My dad and I had been invited by Heather and her mother Eve to their London townhouse in Chelsea. We would have afternoon tea and Heather would decide on the type of sponge she would prefer for her wedding cake. I was excited to meet Heather again, but more importantly, excited to finally meet her supermodel mother for the first time.

I was curious to see if she would be as beautiful in the flesh as she was in pictures on the web. To my delight, I had no reason to be disappointed on that front. She was both beautiful and down-to-earth. I could see where Zachary and Heather had got their charm from.

I apologised on my dad's behalf as I settled onto the coach in their drawing room. 'My dad couldn't make it. We're having issues with the pipes in the bakery. Sorry for the short notice.'

Eve sat across from me, at a right angle, while Heather sat on the same side as me. The room was bright, light and airy with beautiful views onto their manicured garden. It was the sort of house which looked tasteful decorated, but not without any personality. There were blown-up photographs of The Malones on the on the walls and it seemed they had a lot of love to share.

'Oh don't worry about it, Candice,' Eve beamed. When she smiled, her whole face lit up — I understood completely how she had attracted so much success. She just had a fantastic energy around her. 'Things happen in our lives that we can't control. But you're here. We've both heard so much about you.'

'Really?' I sat up a little in my seat, curious and more than a little bit flattered that I had been the subject for discussion in this family.

Eve nodded. 'Yes, Peter and I have never seen Zachary so enthused about someone. You've really made an impact on him, I think.'

Astounded, I stared at her, unwilling to believe that I could have touched him in such a way when I hadn't really known how to handle my whirlwind of emotions in the first place. I hadn't had enough experience.

'You look surprised,' Eve smiled.

Her daughter peered at me and giggled. 'Candy's right to be stunned, Mummy. Zach isn't exactly the easiest person to befriend. We still love him though. However temperamental he is.'

I was blushing so much I thought I'd never recover. But I somehow managed to string a sentence together. 'Thank you. I had no idea. I've enjoyed getting to know Zach. He's been a very good friend to me.'

Mother and daughter exchanged smiles with me.

Eve began to pour tea into the dainty porcelain cups in front of us. She did all this so smoothly that it was like watching an art performance. I marvelled at her sense of control and calm. Heather was just as serene as she as she observed her mother. When Eve was finished, she passed me a cup to give to Heather and we settled into a peaceful companionable silence.

The mantelpiece clock ticked and the birds sang.

It was a lovely afternoon to be taking tea with two other women. For the next hour or so, I took out all the thirty sponge samples Heather and her fiancé had narrowed their wedding cake preferences to over the last few weeks.

Luckily Heather was quite decisive in rejecting the flavours she didn't like. Although, she took care to assure me that some of the samples were splendid, but she couldn't imagine her cake being made of it completely.

'We can make different tiers, different flavours, if you like,' I suggested.

Heather took a sip of her tea and lay back on the coach, her fingers threaded over her stomach in defeat. 'That's a good idea. We might do that. What do you think, Mummy?'

Eve complimented me on the lemon cake sample, before turning to address her daughter.

'Whatever you want, baby. You could have a vanilla sponge and a chocolate sponge, so people can choose whichever flavour they like best.'

Heather seemed to like this idea because she clapped her hands. 'Of course! That's perfect. And so obvious. Why didn't I think of it?'

'That's why team work exists,' I smiled warmly at Heather. To my surprise, she reached across to squeeze my hand.

'I am so grateful to have Jeremy as our baker. Mummy and I have looked at his portfolio and we've been impressed with his talent. And he's such a lovely man.'

'We couldn't have chosen a better person for the job,' Eve agreed.

I was touched. I didn't know that I could feel such happiness and gratitude for my dad gaining such a wonderful opportunity to show off his talents. My father was a modest man, but I knew that he would be tickled pink to be praised by two women, who thought so highly of him.

'Well, I will pass on your words to my dad. Thank you. We hope we can deliver a splendid cake fit for a future duchess...' I raised my tea cup to Heather as I said the last line.

She giggled and blushed at my words. 'Oh Candy, I'll still be me. Hopefully I won't be a duchess for a little while yet. It sounds too stuffy. At heart, I think I'm just a 'country girl' like mummy.'

Eve looked on in amusement. 'My love, you'll be a sensation.'

'Speaking of sensation, I think I have the perfect cake slice for you...' I took out a container from the picnic hamper.

'Oh really?' Heather said eagerly; she leaned forward a little as though anticipating the taste of the cake.

'Oh yes!' I said gleefully, unclipping the lid from the container. I placed the soft, melt-in-the-mouth, indulgent samples onto plates for mother and daughter. Then I passed it along to both. They stared at the cake sample on the plate, sniffing it. Eve smiled contentedly; Heather squealed in delight.

'It's very soft. Feels moist,' Eve murmured.

'Smells divine! What is it? Chocolate cake?' Heather asked before she took a bite.

