Page 24 of Tricks & Treats at The Cosy Cornish Bakery

‘You cold, girl?’ Pinky nodded over to where Jo’s bright pink food wagon was opening up. ‘Get yourself a coffee. Or some soup and a sarnie. Get yourself some hot food inside you. Be a long day, this.’

‘Thanks, Pinky. I’m fine, really. I always love today. Marks the start of autumn proper for me. My favourite season.’

‘Agree with you there. Got to love the sharp light.’ Pinky peered up at the sky. ‘Clouds coming in but reckon we’ll be all right. Enough blue up there to make a whole shipful of sailors a jacket.’

Gradually the green filled up. People wandered past, coffee in hand, browsing the books. Pinky went to get himself a mug of tea, thankfully taking Demelza with him. Ginger whiled away the time absorbed in a battered copy of Little Women, which she thought she’d put aside for herself, it was so tatty she didn’t think anyone would pay for it. She’d just got to her favourite part – when Jo meets Laurie – when she became aware of a man flipping through a book. She looked up to see Josh in his ‘disguise’, perusing a hardback copy of War and Peace.

She smiled up at him. ‘Hello. You’re braver than me. I’ve never been able to tackle Tolstoy. Too many names and nicknames for me to get my brain around.’

He gave her a swift grin, his eyes masked by his heavily rimmed specs. ‘Have a weakness for all things Russian.’ He leaned in closer and whispered, ‘I was in The Cherry Orchard a few years back. At the National.’

‘Chloe saw you in it. She used to live in London until recently. Said you acted everyone else off the stage.’

‘Did she?’ Josh looked gratified. He tapped War and Peace and then clasped it to his chest. ‘Would have killed for a part in the Andrew Davies adaptation of this. Auditioned but didn’t even get a walk-on.’ He slid his glasses back up his nose. ‘What are you reading?’

Ginger showed him, its title just about visible on its dog-eared cover.

“Little Women. Another of my favourites.’

‘You’ve read Little Women?” she asked in astonishment.

‘Oh yes. And Good Wives. Always fancied myself as Laurie but that role went to someone else, too.’

‘You really are a keen reader, aren’t you?’ Ginger’s admiration for him grew.

‘I am. Books open up so many worlds, don’t they?’ He gestured to the book fair with War and Peace. He sighed appreciatively. ‘This is all so great. I had a coffee and a bacon and egg roll from the pink truck over there.’

‘After the breakfast I cooked for you?’

Josh looked contrite. ‘Couldn’t resist the name. Spotty Jo’s?’

Ginger laughed, forgiving him. ‘Joanna owns it. She has a liking for all things pink and spotty. Does the rounds of the caravan sites and beaches in the summer. As her brother is lifeboat crew, she does the book fair as a favour every year and donates her takings to the Lifeboat fund.’ She spread her hands. ‘It’s why we do this fair.’

‘That explains the guy in navy blue carrying a yellow bucket.’ He held Tolstoy aloft. ‘So, if I buy this, I get to donate, too?’

‘You do. It’s two pounds fifty.’

Josh handed over a five-pound note. ‘Keep the change. It’s for a good cause.’

‘It is indeed. We get rough seas here in the winter and the crew are always busy. The RNLI is run on voluntary contributions, so everything helps. Thank you, Josh.’

‘Do you get a break any time soon? Thought I could stand you a coffee.’

‘Another one!’

‘What can I say? Caffeine addicted. Not proud. Don’t tell Dana. She’d have me on a detox before you could say–’

‘Who’s here? Who’s here?’ Demelza screeched. ‘Who the bollocking buggery have we here?’

‘All right, Ginger maid?’ Pinky asked. He’d returned without them noticing. Demelza spread her wings and then resettled on his shoulder. ‘This feller bothering you?’

Ginger’s mouth dropped open in dismay. It was unlikely Pinky would recognise Josh other than someone he’d chatted to at the beach clean and even less likely he’d care he’d been talking to a Hollywood film star, but the man loved gossip and news of Josh’s presence would spread round the village like wildfire. Recovering, she said, ‘No, Pinky. This is…’ She tailed off, her face flaming scarlet.

Ginger watched in astonishment as Josh’s shoulders stooped a little, narrowing in a curiously defeated posture. His jaw tucked into his neck, disguising the strong muscles and creating an instant double chin. He seemed to be simultaneously shrinking and ageing, was turning into another person before her eyes. Gone was the starry actor basking in praise for his performance in Chekhov. Instead, a very ordinary person stood before her. Someone you wouldn’t look at twice.

‘Jim,’ he said in a strong Welsh accent. Josh stretched out a hand and shook Pinky’s. ‘I’m an old friend, staying for a few days, see.’

Pinky took it. ‘Welsh then, are you?’