Page 67 of Cupcakes and Kisses in Micklewick Bay

‘It’s an airline voucher for you to use to book return flights for you and Uncle Steve. I have a little villa in Sorrento which you’re very welcome to use – I don’t want anything for it. It’s tucked away from the busy part of town, but it’s within easy access of some great restaurants.’ He was watching them closely, his expression uncertain. ‘Of course, you don’t have to go there, it’s entirely up to you?—’

‘Oh, Max, lovey, I don’t know what to say.’ Heather’s eyes brimmed with tears. ‘This is way too generous, isn’t it, Steve?’

Jasmine’s gaze flicked to her dad, observing his reaction. Her parents were proud people – a trait she was regularly told she’d inherited – and she wasn’t so sure Max’s gift would be well received by her father. She felt her annoyance stir.

‘I’m gobsmacked, lad. I don’t know what we’ve done to deserve such a gift.’

Jasmine was shocked to see her dad as choked up as her mum. It set a little niggle working away at her.

‘It’s just to say thank you for looking out for me when I was younger,’ Max said. ‘You’ve no idea what your care and kindness meant to me. It’s something I understand more now I’m older.’

‘Ah, it was the least we could do, sweetheart, and there’s no need for thanks.’ Heather smiled through her tears. ‘You always were a kind-hearted little boy, but this is too much.’

‘It isn’t at all. Please accept the tickets,’ Max said firmly.

Jasmine leapt to her feet, anger propelling her. She’d heard enough. She opened her mouth before putting her brain in gear. ‘Don’t you think it’s enough that you’ve made yourself my landlord without coming here, lording it over my parents like some sort of flash git? You haven’t even been back five minutes and you’re buying up the town or acting like some sort of benefactor to people. You’re no better than Dodgy Dick!’ Her eyes glittered angrily.

‘Jasmine! That’s a horrible thing to say!’ Despite the rage pumping through her, Jasmine could see her mum was mortified.

‘That’s enough, Jasmine,’ her dad said, sternly. He looked equally stunned by her outburst. ‘Don’t be so unkind.’

‘Well, you two might be happy to bow and scrape and be beholden to him, but there’s no way I am.’ She grabbed her bag, pushed through them and made for the door. Spinning on her heel, she glared at Max. ‘And for your information, I’ll have left the house on Rosemary Terrace before you’ve completed on it, so don’t feel obliged to buy it on my account.’

Max said nothing, but seeing the hurt in his eyes, it was as if someone had reached in and ripped Jasmine’s heart out before throwing it to the ground and stamping on it.

‘I’ll come back later for the kids, I’ve got a cake to get ready for the weekend.’ With that, she bolted for the door, slamming it shut.

Tears blurred her vision as she drove away and by the time she’d reached Rosemary Terrace her anger had subsided and she felt utterly ashamed of herself. Once inside, she threw herself onto the sofa and put her head in her hands. ‘What have I done?’

As she busied herself, smoothing marzipan over the fruit cake, all Jasmine could see was Max’s face, his wounded expression.She’d seen it before, many years ago, when they were children and he was being picked on. And she hated herself for making him feel that way.

She hardly dared show her face at her parents when she went to collect Zak and Chloe later. They looked at her in disbelief, their expressions betraying their disappointment in her.

‘I’m really sorry.’ She hovered in the doorway of the kitchen, uncertain if she was welcome to join them. She could hear Zak and Chloe who were still playing in the garden, but Max, Connor and Ernest had gone, much to her relief.

‘It’s not us you should be apologising to, it’s Max. He tried to hide it, but it was very obvious he was upset,’ said her mum. ‘It actually reminded me of how he was as a little lad, pretending everything was okay when it very clearly wasn’t. I’m ashamed of you, Jasmine.’

‘I’m ashamed of myself. I’m really sorry, Mum.’ Jasmine’s heart clenched. She didn’t want to be someone who made him feel like that.

‘It was totally uncalled for and unkind. I expected better of you, Jasmine. You had no right to speak to Max like that in our house.’ She couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her dad look so cross.

‘I don’t know what came over me, all I can say in my defence is that I’ve been having a stressful time and I think it must’ve caught up with me.’ Even to her ears, her explanation sounded woefully inadequate.

‘It’s still no excuse to take it out on Max, you should’ve kept that temper of yours under control. You need to apologise to him first thing in the morning when the kids have gone to school; I don’t want them getting wind of what you said.’ Heather started gathering bits together on the worktop, as she seethed quietly, annoyance radiating from her. ‘I saved some quiche and saladfor you. You can have it at home. Steve, can you give the kids a shout, tell them their mum’s here?’

It bothered Jasmine that she was being dismissed by her mum, but all the same, she knew she deserved it.

She was going to have to work out what to say to Max in the morning, and only hope he’d find it in him to forgive her. She fought against calling at his house for fear Connor overheard and got upset. She’d just have to wait.

THIRTY-TWO

FRIDAY

If Jasmine thought she’d been sleeping badly over recent weeks, then last night’s insomnia had reached a whole new level. Max’s hurt expression had been the first thing she’d thought about as soon as she’d opened her eyes, sending regret prickling over her skin. What the heck had made her lash out so cruelly? And to Max, of all people. It was so unlike her, and worse, she hadn’t meant a word of it.

He’d occupied her thoughts all day, the pain in his eyes haunting her through her cleaning shift, and into the afternoon while she was working on the christening cake. It hadn’t given her a moment’s peace, not that she thought she deserved it. She’d called his mobile as soon as she’d dropped Zak and Chloe off at school, but each time it had rung out and gone to voicemail. She’d eventually left a message, apologising and asking him to call back, but so far there’d been an agonising radio silence. She told herself he was probably in meetings, or too busy to take calls, but deep down, Jasmine knew that he was avoiding her. And she couldn’t blame him.

By the time it came for her to get ready for her night out at the Jolly with her friends, she felt uncharacteristically glum. She’d much rather hide under the duvet than slap a smile on herface and go out and enjoy herself. She felt she didn’t deserve to have a nice time after what she’d said to Max. The only good thing to come out of the day so far was that she’d been able to book an appointment to have a look around the Wilkinthorpe Road property that had caught her eye. She’d been relieved to learn it was still available and hadn’t been snapped up straight away.

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