Note: The usual: Thanks to the guest reviewers and no season 2 spoilers till further notice please.

Carrot Cake

Chapter Seven

It wasn't often that Belle reached the café before Emma of a morning, and it surprised her to find the shop locked and dark when she stepped into the precinct. It didn't bother her; Emma had evidently been held up somewhere and Belle would be perfectly fine on her own for a while. The café was never generally busy first thing in the morning, and it gave her time to indulge in memories of the previous evening. There had been the odd awkward moment, true, but by the end the conversation had flowed as easily as if they'd been talking to each other all their lives. And he had kissed her. As Ruby had said a long time ago, if lips met any part of the anatomy, it was a kiss. Nothing didn't count. She remembered the few long moments they'd spent in his car outside her flat. She'd have been quite happy to remain there even longer if it wasn't for the fact that he was double-parked. She'd secured the second date, and that was what was important, so no matter how she felt it had gone, she knew it couldn't have been a disaster. She'd had an idea, and she hoped she could pull it off.

Presently Belle's phone buzzed in her pocket to signal the arrival of a text and she was dragged back to reality. It was from Emma.

Henry ill, staying at home to look after him. Ruby will cover but has dentist so not in till 10:30. Sorry for short notice hang in there. E

Belle could hold her own for a couple of hours, but she wasn't looking forward to meeting Ruby earlier than anticipated. She held nothing but admiration for Emma and the way she juggled her job and being a single mother, and she didn't begrudge her the odd missed shift when something went wrong unexpectedly. Belle's mouth twitched slightly at the memory of being pregnant herself, wondering if, had her circumstances been different, she'd have found herself in the same situation as Emma. She shook herself out of her daydreaming and focused back on the present. She didn't think about the miscarriage often, it was nearly three years ago now, but occasionally she couldn't help but imagine the different paths that her life could have taken. Strangely enough, the path where she and Gary were a happy family never seemed to feature.

Belle finished turning all the chairs the right way up and switched on the till, the back lights in the cake display case, and the coffee machine before unlocking the door and switching the sign to open. She didn't have to wait long for her first customer. Mary Margaret came in for a cup of tea, yawning. She leaned on the counter resting her head in one hand, tracing patterns on the glass top whilst Belle got her drink. Mary Margaret was the first person that Belle had had any kind of contact with when she'd moved to the city, aside from her landlord. Belle had come into the precinct in search of work and made a bee line for the little florist's in one corner next to the huge and intimidating Primark. Her father had worked in plant nurseries all his life and she knew them like the back of her hand, so it had made sense to start at Fairest Flowers.

Mary Margaret, the proprietor, was very apologetic that she couldn't offer Belle any work, but seeing the waitressing on her CV she had pointed her in the direction of Granny's, and history had thus been made.

"So," Mary Margaret began, swirling her teabag round in the cardboard takeaway cup absent-mindedly. "How did your date go?"

Belle groaned.

"I told Ruby that everyone in the precinct would know soon."

Mary Margaret raised her eyebrows.

"Belle, I think everyone in the precinct has known for a while. I'm fairly certain that the only people who didn't realise that you were madly in love with each other were, well, each other."

"I wouldn't go as far as madly in love…"

"Well, ok, maybe I was exaggerating… Belle, it's only eight thirty-five. Stop staring out of the window; he won't be in till nine."

"Sorry." Belle grabbed a tea-towel and began to polish the top of the cake display to distract herself. "To answer your original question, it went very well, thank you. We went to Portofino on the corner of the green."

"Oh my God, the tiramisu!" Mary Margaret went off into a little Italian dessert fantasy. "David took me after we got engaged. The puddings are to die for. I could go and have an entire three-course meal just of desserts."

"They were most impressive." Belle grinned. "It was only nerves that stopped me nicking half his cheesecake as well as my tiramisu."

Mary Margaret tutted then took a sip of her tea, yelping when she realised that she had let it brew for far too long and she'd forgotten the sugar. She emptied three sachets into the cup, tested it again and added another.

