Christmas At The Cupcake Cafe (40 page)

‘My love,’ Austin was saying, kissing her again and again. ‘I was such an idiot.
Such
an idiot.’

‘I was stubborn too,’ said Issy. ‘Didn’t give a thought to what you were up to. So unfair.’

‘You weren’t! You weren’t at all.’

They looked at each other.

‘Let’s not talk any more,’ said Issy, and they stood
together in the centre of the rink, as bemused but indulgent skaters continued to weave around them, and the sun melted the ice, which dripped down from the high towers above them like crystal.

They checked back into the hotel and stayed there for a couple of days, then set about making it up to Darny with outings and exhibitions and treats until he begged for mercy. On the third day, Issy took a phone call and came to Austin with a very strange look on her face.

‘That was Kelly-Lee,’ she said. The flash of guilt that crossed his face reminded her that she hadn’t mentioned that she’d met her, and she decided not to tell him what Kelly-Lee had said.

‘I ran into her and helped her make some cupcakes … that’s all,’ she said firmly. ‘Anyway, apparently her boss came in and was totally astounded, and wants to send her to California to open up a new store, and apparently Kelly-Lee feels she’s much more suited to California.’

‘I think she is too,’ said Austin.

‘Anyway, there’s an opening to run the New York store if I want it, apparently …’

Austin hadn’t spoken to Merv. He looked at her carefully.

‘Hmm,’ he said. ‘But we’re going back to London.’

‘It’s raining in London, though,
isn’t it?’ said Issy carefully. ‘And we’d probably make a bit of money renting out your house. And mine, when Ashok and Helena move. Unless he gets her pregnant again, in which case she’s going to kill him and
then
they’ll split up.’

Austin kept his face completely neutral.

‘It would be nice,’ said Issy, ‘to give Maya a full-time job. Her post office job has gone now, and she’s such an asset. And with Pearl and Caroline getting on so well …’

Austin coughed at that.

‘Comparatively speaking …’

Issy had been doing a lot of thinking over the last few days, now that she was finally rested. A lot.

Austin looked at her. She was lying on the white bed, looking luscious and pale and beautiful, and he didn’t think he’d ever seen anything he liked quite as much.

‘Mmm,’ he said.

Issy looked at him steadily. ‘Well, I suppose … a couple of years in the world’s greatest city, with Darny at the world’s greatest school … it might not be
too
bad …’

Austin’s eyes widened. ‘We don’t have to. I’m ready to go back. Well, I don’t care. I just want to be where you are.’

Issy closed her eyes. She could see it in her head. The Cupcake Café. She could hear the jangle of the bell, and Pearl’s throaty laugh as she grabbed the mop in the morning; she could see Caroline’s taut face complaining about the price of ski holidays these days. She saw herself dancing to Capital
Radio and feeling Louis’ warm arms around her knees as he dashed in with a new picture for the back wall. She could remember the faces of so many of her customers; recall the day she’d first seen the menus back from the printers; how it had started out as a dream but had become real. Her Cupcake Café.

But it
was
real. It wasn’t a dream. It wouldn’t vanish if she stopped looking at it. It wouldn’t suddenly disappear in a puff of smoke. Pearl was ready – more than ready – to step into her managerial shoes, and Maya’s frantic practising and obsessive attention to detail boded well for her recipes. And Caroline would just be Caroline, she supposed. She couldn’t do much about that. But she could leave now, confident that it could work, it could run without her. And maybe she could help the person she loved with his new life too. The café would, she fervently hoped, never change. But they could.

‘I want to be here,’ she said. ‘Where it’s best for Darny. And close to Mum. But mostly … for us, Austin. You are us. It’s great for us. And it will be great for me. I believe that. It’s all decided. I’ll go back once a month or so, check up on everything, make sure no one’s killed anyone else, but for a couple of years … we’d be mad not to try the adventure. I’ve changed my life once already. I think I’ve got a taste for it now.’

