Page 124 of The Little Flower Shop By the Sea
She shakes her head. ‘No, nothing to do with me. Look –’ she points at the flowers, ‘there’s a card.’
I turn the posy around and pull out a small white envelope, the type we send out with our bouquets. The card inside is handwritten.
Want to know if this is good or bad? Then go and find the one we once thought mad…
I look at Amber. ‘What is all this about?’ I ask her suspiciously. ‘Are you sure this is nothing to do with you?’
Amber shakes her head again. ‘Definitely not. But it’s a lovely choice of flowers – there’s iris in there to denote a message; white stocks – you will always be beautiful to me, and delicate pink phlox – our souls are united.’
‘Hmm…’ I look at her suspiciously. ‘But what does the card mean? Go and find the one we once thought mad?’
‘It’s Granddad!’ Bronte shouts excitedly. ‘Everyone used to think he was mad, didn’t they?’
I sigh. ‘Well, I suppose I was going to find Stan anyway, so what difference is it going to make if I do as the card says?’
‘Oh, Poppy, do play along,’ Amber says disapprovingly. ‘Have some fun for once!’
‘OK, OK,’ I say, putting the flowers down on the table.
‘No, take them with you!’ Bronte insists.
I narrow my eyes at them both. ‘Don’t for one minute think I don’t know this is something to do with you two,’ I tell them. ‘OK, I’ll take the flowers. See you both later.’
As I leave the shop with Stan’s pasty and my flowers, I turn back to look at them, and I see them quickly high five each other.
‘Nothing to do with you,’ I mutter, weaving my way through the crowds. ‘Yeah right.’
I find Stan down by the harbour, sitting in his wheelchair surrounded by children. He appears to be enthralling them with an impromptu storytelling session. So I wander over and sit down on a bench next to Charlie, who seems to be enjoying the story as much as the children.
‘… and then when the pirates returned to Trecarlan they found their treasure was gone!’ he tells the children, who are sitting quietly in front of him, their eyes wide with anticipation.
The parents are hanging on his every word too. ‘Did you know all that went on up at Trecarlan Castle?’ one of the parents says to another.
‘Nah, he’s making it up, isn’t he. Word is, the fella’s a bit doolally.’
‘Yes, I heard that too, but he sounds coherent enough, and that castle does have some history, even if it’s not quite as exciting as he’s making out.’
‘I wonder what will happen to the place. It seems a shame for it to be left empty, doesn’t it?’
‘Yeah. My mother told me it was a lovely place years ago. Focal point of the town.’
‘And that,’ Stan says to the children, ‘is the story of how Trecarlan saved an Indian princess’s jewels.’
The children applaud enthusiastically, and call for more. But Stan holds up his hand. ‘Later perhaps, Stan needs his rest now, children.’ He waves at Charlie and me, and we go over to him.
‘Ah, more satisfied customers,’ Stan says, looking happier and more alive than I’ve seen him in ages.
‘They love you, Stan,’ I tell him. ‘And so do their parents, for keeping the little ones entertained.’
‘Never mind them, I was entertained too,’ Charlie says, grinning. ‘I love Granddad’s stories.’
Stan’s face lights up when Charlie calls him that.
‘Right, Charlie,’ he says, ‘how about you go get your granddad a little… no, make that a large pasty from the bakery?’
Charlie glances at me.
‘I’ll be fine, Charlie,’ I reassure him. ‘You go.’
