Snowy Nights at Castle Court by Holly Hepburn

Author:Holly Hepburn [Hepburn, Holly]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Chapter Six

In what felt to Cat like the blink of an eye, it was the weekend again. With only two weeks left until Smart Cookies opened, her days seemed to be filled with an endless blur of baking, biscuits and paperwork. The stock was building up, thanks to Sadie’s dedication, and the shop was actually starting to look the way it should, but Cat still found herself waking up in a cold sweat during the early hours of the morning, worrying about all the things she had forgotten.

Sadie was busy looking after Lissy and had no plans to come into the city. Cat was meant to have the weekend off too but she’d been restless at home on Saturday, unable to concentrate. She’d stopped by Castle Court just before lunchtime, intending to spend an hour or so finalising their order for packaging to keep the biscuits safe when they were sent out in the mail. Six hours later, she was still there. On the plus side, she now had an extra four batches of treacle-spiced biscuits ready for Sadie to ice on Monday morning and an advert for temporary staff to stick up in the window.

Scrunching her stiff shoulders, she climbed the stairs and gazed around the shop. Everywhere she looked, she saw signs of Sadie’s artistic talent; the shelves were packed with samples of the biscuit collections they’d designed together and that Sadie’s skill with icing had brought to life. A Nativity scene lay inside a Perspex box, ready to be assembled, complete with donkeys, shepherds and a tiny crib. And the Christmas tree stood by the door, waiting to be hung with shimmering edible baubles. It was going to be amazing once it was all in place, Cat thought, as she put the advert in the window and stared out at the shoppers and diners wandering through the freezing winter gloom. Everything was under control. So why couldn’t she relax?

It was a throwback to her final few months in Paris, when she told herself over and over again that everything was fine when it wasn’t. Not by a long way. And now she couldn’t trust herself. Cat almost laughed; it would have been funny if it wasn’t so tragic. She thought about going home but the idea of a long evening in front of the television made her feel even worse. It was too early to go for something to eat. But it wasn’t too early for a drink.

She found herself in Seb’s almost without being aware of deciding to go there. He blinked when she walked in, wincing at the noise from the early evening crowd, and then smiled. ‘Hey. You’re a sight for sore eyes.’

She slipped into an empty seat in front of the bar. ‘What do you recommend, Mr Mixologist?’

Seb raised an eyebrow. ‘For a pre-dinner drink?’

Cat shook her head. ‘For when you want to stop thinking.’

‘Right,’ Seb said and reached for a bottle. ‘How do you feel about Jack Daniel’s?’

‘I think he sounds like someone I could make friends with really fast,’ Cat said honestly.

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