“Of course I’ll sign a contract, but don’t worry about paying me. I offered to help.”
“We won’t let you work for free.”
“Well, we can discuss that later. Right now, what matters is me getting to work so I’m ready for when the birthday event starts.”
She was glad when Harry Goodwin conceded the point with a nod. When she offered to help, she had no expectation of payment and wasn’t about to start discussing a fee when time was of the essence. She didn’t need the money. She simply wanted to help. After hearing Harry discuss his predicament with Mel, she couldn’t have gone about the rest of her day knowing someone was struggling with a huge problem that she’d had the ability to ease.
“Thank you, Gaby,” Harry said, shaking her hand again. “You are literally saving my bacon.”
“I’m glad I can help. I need to drop this shopping back at my aunt’s house first and I also need to change my clothes. Do you have a uniform you’d like me to wear or will my standard dark grey trouser suit be okay?”
“Wear your suit, that sounds just fine,” Harry said. “My car is outside. How about I drive you to your aunt’s house to change and then I can take you to the Riverford Hotel?”
“Sounds good.”
“I’ll stick around for the afternoon too,” he added. “I can probably be helpful as you learn the ropes and mucking in as a general dogsbody is a lot more appealing than having to runthe whole show, considering I haven’t got a clue how to manage something like that.”
“We’ll figure it out and give your client a birthday party to remember,” Gaby said, wanting to reassure him that all would be well.
“Thank you,” Harry said. “This means a lot to me and my family.”
“Yes, thank you,” Mel said, surprising Gaby by pulling her into a hug. “It’s so nice of you to jump in and help when you don’t even know us.”
“It’s my pleasure.” Gaby dug into her bag for her purse. “How much do I owe you for the coffee and cake?”
“Nothing,” Mel said. “Consider it a thank you.”
“Absolutely not,” Gaby laughed, quickly adding up in her head the price of the coffee and cake she’d devoured plus the cost of the box of cakes Mel had put together for her to take away. She pulled notes from her purse and left them on the table. “I insist on paying. That was the best cake I’ve tasted in a long time.”
“Let me help with your bags,” Harry said, already taking the heavy shopping from her while she pulled on her jacket. “I’m just parked out at the kerb.”
After brushing a quick kiss on Mel’s cheek, he left the café. Gaby picked up the box of cakes she was taking home to her aunt and thanked Mel again for the delicious treats. The pretty baker waved goodbye and returned to her spot behind the counter to serve the customers who’d arrived while the three of them had been chatting. Gaby made her way to the door, her mind already turning to the afternoon of work that lay ahead.
When she stepped outside into the cobbled lane, she almost walked head-first into a man who was entering the café at the same moment she was leaving. She only just pulled the box of cakes she was carrying out of the way before she smacked them into his chest.
“God, I’m so sorry!” Gaby said.
“No problem,” the man said cheerfully, stepping aside to let her exit the tiled entranceway around the café door.
“I was distracted thinking about something and wasn’t paying attention and…” Gaby’s apology trailed off as she looked again at the man she’d almost collided with. He was tall and attractive, wearing a grey woollen coat and thick navy scarf that made the blue colour of his eyes pop. A sweep of dark hair fell across his forehead and something about the way his gaze settled on her felt strangely familiar.
Gaby stared at the man as stunned recognition dawned.
“Peter?” she said, her voice almost a whisper.
Now it was his turn to stare. His eyes widened as he searched her face, a shocked smile lifting his lips.
“Gaby?” he asked.
She nodded, her voice lost for a moment as she drank him in. The eighteen-year-old boy she remembered from that long ago summer had turned into an amazingly handsome man. He’d grown taller and broader around the shoulders and looked elegantly smart in the overcoat and dark jeans he wore. His eyes still danced when he smiled, just like they had all those years ago, and he suited the stubbly beard he now sported, which gave him a coolly distinguished air.
And she was still staring, she realised with a flush of embarrassment.
“It’s so great to see you, Peter!” she said at last, and found herself pulling him closer for a hug. The surprise of seeing him completely out of the blue made the hug inevitable, the natural way two people might greet each other after so long apart.
The embrace was quick and friendly, and laced with laughter as they awkwardly negotiated the box of cakes Gaby was clutching. But amusement faded when Gaby smelled the spicyscent of Peter’s aftershave at his neck and felt the brush of his hands across her back.
His aroma and his touch made her stomach flip, just as it used to when she’d been a girl.
