Chapter Seven

‘ I think my feet are going to drop off.' Debbie laughed as she stepped around Diane to reach the breadbasket at the end of the counter. She reminded herself it was a good thing the bakery was so busy. After breaking down in front of Richie yesterday, she'd been replaying the conversation in her head over and over, each time growing more and more embarrassed that, after running into him after all this time, she'd just cried on him. Yes, busy was good. Busy meant she had something else to focus on.

‘Haha, you have a craft fair at the community hall to thank for that.' Diane grinned.

After bagging up four bread rolls, Debbie returned to the customer she was serving. ‘Here you go, four rolls.'

‘Thank you.' The woman clicked her card against the machine and turned, making way for another customer.

‘Morning, what can I get you today?' Debbie waved at the small boy holding his grandmother's hand and pointing towards the iced buns behind the glass of the cabinet.

‘Hello, dear. Justin here will have an iced bun, please. In fact, could I get two, one for his brother when he comes out of school as well? And I'll have one of your flapjacks, please?' The woman pulled a purse from her handbag.

‘Of course. Coming right up.' Debbie placed the iced buns and flapjack in a bag. ‘Here you go.'

‘Thank you, dear.' Looking down at Justin, she smiled. ‘Do you want to pay, poppet?'

‘Yes.' After taking the coins from his grandmother's hand, Justin stood on his tiptoes and placed them on the counter.

‘Thank you very much, Justin. I hope you enjoy your iced bun.' Sliding the coins into her palm, Debbie waved as the small boy left the bakery, holding his grandmother's hand again. As she dropped the money into the till, Debbie grinned as she noticed the queue had subsided and a lull had arrived. She picked up two empty trays and turned to Diane and Brooke. ‘I'll see if Elsie has any more cupcakes and cookies.'

‘Okay, great. Thanks, Debbie.' Brooke turned as she waved goodbye to her last customer. ‘'Oh, Debbie, has anyone told you about the pub quiz this evening?'

‘Umm, no.' Balancing the empty trays on top of each other, Debbie shook her head.

‘Oh, sorry, I meant to. It completely slipped my mind.' Diane slapped her forehead. ‘That's the baby brain for you. Or that's what I'm putting it down to.'

‘Haha, you're literally going to blame every single thing on that, aren't you?' Brooke laughed. ‘And just pretend that your memory was completely flawless before you got pregnant.'

‘Well, yes, obviously. It's the one time in my life I have something to blame for every single mistake I make, and I'm going to make the most of it. That and the cravings, of course.' Diane grinned before looking at Debbie. ‘The pub up the hill hosts a pub quiz every week and we have a team there. It's fun and we've got such a. big team now that our chance of winning is pretty good.'

‘Yes, up until last week, our winning streak lasted three weeks.' Brooke grinned.

‘Oh right. Who goes? The people working here?' Debbie glanced over at Teresa who was busy serving on the coffee and cake counter and then towards the far side of the bakery at Wendy and Molly, who were updating the display of wedding cakes and favours beneath their counter.

‘Yes, and everyone who used to volunteer here who's still about and their partners.' Diane nodded.

‘So the people you met at the dinner when you arrived.' Brooke looked towards the door as a fresh stream of customers began arriving. ‘Apart from Freya and Chris. They can't make it this week because they've got something going on at Chris's farm animal sanctuary. I think they're getting the straw in the sheep's barn cleared or something and will be busy all day.'

‘Okay, great. I'll join you then.' Debbie smiled as she turned towards the kitchen, hoping Diane and Brooke hadn't noticed the warm blush that she'd felt streak across her face at the mention of the pub. It would be nice to see Richie again, even if it was just to thank him for his support yesterday.