Page 55 of The Midnight Bakery
Beth
Beth winced in sympathy as Frankie struggled to fill the kettle with water.
‘Here, let me,’ she said, taking it from her and pausing to study her face. She looked pale, and there were dark smudges under her eyes. Beth acknowledged that this might be due to the soft lighting in her flat, but Frankie’s smile also seemed tired, and perhaps a little forced? She turned off the tap and set the kettle to boil.
‘Sorry to call by unannounced, but I’m on my way to work and I couldn’t virtually pass your doorstep without checking you’re okay.’ She eyed the sling which Frankie was still wearing. ‘How’s it feeling?’ she asked.
‘Okay, I think. I haven’t tried to do anything, just in case. And I’ve been asleep, so…I’m pretty sure it’s just a sprain though, like you said.’
‘Even so, I’ll feel happier if I take a look.’
‘Are you sure you’ve got time?’
Beth gave her an admonishing look. ‘I’m positive. Now…mugs?’ There were several by the sink, still dirty, but she didn’t want to presume. ‘I’ll wash these, shall I?’
Frankie immediately got to her feet. ‘I’ll do them.’
Beth gently gripped her shoulders and steered her towards the table. ‘You’ll do no such thing,’ she said. ‘Sit down and enjoy being waited on. Washing a couple of mugs isn’t going to kill me.’
Frankie gave a rueful smile. ‘Thank you. I’d have done them but a very good friend of mine told me I should rest my wrist.’
Beth grinned and turned to the task in hand.
‘I hope you’re not going to work tonight,’ she added as she began to run water into the sink.
‘I have to, there’s no one else.’
‘But how on earth will you manage? The fact that there’s no one to take your place isn’t your problem, is it? Surely the owner should sort that out.’
Frankie’s gaze dropped a moment and she shrugged. ‘She’s not well herself, and I don’t really want to bother her just now. And I’ll be fine. William is going to help me again.’
Beth was about to respond with a teasing reply when she realised that Frankie didn’t look as pleased about the prospect as she thought she would. ‘Is everything okay?’ she asked. ‘You look a little…preoccupied. Not your usual cheerful self.’
Frankie gave a wan smile. ‘I had a phone call just after I got home this morning, and it’s rather thrown me for six. Not to worry though, it’ll sort itself.’ She visibly brightened her face. ‘You, however, look like all your birthdays and Christmases have come together.’
‘Do I?’ Despite its wetness, Beth put a hand to her cheek. She hadn’t come to talk about herself but she was bursting with happiness and dying to tell Frankie her news. ‘I’ve had a brilliantday. Well, Jack has…we both have.’ Her excitement was hard to contain.
And for the first time since she opened the door, Frankie’s face lit up, her beautiful smile back in place.
‘Good job we’re having tea then,’ she said. ‘You can tell me all about it.’
‘What I hadn’t given Tam credit for is how easily he looks after Jack,’ said Beth a few minutes later, once they were settled. ‘He’s not awkward in his company. He doesn’t step politely around his disability, nor dodge potentially embarrassing questions. It’s as if he has this inbuilt knowledge of how to act…’ She broke off. ‘Sorry, that sounds a bit rude. I’m not implying that everyone…or maybe I am…’ She smiled. ‘It’s just that most people we come across see the chair first before they even consider Jack as a person.’
‘Does he take sugar?’ said Frankie, nodding in sympathy.
‘Yes, exactly that. But Tam is different. He makes no assumptions either. He’s actually built a – I’m not sure what you’d call it – a cage thing that fits over the seat of the quad bike so Jack can go on the back of it. It’s extraordinary. He took Jack out today, toured the whole farm just so that he could see it again.’ She paused, feeling her throat tighten at the memory of Jack’s face earlier. ‘It’s been nearly ten years,’ she added. ‘Can you imagine? I never thought I’d see Jack look so happy again, and I can’t thank Tam enough for what he’s done.’ She dropped her head.
Most of her thoughts had been happy ones, but they also rode tandem with a whole bunch of others she was struggling with. ‘I also can’t believe I got it so wrong,’ she said. ‘All those years I denied Jack, discouraged him from doing anything which reminded him of his old life. I’ve let him quietly decline just like the farm has, mouldering away until there was almost nothing left.’
‘Oh, Beth…’ Frankie squeezed her hand. ‘You mustn’t be so hard on yourself. You’re the reason why Jack is here in the first place, why he’sstillhere. And everything you’ve done has been because you love him. Even if events are now showing you a different way forward, you mustn’t ever think what you’ve done is worthless. Without you, none of this would be happening. Without Tam, too. What goes around comes around, Beth. You’ve made a friend of Tam, and I don’t think he has too many of those. We don’t always know why things happen the way they do, but recognising magic when it comes into our lives is a special talent only a few people have.’ She gave her a pointed look. ‘And yes, I do mean you.’
Beth’s cheeks flushed in response, and she was reminded of how pleased she’d felt when Frankie said yes to her invitation to have coffee. It seemed such a long time ago, but Beth knew that Frankie had been just as pleased as her. Tam wasn’t the only one who needed a friend. They all did.
‘You’vemade a friend of Tam as well,’ Beth replied. ‘And me, and William too…Seems like I’m not the only one with a special talent.’ She grinned. ‘And I’m very glad you have William looking after you,’ she said. ‘You have to admit, there is a little of the knight in shining armour about him.’
Frankie laughed. ‘There is, I—’ She stopped, swallowing. ‘Beth, can I tell you something? I should have shared it before, but it’s not something I find easy to talk about.’
‘Of course you can…Are you sure everything is okay? I thought there was something wrong when I arrived.’
