of tint to it, the one that usually heralded snow, but none was forecast.
‘I’ll see you later,’ I told Nell, who I couldn’t take with me, for obvious reasons. ‘I’ll come back at lunchtime.’
She huffed in response and I tried not to feel guilty as I locked up and then gasped in surprise as I turned from the door to find Chloe on the path.
‘Crikey, you gave me a fright,’ I scolded. ‘What are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to be paddling in the icy North Sea today?’
‘I was,’ she shrugged, ‘but there’s been a change of plan. Hannah’s been asked to work an extra shift and the weather’s not all that great anyway, so I’ve asked Carole if she has room for a little one.’
‘And does she?’
‘Yes,’ Chloe grinned, linking her arm through mine. ‘So, you’re going to have to help me out, because I could burn a cup of tea!’
I had been looking forward to the day already, but having Chloe there would make it really fun.
‘You know Finn’s coming too, don’t you?’ I said.
‘No,’ she giggled, ‘I didn’t. My goodness, I wonder what he’ll look like in an apron?’
Pretty damn good, we soon discovered when we arrived at Prosperous Place and found him in the kitchen, acting as Carole’s competent sous chef. Chloe looked at me and raised her eyebrows.
‘That hair though,’ she murmured dreamily, and I felt pleased that she and Hannah had got together because had they not, then her rapt expression would have awoken my green-eyed emotions again. ‘Tied back like that,’ she carried on, ‘you can really appreciate his bone structure, can’t you?’
‘All right,’ I told her. ‘That’ll do. It’s going to get hot enough in here as it is, without you cranking up the temperature before we’ve even started.’
Had I filled her in on how soft yet firm Finn’s lips felt at close quarters and how the tips of his fingers could elicit enough electricity to light every Christmas tree in Norwich, she would have swooned on the spot. Fortunately, I’d kept that knowledge to myself, so we weren’t in trouble on that front, but her observations about him had warmed me up a bit.
We went to stand behind our places at the table – which were helpfully named – and waited for everyone else to arrive. Like yesterday, there were ten spots in total, but unlike yesterday everyone who filed in looked pretty serious. With the exception of one older gentleman, it was all women, including Sara from the day before, who gave me a little wave.
‘Crikey,’ Chloe whispered, ‘this lot look at bit competitive, don’t they?’
‘Right,’ said Carole, making me stand up a little straighter as I began to wonder what I’d let myself in for, ‘welcome, everyone. We might be a week late for stir-up Sunday, but I can promise you that by the end of today, you’ll all have a wonderful cake to take home and ice as well as a delicious pudding to celebrate the season with.’
A loud sniff from one woman drew my attention and I felt Carole bristle in response.
‘Who do you reckon the woman with the too heavily sprayed hair is?’ Chloe hissed as we took our turn at the sink to wash our hands.
‘I can tell you who she is,’ said Finn, who had crept up behind us.
Perhaps he wasn’t a god after all, rather one of Tolkien’s light-footed elves. I focused on my hand hygiene while my sense of smell was again hijacked by his aromatic and arousing aftershave.
‘Who?’ demanded Chloe.
‘That’s Daphne Pemberton,’ he said, bending low so his breath almost tickled my ear.
He wasn’t the only one who had had to tie their hair up and my ears and neck felt exposed and not at all prepared for the gentle caress of his hushed tones.
‘She’s Carole’s baking nemesis at the local Women’s Institute. From what I can make out, there’s a far from friendly rivalry between them.’
‘Oh goodie,’ beamed Chloe. ‘This’ll be fun.’
Had it been anyone else, I would have felt sorry for them, but I knew that Carole’s recipes, techniques and end results were top-notch, so she had nothing to worry about and I didn’t feel at all guilty as I eagerly agreed with Chloe’s summation of the situation.
‘Come on, you three,’ Carole’s voice now rang out. ‘We’ve lots to do and a schedule to stick to.’
Chastened, we hurried back to our spaces and began the wonderful alchemy of turning ingredients into food heaven.