‘That must have been a shock for you,’ I said, laughing with him at such a special memory.
‘It were a tad cold.’
‘We’ve got some photos of him with the heavies,’ Jeanette said. ‘We can bring them in if you’d like to see them some time.’
‘I’d love to if it’s no trouble for you.’
She shook her head. ‘We’ll bring them on a future visit. Right, John, let’s say hello to the heavies but we’ll be back for tea and cake afterwards.’
I caught up with them on the farm a little later. Duchess and Gladys had their heads over the gate to Big Field and were enjoying John and Jeanette’s attention.
Jeanette shared that, like Gabby and Becca this morning, they hadn’t liked the café being closed so often but they’d still visited because they’d loved talking to Shelley. I assured them we saw the café as an important part of the experience and it would be open any time the attraction was. It seemed they’d also come today after seeing the newspaper article so clearly that was working in spreading the word and hopefully it would do wonders for weekend visitors.
At five o’clock, I closed the main gate.
‘Congratulations on your first day of business,’ Jude said. ‘Pleased with it?’
‘Four adults – five if you include Hope – two toddlers and a baby isn’t many but it’s better than zero and they’ll all be back so that’s great news.’
I ran my hands down my face as we set off towards the farmhouse. ‘I can’t believe how drained I feel. You’d think we’d had dozens of visitors.’
‘It’s probably a combination of the adrenaline from today and all the hard work getting things ready. I think you and your mum deserve to put your feet up and relax tonight. How about you direct me to the nearest takeaway to save anyone cooking?’
Mam thought a takeaway was a great idea and fancied pizza. We remembered seeing a sign in The Otter’s Pocket in Mapleton saying they did takeaway pizzas and found the menu online. Iheaded upstairs to see what toppings Maddie wanted. There was no answer when I knocked so I poked my head around the door but her room was empty.
‘She’s not upstairs,’ I said as I returned to the kitchen. ‘Has she messaged either of you?’
Nobody had any messages and there was no sign of a note saying she was going out. The same feeling of panic swept through me that I’d experienced the day she stormed out of the hardware store in Berwick.
‘I’ll see if her bike’s gone,’ Jude said, heading outside.
She returned moments later to report that it had. I sighed and shook my head. Where was she and with whom? It didn’t feel unreasonable to want to know that when she was still under eighteen and living in a part of the country she didn’t know. I tried ringing her but it went to voicemail so I left a message.
‘Maddie, it’s half five and we haven’t a clue where you are or when you’ll be back. Jude’s going into Mapleton to pick up pizzas. Do you want some? Please ring me.’
We gave it half an hour before placing the order without any word from Maddie.
* * *
We were finishing the most delicious stone-baked pizzas when Maddie arrived home. She stared at the food.
‘You’ve already eaten?’ The tone in which she said it smacked ofhow dare you eat without me?
‘We didn’t know where you were or when you’d be back,’ I said. ‘In fact, we didn’t even know you’d gone out. There’s plenty if you want some.’
Maddie picked up a slice and took a bite. ‘Ew! It’s cold!’
‘You probably want to give it a blast in the microwave,’ Mam said.
Maddie placed three slices on a plate and we sat in uncomfortable silence as the microwave clock counted down. When she sat at the table with her food, I hoped she’d ask how opening day had gone or tell us where she’d been but she tucked into her pizza without a word.
‘I took some lovely photos of your mum and nanna before we opened today,’ Jude said. ‘I thought you were going to join them.’
‘I was in bed.’ Maddie took a bite from her second slice.
‘So it would seem. Are you not going to ask them how opening day went?’
Go, Jude!I loved how, just like my sister, she had no qualms about challenging Maddie.
