‘Well,’ said Caroline, bustling off to tidy up, ‘I don’t have time to explain it to you now. In fact, why don’t you go to the States and find out?’

‘And cilantro,’ Pearl called to her retreating back. ‘What’s cilantro, Caroline?’

Pearl and Issy shared a smile, but it didn’t help Issy’s problem. The bell tinged as Doti came in, without Maya today.

‘Where’s your glamorous assistant?’ said Pearl, far too quickly, in Issy’s opinion, for someone who was meant to be making a go of it with someone else and wasn’t at all interested in the postman. Even Doti looked surprised.

‘Oh, she’s doing so well I’ve let her take some of the run on her own,’ he said, unleashing a block of cards wrapped up in a small red elastic band, and a large box.

‘Hurrah,’ said Issy. She had been completely surprised when people had started sending Christmas cards to the shop – it would never have occurred to her to do so. But they’d had one from Tom and Carly; Tobes and Trinida; from the students, Lauren and Joaquim, who had looked longingly at each other across the smallest, cheapest cappuccinos for months on end before finally plucking up the courage to talk to one another and were now madly in love, which was fantastic for them, but a bit of a loss of income; from Mrs Hanowitz, even though she didn’t celebrate Christmas, who thought Louis might like a picture of a polar bear wearing a hat (he did); and even from Des, the estate agent who’d rented them the property in the first place. And as Issy had strung the cards up around the shop (Pearl grumbling about dust), more and more people had joined in, and now they had a lot. So Issy had thought about it and decided as a marketing cost (she said this to placate Pearl and Austin) to get some printed up. She’d enlisted her printer friend Zac, and Louis’ artistic talents, and now they’d come back and they looked lovely.

Caroline had sniffed and said why didn’t they go for minimalist, and Issy had pointed out that when you sold cakes with three inches of pink glitter icing sitting on the top, nobody was going to mistake you for a Scandinavian furniture shop, and didn’t Caroline think Louis’ drawing was nice, and Caroline had said you had to be careful not to over-praise children – it was bad for them and meant they’d never achieve – and Louis had overheard and asked Issy what ovah-pwaze meant, and Issy had come closer to sacking someone than she’d ever thought possible.

Merry Christmas from all at the Cupcake Café

‘Well, aren’t they lovely?’ said Doti.

Issy nodded, then sighed. ‘Better add getting these out to my to-do list.’

Pearl rolled her eyes. ‘She won’t go to America to see her boyfriend on a free flight,’ she said. ‘Boo hoo hoo.’

‘Why not?’ said Doti kindly.

‘Because there’s too much to do and I don’t want to leave the shop,’ said Issy, expertly making up three hot chocolates and handing them over to some back-packers while spraying whipped cream on a nut latte for a fourth.

Pearl slipped four cranberry and fig cupcakes decorated with holly on to a plate whilst pouring two orange juices, wiping the surface, taking money, giving change and rearranging the front of the glass cabinet.

‘Why can’t you leave the shop?’ persisted Doti.

‘Because we’re too busy,’ said Issy. ‘Which is nice, but it means I can’t really go.’

Doti looked confused, as Maya clanged open the door behind him.

‘Oh, I love this place,’ she said, beaming her lovely smile.

Pearl gave her a surly look. ‘Hello, Maya,’ she said. ‘I like your outfit.’

Maya looked down at the standard-issue postman anorak she was wearing, which looked at least four sizes too big for her.

‘Really?’ she said, then anxiously, ‘You’re joking, right?’

‘She is joking,’ said Doti sternly. ‘Pearl is actually very nice, aren’t you, Pearl?’

‘Do you want coffee?’ said Pearl.

‘I’ve finished my round!’ said Maya. ‘We’re a good team.’

Doti looked at Issy. ‘What’s that, Maya? You’ve finished for the day? Wouldn’t it be lovely to have an extra job at Christmas time?’

Maya glanced at Doti and then at Issy.

‘You’re not hiring, are you?’ she said, a flare of excitement in her eyes.

Issy shot Doti a cross look.

‘No, no.’

‘It’s quite hard,’ said Pearl. ‘You’d need training.’

‘Ha,’ said Caroline from down in the kitchen.

‘I don’t understand,’ said Doti slowly. ‘If Maya could work for a few days so you could go and see your beloved, wouldn’t that be a good idea?’

‘It’s not that simple,’ said Issy. She was very reluctant to say that she would worry about not being in charge.

‘Can’t Pearl be in charge?’

‘Well …’ said Issy.

‘Don’t you think I could do it?’ said Pearl.

‘Of course you could,’ said Issy. ‘Of course. I mean, yes, we could narrow our menu … I’ll leave my book.’

‘I’d be completely fine,’ said Pearl. ‘And also, when I cash up, mine comes out even.’

‘Don’t rub it in,’ said Issy.

‘I …’ Maya’s face looked excited, then fell a little. She looked extremely young. ‘Sorry,’ she said. ‘It’s just … I’ve been job-hunting for six months. The idea of getting two … well. It would be amazing.’

‘It would only be for a few days,’ warned Issy.

‘It would be such a help,’ said Maya.

‘She’s a fast learner,’ said Doti.

‘Issy, did you break the new bowl?’ shouted up Caroline from the cellar.

Issy’s phone buzzed with a text. It was from Austin and said simply, ‘17.35 Heathrow Terminal 5. YES!!!!!’

This should, she knew, fill her with joy and excitement. Instead, irrationally, it made her a bit cross. It seemed presumptuous and bossy, as if she was being railroaded into a decision that wasn’t hers at all.

She noticed on her smartphone (a birthday present from Austin that Darny kept trying to show her how to use and she kept forgetting) that she also had an email. Most of her emails came direct to