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‘I understand. I’ll get in contact with Chris and arrange a time.’
‘Thank you. We’d appreciate that.’
Jessie felt every muscle in her body instantly relax as soon as the office door closed behind Claire and Callum. Leaning back in her chair, she looked at the scribbled notes she’d made in her notebook. They had a fair bit of checking and chasing up to do. Claire had arranged for her best friend to do the catering, but she’d just been involved in a car accident and would no longer be able to. ‘Where do we start in finding someone else to do the catering?’
‘There’s a list of local caterers in this book.’ Reaching behind her, Wendy pulled a thick book from the shelf. ‘We can start by asking Ollie if he can cater though.’
Jessie nodded. ‘Okay.’
Chapter Nine
Taking a sip of coffee, Jessie scanned the list again.
‘Can I grab you another one before I shut the machine down?’ Teresa called across from the coffee and cake counter.
‘No, I’m fine. Thank you.’ Jessie glanced across at Teresa and then around the bakery. How long had she been poring over Claire and Callum’s wedding plans? She looked across at the bakery door, the sign had already been turned to show any passers-by they were now closed. Blinking, she watched as Diane, Heidi and Brooke slipped their aprons over their heads and grabbed their bags.
‘How’s that going? You’ve been making notes on their wedding for over two hours now.’ Walking towards her, Diane put her bag on the table and fished out her keys.
‘I didn’t quite realise how long I was taking.’ Jessie stretched her arms above her head and yawned. ‘Wendy has arranged for us to take Claire and Callum up to the barn tomorrow and I don’t want to mess anything up. I want to be able to picture where everything’s going to go.’ If she was honest, she wanted to prove herself. Prove to Wendy and Elsie that she wasn’t just going to spend all her time volunteering at the bakery, messing everything up. And after getting so distracted by little Dottie earlier and the thoughts of Kelly’s baby, she wanted to prove to herself that she was capable.
Diane nodded. ‘Fair enough. Tomorrow will be your first time up at the sanctuary, won’t it?’
‘Yes.’ Jessie nodded. ‘What animals do they rescue?’
‘Farm animals. Huh, I say farm animals, but Chris normally has a bunch of cats up there who have found their way to him, a multitude of wildlife including pigeons and other birds who can no longer fly for whatever reason and a couple of rabbits and guinea pigs. He basically can’t say no.’ Diane laughed. ‘It’s an amazing place. A real escape.’
‘Aw, I’m looking forward to visiting. I wonder if they’ll be time to have a quick look around or if that’ll be really rude.’ Jessie picked up her pen and began twisting her hairband around it.
‘I’m sure there’ll be time. Chris loves showing people around. Freya might be up there tomorrow, too. I can’t remember if she said it was her day off tomorrow or not.’
‘Freya?’
‘Yes, she came down to the bay to volunteer around Christmas time, met Chris and ended up staying. She’s a vet, so helps out a lot at the sanctuary too. If she’s not there, you’ll meet her at the pub quiz in a couple of days. We, everyone who works or has worked at the bakery, are on a team. It’s a good laugh. You’ll come, won’t you? We can introduce you to everyone else then, too.’
Jessie shrugged. ‘That sounds fun.’
