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Carrot Cake
Chapter Nine
Belle was so lost in thought that she nearly missed her bus stop and skidded the length of the vehicle just as the driver was closing the doors. It was Thursday, and she was putting her master plan into action with some degree of trepidation. She had been tempted on several occasions over the last two days to call the whole thing off. Her father's visit the previous week still hung heavy in her mind, and she was even more on edge because the phone call from Gary that she'd been expecting had not yet arrived. At least she'd made her mind up to do something about it, though. Granny had given in to Ruby's entreaties and agreed to host a party for Astrid and Leroy on Saturday night, and she'd be closing the café for the weekend to give them time to prepare and to recover. Belle was going to go back to her dad's on the Sunday to get things sorted out. She would see Gary, tell him that a reconciliation was out of the question, and get the phone number of a local solicitor. Needing legal advice and stumped for who to ask, Belle had rung Ashley and sworn her to secrecy. Her friend had advised against getting Gold to handle the proceedings.
"It's called 'being emotionally involved'," Ashley had said. "If he's any sense he wouldn't take the case."
"I thought you said that he took any case as long as the price was right!" Belle exclaimed.
"I don't think that even Gold is unscrupulous enough not to draw the line at handling his girlfriend's divorce." Ashley'd replied. "At best he'd get in too deep and jeopardise the case. At worst he'd be accused of professional misconduct with the possibility of being struck off."
Ashley was right, of course. Now that they'd begun their relationship, she really couldn't ask Gold to get her and Gary divorced. The big problem that she faced now was how to tell him that she was married in the first place. For a brief moment she'd considered chickening out and getting Ruby to do it for her. She'd already made up her mind to ask her friend to come with her on Sunday, to stop her getting off the train three stations too early and hitch-hiking back home if not for actual moral support when confronting Gary. She wished that she could just stuff her old existence back in its little box where she'd kept it hidden away before, but she knew that wouldn't resolve matters. She had run away from her problems for long enough, but she still couldn't bring herself to take the bull by the horns.
Belle hurried round the corner and into the precinct, stopping outside the café. It felt strange not to be wearing her uniform and standing on the other side of the counter, but her inner confusion was nothing compared to Emma's expression of perplexity when she walked in.
"I could have sworn it was Thursday," she murmured. "Maybe I'm wrong."
"No, it is Thursday," Belle said, trying very hard not to burst out laughing.
"But you're here. You're never here on a Thursday!"
"Well, believe it or not, Emma, I am here in my less well-known role as a paying customer."
"Oh. All right. What can I get for you today?"
Belle reeled off her order without looking at the menu; she'd been working at the café for so long that she knew it inside out and back to front.
"Well, is this your grand master plan?" Ruby asked as she came out from behind the kitchen partition, grinning wolfishly.
"Oh yes." Belle matched her expression. "Ruby, I'm doing the unthinkable. I'm taking a man for a takeaway on a park bench."
Ruby rolled her eyes.
"We do not provide 'takeaways', Belle, we are far too upmarket for that. We provide picnics, with the added advantage of not having to use chopsticks or plastic cutlery, thus meaning that we are a perfectly acceptable choice for a date location, whether you are eating in or out."
"Erm, am I the only one in the dark here?" August asked from the coffee machine.
"Yes," chorused Emma and Ruby in unison. August appeared to accept this with good grace and went back to making up Belle's order.
"How are the fridge plans going?" Belle asked Ruby once Emma was out of earshot in the kitchen.
"Well, atrociously, if I'm being honest. I can't cope on my own during the rush and Emma leaves as soon as it's over, so I haven't had any opportunity." Ruby's eyes narrowed. "You could have done it yesterday on my behalf."
"It was your idea, Ruby, and I wanted you to have the satisfaction of enacting it yourself."
Ruby had been most put-out when she'd realised that she was on her day off on Wednesday and wouldn't be in the café to witness Emma and August's first meeting, so she'd made Belle report back in minute detail. As far as Belle could tell, they seemed to be getting on very well. When she'd arrived they'd been chatting away nineteen to the dozen, and August seemed to be genuinely interested in what Emma had to say. He hadn't run a mile when she'd mentioned Henry, either.
"Belle!" Emma called, and Belle saw her holding up a paper bag containing her order.
"I'll let you know if I make any progress!" Ruby whispered. "Remember, I expect a full date dissection afterwards, and don't forget to invite him to Saturday!"
"Do you really think that's wise?" Belle asked.
