Page 72 of The Little Flower Shop By the Sea
I lift the wine glass.
‘Very nice, and the other is for…?’
I glance over to where Ash is waiting for me.
I think I see Jake flinch slightly as he follows my gaze, but I can’t be sure.
‘So it’s young Ash who is the lucky recipient of the Jack Daniels. Very nice.’
I wait for him to say something else, but he doesn’t, he just picks up his pint and takes another sip.
‘Right, well, I’d best be getting back over there then. Enjoy your beer.’
For a moment I think Jake is about to say something, but instead he just nods calmly, and I find myself heading back over to Ash, trying not to spill the drinks.
‘All right?’ Ash asks as I sit down. ‘I was wondering, do you remember a time when you and your brother were playing hide and seek, and you let me join in…’
While he’s talking I drift off with my own thoughts, thoughts about Jake.
Why didn’t he say anything while we were at the bar just then? Didn’t he care I was in here on a date with Ash? He must have realised that’s what it was.
Obviously he had no reason to care what I got up to any more. He’d made that perfectly clear yesterday.
I sulk for a few seconds, before sensible thoughts start filtering into my brain past all the huffy ones.
What was I expecting him to say, even if he did care?
‘Ash isn’t good enough for you. I was wrong, let me whisk you back to my flower beds and make mad passionate love to you immediately.’
I almost blush at the thought. Anyway, what good would it have done if he had said that? I’d have only been freaked out by all the flowers and run away!
No, I had to get used to the fact that Jake wanted to be my friend, nothing more. If I wanted anything else, I was going to have to look for it elsewhere.
‘… and I remember Will getting stuck in the larder, so when my granny Babs came in to start making the lunch that day she got such a shock… Poppy? Are you listening to me?’ Ash asks, tilting his head to one side.
‘Of course!’ I drop back into the real world with an imaginary thud. ‘Will made up a story to cover him being in the pantry, something about him thinking about becoming a chef when he left school. But then he was caught out, because he had to stay and help Babs make sandwiches for Stan’s lunch.’
‘Yes, that’s right.’ Ash thinks. ‘You were going to tell me about Will earlier: what’s he doing now?’
‘Will died,’ I announce, suddenly wanting to tell someone instead of keeping it hidden all the time. I was tired of secrets. ‘He died fifteen years ago.’
‘Oh, I’m so sorry,’ Ash says, looking quite shaken. ‘I had no idea, I wouldn’t have kept going on about him if I’d known.’
‘It’s fine. Sometimes it’s nice to talk about him again, and remember.’
‘What happened, or would you rather not talk about it?’
I was ready to tell someone Will was no longer with us, but I wasn’t ready to go into details.
‘No, I’d rather not, if you don’t mind.’
Ash takes a long drink from his glass.
‘Do you mind if I have a bit of that?’ I ask him. ‘Suddenly I feel like something stronger than wine.’
‘Go for it,’ he says, holding out the glass.
I take Ash’s glass and swallow a large gulp of the whisky, then another, and a third until the glass is empty.
