Page 4 of Spring Dreams at the Cornish Bakery

‘Thanks.’ Bringing the mug to her lips, Lynsey breathed in the milky aroma of her latte before taking a sip. ‘Yes, all good, thanks. I think I’m just still tired from all the travelling yesterday.’

Brooke leaned her back against the counter as she took a gulp of her own coffee. ‘I bet you are. I love getting here early enough to enjoy a coffee before we open up.’

‘I can imagine it gets busy, especially with it being right at the beach?’ Lynsey wrapped her hands around the hot mug. The bakery being busy might be a good thing. After all, the less time she had to think about the past and what had led her here, the better.

‘Oh, it definitely does.’ Brooke grinned. ‘I like it that way, though. There’s always something to do or someone I know coming in. You’ll get to know the locals super quickly and it’ll feel as though you’ve always been here. I know that’s how I felt.’

‘You’re not from Penworth Bay then?’

‘Oh no. I came down here to find my grandad, Ian.’ Brooke shrugged. ‘And, well, I found it too difficult to leave, so I stayed. You wait and see, after a few days here you’ll feel right at home and struggle to leave too.’

Lynsey nodded. She hadn’t realised Brooke was related to Ian, but now she knew she could definitely see the resemblance between the two of them. ‘I hope I will. Feel at home in the bay, I mean. I’ve actually bought a cottage down here and thought volunteering in the bakery would be the perfect way to get to know people as well as giving me somewhere to stay whilst I get a bit of work done at the cottage.’

Brooke placed her mug on the counter and held her hands over her cheeks. ‘You’ve moved here? To the bay? Where?’

‘Garth Lane. Do you know it?’

‘Garth Lane?’ Brooke tilted her head, thinking before looking back at Lynsey and grinning. ‘Yes, I know Garth Lane. The one just off the road that leads out of the bay? Is that the one?’

‘Umm...’ Lynsey looked down, her cheeks pinking before laughing. ‘I’m not sure, to be quite honest. I’ve not been there yet.’

‘You’ve not been there? You’ve not seen your new home?’

‘Nope. I bought it through an online auction site. I’ll take a look after work.’ Lynsey glanced towards the door to the bakery, where a small queue was forming along the cobbled street outside.

‘Wow.’ Brook widened her eyes.

‘You think it’s stupid? Everyone else does.’ Lynsey grimaced. Maybe Nina and the rest of her family were right. Maybe it wasn’t so common to buy a house you’d never seen in real life before. Perhaps she shouldn’t have come clean on that part of the story.

‘Stupid? No, not at all. I think it’s exciting! Super exciting! You must want to run round there right now. I can ask Ian to cover for you if you want to go now, or else you could go at lunchtime instead of waiting until this evening?’

Lynsey nodded. ‘Part of me wants to, yes, so thanks for the offer, but I’m going to go after work. I want to take my time and have a good look around rather than worrying about getting back here. Besides, I’m meeting a builder there this evening, so it makes sense.’

‘Okay, well, the offer’s there if you want to go beforehand.’ Brooke glanced over her shoulder as she began walking towards the door. ‘You’ve certainly got more self-discipline than me!’

Lynsey gulped down the rest of her latte as Brooke pulled the door open and the waiting customers began filing in. She didn’t have the self-discipline Brooke thought she had. She just wanted it all to be perfect, the timing, the first visit. She wanted, no needed, her first look around the cottage to be a positive one, not to be rushed or for her to be worried about getting back. She wanted to be able to bank the memory as perfect. One to erase the past year, or at least to truly mark her new life with.

‘Good morning, dear. You’re new here, aren’t you?’ A small woman pulled a brightly coloured flowery silk scarf from her head, her light grey curls springing to life and framing her face.

‘Morning.’ Lynsey clasped her hands together in an attempt to calm her shaking nerves. This first customer of hers meant more to her than the woman standing on the other side of the counter could ever know. ‘Yes, that’s right. I’m Lynsey. What can I get you today?’

‘Well, it’s lovely to meet you, Lynsey. My name’s Nora and I can assure you I’ll be one of your regular customers. Both me and my husband have a sweet tooth and can’t resist Elsie’s wonderful treats.’ The woman smiled kindly before pointing to the tray of flapjacks. ‘I’ll take two of these please today, dear. One for me and one for my Bill. He’s got a dentist’s appointment this morning, so this will be his treat for this afternoon.’

‘Aw, I hope all goes well for him.’ Lynsey used the tongs to place the flapjack in a paper bag.

‘I’m sure it will. Thank you. He doesn’t have many left so there’s not much that can wrong, hey?’ The woman chuckled as she counted out coins from her flowery purse.

Smiling, Lynsey took the money and watched the woman leave before turning to the till. Taking a deep breath, she glanced at Brooke, who caught her eye and grinned at her. Rolling her shoulders back, she tapped in the amount and waited for the drawer to ping open before dropping the money inside.

‘You okay?’ Brooke sidled up to her and frowned.

‘Yep, all good.’ Pushing the till drawer closed, Lynsey forced a smile. She knew she shouldn’t let Ross and what he’d accused her of affect her so much, but ever since she’d been forced to leave her job, she couldn’t help but feeling nervous, especially when money was involved. Shaking herself, she stepped back to her side of the counter and turned to her next customer. She could do this.

Chapter Five

‘Thank you. Hope to see you again.’ Lynsey waved as her latest customer took their stack of cake boxes and left the bakery. Automatically looking up for her next customer, Lynsey breathed a sigh of relief as she realised the queue had subsided and Brooke was serving the one remaining customer.

She glanced at the time. She was already two and half hours into her first day at the bakery and the time had flown by. She grinned. After the first few customers, she’d easily got back into the swing of facing the public and all the doubts about whether she’d be able to cope in a public facing role again had quickly subsided.

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