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Chapter Two
‘Sorry.’ Popping upfrom beneath the tablecloth, Pippa sped away across the bakery with the young boy in a wobbly pursuit.
‘Careful, you two.’ Elsie grabbed her glass as it toppled from side to side.
‘So the little girl is Pippa and is the boy her brother?’ Pippa poured some gravy over her roast dinner. Heidi had been right; she’d come at the right time. The dinner looked and smelt amazing, and the Yorkshire puddings were the puffiest she’d ever seen.
‘No, that’s Hudson. He’s Wendy’s little boy.’ Elsie nodded across the table to Wendy, who reached out to steady her son as he ran past.
Brooke looked across the table as Wendy paused in her chatting and called after Hudson, telling him to mind people’s drinks. Elsie’s family was a world away from her own. When her mum passed away when she was a baby, her grandparents had been the only family she’d ever known. Her dad had moved abroad before she was born, and she wasn’t even sure if her mum had told him about her. She’d often wondered what it would have been like to have aunts, uncles, cousins. ‘You’ve got a huge family.’
Elsie chuckled and wiped her eyes with a napkin. ‘Oh, I have. It just goes to show that it’s not blood that makes family, it’s people and love. This is my found family, my bakery family, as I like to call them. The children call me Nana Elsie because I’ve known them so long. Teresa came to volunteer over three years ago and stayed. Pippa, Rueben and Toby...’ Elsie waved at the two boys sitting between Teresa and Gavin. ‘... They’d gone on holiday with their dad, so to fill the time, Teresa came here to volunteer.’
‘And she and Gavin moved here?’
‘No, not Gavin. She’d been recently divorced from the children’s dad. She met Gavin a few months after moving here.’
Brooke looked towards Gavin, who was playing a game of cards with the boys between shovelling roast potatoes into his mouth. ‘Oh, I assumed he was their dad.’
‘No, he’s a fantastic step-dad.’ Elsie grinned. ‘And as for little Hudson, Wendy came and volunteered when she was pregnant with him and never left.’
As if on cue, Hudson popped out from beneath the table, snatched a roast potato from Elsie’s plate, giggled and disappeared again. ‘He’s gorgeous.’
‘Gorgeous and mischievous.’ Elsie smiled and patted Brooke’s hand. ‘I’m very lucky here. The bakery hasn’t just given me a wonderful place to work, but a family as well.’
Brooke smiled. Everyone was so happy and at home that she’d assumed they were all related.
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‘HERE YOU GO. EXTRAwhipped cream. There are a few of those mini marshmallows in there somewhere too, love.’
‘Thank you.’ Brooke pulled a cushion from behind her back, shifted on the sofa, and took the mug of hot chocolate.
‘I hope this evening wasn’t too overwhelming for you on your first night? I hope we’ve not put you off?’
‘Not at all. It was really lovely to meet everyone.’
‘Good, good. I can imagine it was a tad overwhelming, but at least you know everyone now.’ Elsie placed her mug on the coffee table and pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket before wiping her lips.
‘Yes, sorry about coming early.’
‘No need to apologise.’ Elsie picked up her hot chocolate again.
‘Thank you. I’ve been staying at my gran’s old place and...’ She shook her head. She couldn’t really tell Elsie, someone she’d only met a few hours ago, that the memories had become too stifling. She’d loved her grandparents. They had been the ones who had brought her up, and since her granddad had passed away three years ago, she’d only grown closer to her gran. Every moment she’d spent staying in their old house had only made her miss them more. No, she couldn’t have spent another night there, waking up expecting to smell breakfast cooking and coffee grounds brewing.
‘Oh, I’m sorry, love. Did she pass away?’
‘Yes, last year, so it’s been a while. I’d just gone back to clean everything for the estate agents to come and take photographs.’ She felt guilty for selling it, but she also knew her grandparents would understand. Her gran had always told her she didn’t expect her to live there. There was just too much that needed fixing and renovating. Brooke couldn’t afford that, especially now her job was on the line.
‘That’s no time at all. Not really.’
