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‘Hey Rach,’ David called as we tinkled into the shop, ‘nearly finished?’
Rachael was dressed head to toe in traditional Swiss costume, with icing sugar streaked through her hair and on her nose. She was pouring bright-green jelly into holly moulds and adding redcurrants in the corners to set overnight.
‘They look awesome,’ I said. ‘Where are they going?’
Rachael ignored us both as she concentrated, then once all the moulds were full, she wobbled the tray into the fridge to set and turned and gave us her full attention.
‘All… done,’ she said with a smile and a flourish. ‘Now, what have you two reprobates been up to?’
‘Nothing reprobatish, sadly,’ David said, giving her a kiss on the cheek, ‘although I might have ruined a moment in the bubble between this one and Luca just now.’
‘What?! Not at all! There are very strict rules about fraternising with the staff in Chalet Blanchet as you both know. Nothing going on between me and the notorious Luca-B.’
‘Mm-hmm,’ Rachael said.
‘You could cut the sexual tension with a knife,’ David said, arching an eyebrow.
‘I’m actually here on instruction from Xavier, to pick up a cheesecake,’ I said, ‘and possibly a little treat or two to take back to the chalet?’
‘I can go one better than that and give you Xavier’s cheesecake, a box of cream donuts and another cheesecake that needs delivering to Luca,’ Rachael said, putting the cheesecakes in a bag and adding a red beribboned box.
‘Strange – he didn’t mention anything,’ David commented.
‘Did Luca order it?’ I asked, confused. There must be a mix up with the one Xavier ordered. Why would we need two cheesecakes?
‘No idea, one of the girls took the order. One lemon sherbet and one berry dream,’ Rachael said, writing X on one box and L on the other. She switched off the kitchen lights and put her pale-pink coat on, with her raspberry hat and matching earmuffs.
‘You look like a human marshmallow,’ David said, giving her a squidge.
‘Very on-brand Rach,’ I said, breathing in the sugary smell of thepâtisserieand putting my own earmuffs on, ready to head back to the chalet. ‘Thank you for these. Put it on the tab if it’s not already paid for and we’ll sort it out at the end of the month.’
‘Will do, bye Holly.’ Rachael and David gave me a couple’s wave as they turned the shop sign round and locked the front door. I headed back to the chalet with my bakery booty in one hand and my skis in the other, kicking the wet ice along the ground as I went. The village was alive with après ski as the bars competed for customers. Queen belting out from The Farm and Lady Gaga blasting from Mo’s. I could drop the cakes back and see if Xavier and Liv fancied coming out for a drink. If they were still speaking to me. It had all been so weird lately; I couldn’t keep up. I carried my skis, poles and the cakes into the ski room and released my feet from their two tiny prisons, shaking the sludge from my boots and hanging them on the heaters. I wiggled my toes back to life with a little massage; the poor things had been cramped up all day and were freezing cold. The warmth of the chalet hit me, and I scrunched up my face, enjoying the feeling of being back inside, taking my ski jacket off, unzipping the bottoms of my trousers and hanging up my helmet. I caught myself in the mirror as I walked through to the kitchen and my cheeks were flushed, but my eyes were sparkling and happy. It had been a good day.
‘Hey, Holly,’ Xavier called as I padded into the kitchen, my boarding pants dragging along the floor. ‘I’m just on to Christina,’ he said, waving his phone at me.
‘Let me see her,’ I heard her say. He rolled his eyes, turning the screen round to show me his smiling wife.
‘Bonjour,Holly,’ she said, waving, ‘it’s so great to finally meet you! Xavier tells me wonderful things.’
‘Hiii! Yes, you too!’ I replied. She was even more stunning up close, radiating joy through the phone. Xavier stepped into the corridor to finish his call, as I lifted my bags onto the counter.
‘She’s lovely, Xavier, just as you said,’ I heard Christina say. It felt good to know that he’d said nice things.
‘Oui, oui.Alors,bonne chance ce soir.I’ll call as soon as I know, hopefully with good news.’
Xavier reappeared, fresh-faced and smiling. ‘Good day skiing?’ he asked.
‘Amazing!’ I trilled. ‘Blue skies, gorgeous sunshine and my turns are finally improving. The practice is starting to pay off. I bumped into a friend on the mountain for drinks and ended up at Rachael’s with David. So, I have caaaake!’
‘Oh yeah, thanks for picking that up,’ Xavier said, taking the bag from me and lifting it up as if to weigh it. ‘That’s a lot of cake?’
‘The donuts are for you and Liv,’ I said, quickly changing my story, ‘as a little treat.’
‘Hmm, the perfect gift for a chef and health-conscious girl,’ Xavier said, ‘calorific food.’ He had a point.
‘There’s still more in here than I…’ He frowned, peering into the bag. ‘I only ordered one cheesecake? Is this the lemon sherbet?’
He pulled out the box with the L marked on top to find a pretty-in-pink berry dream nestled inside: one of Rachael’s specialities. A buttery biscuit base covered in whipped raspberry mousse and dollops of fresh cream. Decorated around the edges with tiny shortbread hearts and sugared strawberries, a scrawl of chocolate sauce in the centre:
