Page 25 of Welcome to Pennycress Inn

Searching his face, Laura noticed his cheeks had pinked.

‘And that brings us to the final matter of the evening, the upcoming craft fair.’ Miss Cooke cracked a smile. ‘The village council have been working tirelessly to recruit stallholders from our village and the surrounding ones and the variety of goodswhich will be on offer sounds divine. We do still have a list of volunteers needed though, so I’ll pass you over to Jill Davies.’

Jill, a red-haired woman with a young toddler clinging to her leg, stepped onto the stage and opened a small notebook. ‘Evening, everyone. I apologise for the clingy, exhausted toddler, we’re transitioning from having naps to no naps, and, yep you guessed it, this one sneaked in a nap today, so rather than leaving him at home to disrupt bedtime for the other kids, he’s here with me.’

Miss Cooke rubbed the toddler’s back before stepping back. ‘I’m sure you’ll be a good boy while Mummy talks, won’t you?’

‘You have more faith than me.’ Jill smiled at Miss Cooke before turning back to the villagers. ‘It’s looking as though we’re going to have some really marvellous handcrafted creations on offer for our first craft fair of the year, but there are a few voluntary positions we’re hoping to be able to fill this evening. First off, we’re hoping to sell tea and coffee from the kitchen here and…’

Laura turned and glanced towards the back of the hall. A door led off to the side, with a wooden hatch next to it.

‘…Which brings me to the reason I’m standing in front of you tonight.’ Jill leaned down and picked up her toddler, positioning him on her hip before continuing. ‘Well, one of the reasons. The first was to update you all, the other is to plead for volunteers who would be willing to put an hour’s work in serving drinks and cakes in the kitchen and helping set up the stalls in the morning and tidy up after the event.’

Now, Laura thought, this might just be the perfect opportunity for her to contribute towards village life and to prove to people that she was in it for the long haul, that she meant to stay living in Meadowfield and that the inn wasn’t just a money deal for her. Before she could back out, she raised her arm in the air.

Jackson nudged her side and raised his hand, too. ‘I’ll join you. Might even bring Eden along. She’d love helping out and serving cake.’

‘Aw, that’s a good idea.’ Laura smiled. He was so sweet thinking about his niece.

‘Fantastic! What a response!’ Jill high-fived her toddler’s tiny hand. ‘I’ll just pop your names down. Please keep your hands in the air until I’ve said your name.’

Miss Cooke stepped back to the lectern and took Jill’s notebook. ‘I’ll take the names down. Thank you, Jill.’

‘Great. Thanks again, everyone. It’s so lovely to see we’ve got such a great support in Meadowfield for these events.’ Jill stepped down from the stage and made her way back to her seat in the front row as her toddler waved to the audience.

‘Aw, such a sweetie,’ Jackson whispered across to her as he waved back to the small child.

‘Yes.’ Laura smiled. She hadn’t seen this side of Jackson before, not before moving to Pennycress and seeing him with his niece. Yes, he’d always been the ‘fun uncle’, as Richie called him, to Richie and Jenny’s children, or he had when she’d last seen him with them at a family roast before he’d stopped coming, but this was different. Was he broody?

‘Penny for them.’ Jackson leaned closer, the fragrance from his aftershave tickling her nose.

‘Well, if you must know, I was wondering if you’d reached that time in your life when you were thinking about?—’

‘Ron, thank you.’ Miss Cooke jabbed her pen towards the raised hands in the audience before scribbling in the notebook. ‘Lesley, again, thank you.’

‘If I was what?’ Jackson’s voice was quiet, his eyes focused on Laura as Miss Cooke continued to call out to the volunteers.

Laura shifted in her seat, suddenly feeling self-conscious. What if he thought she was insinuating that she and him…?She shook her head. Where had that thought even come from? With one arm still raised, she tugged on the collar of her coat. It suddenly felt quite warm in the stuffy old hall.

‘Susanne, thanks, love. Rachel, great help.’ Miss Cooke’s pen would soon be in danger of running out of ink, the list seemed to be growing that quickly.

‘Broody.’ She blurted the word out louder than she’d meant to and cringed as Ms Taunton and the couple sitting in front of them turned around, their eyes wide and their mouths gaping. She covered her face with her free hand and inwardly groaned.

Seemingly oblivious to the attention they’d gained, Jackson answered, ‘Maybe. I’d like kids one day, that’s for sure.’

‘Right,’ Laura muttered under her breath, a fierce heat still flooding her face.

‘Freda, amazing,’ Miss Cooke continued.

‘And you?’

‘Me?’ Could this conversation get any more awkward? Not that she should be feeling awkward with Jackson. They used to speak about anything and everything, but… ‘Same as you. One day.’

Nodding, Jackson grinned before nudging her again with his free elbow and indicating Miss Cooke on stage. ‘If this list of volunteers gets any longer, I don’t think there’ll be anyone left in the village to go and buy the crafty bits on sale.’

‘Haha, you’re right.’ Thankful for the change in conversation, Laura felt her shoulders relax, though she kept one arm resolutely raised.

‘Jackson, lovely to have you in our group of volunteers.’ Miss Cooke abruptly closed her notebook, entrapping the pen inside. ‘And I think we have all the volunteers we need. Many thanks to the kind souls who are willing to give up their time for the greater good of the community.’

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