‘Hattie,’ beamed Jemma as I crossed the café threshold and set the bell above the door tinkling, ‘just the person. Grab a seat and I’ll be with you in a minute.’

It felt nice to receive such a warm welcome. I almost felt like one of the locals.

‘Now,’ she said, popping a brown paper bag stamped with the café logo down on to the table, ‘what can I get you?’

‘Well,’ I laughed, nodding at the bag, ‘I’m guessing Dolly phoned her iced bun order in, did she?’

‘She did,’ Jemma confirmed. ‘Not that she thought you’d forget.’

‘Of course not,’ I laughed. ‘I think I’ll have a bun myself please,’ I told her, ‘and a latte, to go with it.’

‘Coming right up,’ she said, keying my request in to her digital pad, ‘and would you mind if I joined you?’ she added. ‘I have a proposition for you.’

It turned out to be more of an answer to a prayer than a proposition.

‘Dolly happened to let slip that you’ve decided to stay here in our little town, for the time being at least,’ she said as she served my order and sat in the chair opposite. ‘She also told me why.’

I cut my bun into four pieces and nodded grimly.

‘I still can’t believe it,’ I said sadly. ‘I’m going to stay to look after her and of course, I’m every bit as determined as she is that she won’t have to leave the cottage.’

‘She said that too,’ Jemma smiled. ‘It’s a great weight off her mind, Hattie.’

I was pleased to hear it.

‘She also mentioned that you were going to need some sort of job to keep you occupied when you weren’t pandering to her every whim. I think she’s concerned that it will all become a little maudlin if you never leave the house.’

‘How can it be anything but?’

‘But you will need some balance,’ Jemma went wisely on, ‘and I was wondering if you’d like to take on a couple of weekend shifts waiting on tables in here. Goodness knows I could do with an extra pair of hands at peak times.’

It was a wonderful offer but I couldn’t accept it.

‘It’s a very kind offer, Jemma,’ I told her, ‘and under any other circumstances I’d say yes straightway, but I don’t know what’s going to happen with Dolly. I might not be able to commit and what would you do if I had to cry off at the last minute? I’d hate to let you down . . .’

My words trailed off as Jemma shook her head.

‘That doesn’t matter,’ she said. ‘I’m more than happy to fit round whatever you can do. I have a couple of youngsters on standby to fill any gaps.’