Summer at Rachel's Pudding Pantry Read online

  ‘I didn’t want to mention it, not in the lead-up to our wedding. You should be having fun, enjoying all the last-minute plans. But Christ, it’s been feeling like a huge weight …’

  ‘No bloody wonder you’ve been like a bear with a sore head.’

  ‘Yeah, sorry. I guess I wasn’t so good at keeping the emotions under wraps.’

  ‘Tom Watson, if we are getting married, it’s all about supporting each other, being there for each other.’ She took a step closer towards him. He really needed to let her in if they were going to be Team Watson going forward.

  He gave a cautious nod, and then took her into his arms. It felt good to chat, to feel like they were reconnecting. After a few precious moments, Rachel remembered that Mum and Eve were manning the fort at the Pantry. ‘Tom, I’d really better get back over to the barn to help out. It’s busy … and I know Eve had an awful lot on her plate today.’

  ‘Yeah, that’s okay.’ He sounded a little disappointed, but not quite as despondent as before. ‘Shall we catch up this evening? Maybe you could come over and I can cook?’

  ‘Now that sounds perfect.’ Rachel smiled broadly. ‘Ah sorry,’ she said distractedly as her phone started vibrating in her jeans pocket. ‘I’d better just get this …’ Rachel stepped back, fishing the phone from her pocket.

  ‘No worries.’ Tom lingered for a while, seeming reluctant to leave.

  Rachel looked down at her phone. Glancing at the screen she saw the Caller ID; it wasn’t Jill, oh no … it was Jake, Maisy’s mostly missing father. Oh, good lord, talk about timing. She was tempted to let it ring out, but he was Maisy’s dad, after all.

  ‘Jake?’

  She saw Tom frown out of the corner of her eye.

  ‘Hey babe, how’s it going?’

  Babe? Really. It had been many a year since she’d been his babe, and even back then she’d hated the pet name.

  ‘You okay?’ he continued.

  ‘Umm, yes, fine.’ Try to be polite, Rachel, she told herself, for Maisy’s sake.

  ‘And how’s my gorgeous little girl?’

  ‘Yes, she’s fine too. At school, right now.’

  Tom stood watching. Rachel pulled a face, and mouthed, ‘Sorry.’ She wished Jake would get to the bloody point.

  ‘Well, I thought I’d come up and see Maisy.’

  ‘Right, okay …’ But he was coming up for the wedding in three weeks’ time anyway. Shite, she hadn’t yet mentioned that to Tom either. All this was such a mess. ‘So, when were you thinking of coming?’

  ‘Uh, well, today.’

  ‘Today?’ Was she hearing right? Jake lived two hundred miles away.

  ‘Yep, thought I’d take a trip up. See my little princess, you know.’

  Rachel didn’t know. What had happened to arranging things in advance? Letting them know first? Asking if it might be convenient just three weeks before her wedding? Grrrrr.

  She saw Tom turn on his heels and head for the door. She held the phone away and called to him. ‘I’ll see you later, yeah?’

  But Tom didn’t turn around. Damn it. Jake sure knew how to spoil a moment.

  ‘So, where are you?’ she resumed, wondering what on earth was going on with her ex now.

  ‘Here.’

  ‘What do you mean, here?’ She felt a little surge of panic.

  ‘I’m in the village … in Kirkton. I’ve driven up this morning and checked into a B & B for a couple of nights. Needed a bit of a break, to be honest.’

  She really didn’t want to know what was happening in his life at the moment; there was enough going on in her own.

  So, Jake, her irresponsible, wayward, commitment-phobe ex was here, and would no doubt be appearing on her doorstep very soon. Oh Jeez, that was the last thing she needed right now.

  Just as she and Tom took one step forward, life pulled them another three steps back.

  20

  Jake’s little grey van revved up the farm track, pulling to a stop outside the Pantry. Rachel gave a sigh, clearing the plates and cups from the table she was tidying with a bit too much gusto. A teacup went clattering to the floor. It was almost three thirty and she’d be going to collect Maisy from the school bus at any minute. Damn it, Jake would probably have to come too. This would be some surprise for Maisy – she hadn’t even had a chance to warn her little girl yet.

  ‘Hey.’ Jake strolled into the tearooms with a big smile, slicking back his blond hair with his fingertips. His vivid blue eyes were still striking. But Rachel was immune to his boyish charms; she knew they were coupled with some very juvenile behaviour.

