Page 23 of Daydreams & Doughnut Cake

At last, certain that she wouldn’t wake again, I left her room with the door slightly ajar and walked slowly down the stairs.

Standing in the hallway, I stared into the kitchen.

I couldn’t face the mess. Not right now. I needed time to think about what I was going to do about market day. With barely any food to put on my stall, what on earth would be the point? Therewere a few cartons left in the fridge but it wouldn’t even be worth paying for the petrol to drive along there and back, if that’s all I had to offer my customers.

Sighing, I crossed the threshold, picked my way over to the kettle and flicked it on. And as it boiled, I was resigning myself to writing off that week’s market day completely. I’d already paid for the pitch, so it was really annoying, but what else could I do?

Shivering, I clutched my arms tightly around me.

Someone really had it in for me and I guess they’d wanted to make sure my business suffered. Well, they’d achieved their objective and no mistake!

But was I really just going to let myself be a victim?

The initial shock had been replaced by anger at what the intruder had done. Fury was building inside me and giving me strength.

Whoever they were, they weren’t going to win.

I’d be at that market stall as usual the following day – even if I had to spend the entire night cooking more curry to replace what had been destroyed!

Taking my tea through to the living room, I paused at the foot of the stairs on the way. All was calm upstairs.

I needed a plan. Sinking down on the sofa, I warmed my hands on the mug. I was chilled to the bone and shivering now, but as I sipped the hot tea, a feeling of warmth started spreading through me.

I was down.

But I was most definitely not out!

I had a freezer full of quality chicken, beef and lamb, a cool drawer packed with vegetables, and a cupboard full of lentils, tins of tomatoes and all the spices I could ever need.

A feeling of obstinate resolve got me off the sofa and heading back into the kitchen, where I took out the meat that needed defrosting and laid it on the countertop, ready for a crack ofdawn start. Then I looked at the floor. It was tempting to leave it and go upstairs to grab some sleep.

But the thought of coming down in a few hours’ time and being faced with this mess wasn’t an appealing one.

I’d do it now, then I’d be able to roll my sleeves up and get cooking the instant I came down!

With a feeling of bloody-minded determination, I began picking up the cartons from the floor...

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Next morning, I chatted cheerfully to Amelie as I made her breakfast.

‘It smells nice in here,’ she said as she sat at the table eating her cornflakes.

I smiled at her. ‘I was up very early cooking. And once I’ve dropped you at nursery, I’m going straight over to the market to sell lots of our lovely food.’

I’d actually risen at four to get to work, and the results were cooling on the side, ready to be portioned into cartons then stacked into ice boxes and taken out to the van. I’d be exhausted later and ready for an early night. But for now, the adrenaline of working to deadlines so that I could keep my customers happy and pay a bill or two was managing to propel me forwards!

I was so busy, I barely had time to think about the sinister intruder of the night before. But now and again, a memory would flash into my head – a dark figure escaping into the night, the awful mess, my beautiful vase lying in pieces on the floor – and a chill would rush through me.

Was it Clare?

Did she have it in for me?

Had she hated me all along because of my close friendship with Jackie?

Or was it someone at the market? A competitor whose business I was threatening?

But that didn’t ring true at all. Everyone I’d met, all the stallholders, had been really welcoming. And as far as I knew, there was no one doing the same as me at the market – selling home-made meals. And the accusatory message was clearly personal...

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