Chapter 6
IZZI
When Izzi approached the Candy Apple Café the following evening, she could see a few members of the Candy Apple Lassies had arrived and were seated on the two long sofas chatting while Cupcake was slumped on the ground beside their feet.
As she walked through the door, she spotted Cameron standing behind the glass counter, looking stressed as he frowned at a pile of envelopes which Izzi knew had arrived earlier that day. Maud had opened a couple and had looked upset, but when Izzi had asked her why, she’d brushed it off.
‘Everything okay?’ she asked Cameron as she approached, inhaling the scent of pecan pie and cinnamon rolls as she unwound her woolly scarf from her neck.
She hadn’t seen Cameron since the night before when he’d shared what had happened with his business partner, Sophie.
Izzi wasn’t sure if he regretted the confidence, because following the exchange – after she’d shared her idea about saving his grandma’s Halloween – he’d excused himself and had gone to bed.
Leaving her alone in his kitchen to finish the pumpkin cake – which was a sign that he wasn’t expecting her to steal his cutlery at least.
‘You’re late. I’ve no idea how to use that damn machine, Flora had to fill in when everyone wanted hot drinks,’ Cameron muttered as she went to join him behind the counter and hung up her scarf and coat before checking on the women on the sofas who were talking, oblivious to her arrival.
‘I’m sorry, I had to change clothes and shower after my shift. Where’s your grandma?’ Izzi glanced towards the kitchen, expecting to see the older woman come bounding out. They’d spoken this afternoon about meeting at the café, and Maud had been excited about introducing Izzi to her friends.
‘She’s running late too. She asked me to hold the fort. Now you’re here, I’ll—’ He jerked his chin towards the exit.
‘No, please,’ Izzi said rapidly, surprising them both.
She wasn’t usually nervous around new people.
Her mum had ensured they went out enough to be comfortable around crowds.
Plus, she’d lived with the grumpiest person in the whole of England, so could definitely hold her own, but this was different.
‘I don’t know anyone apart from Flora,’ she whispered, glancing at the sofas.
‘And surely this is the perfect time for us to talk about the Halloween idea?’
‘I guess.’ He grimaced but nodded. ‘I’ve been thinking, though. I’m not sure we’ve got enough time to organise everything,’ he said quietly. ‘There’s a lot to do and how are we supposed to arrange a festival without my grandma hearing about it. It’ll be far better if it’s a surprise.’
‘Why?’ Izzi asked.
‘It has to be or she’ll insist it’s not necessary, or that we’re too busy.
She’ll make sure it doesn’t go ahead. I once tried to arrange a surprise birthday party for her and she found out and insisted I cancelled,’ Cameron shared.
‘She was raised not to make a fuss. You’ve no idea how determined she can be, I don’t want to take the chance. ’
Izzi shrugged. ‘Okay. But I think we can do it if enough people are involved. You’d be surprised at what a bunch of women can do when they put their minds to it,’ she said, nodding towards the sofa. ‘Just stay until Maud arrives. Let’s share our idea and see if the others think it’s possible?’
Cameron looked at her thoughtfully. ‘I still don’t understand what you’ve got to gain from helping organise this.
’ He stared at her face, his blue eyes boring into hers.
He didn’t look so suspicious now – more baffled – which was progress.
After he’d shared what had happened with Sophie, she felt like she understood him a little more.
‘I would have thought that was obvious,’ she said lightly, thinking about how she genuinely liked Maud and wanted to make her happy. Wanted to do something to help to alleviate Cameron’s guilt too.
Also, it wouldn’t hurt to work closely with some of the locals – she might bump into her mystery relative, or at least find the person who looked like her.
‘A Halloween festival will involve lots of baking,’ she whispered, ‘which will give me even more chances to get my hands on your La Cornue.’ She waggled her eyebrows, then headed out from behind the counter, and was pleased to hear him chuckle quietly as he followed.
She did a little skip because it made her happy to hear that sound.
