Page 62 of The Sugar and Spice Bookshop Bakery

Behind Jack’s van is a trailer laden with yet more wood and what appears to be a load of old windows, which Maddie and Jack are busily unstacking, carrying them down the side alley to the back of the bakery.

‘Looks like he’s bought a second-hand shed,’ Louise says, a little disappointed. Why has another shed got Maddie so excited?

‘Why would he buying a second-hand shed?’ Anna says.

Louise explains the concept of the garden full of book nooks.

‘Oh, I understand,’ Anna says, in a tone that belies the fact that she doesn’t.

‘Come on, I’ll show you.’

They go into the kitchen. Louise finds Jack and Maddie’s drawings and some mood boards for the interiors that Maddie has recently made. Then they head out into the garden, and Louise points out which of the sheds is going to be which book nook.

‘Oh, now I understand.’ Anna nods approvingly. ‘This is magical. I can just imagine someone curling up with a Jenny Colgan and heart-shaped brownie in that lovely chair in the Love Shack.’

‘We haven’t found the right lovely chair yet. That one exists only in Maddie’s imagination,’ Louise says, but she smiles. She loves the way Anna said the word ‘magical’ and has absolutely no doubt she has appointed the right person. Anna gets it, is on board with the vision. They arrange that she’ll start in a few weeks, when they’re almost ready to open, but that they’ll get together in the meantime to talk recipes.

As Louise shows Anna out, she sees that someone has kicked the A board over. Irritated, she sets it upright. Probably an accident – but why wouldn’t someone just pick it up if they’d accidentally knocked it over?

Maddie appears, and heaves a huge terracotta pot from the back of Jack’s van. It’s filled with russet chrysanthemums, purple asters and orange gourds. She sets it down beside the bakery door, then takes a second identical one from the back of the van and sets it on the other side, before stepping back to admire her handiwork.

‘What d’you think?’

‘They’re beautiful,’ Louise says.

‘They were reduced. An absolute bargain! I’m going to put a couple of big pumpkins next to them. Oh, and you’ll never guess what Jack’s bought!’

Maddie is still slightly red-eyed, but looking a lot more cheerful than she did a few minutes ago.

‘A second-hand shed and some old windows by the look of it. Yes, I saw.’

‘Wrong!’ Maddie sounds triumphant. ‘They’re stained-glass windows. Masses of them. And a dome-shaped frame from an old wooden greenhouse.’

‘Stained glass? Why?’

‘Well, I know we weren’t planning on having a spirituality section in the bookshop, but we are now. Jack is, anyway.’

‘A spirituality section? With stained glass? That is a nice idea.’

‘I keep thinking about how strange it is that he’s doing the work himself, don’t you?’ Maddie moves round to the back of the counter and begins to make herself a cup of coffee. ‘Don’t architects normally just do the designs, then bring in builders?’

Louise bites her lip. ‘I think it’s a favour to me. You know, with Mum and Richard being old friends.’

‘Nah, I don’t buy that.’ Maddie pours some milk in a jug and begins to froth it.

Louise feels her shoulders tense. ‘No?’ she says, keeping her tone deliberately casual.

‘There’s definitely more to it than that. You know what I think? He’s doing it to be near you. This way, he gets to spend time with you. If he just did the design and buggered off, you’d never see him.’ Maddie pours the milk into her coffee, biting her lip as she concentrates. ‘Damn. I was trying to make a leaf, but it hasn’t worked. D’you want this one? I’ll make another.’

‘Thanks,’ Louise says. ‘I suppose Jack and I do enjoy each other’s company.’

‘He really likes you, Lou.’ Maddie bangs the spent coffee grinds out of the filter. ‘He’s gone and bought a load of sand and is planning to make a little beach area in front of the Holiday Reads hut. He asked me to look out for a bucket and spade in the charity shops. How cute is that?’

‘Very cute.’

‘Though there is something a bit off about him,’ Maddie says. ‘When we were unloading all the stained glass, I asked him about his previous projects, and he was kind of cagey.’

‘Cagey?’