He curses under his breath then he grins at me again. ‘Mind-blowing sex is known to cause memory lapses, so that explains that one.’ He hands Diesel’s lead to me and puts in the code to reopen the door. ‘You go on in, I’ll be back in with the booty.’
Now Ross has somewhere better to be – ahem, in bed with me – he’s calling in all the favours he’s due up at the surgery. So this morning we raced out early to take Diesel along the beach, and then headed home with a big bag of warm croissants for a very lazy breakfast in bed. Talk about last-minute baking; I literally stuck in my last unicorn horn in the buttercream swirl and we ran out of the door to head over here now.
You have to hand it to the people of St Aidan, they certainly know how to party. As I walk into the Sea View Lounge it’s fuller than I’ve ever seen it, and people are fanning right across the terrace and onto the lawns beyond. Sophie has had everyone baking, Millie has brought Luce and her friends from school to circulate with trays and hand it out, and Jen and the staff are all wearing fabulous new aprons with baking-themed prints, kindly made up and donated by Helen from the fabric shop. Sophie’s Nate has Maisie perched on his shoulders and Marcus and Tilly at his side, and the drinks are disappearing from the bar table as fast as George and Nell are popping corks and filling the flutes. And obviously, as promised, Sophie, Millie, Nell and Plum are all in their spangly fishtail skirts, with starfish in their hair, and glitter on their eyelids.
Joanie, Walter, Pam and the gang are thankfully dressed as smart versions of themselves, and are sitting in a cluster of easy chairs behind Jen, who is rocking her newly-dyed reverse-ombré hair-do. It only takes a couple of claps of her hands for the roar of chatter to subside around the room. As she welcomes everyone, Ross is tiptoeing in behind her, giving me a thumbs-up. Then before I know it, she’s handing over to me.
As I take my place at the front, I twitch the cornflower-blue version of the dandelion and buttercup dress to make sure I’m not exposing too much boob, but there’s no time to be nervous.
I take a breath and go. ‘Hi, I’m Cressy Cupcake and I did the foreword to the book that’s been written byall of you!’As I look sideways, Kathleen and Madge catch my eye, and their smiles are so proud, I have to stop to swallow, and purse my lips to bite back a sudden rush of emotion before I start again. ‘The book grew out of the lovely chats we had when I came here to bake with everyone a few months ago. We all had our favourite recipes, and it felt like a wonderful thing to do to collect a lifetime’s worth of tried and tested baking secrets in one place so other people could enjoy them too.’
I pause for the murmur of agreement to die down, then I hold my copy in the air. Everyone’s familiar with the sugar-dusted-butterfly-cake cover now, as Sophie has made sure every shop in the village has a poster in their window, and has hung blown-up versions around the walls here, but holding the book in my hand now is very special.
‘With bakes as startling as mucky golf balls, and as tantalising as ginger cloudburst cake, let’s celebrate putting St Aidan on the map one delicious recipe at a time. So please giveA Slice of St Aidana wonderful launch! And now Joanie and Walter are going to cut the ceremonial ribbon.’
Two nurses help Joanie and Walter forward and Jen hands them a giant pair of Helen’s fabric scissors. As they slice through the silver satin ribbon draped between two chairs, Walter lets out a whoop. ‘There, it’s out in the world! Now you all put your hands in your pockets, and buy as many copies as you can.’
Then Nell and Plum squeeze between a side table stacked high with piles of books, and before they’ve had time to open up their cashboxes the queue to buy already stretches out across the terrace.
Millie comes by with a tray of millionaire’s shortbread, and as I bite into a slice Sophie and Nate arrive too.
As Sophie turns to me her voice is urgent. ‘Have you seen where the book sales have gone this morning?’
I shake my head and swallow a mouthful of caramel. ‘I was pretty busy with the cupcakes.’ Obviously I’ve had my mind on sex, not sales figures, but I can think of better places to discuss my decade-long dry spell’s sudden end. I force myself to concentrate. ‘Since Maudie Maudie put our Mr and Mrs clip with the recipe book on their Insta feed, their followers have gone bananas.’ I can’t take the credit. ‘That clip was all Ross’s idea, and the rest was one of those perfect storms that just happens sometimes. Maudie Maudie texted to say they’d already had thousands of pounds’ worth of orders for dresses.’
Sophie nods. ‘The book sales are phenomenal too. You’ve done so well for us all with this.’
I have to tell her. ‘Ross was the one who uploaded the other clip that went viral too, that’s what started it all off to begin with.’
Sophie punches the air. ‘I knew there was something odd about that, I tried to tell you but you wouldn’t have it!’
I give a grimace. ‘Good thing I didn’t know or I might have tried to make Ross take it down.’
I feel a warmth behind my back, and Ross slides in next to me. ‘Talking about me again? I hope it’s good.’ He’s looking even more pleased with himself than he was when we arrived, holding a rainbow cupcake up for me to look at, and he isn’t waiting for a reply to his previous question. ‘So what do you think of this?’
‘I’m thinking it’s a unicorn cake…’
He rolls his eyes in frustration. ‘What I mean is, they’d be perfect for our baby party if we were having boy and girl twins. Or for the sprinkle, when the time comes, that is.’
I can’t help shaking my head. ‘You’re getting way ahead of yourself, but yes, I like your thinking. So yay! Let’s go with those! Just eat that one quick before Diesel gets in first.’
This is how unbelievable the change is. Two days ago I was coming to terms with being alone for ever. Now I’m with the guy I love, and we just settled on cakes for our baby shower. But it sounds more spur of the moment and flippant than it is; we have known each other for eighteen years and more. I truly do feel I know what I’m getting with Ross, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.
Sophie lets out a squeak and pulls us into a hug. ‘How sweet are you two?’ She looks over her shoulder at Nate. ‘Do you remember when we were like this?’
Nate grins at Ross. ‘Enjoy it while it lasts. After child number four you’re definitely outnumbered.’
We all laugh, and beyond them, I hear Plum let out a whoop. Then Nell’s voice saying, ‘Well, I never.’
Then Diesel lets out a bark and starts running on the spot. As his lead tugs through my fingers I hear a familiar voice resonating.
I let out a gasp, because I can’t quite believe what I’m hearing, and as I turn to follow Diesel I lock eyes with Ross. ‘That sounds like Charlie!’
Ross’s relaxed smile shows no surprise at all. ‘So it does!’
How Diesel forces his way right across the room is a sign of his dedication, but people step back, and somehow he passes. He reaches his target, and the only casualties are a couple of empty wine flutes, upturned on a tray he dislodges on his way.
As I follow him through I catch sight of Clemmie’s auburn curls, half-caught up in a bun on top of her head. And as Diesel’s paws land on Charlie’s shoulders Charlie flings his arms around Diesel’s grey hairy neck. It’s quite a while before Diesel’s doggy leaps subside. He’s covered them both in huge sloppy licks, but neither of them mind.
