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pocket with the specifications at Annie.
    Annie took it absentmindedly. The name: Carnegie. She had heard it last week, and months ago when the order was made. It wasn’t the first cake they’d made for the family, but although the name always resonated uncomfortably with her and prompted mild conjecture, it hadn’t held the significance it did today.
    ‘Annie?’ Carol said, when she didn’t reply.
    ‘I’ll look,’ Jodie volunteered, giving Annie a puzzled glance while she brought the order up on the screen. ‘Carnegie … yeah, I remember. He drinks, she doesn’t. The daughter says she thinks it would be OK to put booze in if it’s not too strong. She was leaving it to us.’
    ‘It tastes nicer with a wee tot,’ Carol suggested.
    Annie handed the spec. back to Carol, but couldn’t focus,her gaze still far away. Could this be Charles’s family? His parents, maybe, or an uncle and aunt? Would Charles himself be at the anniversary party?
    ‘Use your judgment,’ Jodie was saying. ‘If it were me, I’d put some in. Once it’s baked it doesn’t taste of alcohol anyway, it just tastes better.’
    ‘As long as she’s not allergic or anything.’
    Jodie shook her head. ‘The daughter would’ve said, surely. Anyway, they’ve been married sixty years. If she croaks after a bite of anniversary cake, at least they’ll have had a good run for their marital money.’
    Carol chuckled. ‘Mightn’t be too hot for business if the clients start keeling over.’
    ‘True, but he must be almost dead himself if he’s been married that long.’
    ‘Mind boggles. I’ve done twenty-eight and that’s nearly killed me!’
    ‘Not quite what I meant,’ Jodie grinned.
    Annie heard their banter, but couldn’t respond. She shook herself. ‘Sorry, missed that.’ She looked apologetically at Carol.
    ‘We were just speculating about Mrs Carnegie’s demise, Snow White-style, from a bite of Carol’s booze-infused sponge,’ said Jodie, trying to control her laughter, but Carol obviously noticed Annie’s blank face and gave her a questioning look.
    ‘I’d better get on,’ Carol muttered, before making a quick exit.
    ‘Are you OK?’ Jodie asked.
    ‘Fine. I’m fine,’ Annie assured her manager. ‘Can I just take a look at the Carnegie order?’
    Jodie frowned. ‘I don’t think there’s a problem. The daughter definitely left it up to us to decide on the alcohol content. We were only joking about Mrs Carnegie.’
    ‘No, I know that. I just wanted to check something.’
    Jodie moved over. Annie took her seat, and examined the detail of the order. It was from a Mrs Laura Mackenzie. Charles’s sister, she remembered, had been called Venetia. She let her breath out slowly. There must be hundreds of Carnegies, but she remembered her mother saying Charles’s parents had a boat. Had he another sister? Daniel would surely want to meet his father, however disastrous it might prove. Her mother could track him down, no doubt. Eleanor kept up with many of her previous pupils from the days when she ran the smart finishing school for ‘young ladies’ in Knightsbridge that she’d named the Westbury Academy. But the thought of finally telling her mother the name of Daniel’s father filled her with dismay. She could already hear the recriminations.
    ‘OK,’ she said to Jodie, closing the document and repressing a sudden desire to confess everything to her. Her mobile bleeped. A text:
    Thanks for getting back to me. Yes, I can make 27th.
Look forward to meeting you then. Regards, Daniel Gray.
    *
    Annie’s mobile rang as she was preparing supper that evening. She grabbed the phone eagerly.
    ‘Annie?’ Marjory’s husky voice sounded expectant.
    ‘Marjory, hi. Thanks for calling back. I just wanted to say that we’re on. He’s coming … yes, yes, very exciting… see you then.’
    ‘Who’s coming, and why is it so exciting?’
    Annie jumped and spun round. She hadn’t heard Lucy come in.
    ‘Umm … oh, just