Free When Only Cupcakes Will Do by Daisy James Page B

rugby pitch. Lucie found herself wondering whether, if Jess wasn’t interested, then perhaps… but she quickly chastised herself. She was still in mourning for her relationship with Alex.
    It had been four weeks since that fateful night at Tiffany’s and she had received only one measly text from him enquiring if she was coping with everything that had happened to her. Of course she wasn’t coping! Her life had fallen apart and his text had sounded like he was asking his elderly aunt about her lumbago. Her fingers had twitched to shoot back a reply, vacillating between an indignant response and a plea to meet her. Steph and Hollie had been adamant that she do neither. She had to admit, though, that she was surprised he’d resisted the temptation to snarl at her questionable stardom on the internet.
    â€˜Thanks so much for doing this, Matt,’ smiled Lucie.
    â€˜It’s no problem at all,’ he replied, casting a surreptitious glance in Jess’s direction. ‘So, what sort of vehicle do you have in mind for your Travelling Cupcake Company van?’
    While she explained to Matt what she was looking for, Jess and the boys sauntered around the garage, which looked more like a graveyard for mechanical objects of every species. Even an old washing machine carcass had been pressed into service as a makeshift kitchen table, sporting a rusty kettle and carton of milk. Lucie grimaced when she saw the state of the mugs. They paused to admire the DelftBlue Triumph Stag that had been liberated from the confines of Matt’s garage ready to be taken out for an Easter spin. Clearly Matt had spent the better part of the morning polishing her paintwork, which sparkled beneath the weak spring sunshine, instead of searching for chocolate eggs.
    â€˜How about this?’ Matt indicated an old white Ford Transit van he had clearly pulled out of the garage onto the forecourt for her to inspect. ‘It wouldn’t take me long to clean it up for you and give it an up-to-date MOT.’
    Lucie’s heart slumped in disappointment. ‘Mmm, bit uninspiring, don’t you think?’
    â€˜Were you thinking more along the lines of a customised Porsche Cayenne?’ he smirked.
    Lucie laughed. ‘That would be nice, but my bank manager would have a coronary. It’s just, I was hoping for something with a bit of character, that’s all.’
    â€˜It’s the most practical thing I have, I’m afraid.’
    Lucie scrunched her nose. ‘I think I’m looking for something quirky, something to set my business aside from all the others.’
    â€˜Well… in that case… maybe…’ pondered Matt, for some reason not able to meet Lucie’s eyes as he jangled a bunch of keys from his index finger. ‘It’s probably not exactly what you had in mind, but it certainly falls into the quirky category, if that’s what you want! I wasn’t sure what to do with it, to be honest.’
    â€˜Sounds interesting. What is it?’
    â€˜Perhaps you should wait until you see it. I’ll totally understand if you’re horrified. I’m not sure how I was duped into taking it, to be honest, but I had a great deal of fun renovating it. Don’t worry – the engine is sound. It didn’t have one when I liberated it from my cousin’s neighbour’s shed, so I paid peanuts for it. It was no big deal to fix in a second-hand motor from one of the scrap cars that pass my door every day. It runs smoothly, and I’ve given it an MOT until the end of the year and there’s a couple of months’ tax on it. So you’ll be ready to go. This way!’
    Lucie wondered why there was a faint smirk in his green eyes, or was it a splash of mischief? She left Jess and the boys admiring the vintage MG and followed him towards the storage yard at the back of the garage. She had relaxed straightaway in Matt’s company as he chatted with animation