Ceramicist Beatrice Vale returns to Calder Lane for a practical commission: uncover the lane's surviving tilework and create handmade signs strong enough to satisfy a heritage grant. She means to keep the work professional, but the project is led by Theo Merrick, the town planner who knows her craft, her habits, and too much of the life she left behind. With the August Charter Fair approaching, a structural crack, a withdrawn shopkeeper, and a damaged kiln threaten the reopening of the neglected market street. Bea and Theo must decide whether to hide the flaws or build the future around them, working shop by shop through pressure, old hurt, and a partnership neither of them can pretend is only about the grant.
Ceramicist Beatrice Vale returns to Calder Lane for a practical commission: uncover the lane's surviving tilework and create handmade signs strong enough to satisfy a heritage grant. She means to keep the work professional, but the project is led by Theo Merrick, the town planner who knows her cr...