Chapter Eight

R eaching up, she ran her hands along the edge of the awning. Rainwater was collecting on top, causing the awning to dip at the front and now it was full to capacity, water had begun cascading down the front. That wasn’t any good. People would have to dart beneath the awning at speed if they wanted to avoid getting soaked.

Walking back behind the stall, Robyn began collecting the empty trays, stashing them on a box beneath the stall before centring the remaining ones.

A loud splash sounded from in front of her and she jerked her head towards Jasper’s stall and watched as he jumped up and down, pushing at the front of his awning where the rainwater had gathered from beneath, the water splashing onto the cobbled ground.

Now that was an idea. It might encourage the few customers still braving the weather to venture towards the bakery stall. She waited until he was serving, so he was busy enough not to notice she was copying before walking back to the front of the stall and reached up towards the awning.

Nope, she was too short. She couldn’t reach even when she jumped. Her fingertips were still an inch or too short of touching the underneath of the awning. An empty tray! That would do the job.

After grabbing a tray, she tried again, this time holding the tray above her head and pushing it against the waterproof fabric.

Yep, that was working. She jumped back as a huge splash sounded from in front of her as the water hit the ground.

And again. This time, she jumped higher; the tray held tightly in her hands. This one last go should be all she needed to stop the waterfall of rain cascading down the front.

She hit the underside of the awning with such force the stubborn pool of rainwater shifted and flew up in the air before splashing down on the cobbles.

‘Oi!’ A loud shout startled her from her task, and she twisted towards the front of the stall, her breath catching in her throat as soon as she saw the scene in front of her. Jasper was kneeling on the cobbles, water dripping from his woollen hat and his jumper having turned a deeper shade of blue as he held a Christmas tree ornament in his hand. His face had turned a beetroot purple, almost matching the array of baubles strewn on the ground around him whilst a woman was standing a short distance away holding a white plastic bag whose bottom had split open.

Oops. Of all the people who had had to get in the way, it had to be Jasper, Mr Grumpy himself. She stood frozen to the spot. What was she supposed to do? Rush over there and help? Bring him a towel? She didn’t have a towel.

But she did have a roll of kitchen paper. Snatching it from the stall, she tentatively walked across to him and held it out. ‘Sorry, I didn’t see you there.’

‘Sorry! Look at me! I’m drenched!’ Standing up, he tore the kitchen paper from her hand and began unravelling it, wiping at his face with such ferocity Robyn was afraid he’d tear the skin right off.

Bending down, she began collecting up the ornaments and baubles strewn across the floor and passed them across to the woman. ‘Let me grab you another bag.’

‘Thank you.’ The woman, her arms full with her purchases, walked across to Jasper. ‘I’m so sorry. If you hadn’t been helping me pick up all my things, this would never have happened.’

‘No. No, it’s not your fault.’ Jasper smiled at her kindly before turning to Robyn, his face morphing into a scowl.

Swallowing, Robyn approached them and held the new bag open as the women dropped her purchases inside. ‘Here you are.’

‘Thank you.’ The woman looked from Robyn to Jasper. ‘And thank you again.’

‘No worries.’ Holding up his hand, Jasper waved to the woman before tearing more kitchen paper from the roll and wiping it across his face. Turning his attention to Robyn, he glared at her. ‘Next time, take a little more care and look before you cover someone with your rainwater. I could have been a customer.’

‘Look, I’m sorry. I did look, though. You must have rushed around here as I turned.’

‘Whoa. This is not my fault.’ Shoving the kitchen roll back towards her, he then pulled his hat from his head, his dark curls framing his face, before he squeezed the water from his hat in his hands.

‘It was just an accident. Like I said, I’m sorry.’ She shrugged. What more did he want? Blood?

‘Maybe sorry just isn’t good enough.’ Shaking his head, he began walking back to his stall.

Robyn caught her breath in her mouth before blurting out, ‘Well, that’s all I’ve got. Maybe next time actually look before you jump towards someone pushing rainwater from their awning. You could see what I was doing!’

Spinning on his heels, Jasper walked back towards her. ‘And you could see what I was doing, too.’

Shaking her head, Robyn could almost feel the heat radiating from him. ‘Well, you obviously didn’t see what I was doing or you would have waited until I was finished until coming closer.’

‘And you obviously didn’t bother looking!’

‘Just go back to your stall and we’ll both pretend the other isn’t here.’ She almost spat the words out. How dare he? What was his problem with her, anyway? All she’d done was rescue his dog for him.

‘Sounds good to me.’ He spoke quietly before turning back and heading back behind his stall.

Catching her breath, Robyn returned to the bakery stall. All she wanted to do was to leave. To pack up the remaining baked goods and get back to the bakery, but if she left now, he’d know it was because she was so angry with him. No, the best thing she could do was to wait, to show him he didn’t bother her. She’d give it half an hour and then get the heck out of there.