’

Frankie caught Beth’s eye and grinned. ‘I’m just so pleased for you. I’m glad it all worked out.’

‘It has,’ Beth replied. ‘But we didn’t come here just to tell you about our situation.’

Tam leaned forward. ‘No, because after Frankie rang Beth, she made another phone call, to me. Another little idea she’d had, and one I was happy to help with. Have a cake, William, you haven’t got one yet.’

William looked up, clearly perplexed by the tone in Tam’s voice.

‘Frankie didn’t tell me all the details, William, because they’re not hers to tell, but I’d be daft if I hadn’t realised there was more to your interest in Stuart and his grey van than simply being a concerned citizen, or a diligent employee. And all that cloak-and-dagger stuff…’ William held up a hand to interrupt, but Tam shook his head. ‘Let me tell you something first.’ He took another bite of his brownie. ‘I couldn’t remember all the details of where we went and what we looked at, so I did a bit of backtracking and I wrote it all down. I won’t do anything about it yet, because the one thing we need to be sure of is that, when I do, there can be no repercussions for you, William. So, I thought that perhaps in a few months’ time, when you might have been able to distance yourself from the nest of Vipers, I could put in a call to the local police and tell them everything I know. As a concerned member of the public who happens to use the car park, I think it’s my duty, don’t you? I also think the police will be very interested to hear what I have to say.’

William shook his head incredulously. ‘I can’t believe you’d do that for me. Why even would you?’

‘So you won’t have to,’ answered Tam simply. ‘I don’t need to know why it’s difficult for you to go to the police yourself. But I was just as much a witness as you were, except that I have absolutely nothing to lose in telling them. Your name won’t even be mentioned, to anyone.’

William swallowed, his hand, Frankie noticed, shaking as he ran it through his hair. ‘I don’t know what to say,’ he said. ‘Thank you doesn’t even begin to cover it.’ He looked at Frankie, his eyes a mixture of emotions, but very clear, top of the list, was how he felt about her. Blinking suddenly, he tore his gaze away. ‘Actually, I do know what to say. Because keeping secret the details of my interest in Stuart is wrong – it’s not the way friends behave. You’ve done something so selfless, so generous, you deserve to know why.’

And so, with a halting voice, William told his story. About Louise, about his son, and about prison too. And when he had finished, just as Frankie knew there would be, her friends’ faces were filled with nothing but compassion and understanding. Here, in this little bakery, among the battered tins and dented work surfaces, Frankie had found what she thought she’d never have, and she hugged the thought to her, knowing that whatever else they might have to face in the future, they had each other. And really, that was all that mattered.

‘And what about you, Frankie?’ asked Beth softly. ‘Keeper of friendships and weaver of dreams, what about your future? You can’t leave this place, we won’t allow it.’

‘Ah…’ said Frankie. ‘Well, I don’t know for certain I’ll have to, so, until I find out, I’ll just have to make the most of the time I’ve got. I had thought I might have found a way to turn things around, but it wasn’t to be.’ She smiled sadly, looking down at her plate. She didn’t think she could say much more.

Tam cleared his throat. ‘Actually, there’s something else I need to say,’ he said. ‘Something that I need to tell Frankie. Something that only I know, but we’re not all here yet, so…’ He looked towards the door and then down at his watch. ‘Perhaps we should just talk among ourselves for a few minutes.’ He gave a sheepish grin.

‘Tam, you’re making it sound like there’s been a murder or something,’ said Beth, tutting with amusement. ‘And we’re all waiting for the detective to come in and reveal the big dark secret.’ She looked at the blank faces around her. ‘Okay, just me then. Never mind.’ She waved a hand in Tam’s direction. ‘As you were.’

He shrugged. ‘I promise I don’t have a big dark secret, so—’ He stopped, looking startled. ‘It’s not dark, anyway…’

Beth waved her brownie in the air. ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, Tam, out with it.’

‘No, honestly, I?—’

‘Wait a minute,’ said Frankie. ‘What was that?’ She frowned. ‘It sounded like…’ She jumped up from the table. ‘Bugger…’

‘Was that the front door?’ asked William, also getting to his feet.

Evidently it was, because Frankie hadn’t even gone three steps before Vivienne appeared through the doorway. Frankie’s hand flew to her mouth.

‘Vivienne! Oh God…I’m so sorry. I can explain, we were just…’ She gestured to the table behind her where her three friends were still sitting. She was about to make an excuse when she stopped herself. Admittedly, she ought not to have them here during work time, but she wasn’t going to lie about them. ‘We’ve just had some good news, and my friends brought in some cakes so we could celebrate. But I’ll go without my break later to make up the time.’

