Page 111 of The Little Flower Shop By the Sea
‘Please, Willow, it’s important,’ I beg.
Willow gives me a cold look. ‘Sorry, can’t,’ she says flatly.
‘Why not?’ Jake asks, while I’m wondering why Willow is behaving so oddly.
‘Because she doesn’t have it any more,’ a voice says from behind Willow, and we see Ash appear, looking tired and dishevelled.
It’s the first time I’ve seen him since last night. I’d had every intention this morning of finding him and apologising, but things had got out of hand with the pictures, and the day had slipped by before I knew it. I wonder how much of what happened last night Ash had told his sister? Quite a lot, if her behaviour towards me is anything to go by.
Ash glares at me behind Willow’s shoulder. Then he sees Jake and his expression darkens further, so Miley covers her eyes.
Jake, sensing all is not well, looks from one of us to the other.
‘Right, well, if you don’t have it, Willow,’ he continues, obviously deciding now is not the time to prompt for further information, ‘then might I ask exactly where my box of jumble is?’
Willow looks at me with disdain before turning to Jake. ‘I’m only telling you this, Jake, because I don’t blame you in any way.’
‘Right…’ Jake nods. ‘That’s good you feel that way about my jumble.’
Willow is the one to look confused now. ‘All the jumble for the sale is being held in one place,’ she says eventually.
‘And that is…?’ Jake prompts.
‘At Caroline Harrington-Smythe’s house.’
‘Caroline!’ I say, as the door closes on Willow’s cottage and Jake and I are left outside. ‘Of all the people. If I ask Caroline for anything she’ll say no – she hates me.’
‘Then let me do the talking,’ Jake says. ‘She won’t say no to me.’
We begin to walk to Caroline’s house on the outskirts of St Felix.
‘So what’s up with you and Ash?’ Jake asks casually as we march along.
‘Oh, that. I think I upset him at your party.’
‘Why?’
‘He knows it was you I was with last night when I disappeared, and he thinks…’ I pause. ‘He thinks something went on between us.’
‘Oh.’ Jake pulls a face. ‘That’s not good. Perhaps if I spoke to him. Told him there’s nothing going on. That we’re just friends…’
I look at Jake and desperately want to scream, ‘But we’re more than that, aren’t we?’ Luckily for me, at that moment we bump into Lou out walking Suzy.
‘Where are you two off to in such a rush?’ she asks. ‘And without Basil.’
‘He was a bit tired,’ I explain. ‘I left him at the shop with Amber, but –’ I look at my watch – ‘I expect they’ve shut up and gone home by now.’
Lou looks at Jake expectantly.
‘Oh, just tell her, Jake,’ I say, ‘she’ll need to know soon anyway.’
Lou looks at us, puzzled. ‘Tell me what?’
Jake and I explain everything to do with the flower pictures as quickly as we can – including Stan’s story of how they came to be in the hands of the owners they’re with now.
‘Well,’ Lou says when we’ve finished, ‘it doesn’t surprise me one bit. That Stan was always a bit of a devil when he was younger.’
‘You’re not upset?’ I ask. I had been worried what Lou might think about Stan and his ‘other women’.
