The Cosy Little Cupcake Van: A deliciously feel-good romance

by Annette Hannah

  The restaurant was renowned in the area for its steak, which was from cattle reared on the immense grounds of the manor house, and venison from the red deer that roamed wild through the woodland that was also part of the acreage.

  ‘So, when are you going to ring him then?’ asked Lucy as she cut into her juicy steak and stabbed some mushroom onto the fork with it, dipping it in the Béarnaise sauce.

  ‘Oh, I don’t know if I will. I haven’t seen him for years and as far as I knew he was married.’ Camilla pushed some broccoli around her plate and gulped down some wine. ‘Besides we’re probably both completely different people to the ones we were then. I mean, we were young and stupidly in love.’ Her eyes glazed over as she looked out of the window where the outside light had just come on. ‘But when he left it hurt me like nothing else ever had and I couldn’t go through that pain again. Especially not now that I’ve been through even worse pain since losing my mum and am only just about managing to get back on my feet again.’ She cut into her fillet, the knife gliding through it like it was butter, and after adding a piece of onion ring to her fork she popped it in her mouth and chewed on the succulent meat, savouring the moment as the delicious flavours introduced themselves to her taste buds.

  ‘So tell us about him: where did you meet, how long were you together and why did you split up?’ Carrie didn’t beat about the bush. She liked to get straight to the point.

  Camilla’s eyes began to drift again as she dipped into her bank of memories. Her time with Blake had been tucked away in her heart and mind, locked in a box that she had gift-wrapped in her imagination with shiny gold paper, tied with ribbon and topped with a huge red bow. It was the best time of her life; she didn’t open the box very often, as it was hard to do up the bow in her mind as perfectly as she had done it before. She took a large gulp of merlot.

  ‘We met at college actually. I was doing a catering management course and he was doing business. I’d seen him a few times around the building. There had been a little bit of eye contact and a double take every now and then.’ She looked at Carrie and Lucy. ‘You know how it is when you see a good-looking guy and you pass him but then look around to check him out again and then he’s looking back at you too.’ The two friends nodded to her in encouragement. Camilla laughed. ‘I feel like Sandy in Grease telling the friends about meeting Danny.’

  Lucy and Carrie giggled and started singing the song from the movie before Lucy nudged Camilla. ‘Sorry, carry on.’

  ‘Well we’d never spoken to each other. Then there was a Christmas party at the college and we all went out to a pub afterwards. I had a part-time job there and the boss asked me to do a couple of hours as someone had let him down. Blake came in with his friends. He seemed so confident with them. They were laughing and being a little bit loud. But when he came to order their drinks, he wasn’t so sure of himself. I remember he couldn’t stop smiling at me. That was the first time I heard his sexy Canadian accent. He took the drinks back to his friends but left his pint on the bar near me.’ The memory caused her lips to curl into a smile, as though she could see him right now, and he was the recipient of it.

  ‘It was manic in there at first so we couldn’t talk much but as the queue died down, we were able to speak. He told me he’d seen me around and asked my name. He bought me a drink and we chatted. The first thing that struck me about him was his smile and the fact that he made me laugh. We had exactly the same sense of humour and there were countless times in our relationship that we would howl together over really stupid things. I remember one time we were getting off the tube and he reached round for me and accidentally grabbed an old lady’s hand, and she was delighted. He’d gone a good few steps before he realised and I always referred to it as his granny kidnapping phase. Anyway, his friends called him as they were going to the next pub. He asked me for my number and I noticed he was blushing slightly. He looked so cute. I was used to real idiots trying to chat me up at the bar, usually legless, so unusually for me I gave him my number and he left.

  ‘Shortly afterwards I finished my shift and joined my friends on a pub crawl. Two pubs later I walked in and he was standing there staring at the door. Our eyes locked like magnets. One of my friends was talking to me but I couldn’t hear anything; I didn’t want to hear anything. I just wanted to gaze at this gorgeous man.

  ‘His face lit up when he saw me. It was as if he’d been waiting for me. He bought drinks for me and all my friends too. We had a brilliant night, ended up in the local Indian and our friends got on really well together too.

