Page 85 of The Cotswolds Christmas Fair

Morosely, Jen munched her way through a bacon, brie and cranberry roll, racking her brain for any way to salvage something resembling a fair for the children, and for Ted.

‘Mmm,’ she muttered, waving what remained of her roll at Julia. ‘Nice.’

‘Marnie,’ Julia said. ‘Of course.’

Jen stared at her.

Marnie. Of course.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

The café was closing up when Jen arrived. Marnie was wiping tables and straightening chairs in the soft light while carols played quietly in the background. In the corner by the window sat Pat, with a large teapot and a cupcake in front of her. Jen tapped on the glass, and waved as Pat turned to her.

Marnie opened the door, smiling as she pushed her hair off her face. ‘Hi Jen, you OK?’ She stepped back to let her in. The café was clearly closed, but that didn’t appear to bother her.

‘God, it smells good in here,’ Jen said, stamping the snow off her boots on the doormat and breathing in the tempting aroma of coffee and baking.

‘Can I get you anything?’ Marnie asked.

Jen took a deep breath. ‘I have a massive favour to ask.’

Pat snorted. ‘Don’t beat about the bush!’ She patted the chair next to her. ‘Sit down and have a cuppa, let’s hear what you’re after. I’ll even share my cake with you if you like.’

She winked, and Jen eyed the cake. She was about to refuse – she was on a mission, she couldn’t be getting distracted by sweet treats – but the smell of gingerbread had her mouth watering.

‘I think we can stretch to her own cake,’ Marnie said, bringing one over with another cup.

Pat poured tea while Jen ate and talked.

‘. . . so basically everyone’s cancelled,’ Jen finished up, resting her head in her hands and staring down at the crumbs on her plate. The cake seemed to have disappeared.

‘Oh fiddlesticks, we can’t let a little thing like that get in the way!’ Pat said. ‘We’ll think of something. This is Babblebrook.’

‘So what do you need?’ Marnie asked.

Jen looked up. ‘Well, I’m assuming Santa’s still coming?’

Marnie laughed and nodded.

‘Great. So that just leaves decorations,’ she ticked off on her fingers, ‘disco, reindeer or donkey or something like that. And, um – catering.’

She caught Marnie’s eye and bit her lip.

Marnie’s face lit up. ‘Ooh, great – I love a challenge!’

‘It’s tomorrow.’

‘I know.’

‘Then – anything you can do by tomorrow will be great. Thank you so much.’ She clutched Marnie’s hand. She realised she was on the verge of tears. ‘You’ve saved my bacon.’

‘Well, yes,’ Pat said as she tried to pour another cuppa from the empty teapot, wearing an expression of exaggerated innocence. ‘You want to impress Ted, eh? I mean . . . ouch!’ She glared at Marnie. ‘Stop kicking me!’

‘Well, stop teasing her, then.’

‘Oh, don’t be such a flibbertigibbet. Anyone can see they should be together, I’ve never seen two people look at each other like that and not realise they’re made for one another.’

Jen flushed. Her heart was racing. It was true that she did want to impress Ted, she supposed, but only because he was her best friend. He’d always been there for her, and now it was her turn to support him. To show him she could, that she wasn’t some disaster that needed constant rescuing.