Jade went to the back door and saw Lois making her way towards the cottage. She’d likely come to talk about the cake again but her head couldn’t grasp any of the details right now. She’d probably seen Celeste alone in the bakery and assumed Jade was here at home.
And now she’d been sprung because judging by Lois’s face, she’d seen Jade and hadn’t missed Dario, Jade’s height and build unable to hide him as he came up behind her. And he always had an effect on people, always gave a good first impression, especially when it came to women. She’d laughed once when she’d sat at a side table in his restaurant waiting for him to finish so they could have some time together. She’d watched him work and she’d also watched the young women nudge one another whenever he went by, talk under their breath; one had very indiscreetly checked out his bottom and put her hand out to touch it until his nonna had patted the hand away and wagged her finger at the girl.
Jade had no choice but to make the introductions. ‘Lois, this is Dario…a friend of mine. Dario, this is Lois, she’s getting married and I’m in charge of the cake,’ she blurted out.
When he uttered the Italian phrase for pleased to meet you, Lois beamed at the charismatic foreigner who’d taken her hand and kissed the top of her palm. ‘Well, it’s lovely to meet you too, Dario.’ She looked to Jade. ‘Isn’t the language beautiful?’
‘It certainly is. What can I do for you, Lois?’ Jade knew she had to leap in and get back to it being just her and Dario. She wanted to know his reasons for showing up, his intentions. She’d been so sure of herself recently, ready to go it alone with her plan.
‘I wondered whether you’d be able to make a few batches of cupcakes as well as the wedding cake.’ Lois clasped her hands together hopefully. ‘I know it’s a big ask and late notice but I’m worried we won’t have enough, what with the ball running right after the wedding and goodness knows how many guests. I want to make sure we have plenty for everybody.’
‘That’s a great idea and no problem at all. Better to have too much than not enough. I can get hold of some small cardboard cake boxes too if you like, that way you can make them up for the cupcakes should you need to if guests would rather take them away at the end. Let me know how many you’re thinking of and we’ll go from there.’
‘Why don’t we say four dozen? I’d say that’ll be plenty. Tracy is in charge of catering this year along with Celeste and Etna, so there’ll be other sweets as well as the cakes.’
‘Perfect.’
‘Well, it was lovely to meet you, Dario.’ Jade almost caught a giggle from Lois when Dario replied in Italian that it was wonderful to meet her too.
When they were alone again Jade suggested they go for a walk. ‘I could show you the cove itself, down by the water.’ She’d told him about it enough times.
She picked up her keys, locked the cottage and called in through the back door of the bakery to let Celeste know she was going out. She suspected that even if Celeste was rushed off her feet, she wouldn’t argue. And much as Jade didn’t want to bump into any more of the locals, it was better to go somewhere other than here. Having Dario in the cottage, in her space, risked him pulling her to him in the way he’d done before and she didn’t want that. It didn’t help her think. But the sea air might.
They crossed the road towards the track that led down to the cove and a group of teenage girls certainly didn’t miss the hot Italian in town. He had his shades pulled down and looked good in a deep-sea-blue crew-neck T-shirt and khaki shorts that showed off tanned limbs, and when he nodded a hello to them, the Italian ‘Ciao!’ tumbling naturally from his lips, they nudged one another. Jade suspected Dario would be the talk of the village for a while as he set hearts aflutter without even trying.
But would her heart ever beat for him again or had they had their chance and blown it?
Chapter Thirteen
Linc drove back from the clinic. He’d got used to the regularity of these appointments but he was kind of glad he was almost done. It was as though this had been a marker, a time when he helped others but also realised that he had to start thinking about himself and his own future. Finally, he was ready to move on to another phase in his life and, despite the appearance of the Italian in the Cove almost a fortnight ago, he felt good about the changes ahead.
Last week Linc had gone through a round of formal interviews with the school governors – online since it was still the school holidays – and had been observed giving a virtual music lesson to a couple of pupils from the school, and yesterday he’d been officially offered the job subject to all the relevant checks and references. Now he had also ticked one other major item off his to-do list – he’d found a place to live. Harvey was right about Melissa’s cottage being perfect for his needs – he’d looked at it first thing this morning and it was plenty big enough, with a couple of reception rooms, an upstairs and some outside space front and back. It had a pretty frontage too, with flowerbeds curved around the downstairs window and a blue front door, as well as an inviting fireplace in the living room for the winter months. He was already looking forward to being in his own space, out in the countryside past the riding school yet still within walking distance to The Street, and with the school a mere thirty-five-minute walk away, he could start the day with fresh air and exercise. Plenty of his previous jobs had been at schools too far from home to go on foot and some days, when he’d been really busy, he’d felt he hadn’t even seen the outside world apart from going to and from his car. Living at the cottage, he’d be able to give Etna a bit of space too because he suspected she might like to spend a little more time with Kenneth but never would with him hanging around. Linc had overheard them both talking about dinner recipes, discussing ingredients Kenneth could source from his allotment, so Linc wouldn’t be surprised if there was a dinner date in the not-too-distant future.
Linc parked up in the Cove and went straight to the tea rooms. It was the day of the wedding and the Wedding Dress Ball and, along with the summer breeze, there was something in the air that he’d begun to realise was a sense of coming together, of community and friendship, that he hadn’t quite found before now. People were smiling, chattering away about what was happening that day, heading here and there to make their own preparations.
When he went into the tea rooms Etna looked up from where she was pushing a fresh bunch of napkins into the holder in the centre of a table. ‘Daniel is keeping you busy at the waffle shack. I didn’t see you this morning.’
She didn’t miss much although she’d got it wrong when it came to guessing his whereabouts. ‘There’s heaps to do still.’
‘Is the pergola in yet?’
‘Not yet. The timber has arrived so we’ll get to that next.’
She paused in wiping down another table. ‘It’ll be a popular place to sit.’
‘Don’t worry, this place will still be loved by all your loyal customers.’
She swished her cloth through the air. ‘I know, I’m not worried.’ In the past she’d bemoaned the lack of outside space at the tea rooms but Etna and everyone else knew this place had character and stood the test of time. A couple of tables out front was an option but, so far, she’d been happy with filling the inside and flinging open the windows in the warmer months.
She looked at him more closely. ‘Hang on, you look too clean to have been working with Harvey this morning.’
‘I went to look at Melissa’s cottage, remember?’ That would be explanation enough. She didn’t need to know he hadn’t been there for hours but had been off somewhere else afterwards. He’d share it with her one day, just not yet.
‘What did you think?’
‘I’ve said I’ll take it.’
She beamed as she headed out to the kitchen with an empty mug and a plate from one of the deserted tables. ‘Your dad will be glad to hear that,’ she called over her shoulder.
