Anna wiped her running nose on her handkerchief and continued writing.

No, I wasn’t really surprised when Papa told me he was giving me the bakery. He knows I love the place as much as he does, and that I will take care of it. I look forward to the day Edward comes home, when we can run the place together, just like Mother and Papa did for all those years. We’ll fill the place with love and laughter and happiness again, just as they did.

She paused for a moment, her pen hovering over the paper. Writing Edward’s name brought a rush of guilt.

What would he say if he knew she was writing to Tom Franklin? There had been no love lost between Tom and Edward when they’d worked together at the bakery. As far as Edward was concerned, the Franklins were criminal scum.

He was right, too. All the Franklin boys, including Tom, had spent their lives in and out of jail. But unlike his brothers, Tom had managed to turn his back on a life of crime, thanks to Anna’s father giving him a job and the chance to go straight. He had changed his life, but Edward would never give him credit for it.

‘Once a Franklin, always a Franklin,’ he would say. ‘Your father doesn’t know what kind of a viper he’s invited into his nest.’

But Tom had proved himself when he saved Anna and her family from the fire that had swept through the bakery and the rooms above. And he had been a loyal friend ever since, helping to rebuild their home and business for them.

Not that Edward would ever understand that. Anna had tried to explain everything that Tom had done for them, but Edward had made it clear he didn’t even like to hear his name mentioned, so in the end she had given up.

It was strange that Edward wouldn’t give Tom a chance, she thought, especially when the paths of their lives had been so similar. As an orphan, straight out of the children’s home, Edward had fallen in with the Franklin boys and nearly ended up in prison himself. Like Tom, her father had been Edward’s salvation, taking him on as an apprentice and giving him a fresh start in life.

But for some reason, Edward seemed to resent Tom being given the same opportunity. It was something Anna could never understand.

Tom seemed just as antagonistic towards Edward, too. Anna was usually careful not to mention the other’s name in her letters to both men. But Tom knew that Edward was her fiancé, so why shouldn’t she mention their future together?

She put pen to paper again, and went on writing.

In the meantime, I have taken on someone to help in the kitchen. His name is Charlie, and he’s Mrs Church’s nephew. He trained at another bakery in Hackney before he enlisted, but since he was discharged he’s been looking for work. He seems to know what he’s doing, and he’s bright and willing enough, so I hope he’ll do.