CHAPTER NINE
Jaz is very excited about my ‘date’. Even though I keep telling her it’s not a date at all.
It’s eight-thirty in the morning and we’re grabbing a quick coffee and a catch-up with Ellie in the café before opening time.
I’ve been here over an hour already and the cakes of the day – chocolate fudge and cherry and coconut – are baking in the oven. My nose can scent when they’re done and it hardly ever lets me down. I’ll give them another ten minutes then I’ll go and check on them. The cheese and thyme scones, still warm from the oven, are already arranged in a basket under the glass at the counter.
We’re waiting for Ellie to come down from the flat, having helped ourselves to coffees – Jaz a hazelnut latte and me my usual cappuccino with extra chocolate sprinkles.
I haven’t mentioned my passionate bar stool encounter with Ethan. I’ve only told Jaz that he wants us to go out so we can talk some more.
My cheeks flame like a barbecue every time I recall just how uninhibited I was at that bar. I’ve never behaved like that in my life before. I felt like Annie Truelove in Breaching Her Defences, when she’s finally able to throw off years of timidity and frustration, and plunge headlong into a passionate encounter with Axel Rodd. (He of the hard muscles yet adorably soft centre.)
‘Ethan just likes talking to me. It’s not a big romance thing.’
Jaz casts me a disbelieving glance. ‘He said he wanted to take you out. You don’t couch it in those terms if it’s just a drink with a friend. Believe me, it’s a real date.’
I smile at her, my heart bumping along like crazy at the thought of a real date with Ethan.
Jaz sighs. ‘You know, I think I’m almost as excited about this as you are - probably because of the complete absence of anything even remotely romantic going on in my own love life!’
‘Still bad?’
‘I’ve almost forgotten what he looks like naked.’
‘Really?’ I gaze at her in horror.
She grins. ‘Well, no. Harry is very well worth looking at and I’m not likely to forget that body in a hurry.’
‘Too much information!’ I say, blushing instantly. ‘Especially this time of the morning.’
‘What’s this?’ asks Ellie, joining us.
‘Oh, we’re just talking about romance,’ says Jaz. ‘The absolute lack of it in my life and the promise of happy encounters for Fen with the masterful Ethan Fox.’
Ellie raises her eyebrows at me but doesn’t comment.
I shrug. ‘I guess he just wants to get to know me a bit better.’
I’m aware of Ellie studying me. ‘Be careful, Fen,’ she says.
I stare at her, feeling suddenly quite irritated. ‘Ellie, I don’t know what you mean. Do you know something I don’t? About Ethan?’
She shakes her head. ‘Just don’t get too carried away with the romance of it all. Because sometimes things don’t turn out the way you think they will. That’s all.’ She stares broodingly out of the window into the distance.
I relax slightly. So it probably isn’t Ethan as a person she’s concerned about. She just doesn’t want me to get my heart broken. Like she fears she might . . .
Jaz disappears into the studio to get ready for her yoga class and I ask Ellie about her plans for the Christmas Eve party she’s planning to throw for the villagers.
‘Is there anything you’d like me to do?’ I ask. I personally think she’s taking on far too much. But she seems determined to go ahead, so I’m happy to help any way I can.
‘There is, actually. I want a really fabulous window display that customers will talk about and bring their kids to see,’ she says, brightening up as she always does when she talks about anything to do with her beloved Little Duck Pond Café.
‘Do you mean an animated window? Like they have in the big stores at Christmas?’
She shakes her head. ‘Probably something simpler and less costly but just as eye-catching. If you could have a think, Fen, I’d be really grateful. I really need to boost business if I want to pay off the loan I took out to do the kitchen and studio extension.’
‘I’ll think of something,’ I promise her.
‘Thanks, Fen. You always have such great ideas. You’re far more creative than I am.’
There’s a knock at the door and we both turn. Ethan is peering in through the window and my heart gives a jolt.
Ellie glances at her watch, jumps up and goes to unlock the door. ‘Sorry, Ethan, we were so deep in discussion, I didn’t realise it had gone opening time.’
‘No worries.’ Ethan grins at me. ‘Just the woman I was looking for.’
I swallow, getting to my feet. ‘Me?’
‘Yes, you of the world-famous apple cinnamon mince pies.’
‘Slight exaggeration.’ I smile shyly.
‘Fen, I need to talk to you,’ he murmurs, a serious look on his face.
I gaze up at him, aware of Ellie melting away into the background behind the counter, leaving us alone together. The phone in Ethan’s hand starts ringing but he ignores it.
‘I’ve got plans for you,’ he says slowly with a mysterious smile, ‘and I think you’re going to love it!’ His eyes lock onto mine and my legs turn to jelly, just like they do for all the heroines I’ve ever read about.
I wait in suspense to hear what Ethan and fate have in store for me. It feels like a dream. The sort of dream I never want to awaken from . . .
He looks at his phone and his smile slips. ‘Sorry, got to dash. Business,’ he says, not quite meeting my eye. ‘We’ll talk tomorrow, though, at the meeting?’
He winks and then he’s gone.
‘Ooh, Ethan has plans for you, Fen!’ teases Jaz, coming back into the café in her work-out gear. ‘Not that I was ear-wigging or anything.’ She plonks herself down in the chair opposite and leans forward on her folded arms. ‘Wonder what that could mean?’ She glances behind the counter. ‘What do you think, Ellie? A night out at a fabulous restaurant, maybe? Or a weekend break somewhere exotic like Marrakesh?’
But Ellie has her head in the fridge and doesn’t appear to have heard her.
Jaz and I shrug at each other.
Ellie’s probably just preoccupied, thinking about Zak and Maisie. And her plans for the business . . .