  ‘Hello, Jake,’ she said a little coolly.

  ‘Hi, Rach, Jill. Good to see you.’

  ‘Hello there, Jake.’ Jill managed an awkward smile.

  ‘So, where’s my princess?’

  ‘Ah, not quite back from school yet. I was about to walk down and fetch her from the minibus. I suppose you could come too.’

  ‘Brilliant. I’ll surprise her. She’ll love that, won’t she.’

  Rachel hoped so, though she feared it might also prove a bit of a shock. Seeing a father who was mostly missing, out of the blue, could also be a bit overwhelming when you were only six years old.

  ‘I’ll head on down then, Mum. If that’s okay?’

  ‘Yes, get yourselves away. You won’t want to be late.’

  Rachel hung her spotted pinafore on the kitchen hook. ‘Okay, let’s go. It’s just a short walk down to the farm entrance,’ Rachel explained.

  They fell into step alongside each other.

  ‘So come on Jake, spill,’ she hissed. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’ Rachel wanted to get this over with before Maisy joined them. With Jake there was always an ulterior motive, and she needed to know what it was this time.

  ‘Coming to see Maisy, like I said.’ He sounded affronted.

  ‘And …? It’s just so out of the blue, and you’ll have to be back for the wedding in just a few weeks. That’s if you’re not crying wolf and backing out on Maisy.’ Though she didn’t particularly want him there herself, she knew her daughter would be mightily disappointed if he didn’t make it for her starring flower-girl moment.

  ‘I just needed a bit of time out, and seeing Maisy seemed a good way to spend it.’ He did sound strangely genuine. In fact, he was almost deflated, not his usual full-of-bravado self at all.

  ‘Oh, so, how have you been keeping then?’ she asked.

  ‘Ah, just great.’ But it came out a little flat.

  ‘And Chelsea? How is she?’ On their last visit to the farm back in the autumn, the pair of them had been all loved-up. But there had been no mention of her yet.

  ‘Well, that’s a bit tricky just now.’

  Well, that was no surprise. Jake wasn’t good at long-term relationships. ‘You two still together?’

  ‘Guess so. We’ve just had a couple of barneys … and that kid, Kelvin … man, he’s been doing my head in.’ Kelvin was Chelsea’s nine-year-old son from a previous relationship.

  ‘She hasn’t chucked you out, has she?’ The jigsaw seemed to be piecing together.

  ‘Nah, nothing like that. Just needed a bit of time out … you know, sort my head space. Had a couple of days off, thought it’d be an ideal chance to come and catch up with my princess. Enjoy some quality dad– daughter time, you know.’

  ‘Right.’ Rachel could smell a commitment-phobe rat a mile off.

  With that, came the phut-phut of the minibus up the winding lane, just as she and Jake reached the farm’s entrance gate where the school bus dropped off. Eve was already standing there waiting for Amelia and gave Rachel a wide-eyed stare as if to say, ‘What the hell is going on now?’

  ‘Jake decided to have a trip up and visit Maisy,’ Rachel explained, as calmly as she could.

  ‘O-kay. Hi, Jake.’ They knew each other from school days, Eve being in the year above the two of them. And Eve knew Jake from Rachel’s many tears, from the tales of first kisses, the excitement of Ra
chel falling in love, and then being let down over and over … and being left pregnant at only eighteen. Eve had been there for her friend through it all.

  The bus pulled up, with Amelia down the steps first, followed by Maisy – cardigan and dress askew – who jumped off the bus with her usual bounce, then ground to a startled halt.

  ‘Daddy’s come up to see you, for a surprise visit.’ Rachel tried to bring her little girl up to speed.

  Suddenly, Maisy was leaping forward and in her daddy’s arms. It was touching to see, but also – for Rachel – tinged with a bitterness that he wasn’t there more often for her. That he’d never really been there for either of them, in fact.

  ‘So, have you missed your old dad, then?’

  ‘Yes-s.’ Maisy’s voice was brimming with excitement.

  ‘Now then, what shall we do? Your choice. I’ve got this evening and all tomorrow with you.’

  ‘Hmm,’ Maisy was thinking, a little overwhelmed by this unexpected arrival.

  Tomorrow was Saturday, so Maisy and her dad could in fact spend all day together. Rachel wanted to be pleased for her little girl, but her overriding feeling was of apprehension.

  ‘Well, you have a think on it, sweetheart, and then let me know.’ Jake was trying to be accommodating at least.

