Page 77 of The Sugar and Spice Bookshop Bakery

She puts her hand over his. If only her dad could have come home with a few pills.

‘It’s okay, but thank you.’ She sniffs the air and peers at the pans on the stove. One contains spaghetti, the other some kind of tomato-based sauce. ‘It really does smell amazing.’

Jack takes his hand away. ‘And it’s nearly ready.’ He opens a drawer, takes out a spoon and dips it into the pan for a taste, before adding a pinch of salt.

‘What’s on the menu?’ she asks.

‘Wait and see.’

‘You tease.’

He turns away from the stove and raises one eyebrow at her. ‘I like teasing you.’

Louise feels her legs turn to jelly. She pulls out a chair and sits down. A timer pings. Jack takes a colander and drains the spaghetti, filling the tiny kitchen with steam.

‘Let me guess,’ Louise says. ‘Spag bol?’

He laughs. ‘Yeah, but it’s spag bol with a twist.’ He opens the oven door again and takes out two trays, each containing a giant Yorkshire pudding.

‘I don’t believe this,’ Louise says. She watches as he puts each pudding onto a plate, heaps the spaghetti inside them and piles up the bolognese sauce. Then he grates a little fresh parmesan over the top and decorates it with a few basil leaves.

‘Buon apetito,’ he says, putting a plate in front of her.

He tops up her wine, even though she’s only had a little, then places the bottle on the table and sits down beside her.

‘Giant Yorkshires filled with spag bol!’ she says appreciatively, lowering her nose to the steaming plate of food in front of her. ‘It smells incredible. Nonna’s recipe?’

‘Mamma’s,’ he says. ‘I’m not sure she’d have approved of me serving it in a Yorkshire though. Much as she loved Yorkshire.’

‘She came here?’

‘They met here. When Dad was nineteen. She came over to learn English and ended up taking him home with her.’

‘Wow, and did they come back much?’

‘No, they didn’t. Not once. My paternal grandparents came to Italy a few times to visit us, but we never visited them here. I’ve never understood why.’ He takes a deep breath. ‘Tell me, what do you think of it?’

‘It’s yummy,’ Louise says. ‘You make a great spag bol obviously, but the Yorkshire is really good too. Surprising! But very good.’

‘Thank you. Wait till you see dessert.’

Dessert turns out to be steamed lemon puddings served not with custard, but with a limoncello sauce.

‘I’m noticing a theme here,’ Louise smirks.

‘Guilty! Yorkshire-Italian fusion, of course. A true delicacy.’

‘Bit like you,’ she says. Jack grins.

The pudding is delicious, and Louise makes a mental note to try making a boozy lemon drizzle cake using limoncello.

‘Listen, Luisa,’ Jack says, putting down his spoon. ‘We have to talk.’

‘Sounds serious.’ She gazes into his eyes, trying to read his expression, but he looks away.

‘God, this is difficult.’ He stands up and goes over to the window, staring out towards the hills. ‘I love Applethwaite. The friendly people. The sense of community. Cleaner air. Beautiful scenery. I even love the food. Well, the food in one particular bakery.’ Louise smiles.

‘And I love being with you, and I love working on the bookshop bakery with you, and if things were different, I would stay. I was already thinking I needed a change – before Babbo was ill. London’s great, but since I hit my forties, I’d been wondering about moving somewhere a bit quieter.’