Page 38 of A Wish for Jinnie
‘I’d take money from Mum’s purse — not that she had much — and did a bit of shoplifting too. Nothing to be proud of, but I did what I needed to survive. I’m sober now, but whenever I hit a rough patch it’s so tempting to start again. And with my landlord bumping up the rent, I’m not sure I can stay where I am much longer.’
After reassuring Angela that she’d pay her cash in hand for now (it jarred with Jo’s conscience, but would only be short-term), they carried on working. In between serving and clearing up, Jo outlined her vague plans for expanding the business. Angela didn’t drive, but she could help with preparing the food and perhaps run the café if Jo was out on a job.
‘You’re an angel, Jo.’ Angela hugged her, just as new customers arrived.
‘Hello! Could one of you visions of loveliness rustle up a milky coffee and something calorie-laden for a starving lad?’ Neither Jo nor Angela had noticed Ed coming in.
Jinnie was right behind him. ‘Great minds think alike, Ed. I need a serious cake and caffeine fix myself.’ Jinnie scanned the cake display, then pointed at a chocolate brownie.
‘Make that two,’ said Ed. ‘Actually, three. Two for me and one for Jinnie. I’m wasting away, you know!’
Taking in Ed’s muscular physique and the way every woman in the café — Jinnie and Angela included — laughed in disbelief, Jo pulled a face and dished up the brownies.
Grabbing their plates and mugs, Ed and Jinnie settled in a quiet corner. On their day out in Edinburgh, Jinnie had mentioned her ex-fiancé, but given little else away about her love life. Watching them now, Jo wondered if there was something going on. Their body language suggested they were at ease with each other, but that might simply be friendship. Judging by the steely look on Angela’s face as Jinnie punched Ed playfully on the shoulder, she too questioned their relationship status. And Jo would put the smart money on Angela hoping they weren’t about to become an item.
Leaving Angela in charge, Jo retreated to her cupboard-size office space out back. Firing up her laptop, she clicked on the flyer she’d worked on yesterday. Her plan was to distribute copies around the village, and find ways to sneak it into places further afield. Admittedly, the logo needed some work; Jo’s attempt at a crumpet suggested a mouldy cheese, or a pre-schooler’s interpretation of the moon. Maybe she could ask Ed’s advice; Ken had said he was a designer. Which reminded her — not that sheneededreminding — he was due at her place on Tuesday. He’d texted to ask if he could drop by, and Jo hadn’t had the heart to say no.Damn, those bloody butterflies are at it again. Jo tweaked the text on her flyer, trying out different fonts and wording, but it still looked amateurish. She closed the laptop and returned to the café.
Ed was now on his own. Only a few brownie crumbs remained on his plate, and he was stabbing furiously at his phone. After a few moments he slammed it down on the table and let out an enormous sigh. Jo hesitated, unsure whether she should ask if all was OK. Maybe it was to do with Mags. The thought of something awful happening to her sent shudders down Jo’s spine, in tandem with a horrible feeling that it would leave the way clear for… The butterflies turned into stomach-churning guilt. Jo was no goody two-shoes, but she had never,everwished harm on anyone. Not counting an unfulfilled urge to turn up on the doorstep of her ex Graham’s mother and tell the old bat exactly what she thought of her.
‘Ed looks in need of more coffee,’ murmured Angela, zipping past Jo with a mug in hand. ‘I’ll sit with him a few minutes, if you don’t mind?’
Jo nodded, seeing Ed’s face light up as Angela plonked down the mug and pulled up a chair. He showed Angela something on his phone, and she pulled a face before reaching over to squeeze his arm.Is Ed interested in Jinnie, or Angela or both? Is it any of my business?Jo asked herself.Absolutely not. Is my ‘relationship’ with Ed’s dad anyone else’s business?She swallowed.It can’t be.Tempted as she’d been to confide in Jinnie on their day out, the words had stuck in her throat. Jo wasn’t a fool. To an outsider, any attempt to justify seeing Ken in secret would imply something to hide. Nothing untoward had happened, but Jo wasn’t sure she trusted herself — or Ken — to keep it that way.
