‘Hey, Lou.’
‘What’s wrong?’ Louise asked, immediately on alert at Abbie’s distressed tone. She was in her cottage. After she’d had breakfast at Brew, she had gone for a walk, then changed into her comfiest clothes and curled up on the sofa for the afternoon, determined to make the most of her day off, by not doing anything. She sat up, waiting to hear what was going on.
‘You were right about Jack.’
‘What’s happened?’
Louise listened as Abbie spoke in a rush, evidently upset, and told her that Jack had been lying about going into the office every day. He had in fact been suspended, Abbie told her – suspected of using company expenses for his own ends.
‘No way!’ Louise cried, shaking her head although she was on the phone. ‘I can’t believe it.’
‘I just confronted him about it, and he confirmed it all. He’s a liar, and a thief. I can’t believe that I trusted him, and that I dropped everything to come back here with him.’
‘I’m so sorry, Abbie,’ Louise said, hating that she had been right about Jack. She had never trusted him, but even she wouldn’t have thought him capable of that. ‘Where are you now?’
‘I just got back to the flat to pack up my things. He’s in a bar drowning his sorrows. Turns out I didn’t know him at all.’
‘Ugh, Abbie, what an utter dick. Seriously. You are so much better off without him,’ Louise said, her heart going out to her sister. After all, she knew exactly how much it hurt when someone you loved let you down. Abbie’s experience with Jack made her feel better for sticking to her no-romance vow. ‘You’re coming straight back here, okay?’
Abbie sighed. ‘I don’t know, Lou. I do need to find a job and I couldn’t when I was in Littlewood; maybe I should stay in the city.’
‘But you were happy here. And you were working at Huntley Manor. Thomas still needs you. I was going to call you actually. He bought you something and he’s given it to me because he didn’t think he’d see you again. I’m going to text you a photo of it. I think it will make you see that you belong here. We all miss you.’
‘I miss you too.’ Abbie’s voice broke a little. ‘Listen, I’d better get packing. I don’t want to see Jack again.’
‘Then get straight on a train and I’ll pick you up from the station?’
‘I’ll think about it.’ Abbie hung up and Louise immediately went over to the painting of their grandparents’ house in Cornwall that Thomas had given to her for Abbie. She snapped a photo of it on her phone and sent it to her sister, hoping that it would show her how much she meant to Thomas, and that she needed to help him save his home. She crossed her fingers and went back to the sofa to wait for Abbie’s response.
***
Abbie threw her things into her bags, pleased that she hadn’t brought everything with her from Louise’s, so it wouldn’t take too long. She really didn’t want to have to deal with Jack again.
She texted Kate after seeing many missed calls from her and told her that Jack had admitted everything, and she was leaving him. Kate immediately offered her a place to stay and Abbie wasn’t sure what to do. She missed Littlewood and was in need of all the friendly faces there, but she was also feeling embarrassed that she had dropped everything to follow Jack, and that had turned out to be a huge mistake. She wasn’t sure she wanted to go back and admit that it had been such a disaster. She was okay with telling Louise everything, but the thought of going back to Huntley Manor and admitting to Thomas that everything had gone wrong really wasn’t appealing to her.
Her phone vibrated again and she opened up Louise’s message. Abbie stared at it in wonder. It was a painting of her grandparents’ house in Cornwall, inside a beautiful frame. Abbie stared at it, remembering how much she loved that house. She couldn’t believe Thomas had found a picture of it. And he had found it for her. She hadn’t expected a good welcome from him if she decided to go back to Littlewood, but now she wanted to go there as soon as she could. Her heart was pulling her back there, she couldn’t deny it.
Abbie replied to her sister and said she was heading to the train station. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but she realised that being in London hadn’t made her happy. She wanted to be back in Littlewood, and then she could plan her future.
She grabbed her bags and looked around Jack’s flat one last time. It was spacious and modern with a stunning view; Abbie knew many would kill to live there, and now she realised Jack couldn’t even afford it. He wanted a lifestyle that had started to seduce her as well, but no longer. Suddenly, the flat just felt empty. It wasn’t cosy or comfortable; it wasn’t a home, not like Louise’s cottage. Abbie had always planned to build her life in London, but now she wasn’t sure that was what she wanted any more.
