‘They were,’ replied Dixie.
At that moment Ted appeared behind the counter with Lilian at his side. Bree immediately sat up straight then moved from the settee and crouched down on the rug in front of the TV, rocking gently. Dixie leant forward and passed Bree a tissue. There was no denying Lilian lit up the screen. Molly couldn’t take her eyes off her. Goosebumps prickled her skin. She was beautiful, her skin flawless, her brunette hair trailing the length of her back. She was slim, with the most gorgeous smile, and Molly thought she wouldn’t look out of place on the cover ofVogue.
Even though the name on her birth certificate was not Lilian’s, Molly couldn’t shake off the feeling that she knew her. There was something very familiar about her, something about her eyes. Maybe it was because Bree was the spitting image of her.
Molly caught Cam’s eye and he mouthed, ‘You okay?’
She nodded before looking back towards the screen, where Ted and Lilian were serving the local residents.
‘There’s me,’ said Dixie, recognising herself on the screen. ‘Oh, and there’s my George. He looks so young and so, so gorgeous.’ Dixie brought her hands to her chest as she watched through bleary eyes.
‘He was a very handsome bugger,’ said Molly, reaching across and touching Dixie’s arm before looking back at Bree, who was dabbing her cheeks with her tissue.
Next, Ted and Lilian were filmed in the bakery kitchen as they baked bread and pastries. Their onscreen presence was amazing, their laughter infectious, and you could see they were the best of friends.
Then, as the video came to an end, Lilian looked directly into the camera and said, ‘I wouldn’t change working with Ted for the world, he’s just the best.’ She winked into the camera and Ted could be seen rolling his eyes in jest in the background. Then the screen went black and the video ejected from the machine.
Bree was still staring at the TV, her chin resting on top of her knees. Molly awkwardly crouched down next to her on the rug. ‘Your mum was beautiful.’
Bree swallowed. ‘It seemed so real. Mum looked so young, carefree, happy. It felt like she was still here. I miss her so much.’ Her voice wavered.
Molly extended her arms and hugged her tight. ‘She was a very special person.’
‘She was,’ replied Bree as she pulled away slowly then dabbed her cheeks with the tissue again.
Cam leant forward and switched off the TV before turning the lights up while Dixie placed a handful of photographs on the coffee table. ‘There’s a picture of your mum on her first day of work at The Old Bakehouse.’ Dixie pointed to the picture and Bree picked it up. In the image, Lilian was standing next to Ted in the doorway of the bakery. Each was wearing a pristine white apron embroidered with the words ‘The Old Bakehouse’. Lilian looked so proud.
‘I can’t get my head around the fact that my mum actually worked here. I thought that we’d talked about everything but why wouldn’t I know that this is where her career started? Why was Ted never mentioned? I just don’t understand.’
‘I’m not sure,’ replied Molly. ‘Maybe in time this place became a distant memory. Your mum had moved on and was working in other jobs.’
Holding numerous photographs, Bree sat back on the couch. After flicking through the photographs, she turned towards Dixie. ‘On that video, you could see that my mum loved it here. Why would she move on?’
The question hung in the air.
‘Is there something I should know?’ asked Bree, sensing that something wasn’t quite right.
Molly looked towards Dixie for guidance. ‘We honestly don’t know, Bree.’ Dixie took a breath, knowing that the next words to come out of her mouth would sound somewhat dramatic. ‘Your mum disappeared in the middle of the night.’
Bree looked confused. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I mean exactly that. Ted told me she was watching a film and everything seemed very normal when he said goodnight – it had been just like any other day. The next morning, his alarm went off at the usual early hour and after a quick shower he went down to the bakery to begin baking the bread. Lilian usually appeared half an hour later but time ticked on with no sign of her. Ted thought she must have overslept so after an hour had gone by, he went up to her room, gave a knock on the door, then a little shout, but still there was nothing. He finally opened the door, thinking something might be wrong, or she’d fallen ill, but she’d gone. The bed was made and her clothes were no longer hanging in the wardrobe.’
‘Did Mum not leave a note or anything? And when was this?’
‘There was no note, and no one saw or heard from your mum again. Ted was devastated, heartbroken. He wracked his brains thinking maybe he’d done something wrong but he couldn’t think of anything. It was an absolute mystery. As to the timing, it was about sixteen years ago.’
‘Just before I was born,’ said Bree, thinking out loud.
‘After Lilian left, Ted threw himself into work and refused to look for another apprentice. He did everything himself and I helped out as much as I could.’
Bree was perplexed and flicked again through the photographs in her hand. ‘That just doesn’t sound like Mum. I couldn’t ever imagine her leaving in the middle of the night for no reason and without a word. Where would she go?’
Dixie shrugged. ‘I’ve no idea, but she was sadly missed – not just by us but by the villagers as well. Lilian had become a huge part of the community. The Old Bakehouse felt a little lost for a good while.’
‘Do you know anything about your mum’s life before you were born?’ asked Molly.
‘The only thing I know is that she spent some time travelling around, moving from pillar to post. She once said that she didn’t really know where she belonged as she had no real roots that she could call home … but you’re telling me something different. This place sounded like her home, so why give it all up?’
