‘I’m not sure I’m doing the right thing.’ When Gayle looked her way she explained, ‘With university, I mean. I’ve applied, I’ve got offers, but is it what I really want?’
‘Are you worried about the money?’
‘No. I have some money from Dad, and on top of the loans I’ll apply for I’ll be fine.’
Gayle turned her back and continued to wipe the bench top, gathering flour and pastry debris in her opposite palm. ‘You have a plan, Addie, a good plan.’
‘But what if it’s not the right thing for me?’
Gayle turned to face her. ‘Have you talked to your sister about this?’
‘No.’ Of course she hadn’t. Susanna would think she’d lost the plot if she told her sister that rather than a university place, she would prefer to see whether she could make it in the baking world. She hadn’t looked into what that might entail; all she knew was that she had a passion for it and spending time here with Gayle had made her realise that perhaps her hobby could be a lot more.
‘Did you feel the same way?’ Addie prompted.
‘What do you mean?’ Gayle rinsed out the cloth under the tap.
‘Did you have a passion for baking and find you couldn’t imagine doing anything else?’
Gayle took a moment to answer. ‘Yes, that’s exactly how I felt. But I didn’t have many options. I was never very good at school like you are. And I took a huge risk with this place. My parents did with their café and your dad struggled when he took it on, as you know. A café or pudding place or bakery means you’re dependent on demand, on customer preferences and loyalty. It’s not an easy business.’ She left the kitchen abruptly, leaving Addie wondering what had just happened.
Addie had expected a different reaction. She couldn’t believe Gayle hadn’t embraced her joy of baking, told her exactly how it was for her, how delighted she was that Addie showed the same interest. They’d been getting on so well she’d imagined her aunt being excited, encouraging, considering her career direction seriously. But instead, Aunt Gayle hadn’t been able to get out of the kitchen fast enough.
That day set the scene for Gayle putting a damper on Addie’s enthusiasm, either changing the subject to England and university or the job market whenever Addie tried to bring up her passion again, or talking about the hard times she’d had trying to keep the Sweet Life Café going.
Soon Addie stopped mentioning it and she stopped going into the café to help out. She studied hard, she got great results, and by the time it came for her to take up the place at Loughborough University, Addie had all but pushed aside her love of baking to follow an academic route.
It was certainly what everyone else seemed to think was the right thing to do.
As Addie buckled her seat belt on the plane, she felt a sadness come over her that whatever they found when they got to the island, things were never going to be the same again.
6
SUSANNA
Susanna’s thoughts had been all over the place on the flight to Guernsey. She’d closed her eyes on the pretence of being exhausted and Addie hadn’t questioned it. Both needed time to process their return to the island and the loss of Gayle in their own way.
For the entire flight Susanna’s mind was either on the island itself, Gayle or Alex. She’d called Alex from the airport but he hadn’t answered, and so the questions began to churn over and over. Where was he? Who was he with? And when was he going to tell her what was going on?
As they boarded the ferry that would take them over to Anchor Island, Susanna requested they sit outside.
‘Does it help?’ Addie asked her as they found a seat in the open air.
‘It seems to, at least a little bit.’ It was Mateo who’d once suggested it to combat her seasickness. In her school days, getting the boat was a daily occurrence with the high school on Guernsey but she was well and truly out of practice now and already felt queasy at the thought of the rocking motions that would accompany the almost three-hour-long crossing ahead of them.
Addie noticed the wristbands Susanna was slipping on.
‘Alex got them for me,’ she explained.
While Susanna had been packing her things yesterday, Alex had nipped out and returned with a small package containing the funny little bands, each featuring a small plastic stud. ‘Apparently the studs push against an acupressure point, and it helps avoid nausea.’
‘Fingers crossed,’ said Addie.
It was such a kind thing to do. Did husbands who were cheating buy their wives thoughtful gifts?
As the boat’s engines started, Addie began to smile. ‘There was a time, you know, when boats were totally your thing.’
Susanna laughed. ‘How long have you been gearing up to drop that massive hint?’
