Page 6 of A Secret Cornish Wish
What was that – a fish jumping in the waves?
No, it was too big to be a fish’s tail – must have been a dolphin. We often get schools of dolphins around the St Felix coastline.
It happens again, and for a couple of seconds I see the flick of a large fishlike tail in amongst the waves, and then nothing. The waves go back to their usual rhythmical rolling pattern.
Even though I only saw it for a brief second or two, I knew it wasn’t a dolphin’s tail, or even the moon-shaped tail of one of the basking sharks that occasionally make their way closer to the shore at this time of year. No, this definitely looked like a fish’s tail, but it would have had to have been an incredibly large fish to have a tail that size. The mackerel that are so profitable for the local fishermen’s nets are never as big as that.
I check my watch and realise that it’s already time I headed back to the shop. So, forgetting all about the fish’s tail for now, I pick up my rubbish and climb back along the rocks to the steps and then up the hill and across town back to the florist.
‘Did you have a nice lunch, dear?’ Rose asks as I return.
‘Yes, thank you. I managed to find a shady spot to eat overlooking Morvoren Cove.’
‘How lovely. Will you be all right if I just pop out for a bit and get myself something to eat? It’s been pretty quiet in the last hour.’
‘Of course, Rose. I’ll be fine.’
Rose smiles. ‘I know you will. You’ve been such a blessing to my little shop since you came to work here, Frankie, I can’t thank you enough for all you do.’
‘Oh,’ I say, completely thrown by her kind words. ‘It’s nothing. You know I love working here.’
‘If my granddaughter, Poppy, turns out anything like you when she’s older, I’ll be a very proud grandmother indeed.’
‘Thank you, that’s very kind of you to say. How are your grandchildren – it’s Poppy and . . . William, isn’t it?’
Rose nods. ‘They’re very well. They’re coming to stay in a few weeks with their mother. I’m sure I’ll be exhausted having a four-year-old and a six-year-old running rings around me, but I can’t wait to see them again and give them a big cuddle.’
‘If you need me to cover any more shifts, I’m sure I can.’
‘Won’t you have school, though?’
‘School holidays begin in a couple of weeks! I’ll be as free as a bird all summer!’
‘Ah. Yes.’ Rose nods. ‘What a wonderful situation to be in. When is the dance you were telling me about?’
‘Next Saturday.’
‘Do you have your dress yet?’
I shrug. ‘I’m not really a dress person, so I’m finding it a bit difficult to be honest.’
Rose nods knowingly. ‘Just between the two of us, I was a bit of a tomboy too when I was younger. However, I did bloom – no pun intended!’ she says, looking at the pots of flowers surrounding us. ‘When I got to about eighteen or twenty.’ She looks me up and down. ‘You know you’re about the size I was back then. I’ll get some of my old dresses out for you. Pop round to the cottage one night and you can have a look. No pressure!’ She holds up her hand. ‘I know you’re probably thinking what’s an old bird like me going to have for a youngster like you, but you never know. I won’t be offended if you don’t like anything.’
‘Sure,’ I reply to be polite. I simply can’t turn up at the dance in one of Rose’s old cast-offs though, I’d be the laughing stock of the school. But I haven’t found anything myself so far that I either like or that suits me, so I guess it might be worth a try.
‘Right, I’ll be off to get that lunch, then,’ Rose says. ‘See you in a jiffy.’
I wait for her to leave the shop, then I look around for something to do. There’s always something, whether it’s refilling the big silver buckets that Rose keeps all her flowers in, or sweeping the floors of stray leaves and greenery. I know that if someone came in wanting something more complicated than a few stems of flowers, like a bouquet or a wreath for instance, then all I have to do is take their details and either ask them to come back when Rose is here or tell them she will call them. As I look around, I notice Rose has been making up a bouquet for someone in the back of the shop, so I grab a broom and begin to sweep the floor.
The bell over the shop door rings to signal that someone is entering, so I leave the back room and return to the main shop.
‘Hello,’ I say, then stop when I see who it is.
‘Oh, hi.’ Rob looks equally as surprised to see me as I am to see him. ‘I didn’t know you worked here?’
‘Yes, every Saturday and sometimes after school, too.’
Rob nods and looks awkwardly at some of the displays.
