Page 16 of Wishes & Waves at the Cornish Bakery
‘Hello, loves. Sorry about the intrusion.’ She chuckled as she watched Hudson circling the tables, zooming a small metal car over the backs of the chairs and the tabletops.
‘Hi, how’s little Esme?’ Tilly smiled as Hudson stopped in front of her, holding up his car. ‘That’s a very cool car, Hudson.’
‘She’s okay, thanks, love. Diane and Harry have managed to settle her. The poor little love has a nasty cold, though so they’regoing to stay home with her instead of her coming to us.’ Elsie turned to Isaac as he closed the door behind them. ‘Thank you, Isaac. Was the till repairable?’
‘Yes, all fixed. Any problems, just give me a shout and I’ll pop back.’ Isaac sank back into the chair he’d just vacated.
‘Wonderful. Thank you for that.’ Elsie lowered the nappy bag onto the table next to them. ‘Aren’t you two going to the quiz tonight?’
‘The quiz?’ Tilly glanced at the clock. She was late. A whole half hour late. ‘I completely forgot about that.’
‘That’s my fault, distracting you.’ Isaac chuckled.
‘You might still catch the end of it if you leave now. Or else the others usually stay for a couple of hours after anyway.’ Elsie held her hands out as Hudson gave her his car. ‘We’ve just been to the park, haven’t we, Huddy? A little late-night treat being as it’s the holidays.’
Hudson nodded as he patted his belly. ‘Hungry now.’
‘You and me both. Why don’t we go upstairs and make pizza?’ She took his hand before glancing back towards Tilly and Isaac. ‘You’re welcome to join us if you’re not going to the pub?’
‘Shall we go and grab a drink?’ Isaac looked at Tilly.
‘Yes, that sounds good.’ Tilly smiled before turning back to Elsie. ‘It’s okay, thanks. We’re going to head to the pub for a bit.’
‘Enjoy yourselves.’ Ian nodded before taking Daisy and Ollie’s baby girl, Bonnie, from the pushchair and heading towards the door behind the counter leading to the flat upstairs.
Chapter Twelve
‘...and now onto our final question of the evening, what seaside attraction is 158 metres tall?’ The voice of the pub landlord, Gerald, boomed through the speaker system as Tilly and Isaac slipped into their seats at the table by the window.
‘Hi, sorry we’re so late.’ Tilly looked around the table. She recognised most people from when she’d first met them at Elsie’s bakery family dinner on the evening she’d arrived in Penworth Bay. Although looking at them here, squashed across three large tables in the corner of the pub, there looked to be a lot more of them than she’d originally thought.
‘No worries. Glad you made it.’ Brooke rubbed Tilly’s arm as she shuffled her chair back into place after making room for Tilly and Isaac to squeeze past.
‘Yes, you’re here now.’ Standing up, Teresa poured two empty glasses full from a jug and passed them across the table towards them. ‘I’m not sure what it is, but it tastes nice.’
‘Thanks.’ Tilly gingerly took a sip. Teresa was right, whatever concoction it was, it tasted good.
‘Thank you. You don’t mind my gate-crashing?’ Isaac whispered as he took his glass.
‘Not at all. The more, the merrier.’ Wendy tapped a pencil against the answer sheet and glanced around the group. ‘Does anyone know the answer? A seaside attraction that is 158 metres tall.’
‘Would that be the London Eye?’ Jude whispered across the table.
‘That wouldn’t be a seaside attraction.’ Molly playfully slapped his arm as she laughed.
‘Oh, right.’ Jude chuckled. ‘It wouldn’t be that then.’
‘How about the one in Portsmouth? That tower thing?’ Daisy leaned across and lowered her voice.
‘I think it’s called the Spinnaker.’ Olivia glanced towards the bar.
‘Ooh, it might be.’ Wendy nodded, her pencil poised above the answer sheet. ‘Anyone else have any other guesses before I put the Spinnaker down?’
Lowering his glass to the table, Isaac cleared his throat. ‘I might be wrong, but my dad always had these trivia books lying around, and I’m sure I read about Blackpool Tower being 158 metres tall.’
‘I think you’re right, mate. As it’s about half the size of the Eiffel Tower, and that’s what? Three hundred and thirty metres or so.’ Jude nodded.
‘We’re going with Blackpool Tower then?’ Wendy glanced around the group. ‘Final answer?’
