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‘Thank you, love.’ With her hand on the back door, Elsie turned around. ‘You’ll cope without me for a few minutes, won’t you?’
‘Yes, of course.’ Diane nodded.
‘Thanks, loves.’ Stepping outside into the courtyard, Elsie shut the door behind her.
‘I hope Teresa’s okay. Elsie’s right. This isn’t like her at all.’ Diane picked up the tray of pasties again and led the way back through to the bakery.
‘Sorry, I’m late.’ Brooke closed the bakery door behind her and took her apron from the hooks. ‘Is everything okay? You both look worried.’
‘Teresa’s not been in today or rang, so Elsie’s popping round there to check everything’s okay.’ Diane slid the tray behind the glass of the counter.
‘Oh, that’s unusual. I hope she’s all right.’ Brooke pulled her apron over her head and nodded towards the coffee and cake counter. ‘Shall I go and serve the coffee and cakes for now?’
‘Yes, that’s a good plan. Molly and Wendy are meeting a client first thing, but hopefully, they’ll be able to help cover lunch breaks if they’re free and Teresa’s still not in.’ Diane nodded towards the front door. ‘I’ll open up now if you two are ready?’
‘Yep, all ready.’ Brooke jogged across to the counter along the back wall and switched on the coffee machine.
Chapter Thirteen
‘Thank you. Hope youhave a lovely holiday down here.’ Carmen smiled as the woman she’d been serving picked up the buckets and spades she’d put at her feet before taking the pasties she’d bought.
‘I’m sure we will. Thank you.’
‘Bye.’ Carmen picked up two empty trays and turned to Diane. ‘I’ll just run out the back and get some more pasties and cupcakes if you’re okay for a moment?’
Diane glanced at the queue leading out of the door and back at Carmen. ‘Yes, I’ll be fine. There’s no point in us both serving if we have nothing left to serve.’
‘Okay. I’ll be quick.’ Hurrying out from behind the counter, Carmen rushed towards the kitchen door. She knew Elsie had baked two batches of pasties this morning and she remembered seeing some cupcakes cooling on the rack, so she should only be a couple of minutes.
Sliding the trays onto the stainless-steel table, Carmen began transferring the cupcakes to one of the trays.
‘That’s it, in you go.’ The back door opened and Rueben, Toby and Pippa filed through, followed by Elsie.
Looking up, Carmen frowned. ‘Hi.’
‘Hello, love. How’s it been?’ Elsie piled three large holdalls on top of the work surface closest to the door.
