Book Four: Thirty Days, Book 4 Read online

  “Argh,” I snort. “Mum is on the hunt for a new venue and I spent hours trying on dress after dress but couldn’t find anything that didn’t make me look like a complete heffalump. I’m feeling just so fed up at the moment.”

  “It’s going to be fine, Abs. You know your mum. I bet she will have some fantastic venue sorted by the end of the day and, as for your dress, why not go back to that place in Kensington where you got your cute little wrap dresses? You never know, they might do fancier stuff. You probably didn’t notice when you went in last time because you were more focused on getting casual stuff.”

  “You are a genius, Chelle. I hadn’t even thought of that. Seriously, never mind a sieve, my brain is a bloody colander these days.” Strangely enough, Michelle’s suggestion has really perked me up and I promise her that I will take a look.

  Michelle glances back at her phone and moans that she needs to be off. She promises me that she will give me a call later and gives me a quick hug before rushing out the door with her takeaway cappuccino in hand.

  I’m not anticipating that anyone will be particularly awake yet so I take my time finishing my coffee while looking up the boutique on my phone and scrolling through images of gorgeous dresses. My heart begins to race when I spot a floor-length evening dress in emerald silk. I can’t really see it properly on the phone’s small screen but from what I can make out there would be plenty of fabric to drape over my bump and a structured bodice that looks like it could definitely handle my boobs. Feeling like I might have finally found ‘the one’, I save the picture to show my mum and check when the store will be open.

  With a sense of accomplishment, I head back to the apartment only to discover that, in fact, everyone is already up and about. My mother is talking excitedly into the phone as I walk into the living room, “Thanks, Heather. We’ll be there within the hour to come and have a look.”

  I look at her quizzically as I make my way across to the fridge to pull out a bottle of chilled water. “So, I think we might have a venue,” Mum says looking all flushed. “It’s a bit grander than we were looking for but I think it will definitely do the job. Plus, as it’s a last minute booking, it will be well within in our budget.”

  “Okay?” I query, waiting for her to fill me in on the details. We are interrupted as Stix wanders into the room dressed her pyjamas. Mum asks her if she wants to come with to see the new venue but she just shakes her head and says she just wants to chill.

  “Right, let’s crack on,” my mother says with purpose.

  “So, are you going to tell me more?” I ask as curiosity fills me.

  “I think I will leave the location a surprise,” Mum says giving me a wink as we get into the lift to take us down to the car park. “Until we get there that is. But I will tell you this, the only reason the venue is available on the day is because a bride has just cancelled her wedding at the last minute. Found her fiancée in bed with her maid of honour.” We exchange identical grimaces at the thought. Jeez, how cliché!

  No matter how much I wheedle, Mum refuses to give up the location so instead I tell her about the dress that I’ve found. She suggests heading across to the store once we are done at the venue and I agree. If this is ‘the one’, then I definitely want to get my hands on it sooner rather than later.

  It is only a little while later when Mum is pulling her sporty little car into the entrance of the Grosvenor House Hotel that I finally get what she meant by being a little bit grander than we were planning. “Muuummm,” I whine. “This is going to be too much. Seriously, I know I said that I wanted to something special for Taylor’s party but I think this is a bit over the top.”

  “I know, Abby. But at this rate we don’t have much choice. It’s June so we are in prime wedding season and venues that take five hundred plus guests have been booked for months. My contacts can’t find anything else available so it’s pretty much this or a tent on the beach.” Mum gives me a look and I know better than to argue so for now I tell myself to just go with the flow.

  An hour later I am walking out of the hotel with a broad smile on my face and my mother is typing away furiously on her phone as she makes a to-do list a mile long. I have decided Mum’s friend, Heather, is an angel. Not only will Taylor be celebrating his birthday in a freakin’ ballroom, but we have also been able to hire the decorations and this totally cool band from the abandoned wedding so it really is a win-win situation all round. We’ve had to tweak the catering from a buffet to a sit-down meal but that was no big deal; I am just so relieved that we have managed to sort things out.

