‘You’re getting into the elderflower business.’ Jade slotted the cakes into the oven one after the other.
Melissa spent a lot of time away in her job as a flight attendant. Jade guessed that was what made it so nice to have a permanency in her life with Harvey. Finally. Because like Lois and Barney, Harvey and Melissa had once been together and drifted apart for various reasons before eventually finding their way back to one another. It made Jade wonder whether it could ever happen for her and Dario. Although given he lived in a whole other country she guessed not.
Melissa recounted how she’d made the cordial. ‘It takes a ton of sugar, then citric acid to offset the sweetness. But because it’s homemade I think it’s extra special.’
‘You should hang around to try some once they’re done.’ Jade checked her watch. ‘Should be ready in about twenty minutes. I only need one for Barney and Lois’s tasting. One for us, eh?’
Melissa pulled a face and looked at the tins behind the oven door. ‘I’ve only just given you the cordial, shouldn’t it be in the cake by now?’
‘Nope. I’m going to mix it with some lemon juice and then when the cakes are cooked, I’ll use a cocktail stick to poke holes in the surface and spoon over the mixture so it can seep into the sponge.’
‘My mouth is watering already.’
Jade started to wash up the bowls she’d used and Melissa snatched a tea towel from the hook near the oven to help despite Jade’s protests. They talked about Barney’s wedding, Lois’s outfit she’d shown them on one of their book-club nights – which didn’t always involve a book discussion but always involved gossip – and when the cupcakes were ready, Jade took them out and did the honours with some of the liquid topping.
Melissa’s eyes closed in pleasure at the first bite of the half a cupcake Jade gave her. ‘We make a good team. With your baking and my elderflower cordial, we could take on the world.’
‘I think it’ll be the flavour of choice for Barney and Lois. I’ve made others but I get the feeling they’ll settle on this one.’
‘Hmm…delicate and different. Perhaps a bit like Lois, although not at all like Barney.’ Melissa had known Barney since she was a little girl so if anyone could be a good judge of his character it was her. ‘And if you mention the elderflower cordial came from Harvey’s place, he’ll be sold straight away.’
‘I won’t mention it at first. I want to give the other cakes a chance, make sure they’re choosing the one they love the best rather than one that has the added meaning.’
‘But isn’t that the point of a wedding, to make sure there’s meaning behind as many things as possible? Like something borrowed, I suppose.’
‘I know what you mean, but let’s just see what they go for without pointing them too far in one direction.’ As well as this cake being for friends, it was another showpiece to add to her portfolio and it would be seen by not only very close friends and family but anyone who chose to come to the Wedding Dress Ball. Barney had already suggested she leave some business cards out on one of the upturned barrels in the barn that would serve as tables – he told her to use the one by the barn doors – to spread word about her business. And Jade wasn’t going to argue with that.
The girls talked colour. ‘I thought the pale icing would contrast well with purple flowers,’ Jade explained. ‘Lois wanted fresh but I’m investigating edible instead. I might even attempt to make some myself if I can master the skill well enough to show in public.’ She dug out a plastic container from the bottom of one of the pebble-grey-fronted kitchen cupboards and showed Melissa the flowers she’d already found in a mixture of bright colours and used for previous creations. ‘It always amazes me how people can craft so well with sugar or buttercream.’
‘I’m sure you can do just as good a job.’
‘I don’t know. But whatever I do, I’ll add some faux greenery as well, make it realistic.’
‘You know you’re going to be doing the cake for our wedding too, right?’
Jade’s smile matched Melissa’s at the reference to her own wedding. ‘I’d be offended if I wasn’t. You and Harvey are special to everyone around here, me included. Any ideas yet? A Christmas wedding could tie in with a whole different cake theme. You could bring in reds, whites, greens, have something quite spectacular. Start thinking.’
‘Thinking about cake? Sure, I can do that any time.’
The timer beeped and Jade pulled out the two big cakes from the oven. With her trusty cocktail stick she prodded the surface and then poured the topping all over so that it could soak through. ‘Come on, I’ll let these cool. We can go and see the progress on the bakery.’
As they walked from the cottage, stepping on the paving stones across to the back of the bakery, Harvey was first out and didn’t miss a chance to kiss his wife-to-be a hello.
Linc emerged from the kitchen soon after Harvey and almost collided with Jade.
‘I thought I’d show Melissa the progress,’ she stammered, stepping back before her face pressed against his strong chest. ‘I’m desperate to see the cabinets myself.’ Did she sound as lame as she felt? She’d kept away yesterday and the day before when the units were delivered, not wanting to get under Harvey and Linc’s feet, but also not wanting to get tongue-tied like this. She’d peered in the window a couple of times of course but this morning was when they’d really got down to it, fitting bits together, slotting things into place, so this would be her first proper inspection. She hadn’t even been able to sneak a peek in the front of the bakery because those windows had now been covered with paper so nobody could see inside until the grand reopening. It generated a buzz of excitement for sure and people were already speculating about it. Since the bakery had closed its doors Jade couldn’t walk the length of The Street without at least one or two people telling her how eager they were to get their bakery back.
‘Go ahead,’ said Linc, nodding a hello to Melissa.
When Jade stepped inside the kitchen a huge smile spread across her face. Not only was the cabinetry there but they’d already begun to put some of it in.
Harvey wiped his hands on a cloth and pulled Melissa close to him as he watched Jade’s reaction. ‘You approve?’
‘Approve? I love it!’ She turned around on the spot, taking it all in. Slate-grey cupboards were in place against one wall, the pantry cupboard was being constructed by Linc right now as he picked up the drill and made a hole in the framework ready to hang the door. There was to be an enormous island in the middle of the kitchen with plenty of space to walk around it even with units against the walls and gaps for chrome wire shelving units that could house loaves of bread and be moved as required from here to the front of the shop. There were two long worktops still to install, stretching either side of the existing sink that stood waiting – it had been new a couple of years ago and would fit in well with the renovation – and on one of those worktops Jade and Celeste had discussed lining up mixers and bowls along with the beautifully shiny aluminium utensils racks Celeste had sourced. The floor wouldn’t go down for a while yet but it was to be the same throughout the kitchen and the actual bakery, black and white as though it were tiles to the untrained eye when it was actually heavy-duty flooring fit to withstand weight, heat and a multitude of spills throughout the day. The kitchen worktops that had been installed thus far were stainless steel with kickboards to match and although not all were in place, Jade knew that once they were it was going to add even more elegance to this once-drab kitchen they’d inherited from the previous owner and made do with.
‘I don’t know what more to say.’ She was in awe of the progress already made. This was what they’d dreamed about, and even though she and Celeste had been running the bakery for a while now, it was putting their own stamp on it, finally, that had the emotions flowing.
Celeste appeared at the back door just before Jade went through to the bakery itself, where the new shelves on the back wall had begun to be fitted. The natural-wood bread-display unit to replace the battered old one that had seen numerous repairs over time was still covered in see-through plastic but Jade could make out the details of its four shelves, a little like wooden boxes. At the bottom the wooden section had wire racks in it that would allow them to display baguettes standing tall like soldiers, eight or nine across, three deep. Above that there was another wooden container for loaves in all different shapes and sizes – bloomers, farmhouse, rectangular focaccias and rounded sourdough loaves, split tin, and Vienna bread. Next up was a shallower wooden shelf, ideal for showing off freshly baked rolls, bagels, buns, and the uppermost section was the same, perhaps for muffins, doughnuts, brioche.