Abbie walked out of the building and flagged down a taxi to take her to the station. She was hurt by Jack’s lies, but she wasn’t as upset as she would have imagined. She was angry and humiliated but her heart was still intact.
The taxi pulled away and she turned her back on the place she had planned to call home. She knew then that she didn’t love Jack any more, possibly never had. She had been trying to make it work, sure that the opportunities he was offering her were ones she should be grasping at, but she knew now they weren’t what she wanted at all. Her future wasn’t with Jack.
She leaned back against the seat and watched the city roll past. She had left it once in turmoil, desperate to get back there, but now she was leaving it willingly, and was hopeful about the future. Sure, she was single and had no job prospects, but somehow, she knew she would be okay.
‘Where you heading off to?’ the taxi driver asked her.
‘Surrey. A little town called Littlewood.’
‘Hmmm, I don’t think I’ve heard of it.’
‘You wouldn’t have, but it’s very special.’
‘You off on a holiday?’
‘Actually, I don’t know, I might not be coming back.’
‘I always dream of leaving the city.’
Abbie smiled because she never had before, but now she knew what he meant. ‘I hope you get to do it one day.’
‘Maybe you’ll inspire me.’
‘I’d like that.’
Abbie thought of all the people she had met in Littlewood and realised they had all inspired her. She had sneered at the little town to begin with, been confused about their passion for being kind, sure that she needed to be ambitious and selfish to be successful, but now she couldn’t wait to get back there. She missed all of her new friends and knew that, despite her earlier misgivings, they wouldn’t judge her for coming back, and that’s what she loved about the place. She felt like she could be herself there. She hadn’t realised how different she had become working at City PR and being Jack’s girlfriend; she barely recognised that girl now.
Abbie was ready for a fresh start. It was time to get her life back on track.
‘Good luck!’ called the taxi driver out of the window as she walked into the station, pulling her bags behind her. Abbie waved to him, hoping that her luck was as ready to change as she was.
Chapter Six
Eszter was up just after dawn in need of a very large coffee. The cookery class was happening later in the morning and she was more nervous about it than she wanted to admit. She was putting on a confident and cheerful face for Zoe and Anne, though, as this was all her idea.
The three of them walked over to Brew early, where they were met by Joy and let in so they could all prepare. They had twenty kids from the town coming with Jane, who ran the community centre.
The first thing they did was clear all the round tables and chairs to the edge of the room and set up three long tables instead for them to do the cake preparations on. The kids could then stand around the tables to learn how to make the cakes, and take part too. They also had lots of decorations for the kids to use once the cakes were baked.
Joy had the ovens on already and, as promised, had written down the cakes they were making on a
chalkboard she had propped up on the counter.
The four of them were wearing their ‘Have a Brew!’ aprons – Zoe’s looked a little too big for her, but they had tied it around her middle twice to keep it on.
‘I think we’re all ready,’ Joy said as they stood looking around at their preparations.
Joy, Eszter and Anne would be supervising the cake-making, with Zoe as their helper.
‘I think we are,’ Anne agreed. ‘I’m getting hungry already!’
They all hoped that the cosiness of Brew, coupled with the delicious smell of cakes, would ensure there was no hostility from the kids towards Zoe, but she grew quieter as the time drew near for them all to arrive. Eszter gave her a big hug and tried to think what Nick would say to put them at ease, which he had always seemed able to do. ‘If all else fails – we can eat the cake we make.’
‘I like that idea,’ Zoe said, smiling a little.
‘Here they are,’ Joy called from the door. She had closed Brew to usual customers for the morning and opened up now to let the class in, greeting Jane, and smiling at the queue of boys and girls, all around Zoe’s age. ‘Welcome to Brew,’ she said, shutting the door when everyone was inside and making the ‘Closed’ sign visible. ‘Eszter – do you want to start?’
