‘Hopefully,’ she replied, suddenly feeling a little shy and thankful her voice sounded relatively normal, as in her head it had sounded like it had risen an octave.
As Ash left the bakery, he looked back over his shoulder, giving her a wolfish grin and holding up the paper bag with the croissant, causing her stomach to give a little flip. Again.
Bree watched him all the way until the end of the road, where he disappeared towards the high street.
‘Bree!’ George’s voice sounded from the living room. He was awake.
‘Give me two seconds,’ she shouted, locating her bag and rummaging inside for her purse.
Bree was just about to take out some coins and pop them in the till for the croissants she’d taken this morning and Ash’s coffee – she didn’t want Cam and Molly to think she had taken advantage of them – but was distracted by the oven timer.
Quickly grabbing the oven gloves she opened the door to see the delicious chocolate bread baked to perfection. Bree was delighted with her attempt. She hadn’t baked anything since her mum had passed away and she’d forgotten how good it made her feel. Carefully placing the loaf on the cooling rack, she took in the aroma. It smelled scrumptious, it looked scrumptious sitting there and she hoped it tasted as good as it looked. Feeling proud she wrapped her arms around her body and beamed.
‘The TV is switched off.’ George appeared in the doorway clutching his teddy bear in his hand.
‘You fell asleep, but since you’re wide awake, shall we watch the film now?’
George nodded. ‘That smells good.’ He wafted his nose towards the chocolate bread then walked towards the counter. He rested his chin on the worktop and inhaled, making Bree laugh.
‘But don’t touch, it’ll be hot. Let’s leave it to cool whilst we watch the film and then if there’s time, we could build a snowman.’
Despite the lack of customers due to the weather, Bree classed the morning as a triumph. This was a different way of life than what she was used to and she was thoroughly enjoying herself. Usually, her morning routine would be to leave the shelter after a disturbed night’s sleep. After a cup of tea and a slice of toast Bree would find herself wandering the streets, taking shelter in the library and hoping to find a job.
Without fail, Bree would also visit her mother’s grave once a week. It wasn’t much to look at as there was no headstone and it was just a mound of earth, but it was right next to a bench for her to sit on. In the summer months, the sun beat down and Bree would borrow a book from the library and spend copious hours sitting on that bench, feeling close to her mum.
As she turned on the TV, Bree thought about the bakery. She had overheard Molly and Cam talking about advertising for help and her thoughts began to run away with her. Maybe she could convince them she was the person they were looking for? Bree knew she would be a hard worker. Feeling a surge of excitement rising up inside her, she knew she had nothing to lose asking for a trial. If that was successful, then maybe she could start to save for a deposit on a rented flat. The more she thought about it, the more she’d mapped the next year in her head.
‘I’m going to make you proud, Mum,’ she muttered, glancing up at the sky out of the window.
With a spring in her step, Bree bounced on to the settee, making George giggle as his teddy bear catapulted into the air and she caught it. After switching on the film, they snuggled under the duvet. Whilst George was quickly engrossed in the movie, Bree’s thoughts were elsewhere. She was rehearsing a speech in her head. She was going to strike whilst the iron was hot. As soon as Molly and Cam returned, they would see everything had run smoothly and she was going to be brave and hopefully convince them to give her a job.
‘Do you think you’ll babysit me again?’ asked George, looking up at her with wide, adorable eyes.
‘I have everything crossed,’ Bree replied, holding up her hand and crossing her fingers. Even though she was a mixture of excitement and trepidation, she willed Molly and Cam to return so she could run her idea past them.
Chapter Six
‘Gosh, we’ve been a lot longer than anticipated,’ said Molly, stamping her feet at the front door of The Old Bakehouse. ‘But what a morning! I know the temporary shelter is a few villages away from Glensheil, but thankfully all those people will have a warm place to stay today. Sam is just an amazing person, isn’t she? I can’t believe how selfless she is.’
The villagers had spent the morning transferring all the beds, tables and chairs to another community centre and whilst Drew transported all the homeless people on the trailer, Molly, Isla and Allie had set to work cooking up a warm stew for everyone to tuck into once they’d arrived. She’d never seen so many grateful faces as the residents stepped into the warmth.
But Cam didn’t answer her. His eye had caught his mobile phone, which was sitting on the counter next to Bree’s bag. ‘That’s my phone.’ He picked it up and turned it over in his hand. His eyes were blazing as he waggled it in the air. ‘I just knew she had it. I told you so.’
Molly stood by Cam’s side and looked at the phone in Cam’s hand. There was no denying it was his.
‘She had it all the time. Please tell me you see what I see.’
‘I can see what it looks like but…’
‘Molly! Don’t you dare try and reason this out. This is my phone.’
‘All I’m saying is before we jump to any conclusions, let’s ask her and listen to what she has to say.’
But Cam wasn’t listening. ‘This is my phone and it wasn’t here yesterday.’
Molly felt her heart beating fast. She could predict exactly what was going to happen in the next few minutes. All she wanted to do was grab a cup of tea and put her feet up, but there wasn’t a cat in hell’s chance of that when World War Three was about to erupt all around her.
‘Bree!’ Cam shouted down the hallway.