"Just about drinkable," she pronounced. "Well, I'd better be off. I've got a big delivery of very expensive orchids coming in today. The guy's driving about a hundred miles with them, but it's worth it. The Royal Clarence is paying me a small fortune to do their ballroom and bridal suite arrangements for a big wedding this weekend, and if they're prepared to fork out for orchids then I'm prepared to wait for them." She paused and got her cup lid on after the third try. "I'm glad that you two have finally done something instead of just moping about like lovesick puppies."

Personally, Belle couldn't imagine Gold moping about like a lovesick puppy, but she left it lie. Mary Margaret left the shop with a little wave and Belle wondered how many of the café's other patrons would ask how things were progressing before the morning was through. Thankfully, her next customers weren't at all interested in her love life and she concentrated on doing the work of two people as efficiently as she could until half-past ten and Ruby's arrival. It was a shame that Belle knew she'd only had a check-up and a scale and polish, otherwise she'd be hoping that her friend had had something done which required gauze and anaesthetic and rendered her unable to speak.

"You little devil," were Ruby's first words to her as she came behind the counter tying her apron strings. "You unhooked your phone and switched your mobile off last night so that I couldn't get hold of you."

"I know. I'm sorry. I just wanted to enjoy the memories of the evening for a little while before I had to do a detailed date post-mortem with you."

"What if I'd wanted to make sure that you'd arrived home and Gold hadn't kidnapped you?"

"Ruby, I texted you to tell you I'd got back safely."

"Yes, but…" Ruby threw her hands up in despair and her eyes narrowed. "You didn't take him home, did you? Tell me you didn't take him home on the first date…"

"Ruby, of course I didn't take him home on the first date! I live in a one-bedroom ground-floor maisonette on a street populated predominantly by students! I wouldn't take Joe from the Black Horse home to it, let alone rich solicitors I've only known for a week and a half!"

"Thank God. I knew you weren't that type, but when your landline was unavailable I did start wondering at the possibilities… You are absolutely unbelievable, did you know that, Belle French?"

"Yes. I did." When Belle had turned her phone back on that morning, she'd been inundated with messages from Ruby, ranging in tone from threatening to downright pleading.

"So!" said Ruby eagerly. "You've had a night to bask in the glow of it, now you've got to tell me everything. This minute. Right now."

"Ruby, we're running a café here! And we'll be short-staffed come lunchtime…"

"Exactly. Tell me now, before the rush!"

"Fine." Belle proceeded to give Ruby a complete account of the evening from the moment they left the flat. "I got to the green and he was waiting outside the Clarence."

"He took you to the Clarence!" Ruby exclaimed. "You should have excused yourself and phoned me from the ladies!"

"No, he didn't take me to the Clarence."

"Oh, Damn."

Belle continued in her tale, occasionally breaking off to serve customers.

"So, it went well apart from the odd 'not-knowing-what-to-say' moment," Ruby concluded. "Sounds good to me."

Belle nodded.

"It's really quite sweet," she said. "He was obviously quite worried about the age difference between us, but he seemed to relax when I told him it was exactly the same as between my mum and dad."

Ruby raised a suggestive eyebrow.

"Older men," she said. "I keep telling you, there's a lot going for them." She grinned. "And you did sort of take him home."

"No, he took me to my home and didn't come inside," Belle countered. "It's entirely different."

They continued in silence for a while before Ruby spoke again.

"You haven't answered the all-important question yet," she said impatiently.

"That being?" Belle asked innocently.

"You said that he drove you home and that was where the story ended. But you did not tell me if he kissed you. Did he kiss you? Did you kiss him, for that matter?"

"Yes. To both. Lips made contact, but not with each other. I kissed his cheek and he reciprocated."

Ruby sighed.

"An excellent start. Tell me more."

"What more is there to tell?" Belle shrugged. "You can't dissect a kiss on the cheek."

Ruby positively exploded at this comment.

"What do you mean 'you can't dissect a kiss on the cheek'? Did you never do kiss analyses with your girlfriends before you moved here?"

