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Chapter Twelve
Tammy leaned back inher chair. Pudding had been apple and blackberry crumble with custard - her favourite, but now she didn’t think she’d have to eat for the next week. She took a sip of her drink, smiled and looked around the table. Everyone was having fun and enjoying themselves. And apart from the initial awkwardness of talking to Josh, he’d been engrossed in conversation with Charlie most of the evening.
Standing up, Ian tapped his glass and waited until the conversations had faded and everyone had turned to face him, an unusual silence filling the bakery. ‘Thank you, everyone. I just wanted to take this opportunity to welcome Josh into our midst. I’m sure most of you have already met and spoken to him by now but I just wanted to say an official welcome and I know I’ll be speaking for everyone here tonight when I say I hope you’ll soon feel right at home here in Penworth Bay.’
‘Yes, welcome, mate.’ Ollie called from down the end of the table, little Bonnie now fast asleep in his arms.
‘Hope you’re settling into the lighthouse okay.’ Wendy smiled across at Josh.
‘Thank you all.’ Josh nodded.
‘And you pop in whenever you want, won’t you, love? And join us for our bakery family dinners. You’re one of us now.’ Elsie reached across Tammy and patted Josh on the forearm.
‘Thank you.’ Josh swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down.
Tammy glanced towards him. He looked uncomfortable with the attention. A slight pink hue had developed on his cheeks and although he was smiling, he was keeping his eyes fixed on Ian, avoiding looking around the table.
‘Right, well, I’m going to start clearing up. Anyone for coffee? Or a milkshake?’ Elsie looked towards Pippa, Rueben and Toby.
‘Milkshake! Milkshake! Milkshake, please!’ Pippa clapped her hands in front of her.
‘Okay, milkshakes for the kids and coffees for the adults.’ Elsie stood up.
Ian began piling the plates in front of him and stood up, too. ‘I’ll help.’
‘Don’t worry. You two enjoy the evening. Let me and Charlie do the coffee and milkshakes.’ Lauren grinned as she quickly pulled Charlie to standing before Elsie and Ian could disagree.
‘I’ll help.’ Tammy jumped up from her seat, breathing a sigh of relief as she hurried towards the kitchen balancing a tower of dirty plates in her arms, grateful to escape the awkward feeling of sitting next to Josh. Maybe a little time away from him would help quieten the doubts that she’d made a mistake by pushing him away.
––––––––
‘ARE YOU COMING IN FORcoffee? We can finish loading the dishwasher after.’ Lauren nodded towards the kitchen door as she balanced a tray of mugs and cafetières in her hands.
Tammy looked down at the open dishwasher in front of her and the pile of dirty plates. ‘In a moment.’
‘Okay. Don’t be too long because we’ll help after and get everything cleaned and tidied up in no time.’ Lauren grinned before following Charlie back into the bakery.
Picking up a plate, Tammy scraped the remnants of carrot slices into the food recycling bin and placed it in the dishwasher. She needed this time. Besides, nobody had made any indication to leave yet, so she knew she had enough time to take a break out here and join in the conversation afterwards. She looked up as the kitchen door opened again and Josh walked through, pausing in front of the doorway.
‘Can I help?’
Tammy glanced from him to the pile of plates and back again. ‘Don’t worry. This won’t take long. You enjoy the evening.’
‘I’d like to help.’ He shifted on his feet. ‘It’ll give us a chance to talk about last night.’
She nodded. She’d spent the evening trying to avoid doing just that.
‘I can go if you’d rather not.’ He indicated the door.
Straightening her back, she put down the dirty cutlery she was holding and took a deep breath. They might as well get it over and done with. ‘No, that’s fine.’
‘Great. Great.’ He nodded. ‘I just wanted to apologise if I’d done anything wrong.’
‘You didn’t.’ She looked down at her hands. It had been she who had kissed him first. He certainly hadn’t done anything wrong.
‘Are you sure? It’s just the way you ran off and now I get the distinct feeling you’ve been trying to avoid me...’ He smiled, a small, tight smile.
‘I have.’ She sighed.