  ‘I was a little worse for wear and felt a little hot, so he asked if I wanted to go outside for some fresh air. His dark hair curled messily just past his collar and his brown eyes were looking deep into mine, then he held his hand out to me and I took it. He led me outside and then leaning against a tree that was festooned with fairy lights, his lips met mine. I had never been kissed like that before and I’ve never been kissed like that since we broke up. He was a one-off. I swear we kissed for over an hour non-stop but then everyone began to pile out of the pub as it closed and it got a bit lairy. He offered to walk me home, and that Canadian accent turned my knees to jelly.’ She took a sip of her wine as the memories came flooding back.

  ‘It’s quite a walk but you can if you want,’ she’d replied.

  His face had broken into a wide grin. Laugh lines appeared by his eyes and down his cheeks. She could imagine him when he was older as one of those handsome men who get even better-looking with age. He took her hand and put it with his, deep in the pocket of his thick coat, and they walked along together. His thumb stroked her palm gently, which sent shivers through her body. The cold air was fresh and clean but biting on their faces, which were the only parts of them that were exposed.

  ‘So I hear you’ve got an accent. Where are you from?’ she asked him shyly.

  ‘I’m from Ontario. We moved here a couple of years ago for my dad’s business. We’ve got one more year left and then I go to college over there to do my degree.’

  Even though she’d only just met him she felt her heart sink as though it were made of stones. She wanted to ask him to stay but how could she? They’d only just met, yet she felt as though she’d always known him and not just in this lifetime, in many lifetimes. They walked past some shops and she thought she was imagining it at first when she saw white speckles in the air but as they got bigger, she realised it was snowing. As it began to get heavier, he pulled her into a shop doorway and they sheltered from it Snowflakes landed softly on his jacket. Close up she could see each individual shape. Some looked like flowers. She had to be quick to see them as they dissolved after a second or two.

  Oblivious to the many people who hurried past, he took her in his arms again; their noses were cold at first but soon warmed up with the heat from the closeness of their bodies. Between kisses he carried on the conversation, the words disappearing into each other’s mouths.

  ‘I’ve only just found out your name and yet I already feel I’ve known you forever,’ he whispered.

  ‘Me too,’ she murmured giggling as he interrupted every other word with a kiss. ‘It’s nice to meet you.’

  ‘Camilla, I can honestly say I never expected to meet anyone like you.’

  A jolt of electricity bolted through her body just from the way he looked at her.

  He leant back from her as if to study her face better. He was bathed in an amber glow from the street light; his dark velvety brown eyes shone brightly, the pupils dilated as he looked at her in awe. He stroked the silky soft almost platinum hair that fell in waves around her shoulders. Her lips were open, waiting for his to join them again. She leaned towards him; his dark unruly hair tickled her forehead as he moved towards her, then the heat of his mouth found hers again.

  Eventually and with much reluctance he pulled away from kissing her. ‘I’d better get you home – you’re shivering.’

  ‘It is a bit cold,’ she said with chattering teeth.

  H
e opened his coat and pulled her into him so he could warm her with his body heat on one side and his coat on the other. She snuggled into his chest as they walked the rest of the way home.

  Camilla sighed; a shiver went through her body like someone had walked over her grave as she brought herself back to the present.

  Lucy and Carrie had finished their meals and Lucy topped up their wine, emptying the bottle.

  ‘He sounds gorgeous, doesn’t he, Carrie? And your face absolutely lights up when you talk about him.’

  ‘He certainly does,’ she replied, then pointed to Camilla’s dinner. ‘Come on eat up, love. You need to keep your strength up.’

  Camilla enjoyed the rest of her steak whilst Lucy called the waiter over by waving and pointing to the empty wine bottle and Carrie popped to the loo.

  As soon as the wine arrived and Carrie sat back down she asked Camilla to carry on. ‘So what happened next?’

  Camilla took a sip of the deep berry-flavoured wine and continued. ‘Well from then on we were pretty much inseparable; that is, until he had to go to uni.’

