Page 13 of Wishes & Waves at the Cornish Bakery
Pausing, she glanced towards the door. She could hear muffled voices, the person to fix the till must already be here. Pressing harder, she rubbed at a red stain on the tabletop. Icing, by the looks of it.
Chapter Ten
‘Tilly?’
Looking up, Tilly watched as the kitchen door swung open again, and Elsie held up her mobile. ‘I’m really sorry, love. I’ve had a call from Diane. Esme’s not well, and she wants me to pop over to check on her. Would you mind coming through and helping with the till? He just needs to know where the plugs are and things like that?’
‘Yes, of course. Is she okay? Esme, I mean.’ Tilly dropped the cloth next to the cleaner. She’d finish that later.
‘I hope so. She’s probably picked up a little bug or something, that’s all.’ Elsie pulled her apron over her head. ‘Are you sure you don’t mind?’
‘No, I don’t.’ Shaking her head, Tilly walked towards the door.
‘Thanks, love. If Ian gets back before I do, can you tell him where I am, please?’ Elsie placed her hand on Tilly’s forearm. ‘I’ll leave him a voicemail, but he doesn’t always check his phone.’
‘Yep, I will.’ Nodding, Tilly pulled open the kitchen door again and held it open as Elsie rushed back out. ‘You get off, we’ll be okay.’
‘Thank you.’ Reaching the bakery door, Elsie paused and called out. ‘Tilly will look after you.’
A thumbs-up appeared from behind the bakery counter, the man fixing the till obviously kneeling on the floor behind.
Closing the front door behind Elsie, Tilly turned back to face the counter and cleared her throat. ‘Can I get you anything?’
‘Coffee would be good.’
Widening her eyes, Tilly gulped. She knew that voice. Seriously? Was it Isaac? He was everywhere in this bay. She walked up to the counter and leaned over. Sure enough, kneeling on the floor with a large toolbox open in front of him was Isaac. ‘Isaac.’
‘Hey.’ Tilting his head back, he looked up at her. ‘Did you find your photograph? I did hurry back out to help look, but you’d already gone.’
Tilly nodded. ‘I did, thanks. You seem to be everywhere I go. Are you stalking me in retaliation for running over your foot?’
A large, lazy smile filled his face as he pulled a screwdriver from the toolbox. ‘Would you like that?’
Tilly laughed. Would she? ‘I’m sorry about upsetting your dad.’
Standing up, Isaac opened the cupboards next to the till. ‘Perhaps we can talk about it over coffee? First though, do you know how I turn this off?’
‘Umm, the plug is in that cupboard.’ Pushing herself up on her tiptoes, Tilly leaned further over the counter so she could point to the correct cupboard. Over the last couple of days, she, Brooke and Lynsey had taken to turning the till off and on again at the plug in the hopes it would magically fix itself. It hadn’t, but the plus side was she now knew where the socket was. ‘Just behind the stack of cake boxes.’
‘Great, thanks. This shouldn’t take long. I think I know what’s up with it. It’s a common problem for this make of till.’ He tapped his screwdriver against the drawer of the till before opening the cupboard again and reaching inside. ‘But it’s an easy fix.’
‘Okay. I’ll grab those coffees then.’ Turning, Tilly walked back into the kitchen, letting the door swing shut behind her before placing her palms flat on the table and taking a deep breath in. She needed to clear her head. All she could think about right nowwas how she had upset his dad by trespassing on their land and how she was supposed to explain her actions to him. She was surprised he was even speaking to her.
Pushing herself away from the table, she flicked on the kettle. Why did she care what he thought of her so much? She’d run him over, upset his dad, and now what? He should think badly of her, but he didn’t seem to. He’d been nice to her since their first meeting; he’d forgiven her about the car. Now, though, would he forgive her for trespassing?
The kettle clicked off, the water bubbling to a boil inside, and Tilly spooned the coffee into two mugs before pouring. The only way she’d find out was to confront him head-on, to tell him what she had been doing there. Could she, though? And would he even believe her if she did?
Picking up the mugs, she made her way back through to the shop floor and placed them on the counter with a thud. She’d have to. She’d have to be honest with Isaac. That was the only way if she hoped for him to understand what she had been doing.
‘Aw, I can smell the coffee from here.’ Isaac chuckled from his spot behind the counter. After a couple of taps and scrapes, the ping of the till being turned on filled the room, and he stood up.
She watched as he tested the till, grinning as the till drawer slid open with ease. ‘You’ve fixed it.’
‘I have. You sound surprised?’ He raised an eyebrow at her as he closed the drawer again.
‘No.’ Shaking her head, Tilly slid his mug towards him. ‘Is this what you do then? Travel around and fix tills?’
Shaking his head, he picked up his mug. ‘I’m just a handyman. I do all sorts. Fix things, clear gardens, whatever comes my way, to be honest.’
