nodded he looked relieved as well as torn between taking her to one side and telling her what he probably should have shared when they first began to get close and honouring his business commitment. But she knew there was no contest. He had to get back to it and make the Little Waffle Shack the success he’d hoped for, the success she hoped for too. Because no matter the truth, she couldn’t rid herself of the dream that he was sticking around for good.
With Daniel back inside the shack and Tilly appearing again like an on-stage extra who came and went as required, Lucy assured her she was going to listen to Daniel’s story and when she finally let up, they mingled with the crowds, mostly locals but some also who’d come from the neighbouring villages, thrilled that at last they could get proper waffles without having to go to a bigger city. One woman even declared they were as good as the waffles she’d tasted in Europe, and her sister confided in Lucy and Tilly that she’d made her try enough of them that she’d almost not come tonight for fear she’d be as sick of them as she was after that trip. Luckily for Daniel tonight hadn’t had the same effect, as both women declared they’d be back.
Families drifted off home as the evening stretched on and on, crowds thinned, and Lucy had begun to get cold as she hung around waiting to talk to Daniel. She wondered, should she wait inside now tables were becoming free? But she didn’t want to look too desperate and he could be hours yet. She supposed she could go and tell him to come to her place when he was done, although she’d rather they talked here as she got the feeling the comfort of his own surroundings might well help him to open up and be totally honest with her. And she really needed him to do that.
‘I’m beat,’ Tilly declared, reading Lucy’s mind. ‘And I can’t feel my feet. These are my loveable boots – the leather is soft and they’re so comfy, but they don’t cut it when I’m standing so long and the ground is so cold.’
‘Tilly, is this your way of telling me you’re going?’
‘Yeah, goodnight, Lucy,’ she grinned. ‘I’ve got a delivery at the shop coming at 6 a.m. so if I don’t fall into bed soon I’ll be letting them in while wearing my pyjamas.’
‘No worries, I won’t be much longer either. I’m cold too and I’m convinced everyone else here must have had the foresight to wear thermals.’
Tilly enveloped her in a hug. ‘I’ll try not to think too much about that one, thermals don’t really do it for me.’
‘Goodnight, Tilly.’
‘Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,’ she winked as she walked away.
Lucy went over to the shack but couldn’t get up the steps because there was some kind of altercation at the bottom with a police woman and a girl in a red coat. Lucy waited for them to move on but whatever they were discussing had crowds looking their way and when the girl’s profile showed up as the officer moved to one side, Lucy recognised her as the dark-haired girl she’d seen hanging around in The Street almost a week ago. Pretty, with a blunt-cut fringe, she was even more striking in a red wool coat, her baby bump safely tucked away from the winter’s night. But she didn’t look as though she was having nearly as much of a good time as anyone else at the waffle shack. In one hand she had a wallet and the police woman took it from her before handing it to someone else.
Lucy squeezed past a couple of people to see what the trouble was about and heard the girl insist she was handing the wallet in at the shack after finding it on the ground. ‘I promise you, I was,’ she told the officer. ‘Why is it so hard to believe? Why automatically accuse me of lying?’
Oh dear, perhaps she was protesting too much.
The girl looked at the man who’d been handed the wallet. ‘I honestly found it on the ground. I’m not a thief, I’m here visiting, that’s all.’
‘And so are pickpockets,’ answered the police woman, who was having none of it. ‘We’ve had two other complaints already tonight, that’s why I’m here to look around. Would you mind turning out your pockets, please?’
‘You cannot be serious,’ the girl answered, hands