Christmas at Little Beach Street Bakery
Page 21

Polly blinked as the children’s shouting and laughter reached them.
‘Nice place to bring up a family,’ said Huckle softly.
Polly nodded. ‘I suppose so,’ she said stiffly. She was actually relieved to see Reuben and Kerensa appear, coming the other way on the path.
‘HEY!’ shouted Reuben. ‘We’re out to see if my pregnant-but-still-totally-hot wife can perk up a bit.’
Kerensa shot Polly a tight smile. Polly felt sick. This was awful. Such a horrible burden to be carrying around, and of course it was even worse for Kerensa.
‘Hey, you guys!’ she said, more cheerily than she felt, and linked arms with Kerensa. ‘Come on. Only three miles and there’s a pub that does the best cheese and ham toasted sandwich in Cornwall. And I know this because I have tried them all.’
‘You’re only trying to make me feel better because I can’t have any hot cider,’ grumbled Kerensa.
‘You can have a tiny bit of hot cider,’ said Polly.
‘Nope,’ said Reuben, overhearing. ‘No way. You’re not damaging this baby. This baby is going to be the most awesome kid ever. I’m not having him born with foetal alcohol syndrome. You shouldn’t eat the cheese either.’
‘Is he being like this the entire time?’ said Polly. She could say it in Reuben’s earshot; he was impenetrably thick-skinned.
‘Yeah,’ said Reuben. ‘For our perfect baby.’
Kerensa didn’t answer him back cheekily like she normally would. Instead she dug her hands in her pockets and trudged on. Reuben raised an eyebrow at Huckle.
Polly let the men get ahead and hung back with Kerensa. The ground was slippery and muddy from all the recent storms and wind. The two chaps made a funny combination ahead: Huckle so tall and broad with his slow nod; Reuben talking up to him nineteen to the dozen, arms flailing.
‘How’s it going?’ said Polly, although she could see from the body language pretty much exactly how it was going.
Kerensa shook her head. ‘It’s like someone gave me a precious globe, made of glass or something, and told me to carry it safely. And I haven’t. I dropped it and I broke it and it’s shattered into a million pieces. There’s absolutely no way I can put it together again. I’ve done something so awful. And one day – it could be any day, probably soon – he’s going to walk in and he’s going to find out; he’ll look at the baby. And I’ll have broken everything. Everything in my perfectly lovely life will be ruined and shot and I’ll have to raise a baby on my own and my life will be over and I’ll have lost this brilliant, clever, sexy, funny man I really, really love…’ She collapsed into tears.
‘You couldn’t… you couldn’t explain?’
‘How?’ said Kerensa. ‘How could I? God, Poll, I didn’t even know I was pregnant for months, I was in such denial. He was the one that noticed my tits felt all different and brought me home a pregnancy test. He was so excited… Oh God.’
The men turned round, but Polly waved them on. She put her arm round Kerensa’s shoulders.
‘You never know,’ she said. ‘I mean, it could be his, couldn’t it?’
Kerensa nodded. ‘Yes.’ She sniffed.
‘But why didn’t you tell me?’
‘What, with you all happy and loved up and living in a perfect fairy world?’
‘I don’t live in a perfect fairy world!’ said Polly crossly. ‘I work my tits off and I’m completely skint and…’ Her voice trailed off and she realised that she was going to cry too.
‘What?’ said Kerensa.
‘… and I don’t even know if we can afford a baby. With everything.’
‘Oh no,’ said Kerensa, for whom money was never a problem. ‘Oh Poll. Don’t be daft. You’re doing all right.’
‘We are doing just about all right,’ said Polly. ‘As long as we never buy anything. Or go out. Or try and have a baby that I have to give up work for. Or try and fix anything in that stupid too-big house I bought by mistake.’
‘You wouldn’t have to give up work,’ said Kerensa. ‘You could have a bakery baby. Just sit it up on the counter and give it a croissant to suck.’
‘Is that how it works?’
‘I dunno, do I? I don’t know anything about babies.’
They looked at each other, and at Kerensa’s huge bump.
‘Oh GOD,’ said Kerensa. ‘How have we managed to fuck everything up so completely?’
Polly burst out laughing.
‘God knows,’ she said.
‘At least you still get to drink cider,’ said Kerensa darkly.
The little pub just off the trail was perfect: cosy and warm with firelight, old brasses gleaming on the walls. They used local cheese and home-made bread for perfect toasted sandwiches, just as Polly had said. The four of them flexed their chilly toes and sat in a cosy booth. Polly sat next to Reuben and decided, as Huckle had suggested, just to come out with it.
‘Reuben,’ she said. ‘I need some money.’
‘Well, cater the Finkel family Christmas,’ said Reuben equably.
‘I don’t want to,’ said Polly.
‘Well then, we have a situation.’
‘Listen, it’s not for me. It’s for the puffin sanctuary.’
‘That stink hole?’ said Reuben.
‘What? What do you mean?’
‘It’s just up the coast from us. I can smell the fishy bastards when the wind’s going in the wrong direction. Hey, why? Is it up for sale?’
‘No,’ said Polly in alarm. ‘But they’re having trouble keeping it open.’
‘Well this is great news,’ said Reuben.
‘No, it’s terrible news! They’re an endangered species.’
‘They can’t be, there’s millions of the pricks. Shitting all over my beach.’
‘Reuben! You can’t be serious. Neil can hear you.’
‘He’s all right. The rest of them can get eaten by cats for all I care. Hey, I want another cheese melt. These things are awesome. Get me another one!’
‘Two won’t be more awesome than one,’ said Polly, slightly horrified at his greed.
‘Course they will,’ said Reuben, rubbing his hands cheerfully.