Page 36 of The Pop-Up Cake Shop

But what would Cheryl and Ray think of me inviting two new ‘members’ to join us?

‘Great! Let me know the time and place and Dot and I will be there.’ She glanced back up the street, eyes narrowing angrily at the sight of Gaz walking slowly away. Then she jabbed at the brooch on my jacket.

‘Females are the Future! Yes, indeed.Power to the matriarchy!’

*****

‘Phew!’ I glanced across at Ellie as we drove away from Mo.

She replied with an expressive raise of her eyebrows.

‘That’s one angry woman,’ I murmured. ‘What have I got myself into?’

‘You did the right thing, inviting them along.’

I grimaced. ‘Do you think so? I just hope Cheryl and Ray won’t mind. I don’tthinkthey will. Next stop, Risley Common?’

Luckily, we had no further problems with the van as we drove on, arriving after a few miles at the next village on our round.

‘Damn! No one here, either,’ muttered Ellie, slowing to a standstill at the designated spot. ‘We’re not exactly off to a great start if people can’t rely on us to turn up when we say we will.’

I murmured my agreement. Then I spotted a woman with a child in a pushchair on the pavement a little way ahead, walking away from us. ‘Look. There’s two of our customers from last week. Rosie with her little girl, Amelie. Maybe she was waiting for us.’

‘Oh, yes. It was Amelie’s birthday.’

‘She was over the moon with that figure of Elsa you gave her.’

Ellie smiled. ‘Let’s catch them up. See if they want anything.’

We managed to pull into the side of the road and Rosie looked delighted when she saw us.

‘Lovely!’ she exclaimed when we got out of the van. ‘I thought I must have missed you and I’d already promised Amelie she could choose a cake as a special treat.’

I explained about the problems with the van and thankfully, she was sympathetic about our late arrival.

‘I hate cars,’ she said with a smile. ‘I used to have one but they’re just far too expensive to run now that it’s just me and my daughter. So we walk everywhere, don’t we, Amelie?’

I nodded. ‘Great exercise.’

‘How do you manage with food shopping,’ asked Ellie. ‘You’re such a long way from a shop.’

‘Oh, I get a delivery from the supermarket when I get my benefits and I try to make it last a whole month.’ She smiled. ‘I’ve had to become very inventive at mealtimes, which is no bad thing. It’s amazing what you can do with a bag of lentils, a tin of tomatoes, some dried herbs and a couple of sausages.’

I smiled. ‘Sounds delicious.’

‘I love cooking... dreaming up different dishes on a budget.’ Rosie’s hazel eyes sparkled. ‘I buy the cheapest cuts of meat and then slow-cook them with seasonal vegetables or spices to make stews and pies and curries, then I freeze individual portions. It’s so much cheaper doing it that way. And thankfully Amelie seems to like my food. I’d be in trouble if she didn’t. Kids tend to be breathtakingly honest.’

‘Can I have my cake now, Mummy?’ Amelie was getting restless in the pushchair.

‘You can, my love. But what do you say?’ Rosie dropped down with a smile and unclipped her to let her out.

‘Please.’ Amelie gave us her gap-toothed smile and my heart melted. They were such a lovely pair... mum and daughter. Not having a father on the scene must have left Rosie a single parent, struggling to make ends meets. What had happened to the dad? Had he done a Richard and gone off with someone else?

Holding her daughter’s hand firmly, Rosie led her over to the van, then she lifted her up so she could see the cakes on display.

Amelie chose a cupcake decorated with pink icing and hundreds and thousands, and Rosie let her have a bite of it straight away before putting it back ‘for later’ in the plastic box she’d brought with her. ‘After your lunch, okay, sweetie?’

Ellie took payment for a single cupcake then popped another one into the box just before Rosie closed it.

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