Page 29 of Autumn at the Oak Leaf Café
‘Were you thinking of booking something? A work party, perhaps?’
Rory just shrugged. ‘Maybe. I’ll be in touch if so.’ He picked up his drink and finished it in one swallow, then stood up. ‘Thanks so much, Madeline. I’d better go, though. Things to do and all that. I hope we can reconnect some more.’
That word again. This time, however, it felt empty.
‘Do you want me to wrap up the cake?’
‘Ah, sure.’
She went back behind the counter, fetching a piece of waxed paper and a paper bag. She gently wrapped the piece of chocolate cake and handed it to him as he stood up, adjusting his business suit.
‘I’ll stop by again soon,’ he said, as he headed for the door. ‘It’s so nice to see you again, Madeline. I’m looking forward to the next time.’
‘Me too,’ she said, a little too quickly, perhaps.
He opened the door, and she took it to allow him to leave. There was another brief moment where they were close enough that he could have kissed her, but after a pause that felt hours long, he nodded and muttered goodbye. Madeline stood by the door, watching him go. Just before he went out of sight around the corner towards the duck pond, he glanced back, saw her still watching, and lifted a hand to wave. Madeline’s heart felt as soft as the fudge inside one of the cakes. She waved back, then closed the door, swooning back inside.
She felt almost drunk as she cleared the used cups and plates, then went through her usual closing routine. She was nearly done when a little meow came from the door. Hazel, fast asleep in a basket by the window for the last couple of hours, had finally woken up and decided she wanted to play.
‘Come on, then,’ Madeline said, twisting the sign to CLOSED just in case, then opening the door for the little kitten to get out. She followed Hazel outside, then closed the door behind her.
Hazel was getting big. Madeline had promised Tom, the park’s caretaker, that she would keep a close eye on the little cat, in case Hazel got a little excited by the ducks around the pond, but Hazel seemed happy enough chasing the dancing leaves as the wind picked up in the dusk.
‘Don’t go so far,’ Madeline called, as Hazel raced among the trees, twisting and rolling playfully, leaping to catch leaves drifting down through the air with an agility Madeline could only imagine.
The cat, excited by a moth fluttering among the trees, raced off in the direction of the duck pond. Madeline jogged along the path in pursuit, then reached down and scooped up the little kitten just before she could make a fateful dive into the reeds around the water’s edge.
‘I think you need to calm down a little,’ she whispered, stroking the struggling, mewing thing as it wriggled out of her gasp and climbed up onto her shoulder. With Hazel seemingly happy to sit at the top of her human observation tower, Madeline took a few more steps towards the pond, noticing a group of ducks fussing about something on the riverbank. As she got closer, one of them claimed the hidden prize, lifting its beak to swallow down what it had found, only for it to break apart, showering the others with crumbs. A loud argument ensued, but Madeline had got a glimpse of what the ducks found so important.
A large slice of chocolate cake, discarded on the riverbank, still wrapped in a piece of waxed paper.
16
Heroism
She dwelledon it all evening, and all the next day, which was Saturday. The weather was warm and dry so they did a lot of takeaways, but around serving the customers, Ruby asked Madeline several times what was bothering her. Madeline just shrugged her questions off, however, unable to put her feelings into words.
Perhaps he had dropped it, or perhaps he really liked ducks. But with the wrapping as well? That was littering, wasn’t it? Maybe he just didn’t like chocolate cake, and Madeline had forced it on him. Perhaps it was her fault that it had ended up becoming a battleground for hungry ducks.
At the end of Saturday, Ruby asked her again if she was up for the cricket on Sunday. The café had a couple of lunchtime bookings, but Ruby promised the game would be over around twelve, and they could come to work together. Even so, Madeline was reluctant, preferring to wallow in her insecurities. As she turned the CLOSED sign on Saturday evening, having stayed open a couple of hours later than usual, long after Ruby had gone home, she stared out at the park, now gloomy with the sun long gone, and wished Rory would appear. If for no other reason than she could ask him why he had thrown the piece of chocolate cake away.
She drank too much wine over dinner that night, but she had to have mentioned the cricket match, because at seven on Sunday morning, Jonas shook her awake as he had so many times during her teenage years and told her to get herself out of bed.
Brentwell Cricket Ground was a ten-minute walk northwest of Sycamore Park. Madeline stopped in at the café to feed Hazel and clear out the cat’s litter tray, then give her a quick run outside. With the kitten settled again, she headed up to the ground, just as the players and a handful of spectators were starting to arrive.
‘Hey!’ came a familiar voice as Madeline loitered awkwardly near the entrance. She spun around, and couldn’t help but let out a surprised gasp. Ruby, Halloween-orange hair framed with purple lines, was standing behind her, dressed in cricket whites, a bat over her shoulder.
‘There’s fashion and then there’s fashion,’ Madeline said, shaking her head.
‘We won the toss and chose to bat,’ Ruby said.
‘Which means…?’
Ruby swung her bat through the air in a dramatic swish. ‘I’m gonna go open up a large pot of glue and hand out a pasting.’
‘I can’t wait.’
‘Come on, let’s go meet some of the guys.’
