Page 63 of The Sugar and Spice Bookshop Bakery

‘Yeah, he didn’t want to talk about them. It’s odd. Guys normally love it when you ask them about their careers. Theo practically never talks about anything else.’

‘I hope he talks about you sometimes too,’ Louise says.

Maddie is measuring out more coffee beans. She pauses. ‘Yeah, of course,’ she says, then presses the button on the grinder, the noise of which makes talking impossible. The noise dies away. ‘But back to Jack, does he ever say anything to you about the buildings he’s worked on before?’

‘A little.’

Maddie puts the ground beans into the machine, and once again, the noise brings a temporary halt to their conversation, allowing Louise time to gather her thoughts. She doesn’t know what to say. She can’t be honest with Maddie without betraying Jack. It’s like walking a tightrope.

A tight-rope that Jack has been walking for decades.

Poor guy. Louise is surprised at how protective she feels of him. It can’t be easy. And heart-breaking to have a father who thinks that what you do for a living simply isn’t good enough.

‘Do you think a heart would be easier than a leaf?’ Maddie says, pouring more milk into the jug.

‘Possibly,’ Louise says. ‘There are YouTube videos. You should watch some.’

‘Good idea.’ Maddie pulls out her phone, and taps at the screen.

Louise begins to froth the milk for her. Hopefully the coffee videos will distract Maddie so that she doesn’t bring up the subject of Jack and his work again.

‘Ooh, look at this one.’ Maddie holds her screen for Louise to see. Someone has created a rather elaborate lion on top of a latte.

‘Bit advanced for me,’ Louise says, as she pours the frothed milk into the cup, creating a reasonably good heart shape.

‘You know, that’s given me an idea. I’m off to do some sketches.’ Maddie picks up the cup of coffee, barely even glancing at Louise’s heart, plonks a kiss on her stepmother’s cheek and heads towards the door of the bakery. ‘See you later,’ she calls as it closes behind her.

Twenty-One

The bakery is closed for a few days, whilst Jack fits huge bookcases along two walls of the main part of the shop. Louise sits at a table, watching him, making him coffee and occasionally turning her attention to what she’s supposed to be doing – ordering the stock for the bookshop – but she’s distracted by him chiselling away at a piece of wood.

‘Una rondine. A swallow.’

‘That’s random. Why?’

‘I always carve one. In everything I make. It’s like my signature.’

‘Like Robert Thompson,’ she says, delighted. ‘He’s a famous Yorkshire furniture maker. He carves a mouse into each of his pieces.’

‘Yeah, I know who he is. Dad told me about him, years ago. That’s what gave me the idea.’

‘Why a swallow?’

‘In Tuscany, they’re seen as a blessing. A sign of fortune. They fly thousands of miles in the autumn and then when they return, it’s a sign that spring has arrived. Although one swallow doesn’t make a summer. We have a similar saying in Italian. Una rondine non fa primavera. I love it when you hear them all, and you know that summer is on its way.’

‘Hang on. I thought you liked autumn?’

‘I do. But spring and summer are beautiful too. I love watching the changing seasons. I guess working outside a lot, I notice these things. I reckon the swallows have avian satnav like the geese.’

‘It’s incredible, isn’t it? That they fly all that way, then return home.’

‘Yeah. Like you and my father. You both spread your wings, but came back to Applethwaite.’

‘I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t know where else to go. Not after I… messed things up in London.’

‘Messed things up?’

‘You know how I had to leave my editing job? Well, the truth is that I made a mistake. A big mistake.’ She pauses. He’s confided in her, trusted her with his secret. And now it’s time for her to trust him. ‘I’ve potentially ruined an author’s career.’ It feels strange admitting it. Saying it out loud to someone. But cathartic too. Like a confession. ‘I came back here because I didn’t know where else to go.’