Chapter Seventeen

‘ T hank you. Bye.' Debbie watched as her customer left the bakery before looking down at the trays beneath the counter. Most of them were empty besides a few crumbs.

‘Yay, half-past five. Time to lock those doors!' Diane grinned as she made her way around the counter.

‘I don't think I've ever seen you clock watch so much as you have today!' Brooke laughed as she pinged the till open and began counting out the day's takings.

‘Harry is picking us up and we're going pram shopping with Elsie and Ian.' Diane grinned. ‘I'm so excited. I've literally got a whole folder at home full of photos I've printed off from websites or cut from magazines of things we need to get for the baby and the pram is, like, the biggest thing.'

‘Good luck containing Harry's excitement. I can just imagine him wanting to get a pram for walks along the beach, one for jogging in the hills, another for shopping.' Brooke bent down to pick up a stray pound coin which had rolled off the counter.

‘Haha, that sounds like him but, no, he's being quite sensible about it all. A little too sensible, if you ask me. He's made spreadsheets of the pros and cons for all the ones on the potential list.' Diane rolled her eyes.

‘So there'll be you with your folder and him with a stack of spreadsheets?' Brooke looked up, a mound of fifty pence coins in her hand, and grinned.

‘Haha, yes. The poor shopkeepers won't know what to do with us!' Turning the sign to Closed , Diane locked the door firmly.

‘I'm sure they've encountered things like that before.' Debbie smiled as she began pulling the empty trays from behind the glass and stacking them.

‘Oh yes, I bet they have.' Diane smiled. ‘Right, I'm going to hurry Elsie along.'

‘Are you up to anything nice this evening? Me, Max, Nina and Rowan are going to the cinema if you fancy it?' Brooke bagged up the coins.

‘Thank you, that sounds nice, but Richie asked if I'd go to a brewery tasting session in Trestow.' A smile tugged at the corner of Debbie's lips as she said his name.

‘Ooh, how's it going between you two?'

Debbie straightened the stack of trays and grinned. ‘Good. Great actually. I still can hardly believe that after meeting sixteen years ago we've run into each other again.'

‘It must be fate.' Brooke turned to her, her smile wide.

‘Haha, that's what my cousin Bertie said.' Debbie laughed. ‘But whatever it is, I'm glad it's worked out this way.'

‘You're happy being back in the bay, then?'

‘Yes, definitely. It's been so nice to reconnect with my nan after all this time and Bertie, of course. And working here...' She held her arm open, indicating the bakery. ‘...with everyone being so lovely too, it's just been... great.'

‘Ahh, I know that look.' Piling the small bags of money into one heap, Brooke crossed her arms and tilted her head, looking at Debbie.

‘You do?'

‘Yep, you're going to stay in the bay, aren't you?'

‘Oh, I...' She nodded. ‘I've been thinking about it. It makes perfect sense. My nan's here, Bertie's close. Besides, my mum and stepdad are going on an extended holiday around Europe next year, and my friends... well, most of them were people I used to work with and when I found out the majority of them knew my ex was transferring to the States before me, it's not been the same since.'

‘Ouch. I can imagine. That must have been tough.' Brooke raised her eyebrows. ‘You're forgetting one thing, though?'

‘What's that?' Debbie added another tray to the stack.

‘The reason you're not coming to the cinema with me tonight?'

‘Oh, Richie?' Debbie sighed. ‘That's because he probably won't be here for much longer. When the landlords of the pub get back, he'll be going home, so I can't base my reasoning for staying on him.'

Brooke slumped her shoulders. ‘Of course, I kept forgetting that he's not a permanent fixture in the bay. Are you going to have a long-distance relationship?'

Debbie picked at some cookie crumbs on the top tray, rolling them between her fingers before throwing the small ball of compressed crumbs into the bin behind the counter. Her ex, Ben, hadn't given her any reason to think long-distance relationships could work. ‘We've not actually spoken about it. It's really early days anyway, I guess.'

‘Yes, it is, but that doesn't mean that you can't give long-distance a go. If you both want it, it can work. Especially being as you've known each other for a while now.'

‘Not really. I spent one summer with him as a teenager.' Debbie shrugged. She knew what Brooke was saying, and she felt the same. She felt as though she knew him, as though she'd known him since that summer, but she had to remind herself that she didn't. There was this huge gap of sixteen years during which she hadn't known him at all. The person he was today wasn't who he was back then.

‘True, but I see it in your eyes when you talk about him. I see how much he means to you already and the way you two are together, too.'

Debbie blushed as she thought back to the day Richie had kissed her in the bakery in front of everyone. ‘I can't assume he feels the same way about me as I do about him.'

‘Enjoy it while he's here and then see how you both feel.' Brooke shrugged. ‘There's not much else you can do, unfortunately.'

‘I guess. There's not.' Debbie picked up the trays and made her way to the kitchen. Brooke was right, she just needed to see where things went. And besides, maybe a long-distance relationship could work. If both people wanted it to. She shook her head. She knew she was basing all her fears on the couple of weeks she and Ben were supposed to have been attempting that kind of relationship and she knew, deep down, that Ben hadn't tried at all, but still it didn't give her much hope.