Hope Blooms in Tuppenny Bridge (Tuppenny Bridge #5)

Chapter 12

TWELVE

Kat’s baby shower took place on the first Saturday of September in the flat above The White Hart Inn. Sally had offered to host it for her best friend, since Tommy and Hattie would be asleep in Forge Cottage, Kat and Jonah’s home, and their parents were worried the noise would disturb them. Plus, it meant Kat didn’t have to turf Jonah out of the house, whereas Rafferty was already working behind the bar and safely out of the way.

Daisy had dithered about accepting her invitation, but Bethany had persuaded her to attend.

‘The chances of Isobel being there are practically zero. You know that. Why miss out? Besides, if you ask me, you need some fun in your life. You might be in love, but you’d never know it from your face.’

‘I never said I was in love,’ Daisy said.

Bethany raised an eyebrow. ‘You didn’t have to,’ she replied.

Daisy couldn’t deny her feelings for Noah had deepened over the last couple of weeks, even though they’d only spent two days together in that time. Isobel had gone back to work for the last week in August, and Daisy had swapped Tess’s Wednesday shift to the Tuesday, enabling her to take the Tuesday off and head out into the Dales with Noah.

They’d hiked and talked and eaten lunch in a village café, but they hadn’t kissed, or even discussed Isobel. It was as if what had happened between them had been a dream, and Daisy was beginning to wonder if it had been, until she glanced up from picking at her lunch and caught him looking at her. The expression in his eyes melted her heart and she’d smiled back at him. They hadn’t said anything, but they hadn’t needed to. They knew.

Then, on Thursday evening they’d taken a bit of a risk. Isobel had gone straight from work to see her granny in Harrogate. It was pouring down with rain, so Noah had finally braved the flat above Cutting it Fine.

By then, all the shops were closed, and the market square was deserted. Even so, they were both nervous, and Daisy couldn’t let him in fast enough, so anxious was she that he wasn’t seen.

She couldn’t help feeling self-conscious as she showed him round the small flat, knowing he and Isobel shared Peony Cottage. Their home looked stunning from the outside. It overlooked the village green and had a beautiful front garden full of gorgeous flowers. It stood out from the nearby buildings as it was rendered and painted white, and with its mullioned windows, gabled roof, and pretty pastel blue paintwork it reminded her of the houses she’d read about in her Enid Blyton books when she was little.

Noah, though, hadn’t seemed to notice how cramped the little flat above the hairdresser’s was. After his initial nervousness about being there at all, he’d relaxed quickly, and had seemed very much at home.

Nothing had happened between them. They’d eaten home cooked shepherd’s pie, watched a film on television, and talked—mostly about the work Noah had to do before term restarted, and how things were going in the café. He didn’t say a word about Isobel, and she was glad of it.

Yesterday he’d sent her a text message:

Hey you! Isobel has arranged to visit her mother next week. She’ll be going straight from work next Saturday night. Weather forecast for the Sunday is good. How do you feel about tackling the Kirkby Skimmer to High Denton walk? It’s a toughie but I’m up for a challenge. How about you? x

She’d barely taken in his words at first, so fixated on that single kiss and wondering what it meant. Then she realised he was challenging her to one of the toughest hikes in Upper Skimmerdale and grinned to herself. Oh, she was up for it all right.

Challenge accepted but be prepared for defeat! You bring the tea and sandwiches and I’ll bring the sausage rolls and cake. Deal? See you then. x

Noah had gone back to work on the Tuesday and had been too busy with the first week of term to visit the café for lunch, and Daisy was shocked at how much she missed him. She had to agree with Bethany that it would be better for her to mix with her friends at Kat’s baby shower than to sit at home alone all evening, thinking about Noah and wondering what he was doing. Apart from anything else, she didn’t want to be that person. She’d started to build a life for herself here, and she didn’t want to throw that away, no matter how much Noah meant to her.

They arrived at The White Hart Inn at seven o’clock, to find Jennifer, Ava, and Bluebell already there, along with Eugenie Lavender and the Pennyfeather sisters.

Kat, who was positively glowing and had never looked lovelier according to Sally, gave them an apologetic look as she ushered them into the kitchen to get them drinks.

‘Sorry,’ she whispered. ‘I know the Lavender Ladies aren’t everyone’s cup of tea, but Rita and Birdie are my great aunts, and they’d be so hurt if I didn’t invite them. And where they go, Eugenie goes, so…’

‘Honestly,’ Bethany assured her, ‘it doesn’t bother me. They’ve all been really kind to me ever since I arrived in this town. Besides, it’s your baby shower. You don’t have to apologise.’