"Not really. I was always a bit of a loner. The person I mainly discussed my dates with was my dad, and I didn't really go into kissing dynamics with him. I love him to bits, but that's just weird."

Ruby sighed.

"Well, we have a lot of catching up to do," she said, her voice nothing short of exasperated. "Was it a quick peck, or more lingering, as if he was hoping he could sort of work his way round to your mouth?"

"It was a kiss, Ruby! I don't know!"

"You are hopeless," said Ruby plainly. "I want you to make detailed notes next time. Think, my girl, think!"

Belle suppressed a howl of frustration.

"I don't think he would have done it if I hadn't kissed him first, but it lasted a little bit too long for him just to be doing it out of courtesy. My gut instinct is that yes, he wanted to kiss me, but he was too scared to make the first move. Is that enough analysis?"

Ruby nodded with a happy sigh.

"There really is no surprise that you two took so long to do anything," she said. "You're both as bad as each other."

"There was only one thing that truly puzzled me." Belle paused.

"What's that then?"

"Well, I told you that I felt a bit bad because he bought me wine when he wasn't drinking, and at the time I was more focused on that, but in hindsight something wasn't right." Belle thought back to the comment he'd made.

Your father's a lucky man. Lucky at being able to tell when he was up at the limit? For a few moments there had been a strange, haunted look in his eyes, the ghost of something long past behind them.

"Maybe he got done for drink-driving once or something," Ruby suggested.

"No, he said he'd always had a clean licence." Belle shrugged and Ruby followed suit.

"I'd keep an eye on the collecting habit if I were you though." Her friend looked at her sagely. "Just in case. You might end up with an obsessive-compulsive hoarder on your hands."

Belle gave her friend a hug.

"Ruby, I won't break. I'm tougher than you think. I've got a failed marriage behind me and an extensive collection of filthy books. I think I can handle life's eccentrics."

"I know," said Ruby. "And I really can't believe that he is an obsessive-compulsive hoarder. He doesn't strike me as one. Hello, what can I get for you today, stranger? It's been a while since we've seen you in these parts."

"Coffee please. Who doesn't strike you as an obsessive-compulsive hoarder?"

Belle turned at the voice.

"Dad?" she exclaimed in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, that's a nice way to welcome your old man," Moe said with feigned indignation. "I've just driven a hundred miles to see you."

"That's a lie, Dad, you know I work all day on Fridays and you never come to see me then."

"Ok, you caught me out. You couldn't whip me up a strong black coffee, could you, Sweetheart? I've been on my feet since half-past five,"

"Apart from the two hours you were sitting in your van on the motorway," Belle pointed out as she made the coffee.

"That'll be one eighty please, Mr French," said Ruby at the till.

"What? Can't I get family discount?"

"Dad, we don't get staff discount, so no, you can't get family-of-staff discount. Students get ten per cent off though, so enrol up at the uni and you could get a discount that way." Belle handed over Moe's cup. "So, what has brought you down here."

"Huge order." Moe beamed. "I've just delivered a couple of grand of orchids to the little shop round the corner."

Belle burst out laughing.

"Mary Margaret said she was expecting a big delivery this morning but I never dreamed it might be from you." She leaned over the counter to hug her father. "It's honestly good to see you, Dad. I was just surprised."

"Actually, since I'm here, there is something I need to talk to you about." Moe's expression was apologetic, and Belle's heart sank to her boots.

"What is it?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong per se," Moe said. His eyes flickered to Ruby, and Belle could tell that whatever he wanted to say, he wanted to tell her in private first. "Could you take a break and come out with me for a bit?"

Belle grimaced.

"Not really, it's nearly the rush and we're short-staffed today as it is."

Moe looked crestfallen, and Ruby hastened to remedy the situation.

"The rush should be over by three if you can hang on till then. I should be able to cope on my own for a bit."

Moe nodded and said his goodbyes, and Belle watched her father out of the door. Ruby raised her eyebrows.

"Wonder what that's going to be about?" she asked.

