Page 44 of The Wedding Dress Repair Shop
‘I’ll get your bag out of the freezer.’
When she returned, Pearl said, ‘Do pop in for coffee or a browse any time. I promise not to do the hard sell and talk you into buying anything!’
‘I probably will anyway,’ I said. ‘And thank you for the coffee.’
The bell gave its musical chime as she let me out. ‘Tryto make the book group tonight – you’d be so welcome.’
‘I’ll see,’ I said noncommittally, and then headed off through the narrow entrance to the mews with my heavy bags, feeling that I might have made a friend.
As I emerged into the now sunny courtyard and paused toget a better grip on the chillier of the two shopping bags, I heard the sound of quick footsteps behind me and then a hand closed on my arm.
Somehow I knew who it was even before Thom’s voice said, urgently: ‘Garland, wait a minute! I want to talk to you.’
I turned to him. ‘I’m afraid the feeling isn’t exactly mutual, Thom,’ I began, but already he’d wrested one of the heavy shopping bags from my hand.
‘I’ll help you with these – give me the other one. They’re way too heavy for you.’
‘I don’t need help, thank you,’ I snapped, stepping back before he could grab the other bag.
He looked quizzically at me, the breeze sweeping in through the entrance passage tossing that unfamiliarly long hair about, as if at the direction of some unseen film director.
‘I’m not sure the Johnny Depp look really suits you,’ I said, the words out before I’d realized I’d even voiced my thoughts.
A genuine grin lit his face. ‘I haven’t gone for the whole Captain Jack Sparrow thing, though – wait till you see Baz, from the art shop!’
The white bull terrier I’d seen with him yesterday now sat on his feet, which I suppose was more comfortable than the cobbles. It had a comical aspect, with one ear up and one down, bright dark eyes and a grinning mouth with a lolling pink tongue, but it wasn’t the sort of dog I’d have associated with Thom.
‘This is Jester,’ he said, seeing where I was looking. ‘He’s Bruno’s dog really. I’m just looking after him. Jester, this is Garland,’ he introduced us formally. ‘She is small, but fierce!’
That had once been a joke between us …
‘Shake a paw,’ Thom was adding, and Jester obligingly lifted one front foot up. You can’t snub a dog, so I shook it, feeling silly.
Then I said, ‘Please give me back my bag, Thom. We have nothing to talk about and I want to get home.’
‘Come on, Garland! We can’t just carry on pretending we barely know each other.’
‘Thom, I’m not sure Ieverreally knew you at all,’ I said coldly. ‘And right now, I have to get back to the cottage and put my frozen stuff away, then have some lunch, before Honey shows me round the museum at one.’
‘It’s barely half past eleven now, but if you like we can talk while you’re putting the shopping away.’
‘No! And anyway, you can’t bring that dog into my cottage because I’ve got a cat.’
‘I know, you said so last night, but Jester loves cats.’
‘The feeling isn’t likely to be reciprocated, because Golightly isn’t your average cat.’
‘Golightly? You mean that weird creature that used to haunt your flat sometimes? I thought he belonged to your neighbour.’
‘He did, but Miss McNabb had to go and live with her sister and couldn’t take him.’
‘She probably moved just to get away from him,’ he said. ‘But he must be getting on a bit now.’
‘He is, and too old to start again in a new place, but there wasn’t really any alternative to bringing him with me. Honey doesn’t mind my having a cat in the cottage.’
‘I assume she hasn’t met said cat yet.’ He grinned again, and I felt the corners of my mouthalmosttwitch upwards before I got a grip on myself.
‘OK, then, I’ll put Jester in the workshop and join you in a minute,’ Thom said, and then, seeing I was about to veto this idea, added impatiently: ‘We’re going to have to have things out sooner or later, so you might as well get it over with now.After all, if we’re both living and working in Pelican Mews, we aren’t exactly going to be able to avoid each other, are we?’