Eszter faced the class and smiled, trying not to wonder who were the ones who had picked on her daughter. She knew that kindness was better than giving them a telling-off, however much she was itching to. ‘Welcome everyone. We decided it would be fun to do a baking class today and rather than have it at the community centre, it made sense to use Brew’s facilities, plus Joy over there makes the best cakes in Littlewood, so we wanted to steal her expertise. We’re going to make five cakes today and show you all how to make them, and we’re going to need lots of help. And at the end, we’ll get to try all the cakes that we have made. Zo – do you want to tell everyone what we’re going to make today?’
Zoe read out the cakes from the board and Eszter was relieved that everyone listened and she detected no obvious sniggering or whispering. Jane then separated everyone into three groups and Eszter, Anne and Joy stood at each table to start the baking.
Zoe stood next to Eszter. They were going to demonstrate how to make gingerbread. Jane came to watch with a few of the kids. One of the boys pushed his way to the front, arms crossed, and Eszter clocked him immediately. She saw Zoe shift a little bit nervously and resolved to keep an eye on him.
‘Do you even have gingerbread where you come from?’ the boy asked loudly after Eszter had read out the list of ingredients they needed for the recipe.
‘Simon!’ Jane cried, shaking her head.
‘What? I’d like to know,’ he replied, defensively.
Eszter raised an eyebrow. Why was there always one? She bet he was the one who had encouraged the other kids to pick on Zoe. He glanced at her daughter, whose head was down, cheeks flaming red. ‘I think you just volunteered to help.’ Eszter handed him the bowl. ‘First you need to sift the flour with the bicarbonate of soda, ginger and cinnamon.’ She passed him a sieve.
‘This is stupid,’ he muttered.
‘Either do it or I’ll call your mother to take you home,’ Jane told him.
‘Fine.’ Simon started to pour the flour into the sieve and poured it too fast, resulting in a cloud of flour flying out on to the table.
‘Do you not have flour where you come from?’ Zoe asked him. The whole group burst out laughing.
Simon threw the sieve down. ‘I’m not doing this any more,’ he muttered and moved to the back of the group, looking humiliated.
‘He’s such an idiot,’ one of the girls whispered to Zoe, who beamed.
‘Can we have another volunteer then?’ Eszter asked, relieved that the tension had been broken and everyone seemed pleased Zoe had said something. They probably all disliked this Simon but preferred it when he was picking on someone other than them.
A girl stepped forwards and this time Zoe moved closer and helped to show her what to do. Simon stayed quiet for the rest of the demonstration thankfully, then the groups swapped so Eszter and Zoe showed another set how to make cupcakes.
Soon, everything was in the oven and they got the kids to start preparing all the decorations. The gingerbread needed to be turned into men and women, the cupcakes needed icing and decorating with hundreds and thousands, the Victoria sponge needed jam, and the brownies and flapjacks needed cutting up and Smarties placing on top.
Brew was quickly filled with the delicious smell of baking cakes, and the kids gathered around the tables ready to finish the cakes off.
‘This was a great idea,’ Jane said to Eszter as she watched Zoe show a couple of girls how to use an icing piping bag. ‘I’m going to have a word with Simon’s mum. We don’t want him being disruptive in every class. I’m sorry if he upset Zoe.’
‘I think he did, but she’s a tough cookie, she’ll be fine. I think this has really helped her come out of her shell. She had a lot of friends in Hungary and I’d love her to make some here.’
‘Mum!’ Zoe appeared. ‘Can Daisy come round for tea tomorrow?’’
Eszter smiled. That was more like it. ‘Of course she can.’ She walked over to see how they were getting on with decorating the gingerbread. She saw that Simon was concentrating hard on piping a face on to his man. ‘That looks great, Simon,’ she said. He smiled. And she hoped that he’d realise he didn’t have to be mean to get people to notice him. ‘Don’t forget, you take home anything you decorate,’ she called out to the room. There were a few cheers at that, and she laughed. You couldn’t deny the power of cake.