  Eve glanced over Jake’s shoulder and mouthed ‘Good luck’ to Rachel, followed by a ‘call me’ hand gesture. Rachel, Jake and Maisy were soon walking back up the farm track. Maisy, stuck like glue to her father’s side, had the biggest beam on her face, with one hand in her daddy’s and the other in her mummy’s. For a minute or two, as they strolled, they looked like a happy family, but Rachel knew all too well that it was just a charade.

  ‘So, you’re up for the weekend then, Jake?’ asked Jill, making polite conversation in the farm’s kitchen, once she’d finished at the Pantry.

  ‘Yeah, got a few days off. Been a tad quieter with the building company that I’ve been doing a bit of work for lately, so I thought I’d get up and visit this little sweetheart.’

  ‘Where’s your friend Chelsea, Daddy?’

  Jake gave a small cough, ‘Oh … well, Chelsea’s real busy just now, so she couldn’t make it up this time.’

  ‘Ah, I see,’ Jill responded.

  She and Rachel remembered well his visit with his latest girlfriend, the petite, glamorous and white-trainered Chelsea, a few months back. The chickens had terrified her, the natural farmyard smells disgusted her, so the farm really hadn’t been her ideal place to visit.

  Maisy looked up at her dad with affection. She had ensured he was seated next to her at the kitchen table, where she was playing with her Jessie and Woody Toy Story characters, and her wooden farm. It had been handmade for her by Grandad Robert, soon after she’d been born, for her ‘to grow into’, and she certainly had. It was one of her all-time favourite toys. Jake was trying his best to actively join in, taking Woody off hopping away across the table to go and feed the cattle at one point (as directed by Maisy), whilst Jessie helped a sheep in labour. Rachel couldn’t help but smile at that.

  ‘Can Chelsea come next time, Daddy, to the wedding? To see me in my bridesmaid’s dress? I like Chelsea,’ Maisy piped up.

  ‘Ah, well maybe. We’ll have to see,’ he replied, keeping his answer purposely vague.

  Rachel was pleased at least that he wasn’t making more promises he might not be able to keep.

  ‘You can all come if you like. I’d like to see Kelvin too,’ Maisy was persistent.

  Rachel groaned inwardly. Not more unwanted guests.

  Jake went quiet for a few seconds, rubbing a hand through his sandy-blond hair.

  ‘You are coming, Daddy, aren’t you? You did say so.’ Maisy had folded her arms, a sure sign she was getting tense.

  ‘Yes, yes … I’ll be there, of course. When is it again?’ He turned to Rachel.

  ‘Three weeks tomorrow. The fourth,’ she responded coolly, thinking the leopard hadn’t changed his spots at all, had he.

  ‘Ah yes, no probs, I’ll be back for the big day, no worries, princess. And we’ll just have to see about Chelsea, and uh, Kelvin, okay?’

  ‘O-kay,’ Maisy conceded.

  ‘Would you like to join us for supper, Jake?’ offered Jill politely, as she bustled about by the Aga. ‘I’ve got a cottage pie to go in the oven and plenty of fresh veg. It’ll easily do for four. I’m sure Maisy would like you to stay.’

  Rachel gave an inner sigh, but conceded that Jill was doing the right thing. Although the relationship was somewhat strained between Jill, Rachel and Jake, Primrose Farm was always welcoming to visitors. Maisy’s grandmother and mother also understood how important having some kind of an ongoing relationship with her father was for Maisy, too. They had to support that, even if that relationship was frustratingly infrequent and inadequate on his part. And, if he did stay for supper with them, then at least they could keep an eye on how things were going, see how Maisy was coping with it all, and field any awkward moments or questions. You never knew what Maisy might come out with!

  Dinner was soon ready and they chatted amicably enough around the kitchen table, with Maisy filling in any gaps with her incessant chatter, trying to remember all the things she’d been doing at school and at home since her daddy had last visited seven months ago.

  Supper was delicious, with tasty minced beef topped with cheesy mashed potatoes, accompanied by sweet young carrots, fresh from the vegetable patch, and spring greens. Mum was offering out little pots of lemon posset with raspberries on the side, when Rachel thought that she’d better send Tom a quick message, letting him know she’d be there around eight p.m., a little later than intended, but it couldn’t be helped. After their heart-to-heart today, she had said she’d go across this evening, and she was really looking forward to seeing him. With Jake being about tomorrow now too, she absolutely wanted to be home for Maisy in the morning, so unfortunately there’d be no sexy sleepover there tonight. Oh well, they could wait in anticipation for that one. And soon, very soon, they’d be waking up every day together; how amazing would that be?

