Baking Up A Storm

By Emma Hannigan

When Julie was forced to take a leave of absence from the bank due to ongoing neck trouble, her husband Norman had a lot to say on the matter.

“You’d better get that operation done and dusted quickly. I can’t be expected to do everything around here.”

“I didn’t decide to have disc trouble to annoy you. It’s not my fault,” Julie said through gritted teeth.

Her friends and her sister Claire had long since given up telling her to leave him. She’d stayed primarily for the children. He was a lousy husband but nobody could deny he was a great dad.

He was on the sideline for every rugby match the two boys played and nobody shouted louder at Jenny’s hockey.

Where he fell short was with Julie. She’d waited seventeen years for a compliment and she guessed she’d be waiting a lot longer for one, too.

They socialised separately as he didn’t trust anyone else to babysit. She knew he preferred the company of his snooker buddies, along with a few pints and curry, to a night out anywhere with her.

So Julie had her own gang too and enjoyed her girls’ nights out.

When the twinges first began in her neck and later eked down her right arm and even across her shoulders into her back, she saw her GP. He gave her painkillers and referred her for physio.

When nothing worked and the problem accelerated, she ended up having an MRI scan that showed she needed an operation and would need six months to recover.

The surgery went smoothly, mercifully. Well – surgically it was a success but unfortunately for Julie she was fine during the day but found it very painful to lie down and get comfortable at night. Norman was so irritated by “the bright glowing light” as she attempted to prop herself up on pillows and use her e-reader that she was forced from the warmth of her bed.

Deciding baking might be something nice to do, she rummaged through her collection of cookery books.

Choosing a recipe for cup cakes, she figured they’d make a nice treat for the lunch boxes in the morning.

The cakes turned out wonderfully and by the time they were iced and ready to present, it was wake-up time for the whole house.

“Mum, those look amazing,” said Robbie. “Can I bring some to school? They’d go down a treat after rugby training.”

“Hey, don’t take them all, greedy guts,” said Joe as he shouldered his younger brother out of the way.

Jenny was always watching her weight and at the age of thirteen it was, sadly, all about appearance, a battle Julie continually had with her.

“Beauty is skin deep, it’s how you treat others that matters most.”

But even Jenny was tempted by the wonderful baking smells and took two.

There was only one cup cake left by the time Norman appeared, which made him scowl.

“The early bird catches the worm, or in this case, bags the cakes,” said Robbie as he jostled him playfully. Suddenly the single remaining cake was deemed enough as they left for work and school.

Feeling half smug and half domestic goddess, Julie made a beeline for another cookery book and actually planned the following night’s baking.

As it happened Claire was coming to take her supermarket shopping, so she made a list, getting a bit carried away with all the delicious things she was going to produce.

As the nights wore on and the discomfort continued, Julie baked like a woman possessed!

“You’re probably making that neck worse stooping over a mixing bowl and bending your head in and out of that oven,” Norman said.

“The EARLY BIRD catches the worm, or in this case BAGS THE CAKES”

Yes, the shine wore off swiftly when he realised she wasn’t there when he felt like a cuddle – and that she was so enthralled with her new hobby.

The baking spilled into regular daytime hours as she grew in confidence. The children eventually confessed that they were giving stuff away in school as they were in danger of becoming Sumo wrestler-sized.

“Why don’t you approach the cafés in town?” Jenny suggested. “Someone must want this stuff. It’s so gorgeous but we simply can’t eat it all.”

Regulations stood in her way, but one of the more friendly café owners, a lovely lady called Silvia, suggested she take a stall at the Saturday market.

It was very easy to arrange and by Christmas, Julie was attracting a queue as fans waited to snap up her wares.

The thought of returning to the bank once she had recovered gave her a feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.

When Silvia from the café came to visit her at the stall, the last Saturday before Christmas, Julie knew it was fate. She was retiring, and wondered whether Julie would be interested in taking over her business? A quick and productive meeting with her boss at the bank served two very important purposes.

She resigned from her job – and got the backing to start her new business.

The New Year brought many changes. Julie told Norman she planned on moving into the flat upstairs as soon as the children finished school.

The shock of knowing he was in grave danger of losing her was like a reboot button for their marriage.

As they were walking out of the door to the official opening party, he took her hand saying, “You look really beautiful.”

Julie smiled as she realised it wasn’t going to take another seventeen years for him to compliment her, after all.

Baking had saved her sanity… maybe it would save her marriage, too.