  ‘Did he go back to Canada then, the next year?’ asked Lucy.

  Camilla shook her head. Her mouth curved into a smile. ‘His mum, dad and sister moved back to Canada the following year as planned but he wouldn’t go with them as he didn’t want to leave me. By that time, he’d researched the best business courses and decided to stay in this country to do his degree. He was only an hour and a half away from me so we made it work. We saw each other every weekend and sometimes in the week on special occasions. I was working hard in London as a pastry chef and he completed his degree at Cambridge. Afterwards he was meant to go back to Canada to work for his dad’s business, but he decided to stay here with me. He got a really good job but always had a cloud of guilt hanging over him and so I promised him that one day I would go with him to live in Canada. We rented a flat together in London for a few years. It was impossible to buy somewhere, especially as the plan was that we would be going to Canada.’ She swallowed as she neared the heart-breaking part. Lucy put her arm around her, and Carrie topped up their glasses.

  ‘Stop if you want to,’ said Carrie. ‘We don’t want you to be getting upset.’

  Camilla took a tissue out of her bag and blew her nose. ‘No, don’t worry, it’s fine. Mum hadn’t been feeling so good and the GP had referred her to a specialist so I took a day off and went to the hospital appointment with her, and that’s when we found out she had cervical cancer.’ Lucy’s arm tightened around her and Camilla patted her arm. ‘Mum needed a hysterectomy and chemotherapy, so I packed up my job and moved back in with her.’ She shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

  ‘I’m so sorry, Camilla. I would never have asked if I’d known that it meant you had to relive all this again,’ said Carrie as she held on to her hand.

  ‘No please don’t worry; it’ll do me good to get it all out. Blake was amazing in helping me care for my mum, he insisted on driving her to her hospital appointments, organised shopping to be delivered and fresh flowers. He was a tower of strength for both of us, Anyway as if that wasn’t bad enough then Blake got a message from home to say that his dad had suffered a heart attack and he had to get there immediately. I assured him I would follow him if he went back but really I knew I wouldn’t be able to. There was simply no way I could leave my mum. She had a few complications following the operation and she took months to recuperate so I decided to stay at home with her and I got a job as a pastry chef in a local hotel. I began making cakes for people privately and stayed there until I met Lucy and the wedding cakes just took off.’

  ‘I had so many recommendations for Camilla Cupcake,’ said Lucy.

  Camilla smiled. ‘Yes and I got to keep my mum for almost ten more years, which seemed like a miracle at the time. So although I would have loved to have gone to Canada with Blake I would never have forgiven myself, and so I don’t regret it because I was able to be with my mum.’ She sniffed again. ‘Sadly Blake’s dad died a couple of days after he got there but at least he got the chance to say goodbye to him and I know he was grateful for that. Of course then he had no choice but to take over his dad’s company and look after his mum and sister.’ She glugged some more wine. Lucy was stroking her arm gently as if to ease the story out of her.

  ‘So did you ever see him again?’ asked Lucy.

  Camilla shook her head. ‘No, we tried to keep in touch with phone calls, Skype and letters but eventually he stopped all contact with me and the last letter I sent came back with “Not known at this address” written on it. The last time I physically saw him was when I said goodbye at the airport and both of us were crying. He felt so guilty for not going back to work with his dad when he wanted him to and I know he found that very hard to live with.’

  ‘It must have been awful,’ said Carrie. ‘I can’t imagine how you must have both felt.’

  ‘That was a huge part of the problem: we’d both had our hearts broken so couldn’t really offer the other any support. The last I heard was some years later when a friend of a friend mentioned he’d married an Englishwoman but that’s all I know. I’ve had a few boyfriends since then but only one serious one and he never ever made me feel like Blake did. I don’t think anyone else could.’ She shrugged.

  ‘Right, enough of my little trip down memory lane. Who fancies a liqueur coffee?’ She patted both their hands, sat up straight, exhaled deeply and threw her shoulders back.

  When the waiter brought the drinks over, he placed an Irish coffee in front of Carrie and Calypsos in front of the others. Camilla raised her tall glass, holding it by the tiny handle.

