Chapter Six
P unching the buttons on the till again, Tilly scrunched up her nose as once again the drawer failed to open. Looking back up at the man standing on the other side of the counter, Tilly grimaced. ‘I’m so sorry. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong.’
‘Don’t worry about the change. Pop it in a charity pot or something.’ The man picked up the paper bag full of rolls on the counter and headed towards the door.
‘Sorry.’ Tilly called after him. Drat. He must have only been her third customer and the first paying cash. She was failing already.
‘Everything okay?’ Sidling across to her, Brooke frowned. ‘Is the till playing up again?’
‘I must have pressed something I shouldn’t have. Sorry.’ Holding the five-pound note her customer had given her in one hand, she punched in the amount again. And again the till buzzed, the drawer staying stubbornly closed.
‘It’s not you. It was playing up yesterday, too.
Ian has already taken a look, but he couldn’t fix it.
I think Elsie’s going to ring someone to come out and fix it.
There is a trick, though. Budge along.’ As soon as Tilly had stepped aside, Brooke jammed the drawer against her hip and watched as it slid slowly open.
‘Thanks.’ Tilly slipped the note into the till.
At least it wasn’t her fault. She hadn’t broken the till.
She glanced towards the open doorway. A small queue had formed, with the last few customers snaking out of the bakery and onto the cobbles.
She’d had no idea what to expect and hadn’t realised just how busy it would get.
If she had, she might have declined Elsie’s offer altogether and chosen to sleep in her car over socialising with this many people at once.
Turning, she picked up the glass of water she placed on the back counter earlier and took a large gulp.
She could do this. She didn’t have a choice now; she was already in the situation.
She could hardly discard her apron and stalk out now, could she?
‘You okay?’ Brooke frowned.
‘Yes, sorry. It’s just been a long time since...’ Tilly waved her hand around the bakery, taking in the tables and chairs beyond the queue, which filled the space between the counter and the wedding counter at the far side of the bakery.
‘No worries. Did you want to go and take five minutes?’ Brooke rubbed Tilly’s arm.
Taking a deep breath, Tilly shook her head.
Nope, if she was going to get over her fear of mixing with others, her habit of keeping herself to herself, then the best thing for her was to jump all in.
Besides, this was good practice for when she got a proper job.
She needed this. And judging by the number of customers, Brooke and Lynsey needed her to stay, too. ‘No, thanks though.’
‘Okay. You’ve got this.’ Brooke stepped in front of her and signalled her to serve the couple she was about to. ‘Here, you serve Percy and Maeve. They’re the best.’
Nodding, she stepped forward, placing her palms on the counter, the coolness of the surface welcome against her warm skin. ‘Good morning, how can I help you today?’
‘Hello, sweetheart. You must be new here, is that right?’ Maeve perched an oversized handbag on the counter.
‘Yes, that’s right.’
‘In that case, let’s not be rude, Percy. Let’s introduce ourselves.’ Maeve held her hand across her chest before indicating her husband. ‘I’m Maeve and this is my husband, Percy.’
‘Hi, lovely to meet you both. I’m Tilly.’
‘Welcome to the bay, Tilly.’ Percy took her hand, clasping hers in his, his handshake both stronger than he looked and warm. ‘Will you be here long?’
‘Oh, I’m not too sure. I haven’t ironed out any details yet.’ Ha, that was an understatement if ever there was one. Taking her hand back, Tilly tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. ‘How about you two? Have you lived here long?’
‘Funny you should ask that.’ Percy stroked his beard. ‘We both grew up here, lived here for years, didn’t we, love?’
‘We did.’ Maeve smiled warmly.
‘And then off we went to Spain. The plan was to spend our retirement there, wasn’t it?’ He looked fondly at his wife.
‘Well, you see all the shows on the telly, don’t you? People looking around houses in the sun, escaping overseas for a life of relaxation and we thought we could do with a little of that peace and relaxation, didn’t we?’
‘Yep. We did.’ Percy nodded enthusiastically before leaning closer as if he were about to tell her some secret. ‘Until we realised the grass isn’t always greener on the other side and, in fact, the grass is pretty damn green right here in the bay.’
‘So you’re back living here then?’ Tilly wasn’t sure she’d have packed up a life abroad to return to England, however beautiful it was around here.
‘We are.’ Maeve nodded before lowering her voice. ‘I wouldn’t rather be anywhere in the world other than Penworth Bay. Of course, family was a deciding factor too. But we would have done, anyway.’
‘Can’t keep away from the place, can we?’ Percy leaned towards Maeve and kissed her on the cheek. ‘And the family, of course.’
Tilly nodded. The word ‘family’ stung her, and she reminded herself that, yes, she might not have any living relatives now, but she was lucky to have been so close to Aunt Gwennie, and those precious years will always be a part of her. ‘That must be nice.’
‘It is, sweetheart.’ Maeve glanced at her husband before tapping the glass front of the counter. ‘Talking of which, we’d better actually buy what we came in for and get back.’
‘Yes, yes, true. Right, we’ll have a loaf of your sourdough and three of those delicious-looking jam doughnuts, please?’