‘Look who it is,’ Joy called, waving out of the window. Eszter followed her gaze to see Louise and Abbie walking towards them. ‘I think they’re allowed in, don’t you?’ She greeted them at the door and explained what they were doing.
Eszter walked to the door and gave Abbie a hug. ‘It’s so good to see you back here!’
‘It’s good to be back,’ Abbie said. ‘I have been dreaming about a Brew latte,’ she said, looking hopefully at Joy.
Joy laughed. ‘Come in, you two, I’ll make you a coffee to go. And I’ll pop in a couple of cakes – we’ve made far too many.’
‘You, Joy, are a star!’
‘Are you back for good?’ Eszter asked her.
‘For now, at least. London really didn’t have the same attraction. I think Littlewood has got under my skin.’
Eszter nodded. ‘It does that, doesn’t it?’
‘I’m so pleased you’re back,’ Louise told her sister. ‘The cottage has been really quiet – and far too tidy.’
Abbie elbowed her. ‘Hey, I’m not messy; you’re just a clean freak!’ She looked out at Huntley Manor. ‘I wonder if Thomas will be as pleased to see me. I think I need to work up the courage to go in there, to be honest.’
‘He will be pleased, don’t worry,’ Eszter told her. ‘But you’d better not wait too long. I saw someone in a suit talking to him yesterday. He looked like he was from a bank, so I don’t know what’s going on.’
Abbie groaned. ‘I hope he’s not giving up on our relaunch idea. Littlewood needs Huntley Manor.’
‘You can convince him, Abs, I’m sure of it,’ Louise said. She smiled at Joy who handed them each a coffee and a paper bag with samples of the cakes in. ‘This is amazing, thank you. We’d better leave you guys to it, you have your hands full. It looks like it’s going really well though.’
‘We’ve had a great morning,’ Eszter confirmed. She saw Anne looking for her. ‘I’d better go, see you both soon. We need a proper catch-up, Abbie.’
‘Can’t wait!’ Abbie and Louise left and Eszter went to help Anne finish off the Victoria sponge. She was relieved that the class had been a success. She was feeling more a part of Littlewood’s community every day. And now, hopefully, Zoe would too.
Anne showed the cake off with a flourish to applause from the children. She looked as if she was having lots of fun too, which pleased Eszte
r. Her mother-in-law had spent so much time hiding herself away, and she needed to be part of the town again. And this was a great step in the right direction.
Anne walked over to the Kindness Board and picked up a piece of chalk to write with. Eszter watched, smiling as she saw her name appear up there.
Eszter and Zoe Harris for organising a baking class at Brew, and everyone who took part. We had such a fun morning!
Chapter Seven
Louise yawned as she made her way to work. She was tired after staying up late talking to Abbie and had left her sister in bed as she crept out of the cottage early in the morning. She was relieved that Abbie, although angry and hurt, seemed like she would be okay. Louise felt no smugness about being right about Jack; she wanted her sister to be happy, but was pleased that Abbie had learnt the truth before she had become too involved. Now, she was back where she belonged in Littlewood, and Louise was sure that she would be her old self again very soon.
Annoyingly, she was too late to stop off for a coffee at Brew, so when she arrived at the hospital, she was feeling sluggish and regretted staying up so late with her sister. Abbie had said she wanted to see Thomas but was very nervous about it. Louise hoped they would work things out as she had a feeling about the two of them. Why was it always easier to see what was good for other people but not for yourself?
She parked in the staff car park and walked into the hospital, heading for her ward.
Julie came into the staffroom as Louise changed into her nursing uniform, waving her phone at her. ‘Alex just texted me,’ she said.
Louise turned to put her bag in her locker in case her face betrayed anything. ‘What did he say?’
‘He wanted to know what we were doing later – said he’s planning to have a barbeque and did we want to come?’
Louise wondered why he had texted Julie, and not her. Perhaps he thought she would say no, whereas Julie’s eager tone made it clear she wanted to go. Or he had felt the same attraction to Julie as she clearly had to him. Louise hated the way that thought made her stomach plummet. She turned after organising her face into what she hoped was a natural expression. ‘Oh, did he?’
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