‘Hello, Beth,’ said Vivienne, dipping her head. ‘And Tam, William…Please, sit down again. I’ll join you, if I may.’

Frankie stared at her. ‘How do you know…?’ She looked at William, and then at Beth, but they looked as astonished as she did. Only Tam was still smiling.

‘I won’t stay long,’ said Vivienne. ‘Because it’s way past my bedtime, and I’m sorry I’m late. I couldn’t find my damn car keys.’ She shook her head. ‘Never mind.’

Frankie waited until Vivienne had taken a seat before joining her at the table, throwing William a horrified glance. She had no idea what was going on.

‘These look lovely,’ said Vivienne, peering into the cake tin. ‘May I?’

‘Yes, please do,’ said Beth, blinking hard. She looked stunned.

‘I’ll probably get horrific indigestion eating this late, but you know what they say? Life’s too short…’ She smiled. ‘Anyway, I won’t keep you, Frankie. I expect you’re wondering how I know the names of your friends, but before I let Tam explain, I should tell you that I’m here tonight because he asked me to come, and I readily agreed. The circumstances are very special indeed.’ She took a brownie from the tin and laid it on a plate which Beth quickly pushed towards her. ‘What Beth and William don’t know is that before they both came to see me today, I’d had a call from you, Frankie. Do you know, I never did get to deliver those magazines. No matter.’ She shook her head. ‘Frankie, do you want to tell them what you asked me?’

Frankie could feel her cheeks beginning to blush furiously. ‘Um…I asked if you might consider me running the bakery for you, instead of you selling it. Because I’d like to buy it one day.’ She swallowed, aware that both William and Beth were staring at her.

‘Yes,’ replied Vivienne. ‘But sadly, I need the money from the sale of the business in order to move, so I had to turn Frankie down. You were very eloquent, though – I wish I hadn’t had to.’

Under the table, Frankie felt William’s hand slip into her own. ‘You were very kind,’ she replied. ‘And I knew it was a long shot. Worth asking though.’ She gave a tight smile to hide her disappointment.

‘It was,’ replied Vivienne. ‘And I was still thinking about it when my doorbell rang, and I opened it to find Beth on my doorstep. She asked me pretty much the same thing – whether there was any way to ensure that Frankie could carry on working here. She was very eloquent, too.’ She smiled at Beth, who went bright pink. ‘And then there was William, who arrived about forty minutes later. He was the most eloquent of all.’ She smiled at Tam. ‘Not that you weren’t, dear, you were, but William…Let’s just say I could see he had a special reason for asking. So that’s partly why I came here tonight, Frankie – because I thought it was important for you to know what wonderful friends you have. None of them knew you had already been in touch with me, nor did they know that the others had either, or that they planned to. Yet they had each tracked me down, and came, separately, to plead your case. I was incredibly touched by that.’

Frankie’s nose was beginning to smart. She had a horrible feeling she would burst into tears, and she gripped onto William’s hand as if her life depended on it. She nodded, and that was all she could manage. Words were quite beyond her.

‘Perhaps Tam might like to explain the rest,’ added Vivienne. ‘While I eat this delicious-looking cake.’

Tam cleared his throat again, his eyes shining. ‘So, I already mentioned that Frankie phoned me earlier today to ask for my help, but she also asked me for some advice, and although she didn’t say why, it was easy to guess what her motives were. She asked me whether at some point in the future I could help her write a business plan and apply for a bank loan. She also wanted to check that if I was given a set of accounts for a business, that I’d be able to tell her how well that business was doing. My answer to all those questions was yes, of course. It was something William had said to her, she explained, about her wanting to be the driver in her life instead of just the passenger. I think that’s something we’ve all felt keenly over recent weeks. And so of course, as soon as I ended the call, I knew exactly what I needed to do.’

He reached inside his jacket pocket, took out an envelope and laid it on the table. It was a little battered and looked as if it had been opened several times. ‘Chris gave this to me, and I’d almost forgotten I had it. It wasn’t until I stayed over at Beth’s that first night that it fell out of a library book. But…’ He smiled at Frankie. ‘I think you should be the one to read it first.’

Frankie eyed the envelope as if it were a ticking bomb, brow furrowed into puzzled creases.

‘Go on,’ urged Tam. ‘It’s okay.’

Conscious that all eyes were on her, Frankie opened it, drawing out the sheet of thick cream paper. ‘It’s from a firm of solicitors,’ she said, peering at the letterhead. ‘In Cambridge.’ Her eyes tracked further down the page, widening in shock as she read on.