‘Aw, thanks.’ Kat poured them both wine. ‘I just don’t want everyone to think they have to watch what they say. We all know what gossips the Ladies are, but I’ve warned Rita and Birdie that what’s said in here tonight stays in here. I know what happens when some of the people here have a few glasses of wine. Mentioning no names—but Bluebell and Dolly.’ She laughed. ‘Here, enjoy. I, meanwhile, will be on soft drinks for the foreseeable. Good job I like this elderflower cordial, right?’

‘Bloody hell, the Wyrd Sisters are here again then!’ Dolly burst into the kitchen, her voice trailing off as she saw Kat standing there. ‘Oops, me and my big gob. Sorry, love. I didn’t mean anything by it. You know I think the world of them really, don’t you?’

Kat grinned. ‘I’ll believe you. Thousands wouldn’t. Help yourself to a drink, Dolly. I’ve got plenty of soft drinks for me and Clemmie. I know she doesn’t like alcohol.’

‘I know! You’d never think she was related to me, would you?’ Dolly shook her head and grabbed a glass. ‘Ooh, I see Rafferty’s been doing the catering again,’ she said, glancing at the table where all sorts of delicious snacks were on display. ‘Love his vol au vents. I’d marry him myself just for those, and that’s me who’d rather have me eyes poked out with a sharp stick than get married.’

Sally gave her a mock indignant look. ‘Hands off, madam. He’s taken.’

Clemmie and Summer wandered into the kitchen. ‘Isobel’s here,’ whispered Summer. ‘How awkward.’

The blood seemed to drain from Daisy’s face, and she put down her glass of wine, suddenly feeling sick. Bethany gave her a sympathetic look and took charge.

‘So what? Why should you feel awkward?’ She didn’t wait for an answer which came as a relief to Daisy, who didn’t want to hear anyone’s opinions on the state of Noah’s marriage. ‘Hey, have you seen all this fabulous food that Rafferty’s prepared? I can’t wait to tuck in.’

‘Me neither,’ Clemmie said, smiling. ‘I haven’t eaten my tea so I’m ready for this.’

‘I didn’t think she’d come,’ Summer said, stubbornly refusing to acknowledge the change of subject. ‘She so rarely does, does she? And I wouldn’t have thought a baby shower would be her thing. Although, come to think of it, she was at Kat’s other one when she was expecting Hattie.’

‘I invited her,’ Kat explained quietly. ‘In fact, your mum and I badgered her until she agreed, didn’t we, Sal? It’s not good for her to be isolated from other women. She needs to realise we’re not the enemy—that way if she needs to offload to anyone she can.’

Bethany and Daisy exchanged glances. Daisy bit her lip, so tempted to tell Kat and Sally how very wrong they were in their assumptions. But how could she? For one thing, she had no proof, and for another the last thing she wanted to do was draw anyone’s attention to her feelings for Noah. Oh heck, this was going to be a long and fraught evening.

People drifted in and out of the kitchen, helping themselves to food and drink and exchanging news with their friends and neighbours.

Miss Lavender eyed Daisy keenly as she finally sat down on the sofa, plate of food in hand.

‘Well, Daisy, how are you settling in at Tuppenny Bridge?’ she asked politely.

Daisy was chewing a sausage roll so couldn’t answer, but Bluebell called across, ‘She’s settling in smashing, aren’t you, love? That café’s doing right well from what I’ve seen. Might have to put the rent on the flat up.’ She burst out laughing as Daisy shot her an alarmed look. ‘Only joking, don’t worry!’

‘You like the flat above the hairdresser’s, Daisy?’ Miss Lavender asked politely.

Daisy swallowed the sausage roll and nodded. ‘I really do. It’s the first place of my own I’ve ever had, and I love it there. And of course, it’s really handy for work. I couldn’t get any closer, could I?’

‘Indeed not,’ Miss Lavender said, her faded blue eyes narrowing. ‘I should imagine the flat’s very convenient for lots of things.’

Daisy had been about to take a sip of wine, but she paused, the glass halfway to her lips. Her face began to heat up as she thought for one awful moment that Noah had been spotted going into her flat, but then Miss Lavender said airily, ‘Not least the fish and chip shop. I can think of two people who wished they lived closer to Millican’s.’ She turned her gaze on Rita and Birdie. ‘Can’t I?’

The Pennyfeathers grinned and nodded. ‘I do love a battered sausage,’ Rita said innocently.

‘Have you seen the cake Daisy’s made for me?’ Kat asked, having just entered the living room and clearly catching her great aunt’s remark. She gave Rita a knowing look. ‘I hope you two are behaving.’

‘Naturally!’ Rita clutched her chest dramatically. ‘There might be some naughty buggers in this room but me and Birdie are good as gold, aren’t we, Birdie?’