  .........................

  “It’s so pretty,” Stix exclaims as she fingers the soft material of the dress. I let out a contented sigh and agree with her.

  When Mum and I had entered the store, the dress I had been contemplating had caught my eye straight away. The moment I had walked out from the changing room and seen my mum’s face, I had felt transformed from frumpy to a fairy tale. I hadn’t even bothered to try anything else on knowing that this was the dress for me. Mum suggested teaming it with a pair of sparkly gladiator sandals that she had seen online so that I could still be comfy and glamorous at the same time.

  I hear the ping of the lift and quickly zip the garment bag shut and shove it into the back of the wardrobe as I don’t want to give the game away. While Taylor knows there is going to be a party, he doesn’t know the details and I have deliberately kept him in the dark about who will be coming–pretty much everyone he knows–and what kind of do it will be. I think he probably thinks it’s going to be family and a few friends having a bit of a do in a nice restaurant. Oh boy, I can’t wait until he finds out he wrong he was.

  Taylor comes wandering into the living room just as Stix and I exit the bedroom. “How are my favourite girls?” he asks us and we just grin at him which makes him laugh. “Up to no good?” he asks and I just give him a cheeky wink in response.

  “Where’s your mum?” Taylor asks me.

  “Dad got home today so she headed back down to Brighton as they have dinner plans.

  “Cool,” Taylor responds. We chat briefly about his day while I begin to make dinner. It’s nothing fancy, just spaghetti bolognese, but after my busy day I feel like I need some comfort food.

  It’s only when we are sat down eating that Taylor mentions Michelle’s engagement. I hadn’t said anything about it as I had completely forgotten to ask her if she would be telling people but it must be okay if the people she works with know.

  Stix squeals with a delight and starts asking me questions. As I begin to explain how Marc proposed, I see her eyes go glossy as she ums and ahhs over the romantic bits. By the end, I am sure Stix is having an imaginary wedding in her head while Taylor is grumbling about how the hell to compete with that. I laugh and remind him that he doesn’t, that I’ve already married him, which cheers him up somewhat.

  The rest of the evening is spent chilling out on the sofa and watching movies until none of us can stay awake and I decide it is time for bed. It’s only nine-thirty.

  The Thirteenth

  Why is that whenever things seem to be falling into place, something comes along to disrupt the status quo? I had woken up this morning full of positivity yet nothing seems to have gone to plan. First the delivery that I had scheduled didn’t turn up. Then one of the ovens broke so that Andreas could only finish half of the morning’s bread bakes by the time we opened which lead to a lot of grumbling from the regulars. The engineer could only come out in the afternoon so who knows if it will be fixed for tomorrow? And to top it off poor Alison called in sick with food poisoning after a night out with her friends at a new sushi place that just opened up. I imagine they won’t be returning anytime soon.

  Thankfully Stix has been a star and has been helping the team out while I’ve been on the phone yelling at my supplier because this is not the first time this has happened either. I’ve just got off the phone when Taylor walks into my office.

  “Bloody hell, Abs! Who�
�s made you so mad?” Taylor asks looking at me like he’s scared I’m going to yell at him.

  “Just a supplier. I think I’m going to see about finding someone more reliable. This is just ridiculous!” I growl.

  “Calm down, Abs,” Taylors says in a soothing tone that only serves to irritate me further.

  “I can’t calm down, Taylor. This day is just going to shit and I need to get things sorted out pronto.” I glare at Taylor; rationally I know none of this is his fault but he is just in the firing line for my bad temper.

  “Right, what can I do then to help?” Taylor says patiently.

  “Find me a supplier that can deliver strong bread flour in the next few hours?” I suggest, not sure Taylor will have any more luck than me.

