Page 25 of A Recipe for Romance in Brambleton

‘Now, are you quite sure you don’t mind?’ she asked again, as Lauren leaned down and said hello to Jake, who beamed back at her.

‘Not at all. We’re going to have a lovely time, aren’t we, Jake?’ Lauren straightened back up again. ‘Now you get off and hit the shops before they close.’

‘Thanks, lovely.’ Cathy smiled at her gratefully, and Lauren glowed with pleasure. She often felt as though she didn’t do enough for Cathy, who’d been a pillar of wisdom in the early days of the café, offering support and advice about the locals, and how to handle the odd tricky customer. Their friendship had grown deeper over the years, and while Lauren knew how hectic Cathy’s life was with two kids and a husband who worked long hours, she also felt envious of her. It was good to be able to help her out for a few hours.

As Cathy left, Jake looked crestfallen. Lauren had babysat him a few times, though, so he soon rallied when she began to chat to him as she cleared up the last bits and pieces from the counter. She’d closed the café ten minutes earlier, so there wasn’t much else to do. Noticing there was a last slice of chocolate frosted sponge under the cloche, she boxed it up and decided to take Jake to Purrfect Paws. Mollie loved a slice of cake in the afternoon, and Lauren was sure she’d appreciate the gesture.

Lower Brambleton’s small main street was quiet as they headed out of the café, and although it was only two o’clock, the light was already fading. There was a chill in the air, but the street looked festive: small Christmas trees decorated with white fairy lights had been affixed to the eaves of the buildings, a gift from the parish council. Lauren loved Christmas, and even in the years when Myriam had been in recovery, they’d always managed to make each one special. It would be strange, spending this one without her mother, but Lauren was determined to enjoy it, regardless. Doing a small favour for Cathy made her feel good, as if she wasn’t just existing for herself this Christmas.

‘Hello!’ Mollie’s welcoming tones greeted them warmly as Lauren jolted Jake’s buggy over the slight step of the Purrfect Paws charity shop. ‘And hello, Jake – how lovely to see you both.’

Jake was already struggling to escape the straps of the buggy, clearly familiar with the delights of the Purrfect Paws toy section. ‘Hi, Mollie,’ Lauren replied. ‘Do you mind if I let him out?’

‘Be my guest, love. We’re used to kids, here.’

Lauren smiled gratefully and, after fumbling with the clip, she freed Jake, who abruptly scrambled down and toddled across the shop to the far corner, where a huge assortment of cuddly toys, games, books and other things were stored. Even now the shop was half the area it had been, with Noah Hathaway’s estate agents on the other side of the recently installed partition, there was still plenty of room for customers to explore, and Mollie had long recognised that the way to attract parents was to make sure children of all ages felt welcome in the shop.

Lauren ambled in Jake’s wake, enjoying the way he picked up various toys, including a rather alarmingly neon-coloured parrot that squawked when its stomach was pressed. She watched him closely, steering him away from the boxes of games with small parts, and making him giggle by playing with the parrot, putting its bright wings over its face and then making it squawk, until Jake was squealing with laughter.

‘I think we’ll take this one,’ she said as, after a few more minutes of rummaging, Jake took the parrot from her and toddled to the counter.

‘An excellent choice.’ Mollie’s eyes twinkled. ‘Although I’m not sure Cathy will thank you!’

Lauren laughed. ‘I think you’re right.’ She paid, and then, remembering the slice of cake, handed that over to Mollie. ‘Here you go.’

‘Oh, thanks, love.’ Mollie beamed. ‘I shouldn’t, but I can never resist your baking. That’ll go down nicely with a cuppa after I close up.’

Lauren glowed with pleasure. She liked passing on sweet treats where she could – giving something back to the people who supported her café. Clipping Jake back into the buggy, Lauren wondered whether or not to continue their walk, but decided it was too chilly to be out for long. Jake, clutching the parrot, gabbled happily away as they headed back home, and Lauren mulled over what else to do with him. She’d hosted the odd children’s party in the café, but for slightly older kids; would similar things work with Jake?

As she let herself back into the house, and hoisted the buggy into the hall, she had a brainwave.

‘Come on then, Jake,’ she said as she released him, once again, from the straps of the buggy. ‘How would you like to help me make some Octonauts?’

Jake beamed and pronounced an approximation of the name ‘Captain Barnacles’.

‘That’s right!’ Lauren took his little hand and led him to the kitchen. Once there, she grabbed the toddler booster seat she’d brought in from the café and popped it onto one of her kitchen chairs, and then brought out two blocks of fondant icing, one white and one blue. Figuring that they looked enough like Play-Doh to entertain Jake, she tore off a couple of blobs from each and handed them to the toddler. Jake, grinning, squished them in his hands, enjoying the texture.

Lauren grabbed a printout of Captain Barnacles that she’d been intending to work from, and began to mould her own blobs of icing, the white one for the head of the polar bear, and the blue one for his body. Then, she grabbed a third block of black icing to make the features of his face.

‘What do you reckon, Jake?’

Jake grinned back at her, pausing momentarily from his squishing. She passed the model to him, and he looked thoughtfully at it. ‘Kwazii?’ he said, after a beat or two.

‘I’m not sure I know who that is.’ Lauren shook her head. She grabbed her phone and in moments had called up a picture of a ginger cat with an eyepatch. ‘Hmm, a bit more tricky…’

Never one to resist a challenge, she took the rest of the pack of fondant icing and was soon trying to model the cat. Jake, thankfully not having worked out that the icing was edible, was alternating between moulding it between chubby fingers and smacking spheres of it flat on the kitchen table.

‘There you go,’ Lauren said, after a few minutes. She passed him the fondant rendering of Kwazii.

After that, Lauren made them both a drink, and, since Jake’s attention had been caught by the fondant Octonauts, she decided to find the show on CBeebies. There was one hairy moment when, still clasping the fondant Kwazii, the model’s head fell off, but Lauren swiftly fixed it and harmony was restored once again. In fact, between the puppet parrot and the fondant models, Lauren was beginning to think she wasn’t bad at being a children’s entertainer.

23

Cathy came to collect Jake just before six o’clock. As Lauren let her into the house, Cathy’s eyes widened in surprise to see her three-year-old son sitting calmly on the settee, cuddling the charity shop parrot and watching Bluey.

‘Wow – he’s really chilled out,’ Cathy remarked. ‘You’ll have to show me how you do that, sometime!’

Lauren smiled. ‘We had a great time at Mollie’s, and Jake’s been helping me perfect my Octonauts for the birthday cake.’ She glanced at the clock on the living room wall. ‘I’ve got a busy evening, I think, putting it together.’