Nell was pulling crumbs out of the bakery's card reader when Iris called.
She answered with the phone wedged against her shoulder. “If you've bought another cake, we're getting married.”
“Nell.”
Something in her voice made Nell put down the little brush.
“What?”
“They called me.”
“Who?”
“The radio. They called me.”
From the back of the bakery, somebody shouted for another clean tray. Nell watched a car go past the window.
“You've won something?”
“The draw. I've won the draw.”
“Iris.”
“I know.”
“The big one?”
Iris started laughing. It sounded as though she'd dropped something and couldn't believe the mess.
“Three hundred thousand,” she said. “They said my name. They asked me to say it. I forgot my own surname.”
Nell sat on the stool behind the counter. She could feel the phone slipping, her shoulder no longer strong enough to hold it.
“Are you sure it was them?”
“Yes. I checked. Listen to the station. It was live. They're putting it up as well.”
“Where are you?”
“Outside work. By the bins.”
“Go somewhere nicer. You're rich.”
That did it. Iris laughed and Nell laughed too, loudly enough that her coworker appeared in the kitchen doorway.
“Everything all right?”
Nell covered the phone. “My best friend just won three hundred thousand dollars.”
The woman's hand stayed on the doorframe. “Shut up.”
“I can't.”
Nell ended the call only after making Iris promise to come straight to the bakery when she finished. Then she put the radio on her phone and listened to two songs, the weather, and an advert for windows before the presenter mentioned Iris's name.
Iris Vale from Bellweather. Winner of the Big Draw.
There it was. Real enough for strangers to hear.
Sam's reply came before Nell had finished sending the news.
WHAT.
Then: I'm coming.
She told him she still had three hours of work. He sent a picture of a flatbread with YES written across it in sauce.
For the rest of the shift, Nell kept finding herself smiling at people who hadn't said anything funny. She put a loaf in a bag for a man who normally complained about the price and nearly told him he could have it. But the loaf belonged to the bakery, so she charged him and wished him a good afternoon instead.
Near closing, Iris arrived with Ben behind her. He had a bunch of flowers still in their supermarket sleeve. Iris's face was flushed, her jacket buttoned wrong.
Nell came around the counter and ran into her. Their hug knocked Iris back into Ben.
“Sorry,” Nell said into Iris's hair.
“Don't be.”
“You actually did it.”
Iris held her tighter.
Sam came through the door carrying a cheap bottle of sparkling wine. He raised it above his head. “This isn't the expensive one. We have to stay humble for at least a day.”
“We can't drink that here,” Nell said.
“Then finish.”
He took off his jacket and got a broom. Ben asked where she wanted the chairs. Iris gathered the last cups from the window table without asking and put them in the wash basket. In fifteen minutes the bakery was clean, the lights off, and Nell was standing outside with her friends and the key in her hand.
They took the bottle back to the flat. Nell fetched the cracked glasses. Sam found two ordinary ones for himself and Ben. The cork hit the cupboard and Iris flinched, then laughed at herself.
“To Iris,” Ben said.
Nell held up her glass. “To never fighting over the heating again.”
“To taking a day off,” Sam added.
Iris drank, then put a hand over her mouth as if she was afraid the smile would get too big.
Ben kissed her forehead. Nell watched Iris lean back against him. For once she wasn't arranging plates or noticing what somebody needed. She looked dazed and happy, and Nell wanted the feeling to last forever.
They ordered dinner. Iris paid without waiting for anybody to reach for a phone. When the food arrived, she insisted they eat from the cartons. No washing up on this night.
“Have you got it already?” Ben asked.
“Not yet. There's the checks and all that. They said they'd talk me through it.”
“So we shouldn't buy an island this evening,” Nell said.
Iris pointed her fork at her. “You weren't getting an island.”
“Fine. Peninsula.”
Later, Ben left for an early start and Sam went with him to get a ride home. Nell kissed Sam at the door. His arm stayed around her waist while Iris collected empty cartons behind them.
“Northbay,” he whispered.
She nodded, hardly trusting herself to say it.
When they were alone, Nell and Iris lay on the sofa, feet tangled, looking at things on Nell's phone. A coat without a broken zip. New kitchen chairs. A hotel with a bath beside an enormous window.
“Nobody needs that,” Iris said.
“I do. I want to sit in water and judge the people outside.”
“They can see you.”
“Then they can judge me back. It seems fair.”
They moved on to houses for rent. Nell wasn't sure how much of Iris's money she'd want to spend on a home. Half of three hundred thousand was more than she'd ever managed to imagine having. She didn't need every answer tonight.
One house had a yellow front door and a little garden. Iris took the phone from her.
“Look at the kitchen.”
Nell looked. Counters on three sides. A dishwasher.
“A room for the dishwasher,” she said.
Iris grinned. “And look upstairs.”
Three bedrooms. One had a window seat.
Nell imagined sitting there with a book while it rained. Then she thought about the food stand, three hours away, and being sweaty and tired beside Sam.
Both pictures seemed possible now.
Iris tapped the contact button.
“What are you doing?”
“Asking about a viewing.”
“Tonight?”
“They can answer tomorrow.”
She typed quickly, then handed the phone back. Nell's own name had been in the browser's little form. Iris had replaced it with hers.
“Ben'll like it,” Nell said.
“He'd better. I've already shown him the picture.”
“You're moving in together?”
“We've talked about it. Haven't picked anywhere yet.”
Nell sat up to free her feet. Iris was still looking at the yellow door.
“We should get a proper breakfast tomorrow,” Nell said. “Somewhere we don't work.”
“I'm meeting the woman about the house at ten.”
“Already?”
Iris tipped her phone toward Nell. There was a reply.
“Come after,” Nell said.
“I'll see how long it takes.”
Nell gathered the glasses. In the kitchen she rinsed hers and put it upside down on the towel. There was a little fresh nick on the rim. She hadn't noticed it while they were toasting.
She dried the second glass carefully and put it beside the first. Then she went back to Iris, who lifted her legs so Nell could sit down.