‘What does it say?’ asked Beth, all but grabbing her arm.

‘Oh my God, that’s incredible news, Tam. I’m so happy for you! It’s Eleanor, his friend from the nursing home, the lady who died. She’s left him some money in her will.’ She did burst into tears then, clapping her hand over her mouth to stifle the noise she was making. ‘Sorry…’

‘I didn’t do anything special,’ said Tam. ‘And I didn’t believe it at first, but I went to see Eleanor’s family, or what’s left of it – just a daughter – but it’s real. That’s where I was yesterday. Beth thought I’d gone to work, but instead I drove down to Cambridge to meet her. I’m sorry I couldn’t be here for you when you met Robert, Frankie, but I made the judgement that this might be something I needed to do.’

Frankie waved aside his apology. ‘You were a friend to Eleanor, Tam, at a time in her life when she needed it the most. There’s no one more deserving.’ She could see his eyes beginning to fill with tears and she gave him an embarrassed smile.

He stretched his face, blinking and sniffing. ‘It was important to me that I had Margaret’s blessing – that’s Eleanor’s daughter – and she gave it to me. Said her mum had always been a good judge of character.’ His voice was beginning to break a little and he took a deep breath. ‘Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. Some people might say it’s not a huge amount of money, but to me,it’s everything. It’s exactly enough. Because there’s enough to pay for a few things on the farm, Beth – an all-terrain wheelchair for one, and a trailer, ’cause Jack’s going to need one of those. And it’s also enough to pay for this…’ He opened his arms a little. ‘I’ve bought the bakery for you, Frankie. It’s yours. You get to stay. You get to do whatever you want with it.’

Frankie’s chair made a hideous scraping noise against the floor, but she didn’t care. She scrambled to her feet, pulling Tam from his chair and into the fiercest of hugs.

It took a few moments for her to realise that someone else had got to their feet. ‘Frankie, I couldn’t be happier,’ said Vivienne. ‘I know without a shadow of a doubt that you’ll make a go of things here. So perhaps in a few moments, when I’m gone and you’ve all caught your breath, you can open this.’ She took out a bottle from her bag and placed it on the table. ‘I wouldn’t normally encourage drinking at work, but on this occasion…Perhaps you’d better put a sign on the door for the morning, saying you might be a little late opening. I’m sure folks won’t mind…just this once.’ She smiled and turned to go. ‘I should tell you, too, that you’ve made me a very happy woman. My husband and I viewed the most perfect house at the weekend, and now, if we’re quick, we might just be in time to buy it.’ She waved a hand in farewell. ‘Now get that champagne open. I’ll see myself out…’

It was quite some time before any of them could speak properly. But there were lots of tears, and hugs, and so much excitement, that anyone walking past would have wondered what was going on.

As yet, there’d been no baking at all, but that would come, in time…

Frankie was the first to sink back down at the table. She still couldn’t believe any of what had happened, but she only had to look at the faces around her to know that it had. True friends. The best of friends.

‘You know, this all started because of you, Frankie,’ said Beth. ‘A little nightingale, the symbol of love and renewal. You started a chain of kindness that just kept on growing. It’s right that we should be here tonight. All of us.’ She looked at each of them in turn, smiling.

‘What will you do, now that Duggan’s is yours?’ asked Tam as he busied himself finding glasses and opening the bottle of champagne. ‘Apart from think of a better name, that is.’

Frankie grinned. ‘I have a list…But one of the first things will be to get some tables in here so people can sit in. And open up at night, when everything else is closed.’ She directed a warm look at Tam. ‘I’ve realised how important that is.’ She paused for a moment. ‘There is one other thing, too…’ She lifted herself out of her seat and leaned across the table, taking William’s head in her hands, and kissing him gently. ‘I’d like to offer you a job, William. You’re turning out to be a damn fine baker, and I’m going to need an extra pair of hands. There’s no one I’d rather have by my side.’

He pulled back gently. ‘Will there be croissants for breakfast? Those raspberry and white chocolate ones?’

Frankie smiled. ‘Always…’

‘In that case…I’m happy to accept.’

‘So, what shall we drink to then?’ asked Tam, filling everyone’s glass. ‘There’s quite a lot to choose from.’

‘Let’s drink to all of it,’ said Beth. ‘To the bakery.’

‘To the farm,’ said Tam.

‘To friendship,’ said Frankie.

‘To love,’ said William. He was about to sip his champagne when Frankie laid her hand on his.

‘There’s one missing,’ she said. ‘To hope. Let’s drink to hope…’

And that, is exactly what they did.