"Oh yes. It's the perfect opportunity to introduce him to all of us so that he can get our approval. I'm bringing Archie for the same reason."
"Ruby, you all already know him and have given your approval."
"It's the principle of the thing! And we don't really know him, we just know his tea preferences."
"Bye, Ruby," Belle said, leaving the café.
"Now, August," she heard Ruby saying over her shoulder. "It's high time you were brought up to speed on the epic romance of Belle and Mr Gold from over the way, a courtship that has been going on for over three months, despite the fact that the participants had never had any contact with each other until two-and-a-half weeks ago…"
It was a shame that she only had to take about ten steps before she reached her second destination. Not only was she certain that Ruby was watching her every move from behind the counter, she'd wanted a little bit more time to formulate her opening gambit. She waited outside the door to the offices for a little while, wondering if she should go in and say something to Kathryn. She did have an appointment, after all.
The door opened before she could make a decision.
"Hello. I do believe we've been in this position before." Gold grinned down at her, stepping out of the door and pulling it closed behind him, the receptionist's call of 'don't forget you've got the Andersons at two o'clock!' being cut off midway. "All right, Miss French, I am ready to be surprised. Lead on."
He offered her his left arm and Belle curled her fingers round it, feeling his warmth through the soft wool of his coat. She steered them out of the precinct in the direction of the library and the castle gardens beyond.
"Now, technically," Belle began, "as Granny's employee, I'm not supposed to frequent rival lunch-providing establishments in the area, so I thought that as long as she provided the lunch, she couldn't complain about us eating it somewhere else."
Gold laughed.
"We'll make a lawyer of you yet. We thrive on technicalities."
Belle shook her head.
"After Dawn and Ashley's tales of woe, I don't think that a career change is on the cards just yet. Speaking on the subject, though, how's your temp?"
"Surviving," said Gold cheerfully. "Just about. She was nearly out on her ear the other day when she misspelled 'Guildhall', though. I think that, between us, Sid and I are doing a very good job of scaring her into working well."
"You never scared Ashley. Just frustrated her sometimes."
"Yes, well, Miss Boyd gives as good as she gets. I learned that quite quickly."
They had just rounded the corner of the library into the side-street that led to the gardens when Gold stopped suddenly. Belle's brow furrowed.
"What's up?" she asked as he pulled his arm out of her hold, but in reply he pulled her into a kiss, ignoring her muted squeal of surprise.
"Revenge for Monday," he murmured with a wry smile when he finally released her. Belle laughed.
"At least you didn't bite me."
Gold raised an eyebrow.
"I could do if you wanted," he offered.
"No, thank you. It might make lunch slightly painful, especially as I have ginger lemon tea, and it'll sting."
"Eminently practical."
"I know." Belle slipped her arm back through his and they continued the last hundred or so yards towards a bench in the gardens. It was a comparatively mild day considering the season, and a weak sun was shining. From their position, they could look out over the entire town.
"I come here all the time to read," Belle explained. "Even in winter, I feel it has a certain beauty about it."
Gold nodded, but he was looking at her and not his surroundings. Belle turned her attention to her bag to hide her blush.
"Brie and cranberry or tomato and mozzarella?" she asked brightly, fishing out two foil wrapped toasted sandwiches. Gold reached out to take one but then drew back. "What's wrong?"
"I am usually quite adept at eating toasted sandwiches, and I do adore brie. But I am very worried that Murphy's law will result in it oozing onto my tie."
Belle laughed.
"Take it off, then," she suggested. Gold looked at her as if she had gone utterly insane for a moment, then complied, stowing the purple silk in his coat pocket and undoing his collar.
"I feel naked now," he complained. "I'm not properly dressed."
Belle handed him his sandwich and cast a critical eye over him. It was the first time that she had seen him minus tie, although she'd penned him minus several other garments on numerous occasions. She was very nearly on the verge of getting carried away in her imagination when a bite of sandwich went down the wrong way and she was brought back to reality with a heavy thwack between her shoulder blades.
"Are you all right?"
Belle nodded, acutely embarrassed, and she fished out the tea to distract her, taking a sip to soothe her throat. Gold took the lid off his cup and blew on it to get it to a more drinkable temperature. The steam made her realise the chill in the air and she shivered involuntarily.
"Cold, Miss French?" Gold asked.
"A bit."