‘And in answer to your question,’ Birdie said in a dignified tone, while cleverly avoiding her sister’s question, ‘yes, we have seen the cake. Is it one of them gender reveal cakes again? Like you had for Hattie?’

‘It is.’ Kat beamed at them.

All eyes turned to Daisy. ‘So, you know what gender the baby is?’ Birdie asked eagerly.

Before Daisy could answer Kat said firmly, ‘Yes, she does, and no she’s not going to tell you. She promised!’

‘And I’m quite sure we can trust Daisy,’ Miss Lavender said. ‘She’s just not the deceitful sort, is she?’

There it was again. A sort of barbed undertone to her words. Daisy wondered if she was being paranoid. It wouldn’t surprise her. After all, she was a bag of nerves already, what with the guilt and then the shock of Isobel’s appearance at the party.

At least Isobel didn’t look like a downtrodden housewife tonight. In fact, Daisy had to admit, she looked stunning. She couldn’t help but compare herself to Noah’s glamorous wife and find herself wanting.

Evidently, Miss Lavender was thinking along the same lines, as she turned her attention to Isobel and said, smiling sweetly at her, ‘You do look lovely, my dear. That dress really suits you.’

Isobel glanced down at her bubblegum pink dress and shrugged. ‘This old thing? Thank you.’

‘You’re looking well, Isobel,’ Kat said kindly, taking a seat in a comfy armchair, a plate of food resting on her baby bump. ‘You still haven’t told us about Portugal, by the way. We’d love to hear about it.’

‘Oh!’ Isobel waved a hand at her. ‘That’s not important. This is your baby shower and that’s what really matters. I’ve put your gift with the others in Sally’s spare bedroom, by the way. I hope that’s okay.’

‘Ooh!’ Kat beamed at her. ‘You’ve got me a gift?’

‘Well, for the baby really,’ Isobel said. ‘I do hope you like it. You seem to have lots of presents already.’

‘I know! People are so lovely. Do you remember when I was having Hattie? All the presents I got then! I barely needed to buy a thing for her, which was a real blessing because I didn’t have a lot of money to spare at the time. To be honest, we’ve still got most of the stuff we got for her, so it will come in handy for this one.’

‘Did you ever find out who bought you that pram?’ Sally asked, reaching over and nabbing a sandwich from Kat’s plate, receiving an indignant, ‘Oy!’ in exchange.

‘Ah yes, the mysterious pram!’ Ava’s eyes widened. ‘Such an intriguing mystery.’

‘Pram?’ Bethany glanced round at them all. ‘What do you mean? You actually got a pram and you don’t know who it was from?’

‘That’s right.’ Kat shrugged. ‘It was just left on my doorstep with no explanation.’

‘Wow!’ Bluebell puffed out her cheeks. ‘I’d have thought someone would have admitted to buying it by now.’

‘But surely,’ Isobel said, frowning, ‘it was from Hattie’s father?’ She glanced around at everyone. ‘At least, that was what I was given to understand.’

Kat bristled and Daisy couldn’t help but feel a little pleased that Isobel had obviously annoyed her. ‘I don’t know who told you that,’ she said stiffly. ‘People do like to jump to conclusions, don’t they?’

‘It’s a bloody good pram, an’ all,’ Sally said, waving her half-eaten sandwich around. ‘It will do lovely for the new baby. Top of the range. Whoever bought it for you must think a lot of you.’

‘Which makes the puzzle even more intriguing,’ Jennifer said thoughtfully. ‘You’d think whoever it was would want to take credit.’

‘Are you sure it’s not young Hattie’s dad, love?’ Dolly asked, as blunt as ever. ‘He might have decided to do something good for her, even if he isn’t part of her life.’

‘Can we change the subject?’ Kat asked, clearly uncomfortable.

‘Yes,’ Miss Lavender said firmly. ‘Let’s.’

‘Of course,’ Isobel said. ‘I just can’t believe whoever it is hasn’t come forward, that’s all. How peculiar.’

Kat gave a heavy sigh and put her plate on the chair arm. ‘All right,’ she said, looking round at them all. ‘I can see I’m not going to get any peace until I tell you all. If you must know, I don’t know who Hattie’s father is. Okay?’

Daisy noticed the shocked look on Miss Lavender’s face, and the twinkle of amusement in Bluebell’s eyes, while Dolly raised her glass in Kat’s direction.

‘Good for you, love. Play the field. That’s what I’d do if I looked like you. If I could be arsed.’

‘I don’t mean like that,’ Kat said patiently. ‘If you must know, I got pregnant through a clinic, using a sperm donor. That okay with everyone?’

