Page 73 of Summer at Rachel’s Pudding Pantry

Rachel threw herself into some stress baking, making a batch of bread rolls and some scones for the Pantry. She had the radio on loudly in the farmhouse kitchen, and was kneading the dough like there was no tomorrow, pounding it as if it was a Caitlin punchbag. Her fist was a little sore, but she did feel slightly better by the time the warm, yeasty smells of fresh baking were floating from the Aga.

A short while later, Rachel was walking across the yard towards the barn with the tray of freshly baked cheese scones, the aromas making her tummy rumble, when she spotted a familiar grey van heading up the track. Surely not …

And yes, as it slowed to a halt, there he was, stepping out with a grin on his face.

‘What the hell are you doing here?’

‘Lovely to see you too …’ answered Jake ironically.

‘But … you’re three days early. You do know the wedding’s not until Saturday.’ She felt herself getting flustered. All she needed was her ex hanging about in the run-up to her wedding day. Especially given all the vicious rumours that were circulating … Oh god.

‘Yeah, yeah, don’t get your knickers in a twist. I’ve got a job up this way. Thought it’d work out nicely. I can settle a bit early and see Maisy.’

Nicely for him, perhaps. The court case was on today; she was hanging by a thread waiting for a call from Tom. She was just about holding it together … and now this. The wanderer returns, as usual without notice.

‘Maisy’s at school,’ she said bluntly.

‘Yeah, I guessed that. Thought it’d be a nice surprise if I was here for when she gets home.’

‘Okay, so why don’t you come back at – let’s say – four o’clock?’ Rachel was curt. She needed to go and help Mum in the Pudding Pantry anyway, and there was a list of people yet to call and chase up about all the final wedding arrangements.

‘Thought I’d grab a coffee here first, stop by and say hello. My B & B won’t let me in until after three, anyhow. My job doesn’t start until tomorrow, so I’ve got the rest of the day free.’

Oh, boy. Bully for bloody you. ‘Okay. Well, Maisy has a few things on after school this week.’ Rachel wasn’t exactly sure what at this point, other than craft club tomorrow, but she didn’t want him to think he could stroll in unannounced and monopolise their time.

‘No worries. I’m sure I can work around that. I’ll bob on in, grab a latte, and you can fill me in.’

Grrr, how did her ex always seem to manage to throw a spanner in the works, turning up at just the wrong time? Here he was now, waltzing his way into the Pudding Pantry.

‘Oh, hello Jake.’ Jill looked up from the counter where she was spooning out a dish of summer pudding for a customer. ‘This is a bit of a surprise.’ She managed to be polite, whilst raising her eyebrows at Rachel.

‘Yep, got some work lined up this way for the next week or so. Ties in great with popping by for the wedding and all that.’

‘Right …’ Jill nodded.

‘So, there’s no Chelsea or Kelvin coming with you to the wedding then?’ Rachel probed. They’d not come back on the RSVP, once Maisy had twisted her arm to send an invite, other than Jake saying he’d be there for ‘deffo’. With Maisy getting on well with Chelsea on their last visit and super keen for them to come along, Rachel had bitten the bullet and asked them all. They’d need to all be able to co-operate for Maisy’s sake going forwards, so it seemed the right thing to do.

‘Nah, they’ve got stuff on back home.’

‘Okay.’

Who knew whether they were still an item even, but Rachel didn’t want to know any more about Jake’s messy private life than she had to. ‘Oh well, that’s a shame, Maisy was looking forward to seeing them.’

‘Yeah, well …’ he let it drift. ‘I’m here.’

Oh, and didn’t she know it. Rachel sighed. It was definitely going to be one of those days, and little did she know how much …

39

Later that afternoon, Rachel pulled up haphazardly in the yard near the farmhouse. She was coming back from fixing the water trough in the cattle field, which she’d noticed had sprung a leak. She still hadn’t heard from Tom about the result of the hearing, and the suspense was killing her. Did no news mean good news? After the stress of these last few weeks, she really bloody hoped so.

She scrambled down from the quad and nearly lost her footing. Eurgh, she could hardly see; her left eye was stinging after a fly had gone right into it at speed on her drive back. Jeez, was it sore! She prayed she wouldn’t have to wear some kind of eye patch for her wedding day – she was going more for country chic than pirate princess.

‘Hey, Rach.’

Everything was a little blurry but it sounded like Jake approaching – so he was back hanging around then.

‘Hi … can’t really see … Bloody fly,’ Rachel explained as she rubbed her eye.