Page 9 of Coming Home to Crumbleton

‘Urgh, why?!’ she murmured, only just reining in the temptation to stick her tongue out at it. These blasted things had been haunting her every move during the tour. There had even been one in the window of the small-town bookshop she’d visited in Australia.

The idea of facing a full-sized photograph of herself had never sat well with Ruby, but it was made about a million times worse by the fact that she couldn’t stand the photograph. The shoot had been set up by her marketing team, and she’d hated every second of it. Bobbi and Ben had insisted on a full, heavy face of make-up and that - combined with the bright blond highlights they’d talked her into – meant that it didn’t really look anything like her. Especially as she’d had a hairdresser in Paris return her hair to something resembling its natural colour since then!

Ruby sighed and turned away from the awful thing to give the door a tug. It didn’t budge.

‘Back in five minutes!’ she muttered, noticing a little card stuck to the glass with blu-tac. ‘Great!’

Well… in that case, she’d just have to go to the café. She really wasn’t ready to face her mum and dad yet, and she could really do with a hit of Mabel’s industrial-strength coffee right now.

Heading back down the hill again, Ruby hurried past the bakery and the bridal shop, and then all but jogged towards the door of the gorgeous, cream-fronted café. Its curved, glass windows twinkled at her, and the sound of the tinkling bell announcing her arrival made Ruby feel like she was hurtling back in time.

The moment she stepped inside, the scent of coffee and bacon sandwiches assaulted her senses. Ruby felt her shoulders relax. Now this was a dose of familiarity she could deal with.

There wasn’t anyone behind the counter, but the place was pretty busy. Ruby’s eyes darted around the little tables out of pure habit - checking to see if anyone was waiting to be served. She might not have worked in Crumbleton Café for years - but tell that to her instincts!

‘If it isn’t my best-ever waitress!’

Ruby swung around only to find Mabel Leonard scurrying towards her from the kitchen.

‘Mabel!’ she cried, a genuine smile splitting her face as her old boss stopped right in front of her, beaming.

‘Good to see you, Ruby. It’s been too long!’

Ruby nodded. She might not have wanted to come back to Crumbleton - but when it came to the café and Mabel… she was inclined to agree. It had been too long.

‘It’s lovely to see you,’ said Ruby, grabbing Mabel’s hand and giving it a squeeze as she glanced around again. ‘The place looks great… but… are you on your own?’

Mabel rolled her eyes and nodded. ‘The new girl didn’t turn up,’ she sighed. ‘They don’t make staff like they used to,’ she added, shooting a wink at Ruby.

Ruby grinned. She’d always been a favourite with Mabel. In fact, when her edits got particularly tough, she’d fantasised about being back in Crumbleton Café - working for pocket money, coffee and leftover cake.

‘I’m a bit behind with this lot,’ muttered Mabel, nodding at the busy café, ‘but I’m sure you remember how to use the machine if you want to help yourself to a coffee.’

‘Sure you don’t mind?’ said Ruby.

‘Sure?’ laughed Mabel, ‘you’d be doing me a favour, girl. I’ll be right with you as soon as I’ve finished off the order for table four.’

‘Okay,’ laughed Ruby, following her behind the counter.

‘Oh, and while you’re at it, could you take some cutlery over to them for me?’ called Mabel before disappearing back through to the kitchen.

CHAPTER 5

RUBY

Chuckling to herself, Ruby stashed her rucksack into the cubby hole beneath the counter. Then, she shook her hair back and tied it up into a quick ponytail before pulling on an apron and washing her hands.

‘Time warp!’ she whispered to herself, as the years fell away and she was suddenly a teenager again, turning up for her weekend shift with nothing to worry about other than A-levels, essays and boys.

Grabbing two sets of cutlery and a condiment rack, Ruby made her way over to table four - vaguely dreading being recognised by one of the customers. There was no fear of that when she reached the table, though. The faces that glanced briefly up at her were strangers, and they barely even took her in before continuing what was clearly a mother-daughter argument about what colour bridesmaid’s dresses would best compliment the mother of the bride’s outfit. It sounded like mum was definitely winning.

Ruby quickly set everything on the table and then scuttled back to the counter. She was desperate for that coffee!

‘Hello old girl,’ she murmured to the ancient machine as she loaded up a puck with grounds. ‘Remember me?’

As soon as the aromatic, dark brown stream had finished trickling from the silver spouts, Ruby set to frothing her jug of milk. Her mouth was now watering for the first, much-needed sip.

Visiting the café had been the perfect way to calm down and get her feet back underneath her. She’d belonged behind this counter for so many years, and now - for the first time since the book tour had kicked off - she actually felt like herself.

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