She does an expressive shrug. ‘But I like to practise the language. Then one fine day I sound like perfect Englishwoman.’ She’s endeavouring to look serious but the mischievous twinkle in her eye gives the game away, and everyone starts to laugh.
‘Olga, please don’t change,’ grins Jaz. ‘You’re brilliant exactly as you are.’
‘Don’t tell her that, Jaz. Her head’s big enough already. Eh, Gran?’ jokes Katja, linking arms with her.
Olga leans over and plants a kiss on Katja’s cheek. ‘And you, moy milyy, are big fat joker.’
I smile, enjoying Katja’s lovely closeness with her gran, while at the same time, feeling an ache of loneliness thinking about Mum. What will she be doing now? Sunbathing? Taking a swim in the blue waters of the Med? Strolling to the market to buy fresh vegetables for dinner? Is she missing Eva? Or have other delights stepped in to compensate?
With an effort, I return my attention to Olga, who’s now reading the ‘acts of kindness’ board and ruminating that people should be nice to each other without having a carrot held in front of them in the form of cake. (Actually, what she says is, ‘Who needs dangly carrot to smile at passer-by?’)
‘Quite right, Gran!’ smiles Katja, who’s looking on top of the world these days, I suspect because her relationship with Richard, Fen’s brother, is going great guns. Added to which, Ellie has asked her if she’d like to run the new baking school she’s planning to set up. I think Katja would be brilliant in this role. She’s such a great ‘people person’ and her baking skills are second to none.
Katja is one of my favourite people in the world. I’ll always be grateful to her for introducing me to the Little Duck Pond Café crew, after meeting her when I lived in Mum’s flat next-door, and she’s always been nothing but supportive of me. She’s yet another person I feel guilty about not confiding in…
‘How are the baking school plans going?’ I ask her now.
‘Great! The plans have been drawn up for the renovation of the barn into suitable premises, and the building work is due to start this week.’
‘That’s so exciting.’
She nods, her eyes sparkling.
‘Want to write your pledges, ladies?’ encourages Fen. ‘Here you go.’ Olga and Jaz walk over to the servery and take the cards and pens Fen hands over. ‘Write them out then stick them on the board. Then it’s free lemon drizzle all round.’
The door opens at that moment and Madison walks in. ‘Did I hear the magic words? Free cake?’
Katja laughs and murmurs, ‘I should have thought you’d be all caked-out, the amount you snaffle at work, Maddy.’
‘Ssh!’ Madison frowns and swivels her eyes to glance at Fen. ‘I never eat the profits. How dare you!’ But a broad grin breaks through that lights up her face and brings a flush to her cheeks. It’s a grin that I realise, a second later, isn’t just about snaffling cake – when the door opens and Madison’s new man enters.
‘Over here, Jack!’ she calls, a little unnecessarily, considering how sparsely populated the café is. She flicks back her long, shiny, auburn hair, her eyes sparkling as he walks over to join us.
I like Jack.
I’ve met him a couple of times in Ellie’s café and around the village when he’s been to see Madison. He’s about Madison’s height (she’s fairly tall), and he’s slim, with chestnut brown hair and the most amazing liquid gold eyes beneath dark-framed glasses. I’d say he’s more of a listener than a talker. The opposite of Madison. He’s the kind of person who, when you’re chatting to him, focuses entirely on what you’re saying and makes you feel super-interesting.
We’re not sure if his friendship with Madison - which started at Ellie’s pre-wedding spa day celebration - has blossomed into anything more yet, but we’re all avidly watching this space…
Jack goes over to the board to make a pledge.
‘He’s really nice,’ I say.
Jaz grins. ‘Yeah, he is. Far too nice for Madison.’
‘Hey, you!’ Madison digs Jaz sharply in the ribs.
‘Only joking. I actually think you make a lovely couple.’ Jaz studies him as he chats to Hope. ‘He’s a bit like a sexy Joe 90 with those glasses.’
Madison flicks her a sideways glance. ‘Well, he can carry out dangerous missions on me any time he likes,’ she murmurs, looking like the cat that got the cream.
‘By the way,’ says Jaz, ‘Ellie says to put her down for a pledge.’
‘Oh, great.’ Fen smiles and picks up a card and a pen. ‘Fire away.’
Jaz grimaces. ‘She says she pledges to infiltrate the Brambleberry Manor Café disguised as Mary Berry, and expose all the cake bottoms as soggy.’
‘Oh, ha ha!’ grins Fen, abandoning the card and pen. ‘Long live the friendly café rivalry!’
‘She does actually have a serious one. She and Maisie are going to organise an Easter egg hunt and sell tickets in aid of charity,’ says Jaz. ‘She says she’ll put it on the board next time she’s here when she’s worked out the details.’
Fen nods happily. ‘That’s brilliant.’
I leave the little party to their afternoon tea, but I make sure I’m there to say goodbye when they get up to go.
‘After you,’ says Madison to Jaz, stopping suddenly in her tracks, so that Olga canons into Katja.
‘It’s fine.’ Jaz waves her on.
‘No, after you,’ Madison insists. ‘Go on! I’m letting you go first.’
Jaz gives her a bemused look. ‘Are you okay?’
Katja grins. ‘I think she’s trying to be kind.’
‘Well, for goodness sake, stop it, Madison. It’s quite frankly freaky,’ Jaz says, and everyone chuckles.
‘Oh, well, that’s nice, I’m sure!’ retorts Madison, stomping towards the exit. Although by the time they emerge into the breezy March afternoon and I wave them off, she’s already beaming happily at Jack and linking arms with him.
Patrina is staring thoughtfully out of the window when I close the door.
‘I’ve decided exactly what my pledge will be,’ she murmurs, and I raise my eyebrows expectantly.
‘I’m going to organise a 10k charity run,’ she says, still gazing out at the trees.
‘Great.’ I nod, impressed that she should have thought of such a brilliant idea. ‘This is the perfect place for a run. What with all the forest tracks and country lanes around here.’
She smiles, still focused on the woods. ‘Absolutely.’
‘Well, I’d be happy to help spread the word.’ I walk over to join her at the window, feeling quite cheered that all this talk of being kind to others seems to be having an effect on Patrina. ‘I could talk to some of the mums at Eva’s school, and maybe get a few of them to sign up for it. What do you think?’
Patrina turns to look at me with a vacant expression, as if she hasn’t even heard what I said.
Then I glance out of the window – and it all suddenly makes sense. Matt is out there in his sports gear, limbering up for a run, and Patrina is clearly wishing she could be out there with him, assisting with his muscle-stretching.