Page 44 of The Gingerbread Cafe
‘Surprise!’ Their voices seemed conscious they’d given away thesurprisebit.
‘Sorry about the scream,’ Bea said quietly. ‘I hope I didn’t scare him.’ She pointed to Angel Gabriel. ‘I wasn’t expecting something small and hairy to accost me in the dark.’
‘Clearly doesn’t have a boyfriend,’ said Gordon, Angel Gabriel wobbling with his belly laughter.
‘So how did those biscuits turn out?’ asked Zekia, pushing herself to her feet, her long wildly patterned purple and yellow dress bustling around her. ‘Will that hot chef of yours be licking his gorgeous lips?’
Gretel turned and took the tray from Eve, her stained-glass gingerbread biscuits still lined up on brown baking paper like flowers in a field. There were carefully shaped daffodils and winter roses, each with their transparent yellow centres made from melted boiled sweets. Her heart soared when she put them down on the table and received a round of applause.
‘They really are like mini works of art,’ said Jane, who Gretel now knew definitely wasn’t Jayne. Jane without the Y had slightly darker hair and was a little shorter.
‘Absolutely,’ said Jayne.
Gretel waved a hand. ‘The larger ones which I made to hang in the window are more detailed and I’m going to ice them too.’
‘They’ll be showstoppers,’ said Eve, with a confident smile.
Whilst Gordon offered to buy the batch with the contents of his money belt and Gretel insisted they didn’t need to pay to be her guinea pigs, the others began pulling out various items from under tables and inside bags. Gretel paused to watch them. What were they up to now?
‘We noticed your café was a little bare since you bravely took down the Christmas decorations,’ said Bea. ‘We’re so proud of you.’ There were nods and claps. ‘And we know you’ll probably have your own ideas and you’re much better at crafting than us. But we wanted to help you brighten the place up with some bitswe had left over. Let’s hope this is the first of many fun, regular makeovers for this place and the whole of Green Tree Lane.’
Bea held up a string of bunting with colourful triangle flags interspersed with knitted gingerbread hearts. ‘It’ll be Valentine’s Day before we know it.’ She blushed. ‘My dad and my little boy Xander have been helping me with the knitting. They’re working on some bumble bees for spring too – they’re better at knitting than me.’ Gretel remembered that Bea lived on the local lavender farm with her eccentric dad, Farmer Wilbur, and her son, and that her shop on the street was stocked with produce made with their lavender and honey. ‘I can hang it up if you don’t think it’s too terrible?’
‘Can’t be as dreadful as tinsel and reindeer all year long.’ Gordon chuckled, apparently having appointed himself comedian for the evening. What was tickling him lately?
Jane and Jayne showed her a new chalkboard they’d made her for behind the counter, edged with little painted gingerbread people frolicking amongst snowdrops, and Eve had got Gordon to carry over some small pots of orange and white crocuses for joy which they dotted around the tables. Gretel had noticed Gordon hanging around Eve’s flower shop more and more over the past couple of weeks, under the premise ofhelping out with a few odd jobs. She wasn’t sure why anyone would wear smarter shirts than usual to do messy DIY, but Eve hadn’t made any complaints.
When Zekia pulled out a bright yellow apron she’d made for Gretel from material left over from her latest dress, Gretel thought she might sob. It had frills around the bottom like the edges of a daffodil, and it wasn’t that she didn’t love it. But how could she explain that the step of taking the Christmas decs down had been hard enough? Changing the way the café had always looked already felt like some kind of betrayal to Nell, her family, her memories … How could she stand to actuallyreplacethem? Breathing new life into things was a wonderful idea, in theory …
As though sensing something, Eve was quickly at her side.
‘Nell would have loved this,’ she whispered. ‘I hear she took such pleasure in choosing flower themes for the flat upstairs. She especially loved the daisies for fresh starts. Maybe she’d have changed things down here too, if she’d had the energy.’
‘You advised her on flowers?’ Gretel asked. She hoped she meant when Nell was alive.
Eve winked. ‘Eucalyptus for inner and outer strength, and lavender because it’s calming and it smells nice. She may have dropped by.’
Amber noticed Gretel fiddling with the apron. ‘Need some help?’ She rubbed Gretel’s arm and discreetly turned her away from the others, lowering her voice. ‘Moving on can’t be easy. But as great as you look in candy stripes, no one would expect you to live in hand-me-downs for ever.’
‘It’s not just that.’ Gretel couldn’t control the wobble. ‘It’s just so hard to remember things as they were when things are changing. My memories. Mum and Rosa …’
Amber pulled her into a hug and she let the tears fall. When Gretel was ready, she pulled away.
‘I never knew your family,’ said Amber. ‘But if they were half as joy-lovingly daft as you, they’d have been bouncing with delight to see giant gingerbread and knitted bunting all over the place. Am I right?’
Gretel gave a snotty laugh and nodded, allowing Amber to loop the apron strap over her head. Eve arrived with tissues and Phoebe grabbed Angel Gabriel and stowed him in the perfectly ferret-sized front pocket. Not that she’d ever get away with serving food with a mustelid on her person under Lukas’s watch, although that was probably fair enough.
‘Thank you, everyone. You’ve done a lovely thing. I’m just … overwhelmed.’ Gretel smiled through her slightly less tear-stained face.
‘Can we eat some ruddy biscuits now?’ asked Gordon, clearly oblivious. He straightened himself and tucked in his belly when Eve went over to swat him. ‘Just the one for me, obviously. Got to keep this fine body ship shape.’
Gretel laughed, happy for some normality to resume, even if her new normal would always be worlds apart from the old one. She busied herself with passing around the tray, glad of the sense of purpose. Amber went behind the counter to rustle up a pan of her new gingerbread and cocoa latte.
‘Woo, girl,’ Zekia said through a mouthful of gingerbread. ‘Your hot chef had better give up the day job right now. There’s a new cook in town.’
Now Gretel was definitely laughing. As she tasted one of the biscuits she had to admit it was good, but it would never be up there with a Michelin star-worthy cheesecake with a fancyroux jus, or whatever they called their funny sauces. Which was absolutely fine. The café would be about tasty treats made with love, for as long as she had her say in the matter. She tried not to think about the soulless cheap coffee chains Swingy Bob Whimple would sooner crowbar in.
‘Taste test passed with a rainbow of flying colours,’ said Phoebe as she tucked into her second. ‘I’ll check a few, though, just in case.’
