Page 58 of The Sugar and Spice Bookshop Bakery

‘Nope. I thought I would have by now. They’re probably still deciding what massive amount of money they ought to offer me to make sure I accept.’

Louise laughs. Oh, the confidence of youth. Her stepdaughter is joking, obviously, but Louise is quite sure that she’s only half joking.

With Maddie so certain that she will soon be moving back to London to take up her ideal position doing marketing for a swanky new art gallery, Louise has advertised for an assistant to do most of the baking – she will continue to make Granny’s ginger cake, obviously – and to help serve hot drinks and cakes. That way, she’ll be able to focus on the bookshop side of things. She hasn’t exactly been inundated with applications, but has chosen the best five to interview.

Okay, so they were the only five to apply, but surely one of them will fit the bill.

*

‘So, tell me about your baking,’ Louise says to the first interviewee, one of the strongest of them, at least on paper. ‘Have you worked in a bakery before? Or a café?’

‘Yes, in Leeds. Quite a big place actually. Very busy.’ The young woman, who’s around Maddie’s age perhaps, is looking around the bakery with an expression of disdain on her face.

‘What kind of bakery was it?’

‘A vegan bakery. Quite well-known. Mostly five-star reviews on Google.’

‘Vegan? That sounds challenging.’

‘Not really. I’m vegan, and I only cook vegan food. But my cakes are very good. You can’t tell there’s no animal products in them. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that they taste far superior to cakes made with traditional ingredients. I make a lot of low-sugar bakes too, for people who are more health conscious.’

Louise mentally crosses the woman’s name off her list of potentials; she’s got nothing against vegans, but most of her gran’s recipes are laden with butter, so this woman clearly isn’t the right person for the job. She can’t imagine low-sugar bakes going down too well with the traditionalists of Applethwaite either.

To her surprise – and disappointment – the next candidate to cross her threshold doesn’t want to talk about baking at all, but about books.

‘I love books,’ he says. ‘Always wanted to write one.’

No. Not this again.

‘Just to be clear,’ Louise says firmly, ‘I’m looking for assistance with the bakery side of things, rather than the bookshop. I’m intending to manage the bookshop myself, at least initially. Do you bake?’

‘I can knock up a decent sponge.’

‘A sponge. Okay.’ Louise looks down at her clipboard and writes the word ‘sponge’ next to his name.

‘Drystone walls.’

‘Come again?’

‘Drystone-walling in the Dales: A Memoir. That’s what I’m planning on calling it. Do you have any tips? You know, about getting published, like?’

‘I, er… are you actually looking for a job?’

When he’s left, having finally admitted that he has no interest in working in the bakery whatsoever, but just wanted to consult Louise about his book because ‘Railway Andy says you’re very kind and full of useful advice,’ Louise strikes his name off the list, and prays that one of the final three candidates will be better than the first two.

But the third interviewee admits she’s a perfectionist when it comes to cake. She’s only ever baked at home, and even a simple carrot cake can take her three hours.

‘That’s including icing and decorating,’ she clarifies.

Three hours? How on earth would that work in a commercial environment?

Louise forces a smile as she shows her out. ‘Thank you so much for your time. I’ll be in touch.’

The next one will surely be better.

Only she isn’t.

She’s worse.