‘Ed’s girlfriend just dumped him,’ Angela announced, as said dumped boyfriend left with a wave to them both.
‘Oh dear. Is he pretty cut up about it?’ Jo didn’t think he had the demeanour of a man crushed by rejection; he’d looked positively chirpy during the short time he’d been talking to Angela. And she was mightily relieved that the phone-banging had nothing to do with his mum.
‘Nah, don’t think so. He said it was on the cards, and things hadn’t been great for a while.’ Angela tried and failed not to grin. ‘Mind you, giving someone the heave-ho by text is a bit brutal, don’t you think?’
Leaving Angela to deal with a couple of pensioners dithering over cake choices, Jo nipped to the loo. As she washed her hands, she caught her reflection in the age-spotted mirror. The frown lines she tried to erase with jars of expensive cream and facial exercises seemed deeper than ever. She patted the pocket of her apron where her mobile sat. A quick text to Ken, saying it was better they didn’t see each other anymore. That was all it would take. Except… Jo left the phone where it was, and ignored the little voice of dissent in her head.
Chapter 36
‘Did David get off OK?’Sam asked when Jinnie arrived at the shop on Monday morning.
‘Who?’ Momentarily flustered, she lobbed an A Bit of Crumpetpaper bag in Sam’s direction. ‘Ah, yes. A bit of a flight delay but he’s back home safe and sound. And hopefully not suffering from jet lag, ha ha!’
Sam upended the bag and two Danish pastries glistening with sugar and dried fruit landed on the counter.
‘I’ll fetch some plates,’ Jinnie said breezily, in contrast to the deepening pink of her cheeks, and disappeared into the back.
Sam knew her well enough to recognise that something was rotten in the state of Cranley. He’d spent a sizeable chunk of the weekend mulling over the strange encounter with her crackpot cousin, unable to come up with any rational explanation. A terse exchange with his publisher over his request for a deadline extension hadn’t helped his mood. And an out-of-the-blue text message from Lucy asking if she could come and see him had completed the trilogy of headache-inducing scenarios.
‘You look a bit pale.’ Jinnie placed the pastries on plates, eyeing Sam sympathetically. ‘Is everything all right?’
Was it? For the first time in years Sam didn’t know what the honest answer was. He still loved writing, always would, but his mojo seemed to have left the building. The words were there; they just refused to emerge in any semblance of order. As for Out of the Attic Antiques, Sam had always treated it as a hobby. A harmless sideline, carried on in honour of his father. The shop barely made a profit, and he couldn’t really justify employing Jinnie. On the other hand, he couldn’t imagine letting her go. And not just in the job sense.
‘Yeah, I’m fine. A few bumps in the road to negotiate, but nothing major.’ Sam took a bite of pastry and allowed its sinful sugariness to soothe his worries for a moment.
‘Can I ask you something?’ Jinnie twirled her pastry round and round, staring at it as if it held the answers to the universe.
‘Sure, go ahead.’ Sam wondered for a moment if she was going to mention The Kiss again. It had attained capitalisation status in his mind over the past two weeks.It was only A Kiss. We’re friends, we can get past The Kiss.Except that for Sam it had been a moment he would never forget; not least because of his stupid, knee-jerk reaction to it.
‘I’ve still got my engagement ring. From when I was engaged, duh.’ Jinnie pulled a comic face.
Sam knew a little of her failed relationship, privately thinking her ex-fiancé sounded like a prize jerk. If you were lucky enough to meet someone like Jinnie, you didn’t let her go. ‘Right. So you didn’t toss it in the tosser’s face?’
‘It would be tempting,’ admitted Jinnie. ‘I guess I was just so stunned when Mark dumped me that it didn’t cross my mind.’