‘Coming right up.’ Picking up a paper bag from the pile next to the till, Tilly filled the bag. Maybe Aunt Gwen was right; there was something special about this place. After all, to give up the dream of retiring abroad, there must be something about it.
Turning back, she passed across the bags. ‘That’ll be nine forty-five, please?’
‘Here you go, sweetheart. Hope to see you around.’ Maeve placed a collection of coins in her hand before sliding the bags into her oversized handbag.
‘Thank you.’ Turning to the till, Tilly copied what Brooke had shown her and watched as the till drawer flew open, ready to swallow the money.
With the coins now secure and the sale complete, Tilly looked towards the next customer and froze.
She recognised that mousy brown floppy fringe, those deep hazel eyes.
.. Stifling a gasp, she dropped to her knees behind the counter.
She couldn’t serve him. She couldn’t serve the man she rammed into with her car.
What if Elsie decided she wasn’t a good fit for the bakery?
What if Isaac had found out where she was working and had come in to complain?
‘Tilly? Are you okay down there?’ Brooke tilted her head and looked at her, a wave of confusion clouding her face.
‘Er, yes. I think I dropped some change.’ Tilly replied weakly. Her cover was blown; she’d given Isaac her name, he’d know it was her hiding.
‘Oh, don’t worry about looking for it. If we’re down in takings later, we can take a look then.’ Brooke grinned before continuing to serve her customer.
‘Uh-huh.’ Her face felt as though it was on fire as Tilly slowly stood back up, and just like she was afraid, she came face-to-face with Isaac, who was standing on the opposite side of the counter wearing an expression of pure amusement.
Well, that confirmed her suspicions, he knew she’d been trying to avoid him.
Clearing her throat, she smoothed down her apron. ‘Sorry, runaway coin.’
Isaac nodded as though he understood. ‘Those pesky coins.’
‘Err...yeah.’ Nodding, Tilly placed her hands on her hips. She could feel her face burning with embarrassment, and it was all she could do not to run from the bakery and away from the man she’d driven into yesterday.
‘How’s the car?’
Jerking her head, she met his eyes, relieved to see the glimmer of amusement still intact. At least he looked as though he were teasing her. Of course, it might be anger. Did he look angry? ‘Sorry, I should have asked, how’s your foot? And again, I’m so, so sorry for what happened yesterday.’
Looking away, he chuckled. ‘My foot’s just fine, thank you. A little bruised but nothing that won’t heal.’
‘It is bruised?’ He’d mentioned he was expecting it just to bruise up yesterday, but she’d still hoped he’d get it x-rayed. ‘You really should go to the hospital just in case.’
‘Nah, honestly, it’s fine.’ He tilted his head and met her eyes, his deep hazel ones locking onto hers. ‘I only asked as I wasn’t sure you’d remember me.’
Opening her mouth to speak, Tilly closed it again stopping herself from blurting out that she’d recognise him anywhere, that his hair, with its wayward lock, and the deep colour of his eyes were scorched into her memory.
And not just because she’d mowed him down with her Fiat 500, but because, for some reason she couldn’t explain, she’d struggled to think of anything else. ‘I remember you.’
Isaac smiled, his eyes once again lighting up. ‘In that case, how are you enjoying the bay? I’m guessing you’re one of Elsie’s volunteers? I’ve not seen you around here before. Not that I’ve been here that long myself. Not this time around anyway.’
‘Yes, I am.’ Tilly nodded. ‘I’m hoping to do some exploring after the bakery closes today.’
‘Great. I’m sure you’ll like what you see.’ Isaac glanced over his shoulder, as though he was only just becoming aware of the growing queue behind him. ‘I suppose I should order and let you get on.’
‘Right, yes.’ She also looked across at the queue. She’d almost forgotten why she was here; she’d been so focused on the man in front of her. ‘What can I get you?’
Shifting on the spot, he looked down at the baked goods behind the glass. ‘I’ll take two of your chocolate chip cookies, please?’
‘Certainly.’ Taking a paper bag, Tilly quickly filled it with two cookies before passing them across. ‘That’s two twenty please?’
‘Thanks.’ After tapping his card against the machine, he picked up his bag and turned before glancing over his shoulder and waving.
‘Aw no, that was Isaac Mockett, wasn’t it?’ Lynsey nodded towards Isaac’s retreating back as he stepped out of the door. ‘Elsie wanted to speak to him.’
‘Oh, yes, it was. Sorry, I didn’t know.’ Tilly picked up another paper bag so that she was ready for her next customer.
‘No worries. She’ll give him a call.’ Lynsey reached around her and picked up a loaf of bread from the bread basket positioned at the end of the counter.
‘Okay.’ Tilly tore her eyes from Isaac as he was swallowed up by a large throng of tourists with beach towels draped over their arms and holding picnic baskets in their hands.
‘Watch out, we have a coachload of tourists incoming.’ Lynsey nodded towards the door.
Yikes. She wasn’t wrong. At least half of the throng of people Tilly had seen suddenly paused outside on the cobbles, pointed towards the bakery and then descended. Talk about being thrown into the deep end.