Page 124 of The Wedding Dress Repair Shop
I arranged the stained satin and lace shoes so that the toes just peeped out beneath the skirt, and then there was only the information card to put out before I locked the cabinet and went back downstairs.
There I found Derek, who had brought in a delivery of Honey’s books, both non-fiction and novels, though not copies of the new one, which hadn’t yet arrived.
He had Rory with him, who seemed pleased to see me, but then, like Jester, he seemed pleased to see anyone! Both dogs had endearingly friendly natures, although Rory looked dignified, too, while Jester’s expression was permanently slightly comical.
‘I’ll leave the books for Ella and Kay to put out. Now they’ve a key to the main doors, they can come and go and arrange everything in the reception area just as it suits them.’
‘Kay’s experience of running that folk museum will be a real asset, I should think,’ I said.
‘I’m sure it will,’ Derek agreed, then added, ‘Honey says Viv is bringing her husband’s old PC tower and monitor for the staff room, since it’s a good one and she’s already transferred everything on it on to her own. We’ll need one in there for stock checking and online orders when the shop website goes live.’
‘There are so many practical aspects to running a museum I’ve never even thought of till now!’ I confessed.
‘No reason why you should, since your area of expertise is costume making,’ he said comfortably. ‘Leave the nitty-gritty to me and the Golden Girls.’
I wasn’t entirely sure how Ella and Kay would take to being called the Golden Girls, but on the whole I thought they’d probably like it.
*
The Rosa-May collection arrived just before lunch. It was all, as I knew it would be, immaculately packed and the costumes ready to go out on display.
I had everything taken straight into the Rosa-May Garland Room, but before I began to unpack it, I texted George to reassure him that all had arrived safely.
Then I lost track of time in the delights of actually getting my hands on the real Regency Titania costume and the evening dress I’d copied – a near twin to mine in its nearby display case.
I wanted to get those, and the two silk dominoes, on to their mannequins as soon as possible, and entirely forgot that Pearl had messaged me earlier to say she would come over and help me when her shop shut at four. She turned up just in time toassist me with the evening dress, which, with its fragile fabric, had to be carefully eased on to its mannequin.
When it was done, I sent a couple of photos to George, who was probably chewing his fingernails, or his beard, or both, and then we closed up the museum and retired to my cottage for coffee – and to give Pearl a chance to unburden herself about Simon, if she wanted to.
And she did, for after admiring the sofa covers and addressing some respectful remarks to Golightly, who only pulled a moderately hideous grimace at her, she said, ‘You know Simon and I went out for lunch on Sunday after church? We were late getting back because we’d been for a walk up to the Fairy Falls and then into the physic garden.’
‘That sounds like a lovely day out! I loved those falls and I really must see the garden at some point, too. Did you have a nice time?’
‘Well … we talked a lot,’ she said, going slightly pink. ‘And I told him that although I’d recently realized my feelings towards him had changed, I needed time to adjust to the idea before I could think of another relationship.’
‘Fair enough,’ I said. ‘I’m sure he understands why you aren’t ready to rush into anything.’
‘That’s what he said, and that he was happy to take things very slowly … and by then we’d got to the waterfall and there must be something in the air up there—’
She broke off and I suspected there had then been a romantic interlude.
But I was sure she was right about the magical effect of the falls, because something in the atmosphere up there had made me re-evaluate my confused feelings for Thom, too. There had been a seismic shift of some kind, even if I wasn’t yet ready to cross any fault lines.
‘So, are you officially going out with each other?’
‘Since generally we seem to socialize in our cottages or at the pub, it’s more a case of stayinginwith each other,’ she said, with her sudden, rather beautiful smile. ‘But I suppose we have moved on from being just friends to … loving friends.’
That soundedveryRev. Jo-Jo to me!
She dashed off after that to change and grab a snack before book group, which was at Baz and Derek’s tonight, with a general discussion of what we’d been reading lately, although in my case that was only the information that had come with the donated wedding dresses and bits of Rosa-May’s journal.
*
Baz and Derek lived behind the art shop and Rory was there, looking twice as big in their small sitting room, but perfectly at home, even down to trying to grab one of the warm homemade cheese scones Baz had put on the coffee table.
Despite the delicious scones, I was still hungry when we adjourned to the pub, probably because I’d somehow forgotten to eat lunch and dinner, so I decided to order a ploughman’s.
While I was eating, I listened to the others talking. Baz asked Thom if he’d heard any more from Bruno, who said his boss was still happily stewing himself in hot mud puddles for his rheumatism.
