Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Max had never worked on a Saturday before but as the weekend began, the sun slowly dragging itself up from the horizon to the gentle chorus of birdsong, she and Gaia walked into town together along the quiet mile of pavement that was lined with flowers of all colours. Farnleigh was a pretty town with its old architecture and the floral explosions that had won competitions for years. Bright tulips and pansies livened up the street, punctuated by the occasional fragrant rosebush that Gaia couldn't help but stop to inhale. The sweet aroma was one of her favourites, delicate and fruity, and it never failed to bring a smile to her lips.
Zara had been awake when they had left at twenty past six, as Evan had sat in bed with Clover in the crook of his elbow, but she had reluctantly stayed at home to give her father a hand with the children. He had yet to master the art of changing a nappy with his dominant hand in a cast, and when he had found himself alone with the baby, there had been times when he had brought the children into work in order to get his wife or daughter to help him out. She had promised to join them soon, and grumbled that it would be another four days before Evan was booked in to have his cast taken off.
While Evan had moaned that it had been forever that he had been in a cast, Gaia couldn't believe how fast time was passing. It had been six weeks since the accident and she couldn't wrap her head around that fact. She could recall that night like it was yesterday, when she'd had that phone call that could have changed her life forever. In a way, it had. It had forced her to meet Max, and she looked over at the girl with a smile as they rounded the corner.
Max had hardly spoken last night. She had been too shaken when she had first arrived on the doorstep as a shivering mess and though she had settled once she'd had something to eat and drink, she had said from the offset that she just wanted to forget that the day had ever happened. Sipping a glass of wine, she had shrunk back into her shell when the four of them had tucked up in the sitting room to watch a film and Gaia had cursed the people who had made her relive her tragedies.
"What?" Max asked when she saw Gaia smiling.
"Nothing, really," she said. "I'm just excited to bring you on full-time. You belong at Coofee."
"My heart belongs in the kitchen," Max joked, a smile on her lips for the first time in a couple of days. When they got to the café, she unlocked the door with ease, even though Gaia still struggled after the years for which she had owned the building, and she flipped on the lights as she made her way into the kitchen.
As soon as she had pulled on an apron, Max tied her hair in a short pigtail on the crown of her head, sticking out like the bristles of a paintbrush, and she headed over to the fridge to take out a cake that Gaia had made yesterday. One of two that were ready to be decorated, Max pulled out a Victoria sponge and a bowl of buttercream ready to be coloured.
"It's good to have you back," Gaia said, setting the scales at a right angle to the counter before she laid out the flour, sugar, butter and eggs. Stretching up on her tiptoes, she grabbed the olive oil from the top shelf and ducked down to take out a huge bulk bag of chocolate chips. The warm, soft-centred cookies were her speciality and she enjoyed making the dough each morning while Max stuck out her tongue in concentration as she decorated/