Belle surveyed him over the top of her cup; he raised an eyebrow and took her up on her unspoken offer, scooting closer to her on the bench and putting an arm round her. She snuggled into his side a little. Locked in cold storage or not, they were sharing body heat. Ruby would be proud. They continued to eat in silence, enjoying the closeness. Belle's mind was in turmoil, trying to think about several things at once: Gold, Gary, whether Ruby had carried through on her fridge plans, the party, Sunday, the way Gold kept her pulled into his side…
A brainwave hit her.
"What are you doing on Saturday?" she asked suddenly.
"Why?"
Because I have a confession to make and I'd like to make it in the afternoon so that if it all goes pear-shaped I can count on Ruby to cheer me up at the party afterwards.
"Because Ruby's having a party and she thinks it would be an excellent opportunity to get to know you." Well, it was true.
Gold's mouth twitched.
"I have to go to Winchester on Saturday," he said. "It's a six-hour round trip and I'm not sure what frame of mind I'll be in when I get back."
"What's in Winchester?"
"It's where I used to live." His voice was quiet, closed. "What time is this party? I might be able to be unfashionably late. I wouldn't be able to escort you, is what I mean. It would be quite interesting to see if your friend is as mad as my initial impressions have led me to believe."
"Oh, she's worse," Belle assured. "She's bringing her Archie; I thought you might be able to give each other moral support. Everything's kicking off at about half-seven."
"If he's going out with Ruby then he'll probably need it." He paused. "I can't guarantee anything, but I'll try."
"Can't ask for more than that. Thank you."
Damn. That plan had come to absolutely nothing. Perhaps she could tell him at the party. Find a quiet corner in the kitchen and just come out with it. Then Ruby would be on hand, and he wouldn't make a scene in public in someone else's house, surely? On second thoughts, perhaps it wouldn't be quite such a good idea. If she could get through the next couple of days and set things in motion on Sunday, then she could at least tell him that she was doing something about it when she did tell him.
"Now then, Miss French," Gold began. "What have you got for dessert? Because I'm fairly certain that the wedges of carrot cake that you cut wouldn't fit in that bag."
"Well, I'm not the one doing the cutting today." Belle grinned. "But I have something special instead."
She pulled out Granny's latest pièce de résistance. Gold stared at it for a moment and burst out laughing.
"Are those carrot cake cupcakes?"
"Indeed they are. Granny's famous carrot cake, now in an easily portable form." The cupcakes were miniatures of the large cake in every way, even down to the sugar carrots on the top. "Granny's been working on them for a while and they only went on sale this morning. You are among the first to taste them."
"I am duly honoured." He held his cake up in a toast and knocked it against Belle's. "To the carrot cupcakes, long may they continue."
As the icing on the cakes kissed, so Belle leaned up to capture Gold's mouth, no tension on either of their parts this time. He tasted of tea and cranberry, and Belle sighed in happiness against his lips. She would have been quite happy to stay like that for an awful lot longer, but she was in danger of dropping the cake, so she broke away and busied herself in peeling the case off.
"Gold," she began, and tailed off. "Seriously, does everyone call you just Gold?"
"Everyone with any degree of sense," he replied. "Well, my parents never did, of course, but then parents are a law unto themselves. No, everyone's called me just Gold for as long as I can remember. Even my ex-wife called me Gold." He stopped suddenly and took a sharp intake of breath.
"Ex-wife?" Belle asked tentatively, willing him onwards. This was it; this was her opening to talk about Gary.
"Sorry, ex-spouses on the second date, that's not a good start. Divorced fifteen years ago, so let's move on. Swiftly."
No, let's not, said Belle's brain. My ex-spouse isn't actually ex yet… She sighed, she shouldn't have reacted, because he'd mistaken the tone of hope in her voice for one of disapproval, and now the line of conversation was closed. Gold was already talking about something else, and Belle had already made up her mind to keep quiet until after Sunday, when she could tell him that the matter was in hand. So she left it lie, and let him steer the conversation on to her childhood in Australia, his in Scotland, the carrot cakes; whilst she stayed nestled into his side and feeling as if she belonged there.
Presently Gold looked at his watch and groaned.
"It's quarter to two. Although I would far rather stay here with you, I have an appointment to keep."
Belle nodded.
"The Andersons."
"Yes. Unfortunately. Let's just say that they aren't my favourite clients," he added on seeing Belle's raised eyebrow. He unwrapped his arm from round her so that he could refasten his collar button and put his tie back on, and she missed his touch immediately.