There were four women sitting on the sofa drinking hot chocolate piled with whipped cream and eating some of the cinnamon-dusted pastries Maud had baked especially for the meeting.
The pumpkin cake Izzi had finished the evening before was sitting next to a plate of apple-cider doughnuts on the coffee table in front of them.
It was stored in a glass dome that Izzi had found after checking through Cameron’s cupboards.
She was pleased with the cake – although she’d make some changes on her next attempt, adding more subtle tints to the orange and perhaps even a curly green stem.
But she was looking forward to seeing what the women thought of the flavour.
She was hoping Cameron would compliment it too.
As they approached, Flora glanced up and beamed.
‘Izzi, you’re here!’ she said, rising so she could give her a kiss on both cheeks.
‘Everyone, this is Maud’s new baker. She’s covering temporarily for Skye while she’s away and she’s brilliant!
’ she gushed, tugging Izzi to the sofa and encouraging her to sit.
The older woman’s kaftan was a warm bronze colour, which matched the pumpkin cake and made Izzi think of Halloween.
‘I hope you’ve settled into the café okay.
Don’t forget you still need to visit me in my gemstone shop! ’
‘I will,’ Izzi promised.
‘Let me introduce you to two of the founding members of the Candy Apple Lassies.’ Flora pointed a finger at a grey-haired woman with a kind face who winked.
‘This is Fenella Grant who works at The Hot Chocolate Hotel, and this is Erin MacRae – she runs the corner shop on the high street and she’s mother to Scott who part-owns the hotel.
There’s a lot of drama in there at the moment and I’m not just talking about the guests.
’ She raised an eyebrow. ‘I’m sure you’ll hear more about it as the evening progresses. ’
Erin was curvy and not very tall. Her hair was short and a silver colour.
She wore a black suit and was elegant and attractive.
She picked up one of the doughnuts and took a tiny bite.
‘It’s grand to meet you, lass,’ she said, offering a hand as she studied Izzi.
‘You’re single, aren’t you? How do you feel about changing that? My son Scott’s very handsome.’
‘Well…’ Izzi flushed.
‘Stop with the matchmaking,’ Cameron said gruffly.
‘Izzi isn’t staying in Honey Haven for long enough to give you grandchildren and I’m fairly sure she’s not looking to fall in love.
Not with a human anyway – you might want to watch her around your household appliances, though,’ he said, making Izzi laugh.
Cameron really was quite funny once you saw beyond that grumpy exterior. She was going to make it her mission to get him to show more of his lighter side. Perhaps the Halloween festival would help with that too?
‘Where are you going once Skye returns?’ Erin asked.
‘I’ve got a potential job in a bakery in London after Christmas,’ Izzi admitted. She wasn’t going to mention that they wanted her to start earlier as she wasn’t sure what Cameron would make of that.
‘That’s a shame,’ Erin said meaningfully, then bit into the pastry again as the fourth woman offered Izzi her hand.
‘I’m Jade McDonald. I run the beauty salon – you might have seen it on the high street?’ She gave Izzi a broad grin. She was beautiful, around mid-twenties, about the same age as Izzi, and her skin was peachy and flawless.
‘I walked past it. I’m definitely going to pop in to get my toes done soon,’ Izzi said.
Jade beamed at her. ‘Make sure you do – the first time will be on the house. I’ll look forward to getting to know you properly.’ She cocked her head. ‘You look familiar. Have we met before?’
‘I don’t think so,’ Izzi said as her heart pumped with excitement. ‘Why, do I remind you of someone?’
Jade looked unsure. ‘I’m not sure, there’s something about your jawline.’
‘I thought the same,’ Flora agreed. ‘But I couldn’t place why.’
‘I think Izzi just has one of those faces,’ Cameron replied, deflecting the women’s attention which she was grateful for. Although Izzi wasn’t sure what to make of his comment. Was he making fun of her? When she glanced at him, he looked sheepish.
‘We’ve all been admiring your workmanship,’ Erin said, pointing at the pumpkin cake.