Belle shook her head. She didn't know, and she didn't want to think about it. Normally Moe just phoned her any important news. Belle had always been close to her father, even before her mother had died and they'd made the move to the UK from Australia. Although she was thousands of miles away from the rest of her relations, Belle hadn't minded the drastic uprooting because she'd had her dad, and that was what was important. He had been protective of his only child, certainly, but he had never tried to hide anything from her, always making sure that she was in full possession of the facts.

And he had always taken her side without question. When Belle had left Gary, Moe had welcomed her back into his home to lick her wounds without a word. There could be no question that Moe loved his daughter dearly and hated to see her unhappy, and it had been obvious to Belle that he knew his news was going to make her so. She dreaded to think what it could be, and by the time three o'clock came around, her hands were shaking so much that she could barely work the coffee machine.

"Go," Ruby said, taking her trembling fingers and squeezing them. "You'll be doing more harm than good soon. Go and wait for him outside."

Belle nodded and did as Ruby said, pulling on her green fleece over her uniform. Moe arrived dead on time and they walked a little further into the precinct, finding an empty bench on which to have their conversation.

"So, what's up?" Belle asked, once the usual opening chit-chat had been passed. She was trying very hard to keep the quaver out of her voice.

"Well, I thought you'd appreciate hearing this in person and hearing it from me first," Moe began.

"Are you ill?" Belle interrupted quickly. Moe shook his head. "Are you moving back to Australia?"

"No, nothing like that."

Belle immediately relaxed. Every other possibility she was fairly sure she could contend with.

"No, Belle, it's nothing to do with me at all really." Moe sighed. "It's Gary. He's been… He's been making noise about a reconciliation. He's been saying it's nearly two years and you still aren't divorced so he wants to make another go of it with you."

Belle froze.

"Well, I don't want to make another go of it with him," she said, her voice brittle. "I have a new life here, one I've built myself from scratch. I'm seeing someone new. I actually feel like I'm moving forward for once, which I never did before."

"I know, Sweetheart." Moe put an arm around his daughter. "I wasn't suggesting that you ought to go back to him. I was just warning you, because no matter what, you are still legally married."

"Don't remind me." Belle groaned and buried her face in her hands. She'd planned to tell the truth (well, correct the misappreciation) to Gold last night, but at the last moment her courage had failed her and she'd hidden behind the flimsy excuse that past marriages were not first date conversation material.

"I'm sure it'll all work out, Belle," Moe said, squeezing her shoulders. "And remember, I've always got your corner. So, tell me about this new man of yours."

Belle found herself recounting her date for the third time that day. She didn't mind, far from it, but this time she was acutely aware of her father's news hanging over her like a slowly ticking time bomb. Something was going to have to be done.

All too soon it was time for her to say goodbye to her father, wish him a safe journey home and go back to the café, where Ruby was waiting for her, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Granny's just been in; she says shes giving August a trial run and if he doesn't make a pig's ear of it, he's in. We'll get to check him out and see if he's suitable for Emma…" She tailed off on seeing her friend's obvious abstraction. "Belle, sorry, here I am gabbling on. What was your dad's news?"

"I'll tell you after closing," Belle said, wishing she could summon up more power and enthusiasm in her voice. Ruby nodded and the rest of their shift was spent in comparative quiet. On the stroke of six, Ruby locked the doors and perched on one of the bar stools by the window, patting the one next to it. Belle began at the beginning, and before long, everything was spilling out, her entire sorry story. She had never revealed the full extent of what had happened before she'd moved; she had simply informed her then-colleagues and now-friends that she was separated from her husband and ready for a fresh start. Now, she couldn't help but tell Ruby – a calm, sympathetic shoulder to cry on – everything. The dwindling relationship, the pregnancy, the marriage, the miscarriage, the rebound; it all came out in a rush of snotty tears. By the time she'd finished, Ruby had run out of tissues from her pocket pack. Her friend did not say anything for a long while, simply wrapping her arms around Belle and letting her snuffle to her last.

"It'll all work out in the wash, Belle, you'll see," she whispered eventually. "You'll see,"

Belle could only hope that Ruby was right.

To be continued