  ‘I’d like to raise a toast to each and every one of you, without whom I don’t know what would have happened to me by now, but I can tell you I was not in a good place. So, here’s to friendship.’

  ‘To friendship,’ repeated the others, carefully clinking their glasses with Camilla’s.

  Camilla motioned to the waiter to bring the bill by writing on an imaginary pad in mid-air. He swiftly brought it over, trying to hide a yawn behind his hand. Lucy and Carrie picked up their bags to retrieve their purses and Camilla stopped them. ‘No, I really must insist – this is my treat because you’ve both been so wonderful to me. Neither of you have charged me rent so this is the least I can do with my first lot of cupcake profits.’ After a little resistance the two friends knew they would be defeated and so thanked Camilla for the lovely meal.

  Chapter 15

  Winter had arrived with a vengeance; the ground was wet with large puddles gathered in dips in the pavement, which were a huge indicator of how uneven the paths were. Luckily the early morning rain had cleared up now and a burst of December sunshine had broken through the grey sky. Rainbows always reminded Camilla of her mum as Iris was the name of the goddess of rainbows. Today a stunning arch of iridescent colours added to the cheeriness of the day It almost looked like it was touching the ground just in front of Camilla as she drove into the car park of Flowerpots Garden Centre.

  Her trip to the school fete had been hugely successful. The children and their families had loved her cosy little cupcake van and she’d sold out of bespoke cupcakes within an hour. She’d had to borrow some of the Signal Box Café’s stock and then work in the evening to make more for them. She’d completely underestimated how popular her cupcakes would be. She’d also added some extra bits and pieces such as sprinkles and small chocolate flakes, just like an ice cream van.

  The fete had also provided her with a huge opportunity to network, which is how she found out about the farmers’ market being held at Flowerpots. It was a monthly occurrence and the farmer who supplied her free-range eggs told her about it. One of the teachers had also told her about a part-time vacancy in the local college for a cake-decorating teacher, which she’d plucked up the courage to apply for.

  A part of the car park had been sectioned off for the market stalls to set up and the mobile stalls such as hers were guided into place by marshals who wa
ved her into a spot next to a hot drinks van. A hot dog van parked up after her. She jumped out of the van and introduced herself to the other stallholders: Ged on the coffee stall, and Angie and Bob on the hot dogs. She ordered a cappuccino from Ged and clung on to it to warm her hands, which were stinging from the cold due to her gloves being fingerless. She went back to her van and pulled out two little foldaway tables, each with two foldaway chairs, one pink set and one cream. She had bought them from a stall at the school fete and thought they would be ideal. She set them out in front of her van and climbed back inside to get ready for the onslaught. The sun was shining on her and seemed to be chasing away the chill from the air.

  Once all the stallholders had been served their hot drinks, Ged came over to her van and tapped on the window. She turned around, smiled at him and slid open the hatch. He looked cute. Strands of deep chestnut hair had escaped from under his bobble hat and his green eyes were twinkling at her. He handed her a fresh cappuccino.

  ‘Thought you might like another coffee?’ He smiled at her.

  She smiled back. ‘Oh thank you let me get my purse.’

  ‘No, that’s on me just to welcome you to the farmers’ market.’ He winked at her, which made her insides jump.

  ‘Well thank you, if you’re sure. That’s very kind but let me offer you a cupcake instead then.’

  ‘Now that sounds like an offer I can’t refuse.’ He winked again, she blushed and he laughed. He had a Belfast accent, which she found very endearing. She giggled.

  ‘I have gingerbread with cinnamon-spiced topping.’ She pointed to a tray of read- iced cupcakes. ‘Or we have Christmas tree cupcakes in either vanilla or chocolate sponge, like so.’ She picked up a chocolate sponge, swirled the green icing on the top to look like a Christmas tree, then sprinkled it with multi-coloured hundreds and thousands, and added a glittery sugar paste star on the top. His head tilted sideways, and he nodded his approval as she placed it on the counter in front of him.