Free The Little Village Bakery: A feel good romantic comedy with plenty of cake (Honeybourne Book 1) by Tilly Tennant Page B

lotions – all natural. People tell me they work. And I would need somewhere to make them, but it wouldn’t require enormous ovens.’
    Jasmine’s eyes widened, another chip held halfway to her mouth. ‘You can? But that’s brilliant!’
    ‘It is?’
    ‘I’ve been thinking about expanding the craft business to sell natural toiletries and things. I had thought I would learn how to make them, but never seemed to have the time. We could work together, it would be perfect.’
    Rich looked up from his meal. For a moment, it seemed he would offer some argument, but as Jasmine shot him a warning glance, so subtle that only the two of them would understand what it meant, he put his head down again and shoved a forkful of steak into his mouth.
    ‘It would make craft fairs and markets a lot more fun if someone came with me,’ Jasmine continued. ‘I’m always bored standing there all day on my own, especially if we have a quiet one. You could sell your stuff alongside mine and we each keep what we make. We can split the hire of the stall between us.’ She smiled brightly. ‘You get to earn towards the bakery renovations, I get some company and halve my overheads in one fell swoop – everyone wins!’
    ‘It still won’t earn enough,’ Millie insisted.
    ‘Have you seen what people charge for that stuff?’ Dylan put in. ‘I’m sure you could turn a profit from some old bits of weed found in your garden.’
    ‘I don’t think it’s as simple as that,’ Millie laughed, in spite of herself.
    ‘What about internet sales too?’ Jasmine offered. ‘I sell my stuff on my own website, but also on eBay, Amazon Marketplace, Etsy – there are loads of outlets.’
    Spencer raised his hand. ‘Is this as well as the crowdfunding and calling in favours from villagers?’
    ‘I don’t see why not,’ Jasmine said. ‘Every avenue should be explored.’
    ‘Only,’ Spencer continued, ‘that’s an awful lot of balls to juggle for Millie.’
    Millie shot him a look somewhere between gratitude and annoyance. While she was grateful for Jasmine’s enthusiasm, she couldn’t help the foreboding now creeping over her that this venture was going to end badly. Spencer’s well-intentioned argument might have seemed misguided, but it could get her out of a potentially sticky situation.
    ‘I think it’s perfect,’ Dylan offered.
    Jasmine beamed at him. ‘Of course it is,’ she replied airily. ‘It was my idea, after all…’

6
    M illie sat on the cool floor of the bakery in the chalk circle she had drawn for herself. It wasn’t that she was in danger, but she was feeling vulnerable. As she sat surrounded by candles, their golden light flickering on her anxious features, the circle made her feel safe.
    How was it that she had agreed in the end to Jasmine’s plans? Jasmine had once said that Dylan was the sibling with the gift of the gab, but now Millie wasn’t so sure. Whatever had happened, they had parted company at the doors of the pub, Jasmine a little flushed from her afternoon tipple and in something of a rush as she and Rich realised that the triplets were overdue to be picked up from their playdate at the house of school friends, with promises to start work on their new schemes the following day. Dylan was overseeing the online campaign, while Spencer and Rich would use their connections in the village to see what help they could source, leaving Jasmine and Millie to formulate a business strategy that would enable them to work successfully together. Working with Jasmine was the one aspect of the whole thing that Millie was really looking forward to. Already, ideas for new products were bouncing around her head. The first thing she had done when she got back to the bakery was to search her boxes for the books that contained all the knowledge she would need to make them.
    Open in front of her now was one such book. But although she was diligently trying to read the page that explained how to recognise and use