‘It’s really quite something,’ Flora agreed. ‘We didn’t want to dig in before everyone got here. There’s only the four of us at the moment, not counting Cameron. Seems the rest of our group are running late like Maud.’
‘It’s lovely to meet you all,’ Izzi said, taking them all in.
There would be a lot of names to remember by the end of the evening, but she was usually good at remembering faces. ‘Before Maud comes, I wanted to ask— Actually –’ She glanced at Cameron who was staring at her now. ‘– we both wanted to ask what you thought about an idea we had.’
‘It was Izzi’s idea,’ Cameron said flatly. ‘I don’t deserve the credit. Especially since it’s my fault we need to do it in the first place.’
Flora gave him a sympathetic look and picked up the plate of doughnuts and offered them to him. ‘Are you talking about your gran not being able to take that trip to New Orleans with you, lad?’ she asked as he took one and bit into it. ‘You know she doesn’t blame you.’
Erin nodded and got up so she could squeeze his shoulder. He flushed and shook his head. It was clear Cameron didn’t want to be forgiven. He’d taken the blame for what had happened with Sophie and wasn’t ready to give it up.
‘We thought we could surprise her with a Halloween festival at the end of the month,’ Izzi told the women, hoping if they pulled it off, he might feel a bit better about himself.
‘I’m not sure exactly what they do in New Orleans, but we could make an event of it – things like a parade, spooky costumes, sweet treats, maybe a haunted castle and bonfire too? ’
‘That’s a brilliant idea,’ Erin said, nodding as her face brightened. ‘We could get everyone in Honey Haven to take part. If word spreads, we might attract some new single women to the area too.’ Her eyes lit.
Flora rolled her eyes. ‘Erin MacRae, you’re incorrigible.’ She laughed.
Her friend frowned. ‘You wait until you want grandchildren. They don’t grow on trees. Especially when your son refuses to date anyone because he’s still pining over his no-good ex-fiancée,’ she grumbled.
‘Aye well, sometimes you just need to let true love run its course,’ Flora said wisely. ‘I’ve read your lad’s tea leaves and something or someone’s going to catch his attention before Christmas.’
Erin sniffed. ‘I’m not sure I believe in all that tea-leaf nonsense.’
‘Give it time,’ Flora said clearly unoffended.
‘On the subject of the parade, we could ask Violet to mention it to the primary school,’ Jade said.
‘She’s a teacher there,’ she explained to Izzi.
‘Perhaps the school could ask the children to dress up. Maybe even the parents might want to be involved… Violet’s coming tonight, so we can ask her then. ’ She nodded enthusiastically.
‘I’m sure we can research some traditional Scottish themes,’ Flora said thoughtfully. ‘Make it a combined New Orleans and Honey Haven event.’
‘Aye, when I was a lass, we used to carve turnips instead of pumpkins and my ma used to make treacle cakes too.’ Erin grinned. ‘They were delicious.’
‘I’ll find a recipe. I’m happy to create all the food,’ Izzi promised. ‘So, do you think it’s possible? We’ve got until the end of the month. It would be such a lovely surprise for Maud.’
Flora nodded. ‘Leave it with us, lass; we’ll talk to the rest of the women in the Candy Apple Lassies.
Perhaps you could come and visit me in my shop in a couple of days and we can discuss details.
’ Her eyes shot to Cameron. ‘The invitation includes you, lad,’ she said sternly.
‘I can read your tea leaves for you at the same time.’ She flashed him a smile.
‘If you’d let me do it before, I probably could have helped save you from your cheating partner… ’
‘Aye, well, that would have been useful.’ He looked relieved when the door dinged and Maud shouted, ‘Hello!’
‘I think that’s my cue to go to the pub,’ he said before his eyes slid to Izzi. ‘Good luck.’ Then he left hurriedly, taking the dog with him. Izzi should have been relieved, but the café felt oddly empty when he’d gone.
She was growing way too fond of her grumpy landlord. She needed to focus on why she was in Honey Haven. To find her mystery relative, not lose herself in a set of haunted blue eyes.