Autumn Leaves at Mill Grange by Jenny Kane (the little red hen ebook .txt) 📗

Tina contemplated the available baking tin options – two sponge tins for a sandwich cake, a loaf tin, or a square tin for a slab cake. She knew it wasn’t important, but if she focused all her energy on culinary issues, then perhaps reality could be suspended for a little longer.

Opting for the sandwich cake option, so that she’d have to spend additional time making both a filling and a frosting, Tina played butter cream flavours around in her mind while she licked the tiny blobs of cake mixture that still remained on the spoon.

‘Caught you in the act of illicit cake making!’ Thea came in, her hands full of unwashed coffee mugs. ‘I know! I’m a mug thief. I’m always forgetting to bring my evening cuppa mug down in the morning. Before I’ve noticed it, half of Mill Grange’s mug collection had emigrated to the attic.’

Tina smiled despite herself. ‘Give them here then. I’ll sling them in the dishwasher along with as much of the rest of this stuff as I can fit in. I’ll still have to wash the mixing bowl and spoon in the sink though.’

Thea pointed to the clean ones hanging on hooks around the wall. ‘Shall we get two more mugs dirty while we work?’

Tina clicked on the kettle before plunging her hands into the freshly run washing-up water. ‘What are you doing up so early? I didn’t wake you, did I?’

‘I was thinking about the excavation. Couldn’t turn my brain off.’ Thea noticed the heavy shadows under Tina’s eyes, denoting she’d also had a more serious lack of sleep. ‘You were worrying about Sam.’

‘Lemon cake felt like the only positive thing I could do.’ Tina pointed towards the Aga door. ‘I was driving myself mad lying there thinking about Sam; wondering if we have a future together or not.’

‘You should have come in to talk to me. I wouldn’t have minded.’

‘I know, but being cried over in the middle of the night can become dull very quickly.’ Tina wrinkled her nose. ‘Thanks though.’

‘Sam hasn’t gone anywhere you know. He just isn’t used to being helped.’

Tina wiped the wooden spoon beneath the soapy water. ‘I was thinking about what you said about him being so used to secrets and coping alone. And you’re right.’

‘You’ll have to go and talk to him about it.’

‘I will.’ Tina stood a little taller as she plunged her hands back into the soapy water. ‘Eventually. But I’m going to leave him to think for a while first.’

‘In the hope he’ll work out why you’re upset all by himself?’

‘Partly, but mostly because he and I happened so fast. It’s only been a few months since Sam arrived at Mill Grange to help restore the place. Then, suddenly, the house was being sold and he bought it. In that time, we got together and you and I almost died in a fire, and then the Roman site got found and now, only a few weeks later, we’re working like stink to get this place open for paying guests by October. Is it all too much too soon? Sam needs space, and I suspect he feels hemmed in.’

Passing Tina a towel to dry her wet hands, Thea regarded her friend with respect. ‘You might be right, but don’t wait too long. It’s wise to give him space, but I know you, you’ll nag away at yourself until you’re sure that you and Sam are okay.’

‘True.’ Sagging onto the nearest chair, Tina inhaled the aroma of almost-cooked sponge. ‘In the meantime, I’ll work on enlarging my waistline. Isn’t that what women are supposed to do when they’re having a romantic crisis?’

‘I believe that, in such circumstances, the cliché follows that the consumption of large amounts of ice cream or chocolate is vital. Or, in extreme cases, chocolate ice cream.’

‘Well, as we don’t have either of those things handy, it’ll have to be hot lemon cake with lemon and orange frosting.’

Thea’s eyes lit up. ‘You’re making frosting?’

‘Extreme circumstances call for extreme amounts of sugar.’

*

‘Are you alright, Sam mate? You sound half asleep.’

‘Hey, Shaun.’ Sam squinted at the screen of his tablet, glad Shaun hadn’t activated Skype’s video link option. ‘That’s because I am. Bad night.’ He hauled himself up so he was sitting, while remaining snuggled inside his sleeping bag. ‘How can I help?’

‘I’m hoping it’ll be the other way around.’

Something about the excitement in Shaun’s tone woke Sam up. ‘How do you mean?’

‘You know, ages ago, we talked about Mill Grange being featured on the show, but then dismissed the idea as pie in the sky? Well, I’ve had a chat with Phil, our producer, and he’s spoken to the money men, who have spoken to the channel’s schedulers, who have agreed that, providing we can fit it in during this season’s allotted filming time, we could come to you and do a Christmas special.’

‘That’s fantastic.’ Sam pulled a jumper over his head, trapping his ponytail between it and his T-shirt to keep his neck warm. ‘The publicity would be fantastic! And to be aired so soon after we open would be amazing.’

‘Do you have many bookings yet?’

‘Some, but so far not enough to do more than pay bills as they come in. If the boiler dies or something else goes wrong, there’s nothing left over to pay for it to be fixed.’

‘Then we must make extra sure we get done here on time.’ Sam could hear the sound of Shaun rustling paper down the line. ‘If all goes to plan, we’ll be with you from the 1st to the 4th of October. Later than that, and we’ll not have time to do the film properly, and the producer won’t go forward with it. So, I’m not promising the filming will happen, but there’s a good chance.’

‘But now you’ve got a Christmas television slot, won’t you have to fill it whatever happens?’

‘Phil would put together a “Best of” type show instead. Much cheaper and only takes a few days to sort out.’

Sam tugged