Page 31 of The Gingerbread Cafe
‘But I’d like to bake more,’ Gretel continued. ‘I mean, if I don’t create and sell from the heart, I may as well let a chain take over. I might not get to keep this café for much longer, but while I get the chance I’m determined to give it a personal touch. I always felt so at home here and I want others to feel that too. That would be the perfect tribute to Nell. Creating a cosy, cherished space was what Nell was all about.’ Gretel scratched her head. ‘And yet trying to copy everything Nell used to do hasn’t worked for me. Tonight’s success is surely proof that I need to keep branching out in my own direction to stand a chance.’
‘At last, she’s ready to do it her own way!’ said Amber, triumphantly, still bopping around like she was inThe Rocky Horror Show, giving Gretel a life-sized, wiggling reminder to break free from her time warp.
Gretel found herself nodding. ‘I think.’
‘So what is your way?’ Phoebe asked. ‘Because the universe is absolutely telling me I need more gingerbread in my life. Don’t go depriving me now.’
‘Oh, there will be gingerbread,’ Gretel reassured her. ‘It will always be The Gingerbread Café. At least, while it’s in my care.’ She gave a sad smile. ‘But I seriously struggled to recreate Nell’s old recipes and I’ve all but burnt her kitchen down trying. It’s surely a sign, but I’m so confused about what I should bake to make it my own.’
‘Signs are definitely a thing,’ Phoebe nodded, finding her plate a home in the dishwasher behind the counter and topping up her hot chocolate. Was that a sign she felt at home here already? Gretel hoped so.
Gordon the Grocer was holding his rebellious stained-glass apple in front of his face and peering at Gretel through it, his cheeks looking even redder than usual. ‘Isn’t it obvious?’he asked. ‘Not that I know a lot about biscuits with my fine figure,’ he chuckled. ‘I’m the poster boy for living a healthy, fruit and veg-fuelled existence.’ He gave her a rosy wink. ‘But what about trying those gingerbread biscuits with the coloured candy windows in the middle? You know, the ones that look kind of glassy.’
‘Stained-glass ginger biscuits.’ Amber nodded, like she was a girl who kneweverything. If she did, it had taken her long enough to mention. ‘Yeah, that would be totally you, G. If you just pretend you’re crafting a piece of art, rather than baking …’
Gretel winced as she remembered Lukas’s Christmas Day lecture about treating cooking as a science before you got all artistic. But his advice hadn’t got her far enough.
‘Talking of community, I could bring you some fresh lavender. You could try baking it into a gingerbread recipe. I’m sure the flavours would work,’ said Bea.
‘We’ve got plenty of rum if you’re brave enough!’ Zekia’s laugh bounced around the café.
‘I reckon you should go seasonal,’ said Gordon. ‘Always works in the world of fresh fruit and veg. Come and see me for your spring rhubarb, summer berries, your autumn pumpkins …’
‘You had me at rhubarb,’ said Phoebe, sprinkling extra marshmallows onto her hot chocolate. ‘Very cleansing, and great for your root chakra.’ She pointed at Gretel. ‘Goes perfectly with cinnamon and ginger if you’re wondering.’
‘Sounds like you’re already placing your orders,’ Gretel joked, as she joined in with cleaning the tables, trying her best not to emulate any of Amber’s dance moves. This lot were already kicking up enough glassy dust with their antics. Thank goodness she had tomorrow to do a deep clean.
‘Why might you not get to keep the café for much longer?’ one of the residents asked.
As Gretel explained that her co-owner may want to sell after the legal bits were sorted, Amber nudged her, hissing at her to quiz the other shop owners about Whimple & Sons. At least Amber had had the good grace to keep her naughty throat chakra under control and not bark out her thoughts. But Amber was right. The room felt like a snug space to discuss things, and everyone here seemed to care about the future of Green Tree Lane, even if nobody knew how to fix it yet.
‘That Miss Whimple and her family will be the death of us all,’ said Eve, through tight lips, once Gretel had told the others the woman had been pushing to buy the café and after the other shop owners had admitted they’d had the same insistent visits. It seemed they all knew how the Whimple family’s interference had ruined the cosy feel of the neighbouring village and how its main shopping street had become a soulless home of ugly franchises once they’d bought up most of the buildings. It looked like the family had put Miss Whimple in charge of doing the same in Mistleton.
‘It’s a good job you can get chatty with the afterlife,’ said Amber.
Eve blinked a few times, then turned away. Gretel noticed Phoebe narrowing her eyes in that curious way she’d seen her do before, as though trying to focus on something that wasn’t plainly visible.
‘So how can we improve Green Tree Lane so nobody needs to give up hope and sell to her?’ asked Zekia, not one to skate around the issues. ‘Because I’m working on a rum and raisin ice cream that will blow your socks off. I don’t want our adventures in the Cotswolds to end before they’ve begun.’
‘Francesca Whimple can get stuffed,’ said Jane and Jayne in unison, one of them banging on the table and sending glass dust flying, the other gasping and trying to catch it with a cloth.
‘Oh, you two are trouble,’ said Zekia, doubling over with laughter and using an unsuspecting Gordon to help her balance.
The extra commotion signalled the end of Angel Gabriel’s napping and he wriggled out of his bag, darting towards the closest patch of cake crumbs.
Ding diiiiiiing.And Lukas Knight had to choose that moment to do one of his post-work stroll-bys, when she hadn’t seen the guy since Christmas. Couldn’t he even read aclosedsign?
As he stood in the open doorway in his chef’s whites with a backpack over one shoulder, the bell still ringing over his head and his eyebrows raised, Gretel wished the ground would open up and swallow her. With a ferret on the loose and the café full of dangerous-looking tools and glass dust, she was sure she was in for the lecture of her life about food hygiene and other boring rules.
Luckily, her crafting students seemed to sense the swift mood change and began grabbing coats and making excuses. Well, he knew how to clear a room.
But did he almost look a little sheepish as he moved out of the doorway to let the masses leave?
‘Thank you for tonight – it’s been exactly what I needed. See you next week.’ Bea expelled a puff of air as though a weight was beginning to lift, and stepped out into the night, the others giving a quick wave and barrelling out behind her, the joy of the evening still buzzing around them.
Gretel noticed Amber taking extra care to stay in the middle of the ruckus, presumably not wanting to be seen by the man she called scary.
‘Next week?’ Lukas muttered to himself.
