She left Melissa and Celeste with the workers and set off for Barney and Lois’s place on foot. It wasn’t far and at least the tasters weren’t all that heavy in their plastic container. She passed the tea rooms and waved in to Etna, thinking how happy she always seemed. Jade had always felt a little bit sad for the woman. She’d lost her husband long before the sisters even came to the Cove but she’d never found anyone else and didn’t have children. She was all alone apart from the odd family visitor and occasionally Jade would sit in the tea rooms and watch her go about her business, wondering whether this would be her and Celeste in years to come. There was a lot to be said for it, but Jade knew she’d feel something was missing.
‘Penny for them.’ It was Kenneth, cap on his head to avoid the harsh rays of the sun, making his way past the chapel as Jade crossed over.
‘Sorry, I was in a world of my own,’ she smiled, although she didn’t lift her shades now her hands were full.
‘Whatever you’ve got in there looks good.’
She explained it was cake samples and reeled off a list of flavours the happy couple were about to sample.
‘I’ll see you then,’ he said. ‘I’m off for a coffee and a slice of Etna’s lemon drizzle.’
‘I don’t know where you put all that cake,’ she called after him with a smile.
‘The allotment keeps me fit,’ he hollered back with a pat of a non-existent stomach.
Perhaps the key to a happy life was keeping the simple things close, Jade thought as she followed the bend in the road around past the pub on the opposite side. Etna had her tea rooms, Kenneth had his allotment. And both of them seemed content. She wondered whether their secret was letting go of anything that might be holding them back.
Maybe that’s what she needed to do. She needed to move on properly and stop holding on to the memory of Dario and a love that had long gone.
And there was more than one way to move on. There was finding someone else, there was stopping dreams of what might have been, and there was going out there to get exactly what you wanted and needed.
And she didn’t necessarily need a man to do that.
Chapter Five
Linc couldn’t deny he enjoyed the flirting with Jade and he knew she wasn’t immune to it either. It happened every time they were in the same vicinity. She’d definitely been caught off guard when he was able to help them dream up a name for the bakery business the other day.
‘Where were you off to so early this morning?’ Etna asked him as she came into the kitchen late morning on a break from the tea rooms while Patricia held down the fort. She found a folder from the sideboard and waved it aloft. ‘Accounts,’ she explained of the folder bulging with papers.
‘I had an appointment.’ He scraped a knife of butter across the surface of a second piece of toast after it popped up from the toaster.
‘What for?’
He’d forgotten her caring nature also meant Etna enquired about what he was up to. ‘Dentist.’
‘You had a check-up last week, nothing wrong is there?’ She put the folder she’d been holding down on the table. ‘You’ve been twice, what are you having done?’
‘Had to have a few x-rays,’ he said off the top of his head.
‘I suppose it’s better to be safe than sorry,’ she smiled at him. ‘Now, would you like a cup of tea? I can stop for ten minutes.’
‘No thanks, but I appreciate the offer.’ He pretended to carry on reading the newspaper so she wouldn’t delve much more. If he’d remembered about saying he was going to the dentist last time he would’ve thought of a different excuse today, because there was no way he’d ever tell Etna what he was really doing. She’d never approve.
‘Have you got more work on today?’ she pressed, reaching for her folder, ready to leave him to it.
He supposed her inquisition stopped him from keeping up the pretence with the newspaper and it definitely prevented him from thinking about Jade. ‘There’s still plenty to do at the bakery. The prep for the units is coming along – Harvey’s been working with a kitchen fitter, learning the ropes as they put in something called a ladder frame, which is apparently the base to put the cabinets on.’
‘It sounds as though you’re learning a bit too,’ she smiled contentedly.
‘Keeping the brain active,’ he grinned. ‘I know that it’s a key part of the installation because that frame has to take all the weight – the cupboards and everything in them, the benchtop. The windows at the front will also have a bit of a revamp, they’ll be repaired where needed. According to Harvey, the girls wanted people to drive past and not realise anything had really changed, at least not until they were inside.’
‘I’m glad they’ve decided to keep the frontage the same.’ Etna checked her hair in the mirror in the compact hallway that led to the door and the stairs down to the outside. ‘It fits with Heritage Cove and there’s always the panic with these things that new ideas mean changes that don’t quite gel with the rest of the village.’ She put her hands up in defence before telling him, ‘I know it’s an individual choice, I’m just pleased that this time they’ve done just what I would’ve done. The question is, are they going to be ready for the grand opening in less than a fortnight?’
‘We’ll make it ready.’
‘And you’re coping when Harvey is off doing the day job?’
‘Stop fretting.’ But he was smiling. It was nice she looked out for him.
