‘Linc’s a nice guy.’
‘I never said he wasn’t,’ she said and popped the rest of the roll into her mouth before adding, ‘Why don’tyougo out with him?’
Celeste rolled her eyes. ‘He reminds me a lot of Joel. Do you remember Joel?’
‘The guy you were friends with at school and everyone thought you were a couple. That Joel?’
‘Yes, and we were only ever friends. Some guys just fit into the friend mould, and that’s where Linc will sit for me, I can tell. Besides, I wouldn’t want to step on any toes.’ She handed Jade a piece of the quiche. ‘It’d be good if he applied for that job at the school, wouldn’t it?’ Celeste carried on. Clearly she wasn’t ready to let this one go yet. ‘He told me about it when I was at the tea rooms.’
‘You two really did chat.’
‘As did you, the night before last.’ And then Celeste had had enough of hints, of looks, of tiptoeing around the point. ‘He is clearly keen on you, Jade. And I know the feeling is mutual. I can’t see why you wouldn’t want to go for it with him.’
Jade put the rest of her quiche in her mouth to make it impossible for her to speak again until she’d finished.
Celeste leaned against the benchtop in the middle and removed the lid from her coffee. She blew across the top of the liquid. ‘I hope you don’t mind but I suggested to Linc he come on over when he has a chance, see this place taking shape as we put things to rights.’
‘That’s fine, he’s allowed.’
‘I know I go on at you sometimes –’
‘So don’t,’ she snapped.
‘You don’t usually mind a bit of teasing, you normally laugh. What’s going on with you?’
‘Nothing – busy, that’s all.’
Celeste put out her hand to stop Jade getting on with the job at hand when she picked up her Marigolds again. ‘There’s something you’re not telling me. I can’t believe I hadn’t spotted it before now.’
‘Nothing to spot.’ With a glance at the boxes that still needed unpacking and everything inside washed, dried and put away, it was time to get to work. ‘And I have no problem with Linc coming over.’
Celeste finished off her slice of quiche and her coffee before she took the rubbish to the bin just outside the door. ‘I only want you to be happy,’ she muttered, ‘but I’ll shut up for now.’
Jade let her sister have the last word and opened up the first box, which had a lot of her equipment for cake making. ‘I’ll do all these tins by hand, but in one of these boxes there should be utensils – measuring spoons, spatulas, jugs, et cetera – perhaps we’ll get that all into the dishwasher.’ She spoke as though Celeste hadn’t got it in one that there was something else on Jade’s mind, something big. She needed to talk to her sister about it but right now, focusing on the bakery was easier.
Without a word, Celeste looked through the boxes – thankfully they’d had the foresight to scribble what was inside on the top flap – until she found one containing what Jade had described and after it was all ensconced in the dishwasher bar the few items that needed handwashing she moved on to another box and they worked in silence for a while until she pulled out some silicone snowflake moulds and a set of Santa cookie cutters. ‘We said we’d keep your equipment in the corner cupboards, the bakery stuff we both use in the main area, but how about dedicating a double cupboard to occasions like Christmas?’
‘Good idea,’ Jade smiled in an attempt to ease the atmosphere. She set the fluted cake ring she’d just washed onto the drainer. ‘It’ll make it easier. Try the cupboards next to the baking area, there’s a double set that will be perfect.’
Within a couple of hours the kitchen at the bakery didn’t look much different but progress had been made. They were going to be a lot more organised after this renovation. Knives, measuring spoons, palette knives, piping-bag nozzles, cookie cutters and other accoutrements had already found a new home in the drawers; modern cupboards with internal wire display baskets made it easy to stack loose-based cake tins, silicone moulds in all shapes and sizes, rectangular, round and oblong tins, brownie tins and sandwich tins, and not only that, it was easy to see where something was and items were able to be pulled out without disrupting everything else. Previously it had been a case of finding somewhere to shove their equipment and a lot of the cupboards and drawers had been full to bursting point, meaning every time they wanted to find something it took forever and frequently involved unloading an entire cupboard’s contents.
The new kitchen had a huge larder cupboard in place of the old one. At first glance you’d think it was the same arrangement inside – just shelves that went so far back things often got lost – but when you tugged the handle it didn’t open a door but rather a pull-out storage system with half a dozen wire baskets, each capable of taking a decent weight, so perfect for various types of flour, sugar and any other dry ingredients they might need. Jade also had something she’d always dreamed of – a blind-corner kitchen storage unit – in the new baking area and she couldn’t wait to fill its metal pull-out baskets that smoothly swung open to reveal everything inside. No more struggling to get the items at the back. She was going to put her special equipment in there – there was, of course, a lot of crossover with the main business, but she and Celeste had decided she’d need dedicated tools and accessories so that they never had a situation where they were both battling for a particular shaped tin or piping nozzle or tray.
‘Knock, knock!’ came a voice from the back door.
When Jade looked up and locked eyes with Linc she couldn’t quash the happy feeling swirling inside her. ‘Come in, we’re getting there, slowly.’ It wasn’t tidy with almost every cupboard door flung wide open and things strewn across the benchtops. ‘Just a matter of finding a home for everything but at least we’re thinking about it properly.’
‘It’s looking a lot more like your bakery already,’ he smiled.
Jade wiped over the stand mixer and set it into its new position against the wall on the next benchtop along from the sink. This one had a pale blue body and over in the cake corner they’d have another one, except in pink. ‘We’ll have a better workflow with this new kitchen and, of course, that’ll mean a better business.’
‘The wall colour looks great too,’ Celeste complimented when she came to dump all the mixer’s attachments into the sink filled with hot soapy water and took over the washing-up task from Jade.
‘It was a good choice,’ replied Linc. ‘And the smell will soon go.’
There was another knock at the back door and this time it was Etna. ‘Can we come in?’
‘Of course, welcome home, Etna.’ Jade gave the woman a hug before she spotted the man hovering behind her. He removed his tweed cap and adjusted his glasses when his actions knocked them skew-whiff and Jade realised this must be Linc’s dad. The smile was exactly like his son’s, wide and genuine, and he had the same waves in his hair that indicated it wouldn’t be straight if he let it grow a bit. Linc might not have been in the village all that long but his hair had grown already and its dark brown waves had started to give way to the odd curl. Perhaps now he wasn’t working flat out he’d be able to go for a haircut, although the floppy, laid-back look kind of suited him.
