Page 62 of Christmas at the Little Bookshop by the Sea

THIRTY-EIGHT

WEDNESDAY 20TH DECEMBER

Stella managed an early finish thanks to the defence barrister in the armed robbery trial she was prosecuting having suddenly taken ill. She’d sent round a quick text to the group of friends, offering them all a lift to Clifftop Cottage. Having recently switched her sporty Mercedes for a sleek Range Rover Evoque in a stylish shade of metallic grey she now had room for everyone.

‘Were you being so savage in court, you frightened the life out of your opponent and made him ill?’ Jasmine asked, when they were driving down Skitey Bank, making them all giggle. Her mum, now fully recovered from her stomach bug, had said she’d sit with Zak and Chloe while Jasmine popped out.

‘Not at all. Aiken Ferdinand is very experienced, fights his corner. He’d been complaining of feeling rough in the robing room first thing. Thought he’d eaten something dodgy the night before. Poor Ferdy actually looked green when we were in court, so I’m amazed he managed to keep going as long as he did. The judge adjourned till tomorrow in the hope he’ll be feeling better, but from the way he was looking I very much doubt it.’

Bear met them at the door of Clifftop Cottage, his huge shoulders filling the space, a beaming smile on his face.

‘Hello, Daddy Bear,’ said Lark, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his whiskery cheek.

‘“Daddy Bear”, I like that,’ he said, his beam growing wider. ‘Come in, lasses, Mags is dying to see you all.’

In the cosy kitchen, they found Maggie sitting on a cluster of plumped-up cushions in a rocking chair by the Aga, a little bundle snuggled up in her arms, their Labrador Daphne lying protectively at her feet. The warmth of the room stood in stark contrast to the bitterly cold temperatures that raged outside.

‘Mags, congratulations! You look gorgeous,’ said Florrie, taking in the picture of contentment before her. It was true – Maggie looked positively radiant, her cheeks flushed pink, her hair glossy. Florrie’s heart filled with happiness for her friend, who’d been desperate for this day to arrive for so long.

A flurry of congratulations followed as Bear filled the kettle in readiness for an enthusiastic round of tea drinking and Maggie filled them in on what had happened after they’d made their hasty exit from Danskelfe Castle.

‘Lady Caro was amazing and ever so calm. She just took control and got us there safely, saying to call her if we needed anything. She gave Bear her private phone number,’ Maggie said in amazement.

‘Quite a way to end the sleigh ride, Mags.’ Jasmine giggled. ‘Which, I might add, was a fantastic experience. I won’t go on about how you all shouldn’t have spent so much on the kids and me – which you did, by the way – but seeing the expressions on their faces was priceless. They haven’t stopped talking about it. So, thank you all.’

‘It gave us so much pleasure to see them enjoying themselves too, Jazz. They’re adorable children.’ Lark gave one of her gentle smiles. ‘And it was definitely something amazing to add to The Happy Christmas Memory Project. I’ll bet Ed’s still talking about it, too.’

All eyes turned to Florrie. She mustered up her best smile and said, ‘He loved it. It’s thanks to Stella for mentioning it, and it looks as though going over those bumps helped with this little one’s arrival.’Time to divert attention away from Ed and The Happy Christmas Memory Project.

Which worked perfectly. While Maggie set to opening the pile of gifts they’d brought, each of the friends took a turn in holding baby Lucy, even Stella who’d sworn she was never going to have children, declaring herself allergic to them. ‘Seems you’re a natural, Stells,’ Jasmine said, a knowing look in her eye as their friend got to her feet, rocking the little bundle in her arms, gazing down at her in wonder.

‘You’ll be next, flower,’ said Maggie, waggling her eyebrows, when it was Florrie’s turn for a cuddle.

‘I’m not so sure about that,’ Florrie replied, more lightly than she was feeling. A pang of loss squeezed in her chest and she pushed away the image of Ed that had loomed in her mind. She couldn’t imagine that featuring in her life plan any time soon. Her heart twisted at the thought.

It was when she was driving home that she peeled off her brave face, let her act drop and allowed the tears to flow. And flow they did, leaving her all puffy eyed and snotty nosed. The hurt Florrie felt at Ed’s unexpected departure went way deeper than the first time. It was going to take an age to get over him, if she ever could. She honestly had no idea how she’d managed to get through these last few days without breaking down and ending up a sobbing, crumpled heap on the floor. It was probably why tears had started tumbling down her cheeks as soon as she was alone and well clear of Maggie’s. As for getting a good night’s sleep, there was no chance of that any time soon. She knew as soon as her head hit the pillow, her mind would start running over every possible reason Ed could have had to leave her again, just as it had done the last couple ofnights, tormenting her way into the early hours and leaving her exhausted. She had no idea how she was going to tell her parents – they’d be devastated, too. As for poor old Gerty… Ugh!

THIRTY-NINE

As soon as Florrie arrived back at Samphire Cottage after visiting Maggie, she knew something was different. The usually still and silent air that met her whenever she returned home had been disturbed. Her heart started ricocheting around her chest. There was someone in her house.

Swallowing nervously, her thoughts went to Dodgy Dick and his nephew Dillon. She froze, her breathing becoming short. Where was Gerty? She usually hurtled down the hall to greet her even if she’d only been out for ten minutes. Florrie took a couple of tentative steps forward when the Labrador in question came bounding giddily towards her, her tail wagging so hard it was making her bottom wiggle. Relief rushed through Florrie – if there was anyone unsavoury in the house, Gerty wouldn’t be behaving like this. It was probably her mum or her dad. They had a key after all, and her mum regularly dropped a casserole off for them. She bent to give Gerty a pat. ‘Hello there, flower. What’ve you been up to?’ Before she had a chance to straighten herself, a shadow fell over the hall carpet.

Florrie glanced up, her pulse racing, her mind swirling. ‘Ed!’ She was bombarded by myriad emotions: anger, relief, happiness, frustration. She didn’t know which one to give vent tofirst, though she had a feeling anger would come out on top. She bit down on the tears that threatened.

‘Hiya, Florrie.’ He gave her a sheepish smile. ‘Sorry I had to dash off the way I did, but I didn’t have much choice and didn’t have time to explain. Forgot my phone, too.’

‘And you didn’t think to call from a phone box or wherever it was you were staying?’ She jolly well wasn’t going to make this easy for him. She pulled off her hat and unwound her scarf, hanging them on the coat peg by the door. She could hardly bear to look at him.

‘I tried actually – not your mobile number, I couldn’t remember that – but I found the bookshop’s number and rang that. Couldn’t get through properly, though.’

What Leah had said filtered into her mind. Maybe the strange calls she’d told her about had been Ed.

‘That aside, I just can’t make any sense of why you took off the way you did, with no warning at all. What was I supposed to think?’ Anger was making her breathing short.

Ed’s face fell as he appeared to realise what she meant. ‘Oh, no… you didn’t think I’d gone?’ He took a step forward but the stony look she shot him stopped him in his tracks. ‘I didn’t… I mean, I thought you knew how I felt.’

Was he forreal? She threw her arms up in disbelief, her chest heaving. ‘What the heck else was I supposed to think? You took off with no prior warning, just like last time.’ She felt her bottom lip quiver, hurt rushing in, pushing anger out of the way.

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