And it helped now, as the restlessness she’d felt last night morphed into cheerful purpose. She’d decided to try a new flavour of cupcake today—salted caramel, with a melting, caramel centre and a butterscotch sweet on top of the swirls of creamy icing. She’d pile them in the window, on her prized Victorian cake stand, with its intricate iron swirls to match the icing. With the banner, and a few boughs of holly and evergreen around, she thought it would look very Christmassy—and as it was only nineteen days until the twenty-fifth, certainly very timely.

While the cakes were cooling, Olivia ran upstairs to shower and change before opening the shop at half past seven, when she usually snagged a few customers grabbing a coffee and muffin on their way to work.

Sure enough, her friend Ava Tucker, recently married to Jace and with ten-month-old William in a pushchair, came in at quarter to eight to buy both items.

“I’m on the way to the childminder’s,” she explained while Olivia poured her coffee from the pot she always kept brewing. “I’ve got a big meeting in Oxford today—a partnership with an employment agency.”

“Sounds very promising.” A little over a year ago Ava had started her own business, training and equipping women to return to the workforce. As a not-for-profit, she helped women not only with obtaining the necessary computer and administrative skills, but also with the right clothes, confidence, and interview techniques.

“I hope so,” she said as she reached down to wipe a bit of drool from William’s adorably chubby chin. “It would be wonderful to make some more connections.”

Olivia handed her the coffee and muffin, leaning over to give William a coo. He was adorable, with round red cheeks and a tuft of wheat-blond hair. Olivia had given up on having children herself a few years back when it looked as if there was no one in the offing—and there hadn’t been—but she still loved a good cuddle. Fortunately, William was always available.

“I love the cupcake banner,” Ava remarked as she broke off a piece of the muffin and handed it to William to gum. “Twelve Days of Cupcakes! Very catchy.”

“I hope so. It was Mallory’s idea, actually.”

“Was it? She’s a clever one, isn’t she? Too clever by half, I think.”

“Yes, that’s true,” Olivia answered with a laugh. “She’ll run rings around some poor bloke one day, I don’t doubt.”

“And Harriet and Richard as well.” Ava glanced at her son with a smile. “Thankfully I’ve a few years to go before I have to worry about such things. I’ll be applying for my OAP bus pass before William’s dating.”

“Not quite,” Olivia said lightly. Ava was three years younger than she was.

“Almost,” Ava answered with a grimace. “In any case, Jace would like a baby, as well.” She looked away as she said it, making Olivia pause. She knew William was the son of Ava’s first husband, who had died precipitously of a heart attack months before she met Jace.