Austin took her in his arms. ‘I will devote my entire life to making it amazing for you,’ he said.

‘You don’t have to,’ said Issy, glancing towards
the window, at the lights and the life and the buzzing, glittery, jittery streets. ‘It already is.’

He stopped and thought. Then thought some more.

‘You know,’ he said. ‘You won’t be able to work here without a green card.’

Now it was Issy’s turn to be surprised.

‘Oh no? I thought, maybe in just a caf …’

‘Nope,’ he said. ‘And normally they’re quite hard to get.’

‘Mmm?’

‘Unless you’re … with someone who has one.’ He nuzzled her neck. ‘You know, in all the madness, I never got you a Christmas present.’

‘Oh no, you didn’t!’ said Issy. ‘I forgot! I want one!’

‘You know what they sell lots of in New York?’

‘Dreams? Ice skates? Pretzels?’

He looked at her pensively. ‘Aim higher.’

She looked back at him without saying anything, but her fingers unconsciously strayed to her little diamond earrings.

‘That’s it,’ said Austin. ‘You need something to go with those earrings. Definitely. But maybe … on your finger?’

And they dressed warmly, and walked out hand in hand into the sharp, bright, exciting future of a honking, buzzing New York morning.

Back in London, Pearl looked
at the post-lunch rush happily poking their fingers at the New Year range of apple and raisin cupcakes; rose blossom for the eventual spring; discounted gingerbread for the last few Christmas addicts, beautifully put together by Maya, and smiled.

‘Cappuccino’s up!’ she yelled.

Firstly, thanks to everyone who
read
Meet Me at the Cupcake Café
and was kind enough to let me know they enjoyed it, or even kinder to review it online and let other people know. I just can’t thank you enough. I love hearing from people, especially if you’ve tried the recipes! And you can get me on Twitter @jennycolgan or my Facebook page is
www.facebook.com
/thatwriterjennycolgan. If you haven’t read
Meet Me at the Cupcake Café
, don’t worry; this book should stand alone.

Special thanks to Sufjan Stevens and Lowell Brams for doing their best to let us have a little Christmas miracle … Everything lost will be found.

Also, many thanks to Kate Webster for letting me use her wonderful chocolate cola cupcake recipe (see
page 270
). For more of her delicious recipes check out her food blog:
http://thelittleloaf.wordpress.com.

Huge thanks always to Ali Gunn, Rebecca Saunders, Jo Dickinson, Manpreet Grewal, David Shelley, Ursula Mackenzie, Emma Williams, Jo Wickham, Camilla Ferrier, Sarah McFadden, Emma Graves for the lovely cover, Wallace Beaton for the art work, everyone at Little, Brown, the Board, and all our friends and relations. Special hugs and Christmas kisses to Mr B and the three wee bees; I so hope your Christmas memories are magical. Even that time we couldn’t get the Scalextric to work.

So, you’ve read this fab novel and,
apart from thinking, gosh, I want to read all of Jenny Colgan’s other novels, you’re also thinking, I want to bake my own cupcakes. Congratulations! You are setting out on a journey that will result in pleasure and great cake!

Firstly, I’ll let you into a little secret that no cupcake bakery would want me to share: making cupcakes is easy, quick and cheap. You will create cupcakes in your own home – even on your first attempt, I promise – that taste better and look better than commercially produced cakes.

The great thing about making cupcakes is how little equipment they require. Chances are you already have a cupcake tin (the tray with twelve cavities) knocking about in your kitchen cupboards. It’s the same pan you use for making Yorkshire puds and,
even if you don’t have one, they can be picked up for under £5 in your supermarket’s kitchenware aisle. The only other thing to buy before you can get started is a pack of paper cases, which, again, any supermarket sells in the home baking aisle.

Before making cupcakes, it’s important to absorb what I think of as the four key principles of baking (this makes them sound rather grander than they are!):

DON’T MISS THE NEXT IRRESISTIBLE NOVEL FROM

Jenny

COLGAN