Cam gave Molly an incredulous stare, disbelief written all over his face. ‘That is emotional blackmail. There are places for Bree to go. Ring Sam and get advice. George is going to be up very soon. He’s our priority. We don’t need any extra stress.’
Molly didn’t have time to answer as the phone rang out in the shop and she walked to answer it. Cam was half listening into the conversation, but was distracted by the sound of George hurtling down the stairs shouting for Molly.
‘In the bakery, George,’ shouted Cam, turning to Molly, who’d just hung up the call.
‘That was Dixie,’ she said. ‘She’s feeling a little under the weather so I’ve told her to go back to bed but she noticed on the Facebook page that the school is closed so wanted us to know. No wonder, in this weather.’
There was a loud whoop from behind them as George punched the air. He looked an absolute vision of cuteness bounding towards them wearing his dinosaur onesie and huge monster slippers with claws. ‘School is closed.’ He ran towards the window and placed both hands on the glass. ‘Can we build a snowman?’
‘With the amount of snow out there, you can build an army of snowmen,’ replied Cam.
Molly could hear the sliding of slippers up the hallway and Bree appeared in the doorway holding a tray with three mugs of tea. Placing the tray on the counter, she said, ‘I didn’t know what everyone wanted but…’
George was staring at Bree then ran towards Molly and flung his arms around her legs.
She bent down, and slid her arm around him.
‘George,’ she said softly. ‘This is Bree, she’s a…’ Molly hesitated. ‘A friend of ours. She’s just staying with us whilst the weather is bad out there.’
Cam raised an eyebrow and butted in. ‘Just for last night,’ he reaffirmed, giving Molly a look that meant:we agreed, one night only.
Molly bit her lip and glanced towards the window. How could anyone think of sending anyone out into these arctic conditions?
Bree took a step towards George. ‘I’m Bree. Pleased to meet you.’ She held out her hand to shake George’s but then brought her hand to her nose and wriggled her fingers causing George to erupt in fits of giggles.
‘And this is George,’ introduced Molly.
With a cheeky look on his face, George mirrored Bree’s actions, leaving everyone with a huge smile on their face except Cam, who had a feeling Molly wasn’t going to ask Bree to leave any time soon.
‘Where’s your own home?’ asked George innocently.
Bree looked up to Molly for guidance as she wasn’t sure how to answer that.
‘Bree’s just in between houses at the minute,’ replied Molly, saved by the bell as the phone rang once more. She picked it up and Cam could tell by listening to one half of the conversation and from the look on Molly’s face there was some sort of disaster unfolding.
‘Of course, Drew, we can be ready in fifteen minutes, not a problem.’ Molly hung up the phone.
‘What’s the emergency?’ asked Cam. ‘Is there a problem up at Foxglove Farm?’
‘Not the farm,’ replied Molly, looking towards Bree then back at Cam. ‘Over at the shelter. Sam needs help. The boiler has packed up and the shelter has no heating. With the weather conditions like this, there’s no one who can get out to take a look and fix it. Sam’s managed to negotiate a community hall to move everyone into for a temporary measure. It might be for a few days but all the mattresses and tables and chairs need moving and of course the people. The only vehicle that’s going to be able to drive in conditions like this is Drew’s tractor and trailer. To move everything and get these people warmed up should only take a couple of hours but he needs help.’
‘All hands on deck then,’ replied Cam, then stopped in his tracks as Molly started walking towards the coat hooks in the hallway.
‘Where are you going?’ he asked.
‘To get my coat. I’ve just said Drew—’
‘Molly, you are eight months pregnant and are not humping mattresses between community centres.’
‘I’m not, I’m helping Isla, Allie and Felicity to make soup and tea. These poor people could have died of hypothermia in the night.’
Bree was listening to the conversation and shivered. ‘It sounds like my family haven’t had the best of nights.’
‘Why would your family live in a community centre?’ asked George, looking up at Bree.
‘They aren’t really my family, but the closest thing I have to family,’ she replied with a smile.
‘And I’ve got to somehow get this order over to Starcross Manor.’ Cam cast a glance towards the breads and selection of Danish pastries stacked on the trays ready to ship out, ‘We can’t leave the shop unattended; we’ll have to call on Grandmother.’
