The Toast Maker – Part 3: Sunday Fences

The Toast Maker — Episode 3
By Eliza Hartley

Welcome back, lovely listeners—tonight’s episode is all about the quiet intimacy of getting things done.

Last time, Iris and Tom graduated from emergency repairs to real progress: new posts sunk straight, fairy lights waiting, and the village happily treating her kitchen like a community hub.

In Episode 3, Sunday morning brings proper takeaway coffee and the satisfying, squeaky drama of fence panels going up—complete with a split board christened “the fault line,” Mrs Henderson’s window-side commentary, and Mr Pritchard arriving with “homemade” biscuits. Between drills, brackets, and lumpy carrot-and-coriander soup, Iris and Tom settle into a companionable rhythm that says more than conversation ever could.

Then Monday’s rain delivers a surprise: Mrs Halloway returns with a chicken-tin of recipe cards and marmalade lore—history you can actually hold. And just when Iris thinks she’s found her footing… Tom’s text turns Thursday into a question mark.

Settle in. The fairy lights are on.