Page 6 of Spring Dreams at the Cornish Bakery

‘No, hold on. Can you bring the little footstool down, please? I’ve got Diane down here.’ Elsie tilted her head, waiting for Ian’s answer.

‘One moment.’ Two minutes later, Ian appeared with a small footstool in his arms.

‘Thanks, love.’ Elsie rubbed his forearm before holding out her hands.

‘I’ve got this.’ Ian glanced around the quiet bakery before turning to Brooke and Lynsey. ‘Enjoy the late morning lull while you can, and I’ll come and cover lunches in a few minutes.’

Lynsey nodded and watched as Elsie held the door open for Ian as he carried the footstool through. She may have only met them both yesterday, but it was clear how much they loved and cared for each other. It was just the relationship she’d hoped to have with Ross. Huh, the reality of their relationship couldn’t have been further from what Elsie and Ian shared. Not that she’d known that, or more truthfully admitted it to herself until a year ago.

Chapter Six

Standing in the small front garden of her new cottage, Lynsey took in the stone building in front of her. She was here. She was at her new home! Her forever home, hopefully. Her fresh start and her chance to be who she wanted to be. Her place to heal from her break-up with Ross, from the accusations at work, from her eventual firing. Here she could heal.

Shielding her eyes from the bright spring evening sun, she glanced up at the thatched roof. It looked in good order. Not that she really knew what she was looking at, but there were no holes, no gaps in the thatch, and that was good enough for her. She twisted on the spot and looked around the postage stamp of a garden. Yes, there was a fair bit of work to be done here, weeds to clear and bulbs to be planted, but that was understandable and to be expected.

Pulling the key from her pocket, she stepped forward, hitched her handbag up higher on her shoulder and unlocked the pale green front door. Grinning, she could barely contain her excitement as she pushed the door open. She didn’t know what to expect. The information from the auction house had only included a floorplan and the three photographs.

She frowned as an enormous spider, obviously disturbed by her presence, scurried across a large web hanging from one side of the doorframe to the other. Reluctant to disturb it further, Lynsey ducked and stepped inside. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness inside, she reached out and flicked on the light switch.The room she was standing in was suddenly bathed in the harsh light of a brilliant white bulb.

She let her handbag slid from her shoulder and drop to the floor as she looked around. Large slabs of plaster lay on the dust covered dark wooden floorboards, dark beams clung to what should have been the ceiling where instead floorboards from the upstairs were visible and a collection of tools - hammers, drills, a couple of large sledgehammer looking things - lay scattered amongst the debris littering the floor.

Lynsey took a step back and held her hand up to her mouth. This wasn’t supposed to look like this. The photo of the inside of the cottage had looked lovely. Okay, not lovely, but intact at least. This room wasn’t intact. This room was anything but intact. It looked as though someone had taken a sledgehammer to the walls in an attempt to dislodge the plaster and had done a pretty good job of that, too.

‘Oh, you have got to be kidding me.’ A gravelly voice boomed behind her.

Jumping, Lynsey spun around in time to watch a man wearing worn and stained jeans and a checked flannel shirt battle with the spider web as he bashed a clipboard from side to side in an attempt to untangle himself from the sticky substance. ‘Are you Zac Hunter? The builder?’

The man nodded as he spotted the displaced spider running across his clipboard and shook it away from him.

Lynsey breathed a slight sigh of relief. Maybe he would tell her that the walls and ceiling could be easily repaired? That they were just cosmetic. They likely were, weren’t they? After stepping through the door, assuming she’d see a room with intact walls, she’d just panicked. It would all be fine. Especially now her knight in shining armour had appeared. ‘Aren’t I glad to see you? My knight in shining armour?’

‘Huh?’ The man glanced down at his clipboard, seemingly still distracted by the spider’s appearance and wanting to make sure it had really disappeared.

Shoving her hands in her pockets, Lynsey felt her cheeks flame with the heat of embarrassment. Had she actually called him that? Out loud? ‘Oh... umm... nothing. I’m just glad you’re here, that’s all.’

Finally, stepping through into the room, the man brushed his hands across his checked shirt sleeves, swathes of spider web old and new gently drifting to the floor. After looking down for any further signs of the spider, the man slowly looked around the room, his expression turning quite quickly from amusement to horror. He shook his head and turned around again, heading back outside.

‘Wait! Where are you going? Don’t you have to take a proper look around before being able to send me a quote? You...’ Her voice trailed off as she hurried out of the front door, following him. Why would he turn up to offer a quote, only to turn on his heels within a minute of stepping through the door? ‘What about my quote?’

‘You asked me to quote knocking a wall down. Not for this.’ He held his clipboard out towards the cottage.

‘I know, but...’

‘No buts...’ He glanced at his clipboard before looking at her again. ‘Miss Lucas. I don’t have time for this.’

‘What do you mean, you don’t have time? You’re a builder.’ She couldn’t lose him. Having wanted to get the kitchen and dining room knocked through before she finished at the bakery and had to move in, she’d rung around so many builders and he’d been the only one who’d had any availability anytime soon. Everyone else had flat out refused to even give her a quote or else had openly told her they had a six-month waiting list, or more. She couldn’t lose him. After seeing the cottage, she knew sheneeded his skills more than ever. And she’d only stepped foot inside the living room. ‘Please. Please, just come and take a look.’

‘No chance. You told me it was a straightforward job. You said you just wanted to knock a wall down.’ He ran his fingers through his sandy coloured hair. ‘This is more than that. This is a disaster zone. You shouldn’t even be inside without a hard hat on.’

‘I... I didn’t know.’ Lynsey shrugged, her heart sinking. Was he actually going to walk out on her? To walk away from a job? Surely, there being more work to be done would be a good thing for him? It would be more money than he had been expecting? She fisted her hands as she thought of her meagre bank balance. ‘I didn’t know what it was like.’

‘Good luck is all I can say. There’re not many builders around here who have the time to take on something like this at this time of the year, not without a long wait.’ Shaking his head, he turned and walked away.

‘But...’ It was too late. He was already pulling the door open to his van. Slumping her shoulders, Lynsey turned back to her cottage. The cottage which was supposed to be her home. Her hideaway, her sanctuary. Her cottage which looked as though it had come head-to-head with a wannabe developer and lost.

Chapter Seven

Her mobile rang from her pocket as she walked back inside. Pulling it out, she sighed as she saw Nina’s name illuminated on the small screen. Holding it to her ear, she tried her best to stop her voice from shaking. ‘Hey, Nina.’

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