Page 24 of Spring Dreams at the Cornish Bakery

Diane whimpered. ‘I want Elsie.’

‘We’ll get her.’ Pushing her chair back, Lynsey jumped up, shortly followed by Zac. As they hurried past, Diane gripped Lynsey’s arm.

‘Can you ask her to ring my parents?’

‘Yes, of course I will.’ Lynsey took Diane’s hand in her and smiled. ‘You’ve got this Diane. You’ll be meeting your gorgeous baby soon.’

‘We’ll come with you, Lynsey.’ Daisy and Ollie grabbed their coats and spoke to Diane quickly before joining them.

‘Tell them we’ll be at Trestow Maternity Unit.’ Roxie called after them as Zac pulled open the pub door.

Lynsey glanced back towards the close-knit group of past volunteers. With the quiz long forgotten, she could see how much they cared for each other as they all reassured Diane and Harry, who looked as though he was about to collapse with nerves.

Chapter Twenty One

‘Have you heard anything else from Diane, Elsie?’ Brooke leaned her elbows on the bakery counter and called Elsie as she made her way from the wedding planning office.

‘Oh yes. She’s been messaging every five minutes, bless her.’ Elsie paused in front of the counter. ‘She’s thoroughly fed up with waiting for this little one to arrive.’

Lynsey frowned. She’d heard Elsie and Ian come home at just before midnight after Diane had been discharged from the labour ward, reassured that what she’d felt had in fact been Braxton Hicks rather than the start of labour. ‘Is she coming in today?’

‘Not today, love. Harry is taking a couple of days off work and is looking after her.’ Elsie shook her head and chuckled. ‘Or as Diane puts it, he has her under house arrest. I’ll pop by there this afternoon and try to distract her for a couple of hours, I think.’

‘That’s a good idea.’ Lynsey nodded. She wasn’t really sure what else to say. She could imagine poor Diane was feeling deflated and frustrated after the false alarm.

‘Yes, I’ll do that.’ Elsie smiled as Teresa balanced a tray full of coffee mugs on the counter. ‘I’ll get back to the kitchen and let you three enjoy the morning lull.’

‘Here we go.’ Teresa handed to the coffees before taking one for herself. ‘I remember when my youngest, Pippa, was born. She was a whole week late and I can tell you, those seven days literally did not feel like they were ever going to end.’

Brooke grimaced. ‘I hope you didn’t tell Diane Pippa was so late. I think she’s expecting to give birth either before or on her due date!’

‘Nope, I didn’t have the heart to tell her. Plus, I don’t think she’d ever speak to me again if I told her that.’ Teresa smiled. ‘Their baby will come when he or she is ready.’

‘Yep.’ Brooke nodded.

Wrapping her hands around her mug, Lynsey yawned. She still hadn’t caught up from her night of no sleep. Not that she regretted it. That had been the pivotal few hours when she’d decided to jump all in with the renovation project.

‘How’s the cottage coming along?’ Teresa took a sip of her drink.

‘Great, thanks. Well, I mean we’re getting there. Sadly, there’s no quick fix, but we’ve taken down the wall between the dining room and kitchen, and Zac is finishing removing the remaining plaster today. She was still walking on cloud nine after their discussion yesterday about their intentions for the relationship.

‘Sounds like you’re more than getting there. Sounds as though you’re smashing it.’ Teresa nodded.

‘Yes, quite literally.’ Brooke threw her head back and laughed as Lynsey and Teresa joined in.

‘And things are going well between you and Zac? You seemed pretty cosy last night at the pub.’ Teresa placed her mug down on the counter as she looked at Lynsey.

Feeling her cheeks begin to warm, Lynsey nodded. ‘Yes, things are good.’

‘I’m pleased for you.’ Reaching out, Teresa placed her hand on Lynsey’s before picking up her coffee again. ‘You feel as though you’re part of the Penworth community already and you haven’t even officially moved in yet.’

‘I feel it too, to be honest. Everyone’s been so welcoming.’ She nodded. ‘I think I’m going to really like it here.’

‘You will. There’ll be no dragging you away now you’ve stepped into the bay.’ Brooke grinned. ‘And luckily for us, you already have your new home here, so you won’t have any excuse to leave and abandon us.’

‘Thank you.’ Lynsey swiped at her eyes. ‘You’ll make me cry.’

‘I’m being serious. It’s good having you around.’ Brooke rubbed her on the shoulder.

---