Home Sweet Home by Lilly Mirren

Author:Lilly Mirren [Mirren, Lilly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Lab Press

Chapter 13

The lunch crowd at Cook’s Bakery was even bigger than for morning tea. Trina was rushed off her feet making food, serving it, and then bussing tables. From what she could tell, her mother spent the entire afternoon gabbing with customers at the register or sitting at their tables to join in on the local gossip.

She shot Mum a few dirty looks, then gave up when she realised her mother was paying no attention whatsoever. And besides, if she’d been working half as hard as Trina was at the bakery, she deserved a little break.

Trina sliced a piece of mud cake, and filled a plate with a warm scone, with jam and cream in small cups beside the pastry. She carried them out to a table of two women, who already had their coffees. As she set down the plates, the bell over the front door rang. She glanced up to see Pete walking through in his navy-blue uniform.

Her pulse accelerated. He sat at a table for one near the large, rectangular window that looked out onto the street. One glance at her mother revealed she was busy serving at another table. With a sigh, she smoothed back her hair, wishing she’d left it down that morning instead of wearing it in a ponytail, and headed over to serve him.

The smile on his face caused her heart to miss a beat. His dimples seemed to flex as his lips pulled into a wider grin when his blue eyes fixed on her face.

“Trina, I didn’t expect to see you here,” he said.

Her lips pursed. “Yep. I got roped into helping Mum this afternoon. I suppose it was inevitable.” She laughed. “Do you come here often?” Her cheeks burned, it sounded like a pickup line. What was wrong with her?

He chuckled along with her. “Best scones in town.”

“Oh yeah…well, that’s good to know. Mum doesn’t talk about it much, so I’ve been pleasantly surprised to see how well she’s going with it.”

“Really? Seems like the two of you are really close.”

A burst of air blew from her mouth before she could stop it, sounding embarrassingly like a honk. “Close? No. Well, I mean, we care about each other, but we’re not close. We don’t talk much. In fact, I haven’t been back to Murwillumbah since I left school.”

“I’d heard that,” he replied, eyes narrowing. “Was there a particular reason?”

There was a hint of terrier behind his eyes, like he was digging for the truth and wouldn’t stop until he found it — or was she imagining things?

Trina’s lips pursed. “I suppose it’s no secret — everyone knew about it. I left because of the accident. When Dan died, a big part of me died as well. We had plans…a whole life mapped out together. When that wasn’t an option any longer… I gave up, walked away. Ditched the plans and didn’t look back.” She shrugged. “That’s the reason I left. I stayed away because there was no reason to come back.”

“Until now,” he prompted.

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