Anouska Knight - Since You've Been Gone

‘Um, OK. But what about the house? I have some ideas I think you’ll like, Hol.’

The guilt twisted in my stomach.

‘Well let’s see them then! If Rob moves his ass quickly enough, we might get started on the back bedroom before junior arrives.’ I could keep Rob busy at the shop for as long as I needed to. All I had to do was keep Martha sweet until the baby was born, then she wouldn’t have the energy, or the inclination, to pimp my house any more. That was my grand plan.

Martha, instantly gripped with excitement that I was showing interest in her ideas, left the kitchen for yet more magazines. Rob fixed beady knowing eyes on me.

‘Don’t worry, big guy. You can eat cake all day and we’ll just splash a little paint on your face before we send you home.’

Things were only going to get quieter until Christmas fever kicked in.

It was Monday, I was tired, and thanks to Dave’s eating habits, I was late.

Jesse, reliable wingman that he was, had opened up and made a start on the freshly baked cupcakes and cookies we offered alongside the bespoke services. It wasn’t big money but it was consistent, and when the brides thinned out the lowly cupcake paid Jesse’s wages and kept us going. We didn’t open to the public until ten each day, largely because few people wanted to munch on cupcakes much before noon but it also gave us a good three hours to get the fresh bakes out and on display, ready for the lunchtime rush.

There were only a handful of people milling around on the cobbled high street when I parked up and walked the hundred yards or so to Cake. I didn’t like to park directly outside unless I needed to load up, preferring for passers-by to see the fantastical cakes Jesse and I had on display in the two huge windows. This morning, someone had already parked there anyway.

Hunterstone was a nice town. Too expensive to buy a house in, unless you were like Martha and Rob, but nestled halfway between the big city and the national park, everything you could want was in reach. The castle pulled in a reasonable flow of tourists and the clean leafy Georgian streets housed a nice selection of eateries, galleries and shops to keep the tourists there a little longer.

We’d put a lot of effort into fixing the shop up, but the architecture of the building had helped make us the perfect place for a visit by beautiful brides between champagne dress fittings and floral consultations. Charlie had painstakingly finished painting cream all the fiddly nooks and crannies of the typically Georgian decorative façade after I’d gotten fed up with it. He’d also added the topiary outside, making our little shopfront every bit as tempting as the cakes inside. A swinging vintage sign was the only thing to throw off the symmetry of the frontage, declaring in burgundy and gold the nature of our business. Cake.

I skipped up the two stone steps to the doors and pushed my way in with a jingle overhead. It was already nearly eleven and Jesse would be about ready for a refuel. He ate more than Rob and never gained an ounce.

‘Hey! I’ve got bagels and posh coffee,’ I called from the showroom as I threw a few new bridal magazines next to the sofa. I reached the counter and could already hear the drone of the mixers in the bakery out back. He wouldn’t have heard me probably.

I took Jesse’s breakfast through to where he was busily piping several trays of cupcakes in pale lilac buttercream, before finishing each one off with a sugar-frosted violet.

‘They look great,’ I called, wiggling the warm paper bag in my hand. Jess left the island worktop and moved over to shut the mixer off.

‘Hey, Hol, how’s Dave?’ Jesse took the bag from me as I set the coffees down and hung my things in the far corner.

‘He’s OK; he has a bad tooth. I’ve left him moping in the garden. Mrs Hedley will throw him treats over the fence all day no doubt.’ I wondered if that was part of the problem. She’d been the same with Charlie, making him second lunches when they thought I wasn’t looking.

Jesse came over and started digging into the bagels as I slipped an apron over my head and started the first of a hundred hand-washes. I dried off and went to grab a bagel for myself but he pulled the bag away.

‘You can’t, you have a customer,’ he said, grinning at me.

‘What customer? No one’s booked in are they?’ I said, scanning the counters for the cake diary. We did the occasional wedding consultation in the mornings but they were nearly always booked in for weekends when the mother of the bride was in town and the fiancé had no excuses not to attend.

‘They are now, he’s been here since I flipped the sign over.’

‘Oh no, Jess, have I forgotten an appointment?’ I said, with the first prickles of panic.

‘No. He hasn’t got an appointment,’ Jess said, still grinning.

‘Why are you being weird?’ I asked him, trying not to laugh at his ridiculous expression. ‘Where is he then?’

I followed Jess as he walked from the bakery through the short corridor and out into the area behind the shop counter.

‘He’s over there, waiting for you to show up to work,’ Jesse said, looking out front.

I looked out through one of the windows over to the café across the street, glancing at the bistro tables outside for anyone I recognised. There were a couple of women in coats and shades enjoying the morning, but other than that no one. I was still watching when two business types, a man and woman, left the café together, followed by another sharply dressed guy in suit and shades. As he turned to check the road before crossing, I recognised the strong line of his jaw, passed down from one generation to the next.

‘How was your weekend, Holly?’ Jesse asked as it dawned on me who was heading this way.

I watched Ciaran Argyll draw closer as I tried to figure out what he was doing here.

‘There must have been a problem with the cake,’ I thought aloud, readying myself for what might be. ‘I bet the old bugger wants to make a complaint because I didn’t compliment him on his wedding tackle.’

‘Wedding tackle? What did you get up to this weekend, Hol?’

‘Nothing,’ I answered, still pondering.

The door set the bell tingling and Ciaran Argyll walked assuredly into my shop. Jesse stopped munching on his bagel.

‘Morning. Again,’ Argyll said, nodding at Jess standing over me. I got a gentle nod. ‘Hello.’

‘All right, mate, enjoy your wait with the golden girls?’ Jesse asked.

‘Actually, the coffee was surprisingly good,’ Mr Argyll said, taking his sunglasses off. He didn’t look so melancholy today; his smile was more relaxed than I’d remembered it. ‘But you were right, they did take care of me.’ He laughed, flashing a glimpse of perfect white teeth. I’d bet he was used to being taken care of.

‘Ah, they love a gent over there don’t they, Hol? Hol stopped buying lunch from the café when she realised the old girls give better service to the fellas than the women. It’s sexist isn’t it, Hol?’ It sounded silly when I heard it that way, but yes, I was boycotting the place.

I flashed a full smile of my own at Jess.

‘I’ll just go and finish my brekkie then. See you, mate …’ he said, leaving for the back, ‘nice Vanquish.’

Argyll turned to check the car sat outside the shop and nodded to himself.

‘What can I do for you, Mr Argyll?’ I asked, noting his cologne again. His hand dipped into the inside pocket of his jacket as he approached the counter between us.

‘You left in a hurry Friday, understandably. You forgot this. I thought we at least owed you the courtesy of returning it,’ he said softly, pulling open a folded sheet of paper and handing it to me. I recognised the information immediately.