Page 3 of Love in the Air at The Cornish Bakery

Everything was okay. She should have realised that Elsie would get up this early. The deep shelves beneath the bakery counter weren’t going to fill themselves. Of course, a lot of prep work was involved before the bakery could even open.

Closing the door quietly behind her, Nina sank to the bottom step, lowering the can of hairspray onto the carpet next to her. Clasping her hands in her lap, she willed them to stop shaking and leaned her head against the brightly coloured wallpaper, the parrots peeking out from behind large, luscious green leaves as if wondering what she had been thinking. Wondering what had led her to react the way she had.

Staring at the wall, she locked eyes with the parrot closest to her and whispered, ‘Please don’t judge me.’

What was she doing? Talking to a wallpaper parrot? She laughed, a low, quiet noise escaping her throat. Was this how she was going to be from now on? Sleep-deprived and waking at the slightest sound? Always jumping to the worst possible conclusion?

Ducking her head down, she raked her fingers through her unbrushed hair, forcing them through the knots last night’s sea breeze has gifted her. Her gran’s advice to be gentle with herself resonated in her ears. How could she, though? Other people continued with their lives, other people didn’t let one person control their thoughts and feelings months after the incident. Why couldn’t she just move on? Why was it always there, pushing its way from the back of her mind to the front? Why couldn’t she just get over the fact that she’d been burgled?

She shook her head. She couldn’t. she’d tried. She’d tried every day since to fall asleep, to sleep through the night. But she just couldn’t. Her job was on the line and if she lost her job, everything else would go too. She’d come to Penworth Bay to pass on a message, but in truth, it was an attempt to get her life back in order again too.

Nina traced the silhouette of the parrot’s wings. Ever since her gran had received Ian’s letter, she’d spoken fondly of this bay, the magic it held and of the memories of that summer—the last summer of her youth, as her gran described it. It was strange how much of a hold this place had on her gran; she could see why, even having only just arrived, there was just something about the place, the people. What was strange though was the fact her gran hadn’t spoken of it until now. She’d kept the fact that she’d had another daughter—Nina’s aunt—secret. She had kept her short relationship with Ian secret, had never spoken of Penworth Bay until the letter had arrived on her doormat.

Nina understood why. Her gran had explained the circumstances, explained that the only way she’d been able to cope had been to push all thoughts of the child she’d given up to the back of her mind, under lock and key, as she’d described. Nina swallowed. She’d only ever seen her gran cry twice in her life, once when Nina’s mum had passed away and once when her gran had video called Nina to ask her to do this for her, to tell Nina the contents of the letter Nina had forwarded to her and her gran had sent back.

This trip to Penworth Bay would hopefully benefit both her and her gran. Her gran would hopefully be able to finally make some sort of peace with the decision she’d been forced to make years ago, and Nina would have a bit of time away from home, the house she’d grown up in, the house her gran had grown up in, the house that was supposed to be full of happy memories, to be her safety net, her refuge. She ran her hand across the carpet. She didn’t want to think about that night. She didn’t want to replay the events that led to her feeling like this.

Standing up, she picked up the can of hairspray and climbed the stairs. It was early, but she was awake now and getting ready and helping Elsie with the baking certainly appealed to her more than the thought of lying in the bedroom staring at the ceiling for more two hours.

Chapter Three

‘That will be four poundsand eighty pence please.’ Nina passed across the bulging paper bag of rolls to the customer in front of her.

‘Thank you, dear. Have a lovely afternoon.’ The woman counted the change onto the counter and picked up her bag.

‘You too.’ Smiling, Nina picked up the coins and slipped them into the till.

‘How’s it going?’

Looking up, Nina smiled at Brooke. ‘Good, I think. The customers have all been really lovely, even though I keep messing up their orders.’

‘Don’t worry about that. It’ll take a bit of getting used to, that’s all.’

Nina nodded. Were they related? Nina swore Brooke’s eyes reminded her of her gran’s. Or was she just jumping to conclusions? Was her mind playing tricks on her? She cleared her throat. There was only one way to find out. ‘So, you... umm... you’re Ian’s granddaughter? And Ian is Elsie’s fiancé, right?’

‘Yes, that’s right. It’s crazy, though. I only found out Ian was my grandad a couple of months ago.’

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