‘I’ll try. Why are you smiling like that?’
‘Oh, I was just thinking how ironic that I should be giving you advice about just being yourself, when the reason I lost Jack was because I was concealing how I truly felt about him.’
‘Here he comes,’ hisses Carrie. ‘Does my hair look okay?’
‘You look great. Now, calm down.’
‘Okay.’ She takes a deep breath and breathes out slowly. ‘We’re just going on a few fairground rides.’
‘Exactly.’
‘Hey, you two.’ Adam arrives, looking good in jeans and short-sleeved green checked shirt. I notice he’s just a few inches taller than Carrie, who must be five foot six. ‘I just had a really hard time getting parked,’ he says, running a hand through his curly dark hair. ‘Right, what are we doing first? Big wheel? Or my favourite, the dodgems?’
My mobile rings at that moment and I exchange a quick look of amusement with Carrie. Maybe this is the excuse I need to leave them alone together.
Then I glance at the name that’s flashed up, and my heart almost leaps out of my chest.
‘All right?’ asks Carrie quickly.
‘Er, yes. I think so. I’m just going to…’ I signal and wander away, taking a big bolstering breath in before I reply.
‘Hello. Jack?’
‘Hi, Maddy. How are you?’
‘I’m good, thank you.’
‘Listen, I need to see you. Where are you?’
‘At the fair in Sunnybrook?’
‘Right. Could you meet me a bit later?’
‘Erm.’ I hesitate, thinking of my meeting at the café at seven.
‘If you can’t, don’t worry.’ He sounds a little deflated.
‘No, I can. It’s just there was something else I needed to do. Can you meet me here, at the fair.’
‘Yes. What time?’
‘Seven-thirty?’
‘Seven-thirty it is. Look, in case we can’t find each other among the rides, why don’t I see you outside the café entrance? We can grab some candyfloss and talk.’
‘I hate candyfloss.’
‘A toffee apple, then?’
‘Okay.’ My heart is pounding. Candyfloss, toffee apple – I don’t care what it is as long as I can see Jack again!
‘Maddy…you will be there, won’t you?’
‘Yes, of course.’
‘You’re not going to go all cool and weird on me again?’
‘No, I’ve told you. I’m a changed person.’
He laughs softly. ‘Don’t go changing too much. I like the real you.’
My heart flips over, his words rendering me speechless for a moment.
‘Maddy? I’ll see you at seven-thirty, okay?’
‘Don’t worry. I’ll be there. Erm…what do you want to talk about?’
But he’s already ended the call.
I glance at my watch. It’s almost seven and the sky is darkening. I spy Carrie and Adam queuing up for the dodgems, looking as if they’re getting on like a house on fire. As I watch, she throws back her head and laughs at something he said. Fingers crossed, I think to myself…
Clearly, I’m surplus to requirements now, so I start walking over to the café.
Only Ellie is behind the counter and she looks surprised to see me. ‘I thought you were at the fair with Carrie and Adam?’
I laugh. ‘Gosh, word gets around quickly. You can’t say a thing in Sunnybrook without being quoted within the hour in the next village.’
‘I told her,’ smiles Katja, emerging from the kitchen with a big platter of cinnamon apple puff pastry slices. ‘Oh, hi, you two!’
Jaz and Fen walk in and Ellie looks puzzled. ‘Jaz? What are you doing here? You should be at home with your feet up. Is there something I don’t know about.’
Fen laughs. ‘Yes, there is, actually.’ She glances at the door. ‘And here’s Primrose, so now we’re all here, I can make the big announcement.’
‘You’re not getting married, are you?’ asks Ellie.
Fen grins. ‘Rob and I can’t even agree on a place to live. Deciding on a wedding venue would be a nightmare.’ She looks around at us all. ‘Ellie, I first of all want to thank you so much for your fund-raising efforts to buy me a new van. But since I already have one - ’
Ellie looks dismayed. ‘You have? When did this happen?’
‘That’s beside the point. The thing is, we’ve all decided that since I don’t need the money, it should go to you, so that you can pay the builders and work can resume on the baking school.’
Ellie’s expression is one of amazement. ‘What? Really? But I can’t…’
I shrug. ‘Why not? It was you who thought of the bistro evening and you who planned the whole thing.’
‘But you all chipped in to buy the food,’ she protests. ‘So that wouldn’t be fair.’
‘Ellie, the money is yours,’ murmurs Katja.
Jaz nods. ‘Sorry, but you’re totally outnumbered. We’ve already decided.’
‘You can treat us all to a month’s supply of bread when the baking school opening,’ says Primrose.
Ellie laughs. ‘It’s a deal. Oh, my God, I can’t believe this.’
I shrug. ‘It might not stretch very far, but we were hoping it might at least get the workmen back on site, until Zak’s big royalties come through in November?’
Ellie’s eyes are shining. ‘Yes, of course it would. Wow. I was so sure I’d have to cancel all my plans. But I have a feeling it’ll be full speed ahead now.’
‘Group hug?’ laughs Primrose and we all pile in, although I take care to keep a distance between me and certain other participants. I don’t want to irritate them any more than I already have.
Fen and Primrose disappear into the kitchen to help Ellie.
‘Right, I’m going on the Big wheel,’ announces Jaz. ‘Anyone coming?’
‘Jaz, no, you can’t,’ says Ellie. ‘What if you go into labour half way through?’
‘Then I’ll have a smashing view of the countryside as Little ‘Un appears. Plus I’ll be bloody cheering! Ten days overdue is really no fun at all.’
We manage to convince her it’s a bad idea, but she point blank refuses to be stopped going on the ghost train.
‘Go after her, Maddy,’ pleads Ellie. ‘I’ll come over as soon as I can.’
‘Where’s Harry tonight, anyway?’
‘On his way back from London.’
‘Jaz won’t listen to me.’
‘Just make sure she doesn’t do anything silly? Try and talk her out of the ghost train?’
Sighing, I set off after her. But of course she refuses to see sense, and to be honest, I can’t really see the harm in a quick whizz around the ghost train. It’s all of three minutes at the most, and if the appearance of a ghostly apparition hurries things along, then so much the better! One thing’s for certain, though, I’m definitely not offering to go on the ride with her. My brush with the ghost of Ivy Moxon (quite literally) was enough to give me a life-long aversion to ghost trains.