There was a stunned silence as everyone absorbed this information, then Bluebell said, ‘Well, bugger me! That means our Buttercup’s won thirty quid.’

‘I’m sorry?’ Bethany asked, as the rest of the women started to laugh.

‘There was a sweepstake on who the father was,’ Dolly explained. ‘I’m gutted. I had twenty quid on Zach.’

As Ava spluttered her wine Dolly shrugged. ‘Nothing personal, love, but you know what they say about the quiet ones being the worst. Besides, it would have made a great plotline in one of my books. I couldn’t resist.’

‘Zach!’ Bluebell hooted with laughter. ‘As if! I’d put a tenner on it being Ross. I mean, if anyone was the favourite…’ Her face fell as she remembered Clemmie was in the room. ‘I mean, the old Ross,’ she said hastily. ‘Not the loved up, romantic fool he is now he’s back with you, love.’

Clemmie giggled. ‘It’s okay. I know what you mean. Although Ross never deserved his reputation, just for the record. People have completely the wrong idea about him.’

‘Quite right, Clemmie. Ross was always a gentleman,’ Miss Lavender said firmly.

‘Well,’ Isobel said slowly, ‘that did surprise me, I must say. But if the baby’s father didn’t buy the pram, who on earth did?’

‘I reckon it’s something we’ll never know,’ Sally said with a shrug. ‘Whoever they are, they’ve a heart of gold. Now, are we going to cut this cake and find out if you’re having a boy or a girl?’ She gave everyone an indignant look. ‘Can you believe she hasn’t even told me? Her best friend!’

‘Shall I get the cake?’ Summer called from the kitchen doorway.

They all turned enquiring eyes on Kat. ‘Oh, go on then,’ she said, clearly relieved that no one seemed to have taken her admission badly. ‘And can you bring me a knife, too, please?’

Daisy couldn’t help but feel proud as Summer settled the cake on the coffee table and they all leaned forward to look at it. She’d taken a lot of care and attention with this creation, wanting it to do justice to Kat and Jonah’s big news.

‘Oh, it looks lovely, Daisy,’ Jennifer told her.

‘You’ve done a smashing job, love, I’ll give you that,’ Dolly agreed.

Summer handed Kat the knife. ‘Go on then,’ she said. ‘We’re all on tenterhooks here!’

Kat raised an eyebrow. ‘Hmm. And I can guess why.’ She turned to her great aunts. ‘Running another bet, are we?’

Birdie pursed her lips. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

‘It’s all in a good cause,’ Rita added, not in the least embarrassed. ‘The Tuppenny Bridge Fund has done quite well out of you and your shenanigans, Kat.’

‘Charming.’ Kat laughed and plunged the knife into the cake without further ado.

‘Blue!’ Sally shrieked. ‘It’s a boy!’

Daisy couldn’t help but remember Noah’s comments about Miss Lavender’s blue birthday cake and how it had reminded him of mould. Her mouth curved into a smile before she could stop herself.

‘Something amusing you?’

Miss Lavender’s tone was unexpectedly frosty, and Daisy’s smile faltered.

‘No,’ she said carefully. ‘I was just smiling at the good news, that’s all.’

Miss Lavender looked away but not before Daisy saw something in her eyes that alarmed her. If she didn’t know better, she would swear that was a look of disgust. But what had she done to earn the old lady’s contempt? Absolutely nothing. At least, nothing Miss Lavender was aware of.

She felt goosebumps break out on her arms and swallowed down her panic. Unless Miss Lavender had somehow learned about her and Noah. But how? Surely, Noah hadn’t confided in her? But then, she’d confided in Bethany, so maybe…

No. She was being stupid. Overthinking things because she was feeling so guilty. She forced herself to calm down and listened as everyone congratulated Kat and chatted excitedly about baby boy’s names, and how Jonah had reacted to the news, and whether Tommy and Hattie were excited about having a little brother.

Miss Lavender handed her a plate with a slice of cake. ‘There you go, Daisy. And I must say, Jennifer’s quite right. This really does look beautiful. Well done.’

Oh, Daisy, you’re going to have to get a grip! Daisy took the plate and smiled her thanks. Her imagination was running riot again. She’d have to be more careful in the future or she was going to give away her guilt at some point.

Miss Lavender was consulting with the Pennyfeather sisters about who had put money on the baby being a boy, and clearly had no concerns about Daisy and Noah.

As for Isobel… She was picking at her cake but showed no signs of actually eating it. In fact, she seemed miles away. What was she thinking?

It was a problem for another day. Daisy picked up her fork and smiled at Kat. ‘Congratulations, I’m so happy for you. It’s brilliant news!’