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‘Oh, okay. So you’re doing the whole long diastase thing?’
Staring into her mug, she watched as the deep brown liquid sloshed against the side of the mug as her hands trembled. ‘No. He says he loves me too much to do that to me.’
‘Okay.’
Brooke could hear the confusion in Carrie’s voice even as she attempted to hide it. She shrugged. ‘It doesn’t make any sense to me either. It just tells me that he doesn’t love me enough to want to try.’
‘Oh, Brooke, you don’t know that. This might just be his way of coping. It sounds as though he’s under a lot of stress with his business at the moment. He might see things differently when things have calmed down.’
‘I don’t think so. He made it pretty clear.’
‘Shall I ask Daniel to have a word with him? Or Ollie? He’s really close to Ollie? He’d make him see sense, to see that there could be a future between you both.’
Brooke shook her head. ‘No. He’s made it crystal clear. I’ve just got to accept it.’ And that was that. It really was. Max had ended it. Actually ended it. Brooke squeezed her eyes tight shut. She was just going to have to accept it.
Chapter Twenty Three
Brooke paused, herhand on the door from the flat’s hallway into the bakery. She really didn’t want to face everyone. She’d told Elsie that she and Max were over last night and she’d asked her to mention it to Diane, Heidi, Teresa, Molly and Wendy first thing this morning. She hadn’t wanted to have to go over and over the last conversation she’d had with Max.
But now, now she was about to enter the bakery, now she knew everyone would know. She wasn’t sure how she was going to get through the day. The pitying glances, the empty words of comfort. She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the cool wood of the door. Annie would come in too. She’d be in for her latte and cake in the afternoon. How was she going to avoid seeing her?
Straightening her back, she took a deep breath. She didn’t really have a choice. She had to face everyone, and the sooner she did, the sooner the awkwardness would be over. Turning the handle, she stepped through. The bakery was quiet, the sign still signalling to prospective customers that they were closed. Everyone, apart from Elsie, was standing, huddled around the bakery counter, mugs of coffee in their hands.
As she stepped through, the conversation halted. Slowly closing the door behind her, Brooke paused and plunged her hands into the pocket of her apron. She knew she must look a state. She hadn’t slept, hadn’t even put make-up on to cover the dark circles beneath her eyes.
Breaking away from the group, Diane walked across to her and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her close. Without uttering a single word, she stepped aside as Teresa brought Brooke into her arms. It was Molly next, then Wendy and then Heidi.
‘Thank you.’ She mouthed.
Nodding, Diane made her way towards the front door. ‘Everyone ready to welcome the hungry?’
Smiling, Brooke nodded. This was what she needed. Normality. A chance to escape the thoughts flying through her mind, the thoughts that had kept her awake all night.
––––––––
‘THANK YOU. HAVE A GOODday.’ Brooke placed the money into the till before turning around and yawning into her elbow.
