Page 110 of The Little Flower Shop By the Sea
‘Yeah.’
‘What happened to them?’
‘They went into the shed, didn’t they?’
‘What, all of them?’
‘The stuff we wanted to keep, the other lot went to the jumble.’
Jake looks at me.
‘What jumble, Charlie?’ he asks quietly.
‘For the church. You said yesterday to put a box of stuff out for the Women’s Guild who’d be by to collect some for their sale.’
‘And did they?’ Jake asks, screwing his face up.
‘Sure, Willow came by yesterday morning. Why?’ Charlie asks. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘It must be in there,’ Jake says, looking at me. ‘The stuff must have got mixed up. It’s the only explanation.’
‘And you say Willow Wilson has it?’ he calls back up the stairs.
‘She was the one who collected it,’ Charlie says. ‘Why, what’s wrong?’
‘I’ll explain later,’ Jake calls. ‘Right now we have to go to Willow’s.’
Willow’s cottage is over on the other side of town.
‘What if she’s not home?’ I ask worriedly as I march along next to Jake. He takes such big purposeful strides that I’m jealous of little Miley riding along on his broad shoulders.
‘Then we come back another time,’ Jake says firmly. ‘We have to find this picture, Poppy. If what you say is true and Stan is indeed Bronte and Charlie’s grandfather, then I want to help him.’
‘But it’s Felicity’s picture,’ I continue. ‘Don’t you want to hold on to something that was hers?’
Jake stops walking. ‘Poppy,’ he says, turning towards me, ‘I have many things that were Felicity’s, and even if I didn’t, I would always have my memories. The picture is the past, and we should always concentrate on the present. If this picture can help Stan, then I’m all for doing what we can with it.’
‘Thank you,’ I tell him as we begin to walk again. ‘Do you think Lou will feel the same when we tellherabout the pictures?’
‘I know she will,’ Jake says. ‘She’s always had a soft spot for Stan. She often talks about him. But until today I didn’t know why.’
By the time we arrive at Willow’s, the sun is starting to sink behind her roof as the afternoon turns into evening.
Willow answers the door just before Jake can knock a second time.
‘Oh, Jake…’ she says looking surprised to see him. ‘Er… lovely party last night.’ Then she sees me. ‘And Poppy too?’ she says, sounding rather less friendly. She glances behind her. ‘What can I do for you both?’
‘Did you pick some jumble up from my house yesterday?’ Jake asks, quickly getting to the point. Miley climbs down from his shoulder and sits quietly in his arms as though she senses something serious is happening.
‘I did, yes, it was most generous of you, Jake, thank you.’
‘Can I have it back?’
‘What?’
‘I’d like the box back, please, it contains something it shouldn’t.’
‘Oh I’m not sure —’