  Rachel excused herself from the table, before they started their puds, and in the privacy of the hallway quickly sent the text. A message soon pinged back:

  Okay, thanks for letting me know. I’ll put the supper on hold for a little while. X

  Rachel froze. Supper? Oh, no! With all the kerfuffle surrounding Jake’s arrival, she’d totally forgotten that Tom had said he’d cook for her. Her stomach was pleasantly full with Jill’s cottage pie. But she couldn’t let him down, especially as it sounded as if he was making a real effort, and with things still so delicate between them … Okay, she’d miss out on pudding here and go and eat whatever Tom had prepared, that was it. It would be fine, if a bit stomach-busting. He’d never realise and she’d ask Mum to keep schtum.

  She replied: Just getting Maisy bathed and to bed. See you soon. Look forward to it! xx

  She came back to the dinner table with a forced smile as she spotted the dessert set at her place. ‘Ah, that looks great Mum, but I might just give pudding a miss tonight.’

  ‘You sure? That’s not like you, Rachel. You usually love your sweet things.’

  ‘Yeah, feel a bit full, and I do need to get across to Tom’s soon. So, I’ll head on up and start running Maisy’s bath. And you, little miss, can pop on up as soon as you’re finished.’

  ‘Okay, Mummy.’

  She hoped that Jake would take the hint and make himself scarce soon after his pudding too.

  ‘Can Daddy do my bedtime story tonight, Mummy? I’d really like that.’

  ‘Ah …’ Rachel floundered for a second or two.

  ‘Great, I can stay to do that for Maisy, no problem,’ Jake chipped in cheerily, adding, ‘Then you can get yourself all brushed up and ready to meet the hunk that is Tom.’ There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone, or was it a touch of jealousy? That was weird, Rachel mused, as it had been years since they were last together. And he had been i
nvolved with several women since then.

  ‘Oh, and I know where I want to go tomorrow, Daddy,’ added Maisy, who’d obviously been pondering his earlier question. ‘To the beach.’

  ‘Well, that sounds great. The beach it is then, Mais.’ He turned to Rachel, ‘Is that okay with you, Rach?’

  ‘Yes, it sounds a nice idea.’

  ‘Do you want to come along?’ he added, looking at Rachel with a sparkle in his eye.

  ‘Ah, no, it’s okay. I’ve got my shift to do at the Pantry.’ Rachel couldn’t imagine having a day out with Jake. They’d been distant for so long, and he’d hurt her badly, giving up on her and Maisy when the reality of becoming a parent had hit home. He hadn’t even hung around for the birth, never mind for anything else. But here they were, six years on, and he was trying to be a part of Maisy’s life again.

  ‘Oh Mummy, but that would be so much fun … with you and Daddy there. Pretty please.’

  ‘I do have work to do, Maisy.’

  ‘Remember, Jan’s in tomorrow to help out,’ Jill chipped in. ‘We could probably manage, you know.’

  Blimey, they were ganging up on her now. She supposed she did need to get across to Warkton-by-the-Sea soon anyway, to collect the wedding-favour chocolates – and, she suddenly remembered that Eve had her craft fair event there tomorrow too; it’d be lovely to go and say hello and support her. So, perhaps she could tie that in, spend an hour or two doing her own thing, and then meet the two of them for fish and chips at the harbour. A happy compromise.

  ‘Okay, okay …’ and she told them her plan, which met with a squeal of delight from Maisy.

  ‘Right then, let’s go and get this bath run for you, Miss Maisy.’

  After bubbles, splashing and bath-time fun for Maisy, during which time Jake helped Jill to wash up (miracle of miracles), her little girl was eager to get dressed in her pyjamas, and leapt into her bed, shouting out as loudly as she could, ‘I’m ready for my story, Daddy!’ She seemed so excited, bless her.

  Jake’s footsteps made their way up the stairs, and Rachel poked her head out of Maisy’s room. She left them to it for ten minutes, hearing his lilting tones telling the tale, and Maisy with her many questions as the story unfolded. Rachel got herself freshened up for Tom’s, with a slick of pale pink lipstick and some mascara. She sent another text to say she shouldn’t be long now. Oh my, she was still feeling full. She hoped to goodness he hadn’t made a big dinner.