Christmas at Lilac Cottage - Holly Martin Page 0,13

and Nanny put the eyes and nose and mouth on. I decorated some myself but Nanny said that we could eat those rather than putting them in the shop for people to buy.’

Penny signed back. ‘I want to see the ones that you made, I bet they’re beautiful.’

Tilly grinned and turned and ran into the back of the shop, no doubt to retrieve her artfully made biscuits.

Linda smiled warmly at Penny. ‘You’re so good with her, when are you going to have children of your own? You would make such a wonderful mum.’

Penny felt the familiar pain in her chest at the thought of having her own family and even Maggie gave her a sympathetic smile as she wolfed down the last of her biscuit.

‘All the girls in your year at school have kids now,’ Linda said. ‘In fact, you’re the only one over the age of twenty-five not to have any children—’

‘That’s not true,’ Maggie interrupted. ‘Jade was in our class, she doesn’t have any children, neither do Beth or Chelsea or any of the Blonde Bimbo Brigade.’

‘And we all give thanks for that. What kind of mums would they make, going out and getting drunk and ending up in a different man’s bed every night? But Penny here would make a fantastic mum.’ Linda turned her attention back on Penny. ‘How old are you now, twenty-nine, thirty? You don’t want to leave it too late. Your biological clock is ticking. You don’t even need a man these days, you can be artificially inseminated. You surely don’t want to be alone for the rest of your life?’

Penny stared at her in horror. This wasn’t the first time the people in the town had thought it was their business to talk about Penny’s lack of children but it was the first time it had been put so bluntly. To her embarrassment, she knew Henry was listening to every word too.

‘I don’t really want children,’ Penny said, quietly, even though it was a lie.

Linda stared at her as if she was some kind of monster. ‘Why wouldn’t you want children?’

‘Excuse me.’ Henry suddenly loomed over them all. ‘Can I buy some cakes? I’m in a bit of a rush so…’

‘Of course, sorry to keep you waiting.’ Linda quickly moved back behind the counter and Henry flashed Penny a look of concern before he turned away.

He had stepped in to save her.

Tilly came running over to Penny carrying a plate of misshapen biscuits. Tilly’s snowmen either looked drunk or as if they were based on Picasso paintings, with wonky eyes and manic grins.

‘They’re beautiful, I love them,’ Penny signed and Tilly grinned, handing her one to eat. ‘Oh no, I couldn’t, these are yours.’

But Tilly insisted and Penny took a big bite. ‘Delicious.’

Tilly skipped off behind the counter again, taking her creations with her.

Maggie leaned over the table. ‘Ignore the nosy old bat. Having children is no fun, they poo and cry all the time, you never get any sleep, you spend your whole life driving them around as they have far more of a social life than you, every penny you earn gets spent on them. You really are better off without them.’

‘And this is your third child?’ Penny laughed.

Maggie’s face lit up as she smiled adoringly at her belly. ‘I know, I never seem to learn my lesson.’

Penny stood up. ‘I better go, I have a carving to finish before tonight.’ She placed a kiss on Maggie’s cheek. ‘I’ll see you later.’

Maggie waved at her as she was eyeing some of the other cakes that were on sale behind the glass counter.

Penny reached the door the same time as Henry did and he opened it for her and let her go out ahead of him, hoisting Bea up onto his hip as he followed her out.

He walked up the street with her, but he didn’t say anything.

‘Thanks for, erm…’ Penny gestured vaguely back towards the bakery.

‘No problem. Is everyone in the town as rude as that?’

‘She wasn’t being rude, it’s just people don’t really mind their own business around here.’

‘I don’t like the sound of that. Where I come from, no one pokes their nose into what anyone else does with their life.’

‘People care, they look out for each other. It might come across as nosy but it comes from people genuinely wanting the best for everyone. I like to pretend that I don’t want my own children or family but in reality I do and the people of the