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    Coffee and Cakes
    Coffee and Cakes
    Coffee and Cakes
    Ebook106 pages1 hour

    Coffee and Cakes

    By Catherine Carson

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Brake Bedford returns to the village where he was born with the intention of expanding his growing chain of coffee shops not realising his plans will cause upheaval to friends of long standing.
    Fiona Graham enjoys life in her bakers shop listening to her customers as they chat about the comings and goings in the village, until the return of a local hero turns her life upside down.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLulu.com
    Release dateMar 13, 2015
    ISBN9781326213596
    Coffee and Cakes

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      Book preview

      Coffee and Cakes - Catherine Carson

      Coffee and Cakes

      Coffee and Cakes

      By Catherine Carson

      Standard Copyright ©Catherine Carson 2016

      ISBN 978-1-326-58491-7 Paperback

      ISBN 978-1-326-21359-6 eBook

      About the author

      Born in Scotland I now live with my husband in the North West of England.  We have three children who, between them have given us six wonderful grandchildren.

      I studied commercial subjects at school and college and spent most of my working life in the offices of various companies, starting as a junior in a local garage typing invoices for car repairs.   I left Scotland and crossed the border to England to marry the man I met whilst on a holiday with my extended family and eventually became a secretary with a beer bottling company leaving six years later when the first of our three children came on the scene. 

      Returning to the workforce when our children were young adults I finally untied the apron strings to join the offices of a large wholesale book supplier and embraced the advancement in technology since I had first learned to type on a manual typewriter and take notes in shorthand.

      During the years I became something of a letter writer as friends and family lived in many parts of the country and indeed the world.  Often friends and family would tell me…..‘You could write a book’ to which I always replied…..‘But would anyone read it’. 

      When my granddaughter asked if I would write a book especially for her I confided in my good friend Lisa Schmidt and she told me to go for it.  That book became the first of many stories which had been lurking in my imagination for a good number of years.

      Once started I found the stories simply kept coming and often an overheard conversation or a glimpse from the passenger seat of the car would trigger a likely scenario which my imagination would then elaborate and weave into a story.

      My hope is that my writing brings a little pleasure into the life of my readers and allows them to leave the mundane world behind for a few hours as they meet the characters I adore creating.

      www.facebook.com/catherinecarsonbooks.uk

      www.catherinerenacarson.jimdo.com

      Dedication

      This book is dedicated to my daughter-in-law Helen who is willing to give my stories a fair appraisal.

      All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same names or names.  They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author and all the incidents are pure invention.

      Other Books by this Author

      Stand AloneSeries

      The Mouse in the LibraryTapestry of Love-Bk 1

      Family TiesTwins Exchanged-Bk 2

      Overall ConstructionHighland Feud-Bk 3

      Wounded Wolf

      Coffee and CakesSoil, Seed & Betrayal-Bk 1

      Memories RekindledDesert Prince, Exiled Princess-Bk 2

      Wholesale LoveBody Language-Bk 3

      Hope’s Conflict

      Sibling RivalryAn Open Book-Bk 1

      Fighting for CustodyAfraid to Love-Bk 2

      White Knight Black Knight

      Through the Garden Gate…A Second Chance-Bk 1

      Love Lost and FoundTaming the Playboy-Bk 2

      Alphabet Bachelors

      A Dreamer’ TaleEstranged Husband & Father-Bk 1

      A Precious JewelIdentical Mistake-Bk 2

      Footbridge of Solace

      Girl Meets Boy                               Sigh of the Claymore-Bk 1

      Demolition of the Heart                  Beyond Claymore-Bk 2

      When Life Gives You Lemons

      Return to the Past

      Chapter 1

      News buzzing round the village of Hambleton on a bright sunny morning in Spring had every customer who came through the door of Tasty Bites the cake and bakery shop owned and run by Fiona Graham reacting in different ways – ‘Have you heard?’ or ‘Well I never did’ and of course there was the inevitable ‘I always said he had far to go that one.’ Fiona nodded and smiled while she packed their cakes into boxes or wrapped their loaves and rolls in the appropriate paper bags.

      The person who had caused all the excitement was the returning sports hero who had left the village after being selected by one of the top clubs to play rugby union. His progress had been followed rigorously by many of the locals until an injury after a few of years into his career meant he was dropped by the club and his exploits on and off the field were no longer of interest to the tabloid press. 

      It had been ten years since he left the village and as far as Fiona was concerned another ten years would have been too soon for Brake Bedford to reappear.

      Although they were total opposites Fiona’s brother, Eric and Brake were best friends.  Eric was quiet and studious and captain of the debating and chess teams whereas Brake had a vibrant energy which made him a skilful rugby player as well as all round athletic star who won every cup and medal during his time at the local high school. 

      Matt and Connie Graham, her parents, always said Eric kept Brake’s feet firmly on the ground, but Fiona thought it was more a case of Eric having access to the adoring girls who followed Brake with puppy dog eyes and hung on his every word.

      Ten years ago Fiona was a plump teenager of fourteen and knew she would never be like the beauty pageant girls her brother and his friend dated and resigned herself to concentrate on her love of baking.

      She had never been anything but mediocre at her studies but excelled in the food technology class and her teacher recognised her natural talent to produce bread and cakes encouraging her parents to send her to a very good college which had a reputation for turning out bakers and confectioners of a very high standard.

      Out of necessity she combined her college course with basic business studies which now proved invaluable to the smooth running of her shop and bakery.

      Eric had gone on to university and was now a very successful architect who had won awards for the buildings he designed. 

      Brake too had gone to university but when his rugby career came to an end she heard he had gone off to America to study at one of the prestigious universities there.  She knew he and Eric were still friends but the last time she saw him was when he came back to the village five years ago for his father’s funeral.  His mother had long since gone from the scene leaving his father to cope with bringing up their son on his own.

      Having piped the meringues onto the parchment and leaving them in the cooling oven to set overnight Fiona collected the bread and rolls her mother had asked her to bring home.

      Making sure the rear door to the yard was locked and barred she turned the sign to ‘closed’ and stepped out on to the pavement locking the door. 

      Her parents lived in a small tied cottage which was about ten minutes’ away from the shop and Fiona enjoyed walking through the village knowing she was bound to meet someone she knew.  Many of her contemporaries had moved away and those who stayed were too busy coping with their young families to have much of a social life. 

      Her father Matt worked for the local landowner as a gillie and the cottage was part of his employment package and he and his wife took possession when they married over thirty years ago.  Her mother also worked for the estate and was part of the domestic staff that helped keep the old manor house clean and well cared for.

      Walking towards the front door a smile hovered on her lips as she saw the very expensive sports car parked on the pavement outside her parent’s home.  With the paper bag of bread, rolls and left over cakes she shouted her welcome as she walked through the narrow hallway to the back of the house and placed everything on the kitchen table.

      ‘Hi, it’s only me’ she shouted as she walked back along the hallway into the front room and flung herself at Eric to wrap her arms round his waist. 

      ‘I knew it had to be you when I saw your flash car sitting

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