'Devil's food cake,' I couldn't help think of a certain bad boy I'd met almost a year ago. One who hadn't even said so much as a greeting to me, but would continue to play a big part in my life.

After enthusiastic sounds of delight and assent, it was agreed that our Devil's Food Cake was indeed a triumph, worthy of being included in Zachary's sister's wedding cake.

* * *

'I don't know what's up with Cary these days,' Heather remarked, her forehead creasing in concern as she pondered. 'He's been a bit withdrawn lately. With him, it's either girl problems or exam stress. Although, we haven't heard much about either for a while.'

'Who's Cary?' I said. Heather had been showing me around her parents' gorgeous London townhouse and given me a quick run down of each of the rooms, starting with the dining room and ending with her bedroom.

Her own room was airy and massive, but not so much that it overwhelmed the two of us. The decor was done up in a rustic, but sophisticated style. There was a vase of hyacinths on a side table. A writing desk with her diary in the middle with odd bits and bobs scattered, hairbands and pens and the like. A boudoir was directly opposite her Queen-sized bed facing the windows. The tall windows took pride of place, so that when she woke up each morning, the sunlight would stream through the peach-coloured curtains, bathing her with warmth and promise. It was the most beautiful bedroom I'd ever seen, befitting a future duchess.

'Oh, that's mummy's nickname for Zach,' Heather continued, brimming with same energy as her older brother Zach had whenever he was excited about sharing something. 'She wanted to name him after Cary Grant, you know the old Hollywood movie star. Sexy suits. Handsome. Her favourite actor. But Daddy was against it. He didn't want his only son to be saddled with a girlish name. He wanted something a bit more... traditional. They settled on Zachary as a compromise. So to us, he's Zach and to her, he'll always be sweet, sensitive, saintly Cary.'

'Ah,' I tilted my head upwards in acknowledgement, 'Cary and Hetty.'

'Exactly!' she giggled. She was a doll. Admittedly, I sometimes held a rather black and white picture of people's qualities and was prone to judging a person based on my first impression of them, but I think meeting and getting to know The Malones had been an interesting experience. By my experience meeting the two women in Zachary's life, I'd come to realise they weren't as stuffy or stuck-up as I'd anticipated. They had a lot more wealth, sure, but I believed they were ultimately good-hearted people with a strong charitable spirit. Just like any family they probably had their secrets and tragedies, but they seemed to be the best type - the sort that just got on with it.

'Hey!' My new friend exclaimed. 'Do you want to see what Cary is doing right now, Candy? — I am allowed to call you call you Candy?'

'Yeah, sure. To both ideas,' I agreed.

'Wonderful!' She beamed. 'I can tell we're going to be the best of friends. I can't believe that my moody grumpy-boots brother has been hiding you for so long. Sometimes I think he's utterly selfish. Don't tell him this, but sometimes I think my parents should have given him away to an orphanage in some obscure Central European country. He's such a demon!'

If I'd heard Heather say this six months ago, I would have wholeheartedly agree with her on that front, but now... I was starting to regret my initial assessment of Zachary. True, he had been very rude to me at the start, but I was starting to understand him. He was an utter pragmatist and, in some ways, he was starting to rub off on me.

'But he does have his good points,' she winked, as if she knew something about me, something which I'd thought about quite a bit over the last few months. More so, since my split from Jonny in June.

'Oh, he does,' I chuckled, remembering the way he smiled — the sheer joy that emanated from him on those rare occasions when he was euphorically happy. I took in the breathtaking view of the garden. It was perfectly maintained — there was an explosion of flowers with an immaculate gleaming, green lawn.

Just as I was about to make a comment on their garden, the door burst open. Zachary came flying in, breathless. 'Het, where's is she?' He sounded panicked as though he'd missed something... or someone in his haste to get here.

Heather was silent as she took in his flustered appearance, before a delighted smile worked its way on her delicate features. Tilting her head, she gestured that I was over there, by the window.

Although, she didn't even need to, because he was looking straight at me. His blue eyes landed on mine making my the butterflies multiply in my stomach. I doubt I could have even mustered a few words — the power of speech had completely faded from me.

It seemed like he was going through the same emotions; his lips parted as took me in, as though I was the most beautiful view he'd ever seen.

Then, much to my regret and relief, he swivelled around and left the room.

Hetty exhaled and fanned her hand close to her face. She flopped onto the bed, remarking that it had suddenly got very hot indeed.

I was blushing like crazy. And Zachary wasn't exactly helping the situation. As I turned back round to gather myself by staring resolutely at the window, I saw a familiar figure standing on the lawn, looking up at me.

His gaze was like heavenly fire burning into my skin. My mouth gaped a little as he blew me a kiss with the first two digits of his hand. Fingers crossed.

* * *

Later that evening, I received a text from him: 

I missed you too, Candy. :( ;)

Chuckling into my pillow, I slept well that night.