Page 30 of Cupcakes and Kisses in Micklewick Bay

‘Oh, bless him.’ From the expression on Max’s face, she could tell the Lab cross had taken up a huge chunk of his heart. ‘He seems adorable.’

‘He’s that all right.’ He smiled affectionately. ‘Oh, and I must mention that Connor’s thrilled with his birthday cake. It’s genius. In fact, he says he likes it so much, he doesn’t want to cut into it.’

Jasmine laughed. ‘Ah, that’s sweet, but he really should enjoy it before it goes mouldy and has to be chucked away.’

‘I’ll tell him you said that.’

After umming and ahhing about whether to do a cake in the theme of a football pitch, with a sugar paste character in a Micklewick Lions football kit, she’d sought Zak’s advice and eventually settled on making a cake in the shape of a football shirt in the local team’s colours, complete with sugar paste football boots posed on top.

Much as Zak had liked the first option, he thought it might be a bit babyish for his ten-year-old friend. Jasmine had appreciated his advice.

‘You always enjoyed baking with your mum. I remember the chocolate cookies you used to make.’

‘You do?’

‘Of course, they were so chocolatey and delicious.’

‘That’s probably because I used to sneak in extra hot chocolate powder when my mum wasn’t looking.’

‘That’d explain it then. Don’t suppose you still make them, do you?’

‘I do actually, when I’m not busy baking cakes, that is.’

‘It didn’t come as a surprise when I saw you made celebration cakes for a living. Your creative streak was evident when we were kids.’

‘A lifetime ago,’ Jasmine said wistfully.

‘Yeah, a lifetime ago.’ Max inhaled deeply and ran a hand over his close-cropped hair, his eyes shining as he looked at her. ‘We’ve got so much catching up to do, Jingilby. I don’t know where to start.’

‘My mum and dad were so chuffed to hear I’d seen you in town, they’ll be even more delighted when I tell them you live here and are not just visiting.

They’re looking forward to seeing you again, if you’ve got time to pop in on them.

’ It suddenly crossed Jasmine’s mind that if this was Max’s home, and the swanky cars on the drive belonged to him, then his fortunes had clearly changed since he’d left Micklewick Bay.

He might have some high-flying business to run and no time for visiting people.

Her next thought was to wonder what had brought about such a change in his circumstances.

‘Of course I’ve got time to see your parents! I’ve been desperate to know how you’ve all been doing.’ He reached for his mug, his expression serious. ‘So, Zak’s father…? Connor said he… passed away – sorry to hear that, by the way.’

Jasmine huffed out a sigh. ‘That’s a very long story, and definitely not for right now.

’ She’d hate for Zak, or any of the children for that matter, to walk in and hear her talking about what had happened.

‘All I’ll say is that, yes, he’s no longer with us.

He’s been gone seven years now.’ She swallowed.

Now wasn’t the time to let the memories of such a painful time sneak in.

‘How about you? Zak mentioned his mum’s not around.

’ She winced inwardly, wishing she’d worded that better, especially with Max’s history.

‘Yeah, we parted company when Connor was a baby. Being a mother wasn’t for her, she said.’ He paused, lost in his thoughts for a moment. ‘If you’re thinking it’s a case of history repeating itself, you wouldn’t be wrong.’

‘Oh, Max, I’m so sorry.’ She was taken by the urge to reach out and take his hand but thought better of it, and besides, the island was so vast, she very much doubted she’d be able to reach him from her side of it.

He pushed his mouth into a smile, and it struck Jasmine that there was no trace of the chipped front tooth he’d had when he left town.

‘Hey, don’t be. Connor and me are doing just fine, we make a great team.

And when I said it was history repeating itself, that’s not strictly true.

I’m not quite as flaky as my dad. I put my lad’s needs way, way before my own.

Connor’s my world. He’s brought so much joy into my life, I can’t even begin to put it into words.

My driving force is to make sure he feels happy and secure and loved. ’

Jasmine was blindsided by a bolt of emotion, hitting her with such force it almost took her breath away.

Despite all he’d been through as a small boy – the rejection by his mother and distinct lack of care from his father – hearing Max describe his love for his son was incredibly moving. It also struck a chord with her.

‘I get that, it’s the same for me with my kids, they’re everything to me.’

Their eyes met, a mutual understanding exchanged without words.

‘Listen, we’ve got loads of catching up to do, and some of it has the potential to be pretty heavy, so why don’t we save that for another day and haul out some happy memories instead?’ Max suggested, his tone upbeat. ‘We’ve got shedloads of those.’

‘What? You mean like the day you were leaning over the railings on the bottom prom and your ice cream fell right on top of that bald man’s head? That sort of thing?’

Max released a deep chuckle that was so full of mischief and mirth, she couldn’t help but join in.

The memory that they’d regularly fallen about laughing when they were children bloomed in her mind.

He’d had an infectious laugh as a little boy, and once he’d started with his throaty giggle that seemed to bubble up from his boots, he’d set her off, the pair of them unable to stop even though their cheeks and sides were aching.

‘How could I have forgotten about that? I’ll have you know I don’t class losing my ice cream in such a way a happy memory. Scarred me for life, actually.’ He tried to pull a serious face, but his laughter spluttered through.

‘I reckon it’s a happier one than it was for the bald fella it landed on.’ Jasmine was laughing so hard, she had to wipe tears from her eyes.

‘He was so cross his face went purple. We had to scarper. Don’t think I’ve ever run so fast in my life.’

‘It’s cos he thought you’d done it on purpose.’

‘D’you remember the splat sound it made when it made contact with skin?’ asked Max, sending them into further hysterics.

The two old friends were bent double with laughter, their shoulders shaking hard when a voice pulled them back down to earth.

‘Someone’s having fun.’