"Hopefully, I shall see you on Saturday," he said.
"Ninety-three, Station Road, just down from the, erm, station," Belle said. "Knowing Ruby she'll have a big banner outside saying 'sorry you're leaving, Astrid'." She smiled and gathered up the remains of their lunch. "Might we be seeing you tomorrow to partake of the carrot cupcakes?"
"Sadly, no, I'm in court all day and then I have to go and see a client in Barnstable. I'll be thinking about them though. And about the person selling them even more."
Properly dressed again, he pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth.
"Thank you for lunch. You've cheered up the prospect of the afternoon no end."
"Thank you for coming. I'll see you soon?"
He grinned.
"Definitely."
"Good luck!" Belle called after him as he moved away. "Try not to frighten your temp too much!"
"I'll try!"
He paused and gave a little wave before he disappeared back down the hill towards the precinct. Belle pulled her knees up to her chest on the bench. She should have told him; she'd had the absolutely perfect opportunity and she was angry with herself for being a coward and not taking it.
She would have to tell him soon. But then again… Would he have told her about his first wife if he hadn't brought it up by accident?
It's not the same, her brain chided. He isn't still married to his.
"Oh, shut up," she told herself crossly, and she focused on the memory of the feel of his lips against hers. She had that if nothing else.
X
He should have told her, Gold thought irritably. He should have come straight out with it when she'd asked him what was in Winchester.
My son's grave is in Winchester and Saturday is the anniversary of his death.
He couldn't keep it from her forever. She now knew he'd been married before; it would only be a matter of time before she delved deeper into his life pre-Guildhall.
Enough of that. If he got there on Saturday and she asked him what he'd been doing, he would tell her. If he wasn't in a particularly sociable mood after the visit, then he'd forgo meeting Ruby and make a date to tell her on Sunday.
Gold opened the door to the offices and stopped short on seeing what appeared to be the entire company hovering in the reception area around Kathryn's desk.
"What?" he began, but Marina – Fox and Regina's secretary – waved at him to be quiet. From the floor above, two voices could clearly be heard arguing.
"It's Mr Glass and Ms Mills," Kathryn whispered. "They're having a…" She fumbled for a delicate way to put it. Marina rolled her eyes and took over.
"Sid and Her Majesty are having a domestic," she said plainly. "We're eavesdropping. Do join us, they've been going into ludicrously toe-curling detail."
Gold raised an eyebrow before cocking one ear up and listening.
"This is why you should never sleep with your colleagues," he warned the younger members of staff as Regina hurled a particularly cutting insult in the direction of Sid's bedroom ability and he responded in kind.
"What on earth is going on out here? Miss Tempest, I expected you back ten minutes ago… Ah." Fox had come out of his office in search of his secretary, caught the latest trade-off in the dispute upstairs and disappeared back from whence he came without another word.
"They've been at it half an hour," Dawn said giddily. "You've missed all the best bits. Marina was tempted to get them on tape as leverage for the next time that Mills throws a paddy with her."
Under the sound of the argument, footsteps could be heard creeping quietly down the stairs. Jefferson appeared at the top of the flight from the first floor down to reception. The poor man, a recently qualified junior residing on the top floor, looked rather shellshocked as he descended.
"You wouldn't believe the things I've been hearing up there," he murmured, his voice faint.
"Oh, we would," Marina replied cheerfully.
"My desk is directly above Sid's," Jefferson said mournfully. "I heard everything before they started arguing."
At this point, a door opened on the floor above and Regina stormed down the stairs, looking far from her usual unruffled self and glaring at the gathered crowd.
"What are you staring at?" she snapped as she passed them, heading into her office and slamming the door with enough force to make all the ornaments on Kathryn's desk jump two inches to the left. The afternoon's entertainment obviously over, the solicitors and secretaries began to make their ways back to their respective desks; Kathryn subtly reminding Jefferson that he had no appointments that afternoon if he wanted to take himself over the way for a restorative cup of tea.
Gold went the stairs up to his office, giving Sid's a wide berth, and got the Andersons' file out ready for his meeting. It was not going to be the most pleasant of afternoons, but a case was a case, and the sooner it was sorted out, the better for all parties. He closed his eyes and remembered the way that Belle had fitted into his side so snugly. She deserved the full story, but he was terrified of scaring her off. At least he had the memories, if nothing else.
To be continued. I know it seems that things are progressing slowly, but believe me, things will kick off next chapter... ;)