  Just then my phone rings and when I pick it up its Bea telling me that an inspector from the Council is here to do a health and safety inspection. Apparently there was a letter but this is all news to me. “Oh jeez,” I say down the phone softly. “Well, there nothing we can do. Just show him around and let him get on with it. It’s the worst possible day he could be here but we’ll just have to see what he says. Fingers crossed everything is okay.” Bea assures me everything will be fine but now I have another thing added to my list to stress about.

  I pick up the phone and place a call to the engineer asking if he could postpone his visit until after we shut this evening in light of the inspector being here. He finally agrees after I’ve promised him overtime and plenty of cake.

  As I come off the phone, Taylor is grinning at me. “What are you looking so smug about?” I ask not liking the fact that he seems so at ease when I’m feeling ready to punch something.

  “Well, you will have fifty kilos of strong bread flour delivered in, ooh, about an hour and thirty minutes,” Taylor responds smugly.

  “Wh..what?” I stammer wondering who the hell he has strong-armed as everyone I’ve rung has been less than helpful.

  “I remembered Kevin from work mentioning a while ago that there was a local mill down this way that specialised in artisan flours. They were too small for us to use and, to be honest, it kind of just slipped my mind. But when you just said you were having issues it popped back in my head so I rang Kevin and got the details.”

  “Okay, thanks,” I say efficiently as I pull out a pen. “Right, so can I have the number so I can give them a call?”

  “Already done, Abs. As I said, fifty kilos will be arriving in a while. I spoke to a guy who owns the mill, James, and he said he had heard about the bakery and had been thinking about contacting you as they do all sorts of different flour mixes and stuff so I suggested that he bring the delivery himself so that he can talk to you and Andreas direct.” I know Taylor is trying to be helpful but meeting with a supplier, today of all days, is not exactly high on my priorities.

  I let out a sigh of frustration. “Thanks, Tay,” I say. “Right, I just have to go down and deal with the impromptu healthy and safety inspection happening as we speak.”

  “What?” Taylor asks looking surprised. “I didn’t realise you had that today.”

  “Neither did I,” I say. “Bea just called up while you were on the phone.”

  “Okay, so a visit from a supplier wasn’t exactly what you needed on top of everything else?” Taylor says suddenly looking grim.

  “It’s okay, Taylor. You didn’t know. It’s just going to be a very long day,” I respond with a sigh.

  I head down the stairs and through the back entrance into Bread bumping into the inspector as he emerges from the kitchen.

  “Ah, Mrs Hudson,” he says as he shakes my hand firmly. “You run a very good establishment here.”

  “Uh, thank you, Mr…?” I respond feeling slightly surprised. The way this day was going, I was preparing for the worst.

  “Griffen,” the inspector supplies kindly.

  “Are you finished already, Mr Griffen?” I ask hopefully. Surely such a quick visit can only be a good thing?

  “Yes, as I was telling your colleagues here,” he says indicating to Bea and Andreas, “It’s really just a formality. As far as I can see you have all the correct procedures in place, your hygiene standards are up to scratch and your stock rotation is fine. I have a couple of suggestions which I will put in writing but it’s nothing serious. Overall, I am very happy with what I’ve seen today.”

  “Well, thanks, Mr Griffen,” I say feeling enormously relieved. It’s clear I’m not the only one by the looks on both Bea and Andreas’ faces.

  “I’ll be off then,” Mr Griffen responds walking back through to the bakery and we all let out a collective sigh of relief. We are normally really strict on all the health and safety stuff so I wouldn’t generally worry, but when you have a day like today, you can’t help but wonder what else is going to go wrong.

  I tell Andreas about delaying the engineer until this evening along with the new supplier’s delivery and visit and I can sense he’s intrigued. Clearly he wasn’t aware of the local mill either. “Lot’s to do then this afternoon then,” he says with a smile before disappearing back into the kitchen. Bea promises to give me a call when the flour arrives so I head back upstairs to apologise to my husband for being such a grumpy cow.

  .........................

