Page 122 of The Sugar and Spice Bookshop Bakery

Forty

When the customers have left, the floor has been swept and the kitchen is gleaming again, ready for the following day, Anna comes to the till with The Snail and the Whale.

‘Oh, you don’t have to—’ Louise begins.

‘I want to.’ Anna swipes her card, waves a cheery goodbye as she pulls on her coat, and then she’s gone.

Elizabeth and Maddie are sitting with Richard and Jack, and Louise goes over to join them. Jack immediately jumps to his feet, holding his own chair for her to sit down, and then grabbing another one from a neighbouring table.

‘How did you do that?’ Louise says to Maddie.

‘How did I do what?’

‘Appear through the serving hatch like that? I mean, when did you even come in?’ She looks at her mother. ‘Was it your magic spoon?’

‘I got the train earlier,’ Maddie says. ‘But you weren’t here when I arrived, so I went and sat in Narnia for a bit, to get some peace and quiet. I needed to finish something off on my laptop.’

‘You must have arrived when I was in the Crime Scene. Why didn’t one of you tell me she was here?’

‘We were so busy,’ Elizabeth says. ‘And then you suddenly decided to make the announcement.’

‘And also, why are you here?’ Louise says. She can’t quite believe how the day has unfolded.

‘I’ve come home for the weekend,’ Maddie says.

Home.

Maddie called Applethwaite home.

Louise gulps, blinking back tears.

‘Does everyone know?’ Richard says suddenly.

‘Only us,’ Elizabeth says. ‘So your secret is safe, as long as you never describe Jack as an architect again. He’s a brilliant carpenter, Richard. Everyone’s talking about his book nooks.’

‘And I built him a website when I was on the train,’ Maddie says. ‘Jack’s Design and Build. Just in case anyone googles him. It’s just a simple one, but it’ll do for now.’

‘A website?’ Jack says.

‘Yeah, Elizabeth called me and told me about your—’ she looks pointedly at Richard, ‘—dilemma and asked if I had any bright ideas. And my bright idea is that we have to reframe things. Reposition you. You create beautiful bespoke summerhouses and home offices, and not only do you have the skills to design them, you have the skills to build them too.’

‘Wow, thank you,’ Jack says. ‘I love that.’

‘You’re welcome.’ Maddie smiles at Jack, then raises her eyebrows expectantly at Richard.

‘Yes, thank you,’ he says.

‘And if anyone asks, we say you originally trained as an architect. Which you did. We’re just not going to pretend you actually qualified. Capiche?’ Maddie glare at Richard.

He nods silently.

There’s a knock at the door.

‘We’re closed,’ Louise shouts, without looking up, but the door opens anyway.

‘Sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering…’

Tom is standing in the doorway, looking awkward.