‘Don’t mention it, I think she’s a bit embarrassed. And I might be reading way too much into it.’
‘I won’t say a thing. But good for her, she deserves to have more than just her business.’ Jade looked away and he hoped she didn’t think he was talking about her too. ‘Where did you go in Italy?’
‘Venice mainly. And, yes,’ she said before he asked more, ‘it’s as spectacular as we’re led to believe.’
‘I’ve heard it’s overrun with tourists.’
‘Yes, that too unfortunately, but it didn’t ruin its beauty.’
When she didn’t elaborate any further about Italy in the same way that she had with the other places, he didn’t push it. It felt too good to be here with her and he didn’t want to scare her off. ‘It sounds like the trip of a lifetime.’
‘It really was. We left travelling very late, Celeste and I, and then it became a case of doing it now or never...and I didn’t like the sound of never.’
‘It must take all of your time, running your own business. It doesn’t leave much time for a personal life.’
She hesitated a fraction of a second, enough to tell him either there was more to her story than he knew, or that she would prefer him to mind his own business. ‘Not much, no.’
‘So, what made you two come to the Cove?’ He decided steering the subject away from Italy might be the best way to avoid having her clam up.
‘Listen to you,’ she said grinning, ‘saying “the Cove” already.’
‘When in Rome…’ Oops, another Italy reference he should be avoiding. ‘What made you come here though?’
‘We were in London, both working for law firms, a big mortgage each, and one night over a bottle of wine we admitted to each other that while we liked the pay check at the end of the month, it wasn’t where our passions lay. We’d been dreaming of running a cake shop since we were young girls. I don’t know what ignited it apart from our gran baking with us after school for something to do. She was always a keen baker and I guess she passed that on to the both of us. Celeste joked that night over wine that we should give up our jobs and get on with it, open a bakery, live life on the edge.’
‘So you did.’
‘No, not quite. It was almost another three years before we took the plunge. We took our time looking into what it might actually involve. We looked at premises on and off but nothing felt right. And then we both came to the natural conclusion that we wanted to get away from the city. We also began to talk about travel and we’d started to make tentative plans when the bakery here came up for sale. We couldn’t let it slip out of our grasp. It was the change we wanted, more affordable than anything in or nearer to London, and the thought of living so close to the sea made us feel we’d be able to put down roots. So, we grabbed it while we could. If the previous owner hadn’t agreed to step in, we wouldn’t have gone travelling as we planned, but she did and so we got to do both. I’m glad, though, because travelling allowed us to really think about the vision we had for the bakery, it allowed us to alter the menu after months of stepping back and researching in person or online and to really discuss it at length in a way we might not have done if we’d been here and leapt in with both feet.’
‘It sounds as though it all worked out.’
‘Yeah…’ Her voice trailed off and again he wondered whether there was something he was missing.
‘Daniel told me there’s a job going at the school,’ he said to change the focus.
She plucked a shell from the sand. Her attention drifted between him and the sea. ‘Are you thinking of applying for the job?’
‘I might do. The music teacher is leaving and Harvey said he’d put me in touch with the head teacher.’
‘That’ll be Jane,’ Jade smiled. ‘She comes into the bakery often. I did her niece’s birthday cake earlier this year, lovely lady. I think the school went into special measures for a time but since she took over, she’s turned it around. They’re classed as outstanding now.’
‘Good to know. So, you’d send your children there?’
She frowned. ‘I don’t have any.’
‘Obviously. But if you did…’
‘If I did, yes, the local school would be a fine place to send them.’
She seemed a bit bewildered by his question, and quite rightly. It was weird asking her something like that and he wished sometimes he wouldn’t think out loud. It didn’t always help.
With the sounds of the sea all around, the air fresh and not another soul in sight, he didn’t mind being down at the cove one bit. And while he was putting his foot in his big mouth, he figured he’d ask, ‘Do you think you might’ve once had kids with the guy in the photo?’
She was quick to look at him but not so quick to answer. ‘It was only a photo,’ she said eventually. He sensed a sarcastic comment or a none-of-your-business remark had been on the tip of her tongue before she decided against it.
‘That you carry in your bag.’ He shrugged. ‘People don’t generally do that unless that person is significant.’
She hesitated before telling him, ‘At one time, yes, I think I would’ve had a family with him.’