  I’m soaking in the bath in a cloud of lavender essence when there is a gentle tap on the door. I call out that it’s me so Taylor wanders in and plops himself down beside me. When I had returned upstairs earlier, Taylor had been gone leaving me a note to tell me that he was going to see his mother and then pop in to check on Genevieve. He was late getting back after agreeing to stay for dinner.

  “How are you doing, Abs?” Taylor says looking down at me with concern. I know what he’s seeing; a pale face with dark shadows under my eyes.

  “Just tired. I’ve been pounding dough for the last couple of hours to give Andreas a hand in doing the batches. We are still down an oven as the engineer is having to order the part in so my shoulders are killing me.” I sound grumpy but I’m not really, just exhausted.

  Taylor shifts and comes to kneel behind my head–thank heavens for a free-standing bath–and begins to rub my shoulders. I close my eyes and enjoy the sensations as he begins to work the kinks out of my shoulders. When he asks how my meeting went, I tell him about how Andreas and James just clicked with their shared passion. I go on to explain to him about how we are going to do a three-month trial to make sure that they can deliver on the standard flours consistently as well as trialling some of their more interesting, artisan blends.

  “How’s your mother?” I ask once I have finished telling Taylor all about the rest of my day.

  “Not so great,” Taylor admits. “David said they have been playing around with her meds the last couple of days so she was pretty out of it. At one point, she kept asking me when my father was going to come and visit her.”

  “Oh no,” I murmur as a wave of sympathy washes over me.

  “David says it's just going to take time. I trust him but it’s just so hard, especially when Stix wants to go back and see her.”

  “Probably not a good idea,” I remark thinking that Stix really shouldn’t be exposed to that.

  “Nope,” Taylor says wearily. “Where is my baby sister?”

  “She, Chris and some friends went bowling and were then going to catch a late film. They promised to be back by eleven-thirty.”

  Taylor continues to massage my shoulders before moving up my neck and massaging my scalp until I’m pretty much falling asleep in the warm water. The next thing I know is Taylor gently shaking me awake so that he can help me out of the bath. In my dozy state, I allow him to pat me dry before leading me over to the bed where I fall into a deep sleep before Taylor has even pulled the covers over me.

  The Fourteenth

  The hairs on the back of my neck prickle in a way that they haven’t since that fateful night with Hannah. I look around me but all I see is what I should; a café and bakery full of smiling, happy patrons. Again the
re is the sense of being watched, something I just can’t shake off even as I tell myself sternly to pull myself together.

  I ask Trina, the girl serving at the bakery counter for a couple of the sun-dried tomato focaccia rolls as I know they are my mum’s favourite and she said she would be dropping by today to go over a few of the details for Taylor’s party. She gives me a wide smile and asks how I’m getting on and we chat for a couple more minutes about how she is enjoying the job since she started a few weeks ago. Yet even as I stand there, I can’t shake the feeling that someone is scrutinising my every move.

  Turning around I scan the crowd once again and then something catches my eye, a movement that I don’t quite understand until Adam appears out of nowhere and plucks a pale man out of his seat with a growl. I didn’t even realise that Adam was part of my security detail today which is a testament to how well he is able to do his job.

  A moment later someone else materialises and between them they quickly escort the man through to the corridor that runs past the kitchen and out to the back. I follow the group of men quickly, determined to get to the bottom of whatever is going on. When I emerge from the door, I find Adam efficiently patting the man down while the other holds him pinned to the wall.

  “What on earth?” I ask shocked at the scene unfolding in front of me.

  “Just give us a moment, Abby,” Adam says.

  “Adam, what’s going on?” I ask once again.

  “Abby, please. Just leave and I will come and explain in a moment,” Adam requests politely.

  “I’m not going anywhere, Adam, until you tell me what the hell is going on. Why on earth have you dragged one of my customers out here and proceeded to search him?”

  “Got it!” Adam’s companion says triumphantly. I vaguely recognise the man and scroll through my mental rolodex for his name. It’s just on the tip of my tongue as I curse my damn baby-brain and then suddenly it strikes me, “Kieran!”