Page 81 of The Little Flower Shop By the Sea
‘It makes no difference,’ she says, with a toss of her head. ‘You will still need a licence for entertainment and presumably you will want to serve alcohol too. I shall oppose you at every turn.’
‘I think you’ll find those are matters for the district council, not the parish council,’ I counter, glad I’ve done my research. ‘And as far as I’m aware, Caroline, even you don’t have any control over them?’
Caroline eyes me coldly, knowing she’s beaten.
‘What have you got against us anyway?’ I continue in a gentler tone. I honestly didn’t understand why Caroline was being like this about the wedding. ‘This is nothing to do with you, why be so mean about it?’
But Caroline doesn’t follow my lead; instead she sighs dramatically and rolls her eyes. ‘One,’ she begins, ‘Trecarlan is part of St Felix’s history, and I see no good reason a historic building such as this should be desecrated by using it as nothing more than a party venue. And two,’ she continues before I can respond, ‘two is more personal.’ She gives me an icy stare. ‘The Carmichael family have never got on with the Harringtons, so annoying you, Poppy, is my way of avenging past betrayals.’
She looks at us both for a moment before nodding smartly, her job done. ‘Good day to you both,’ she says swivelling around as best she can in her Wellington boots and striding off across the ballroom.
‘W-what?’ I stutter in disbelief as I watch her leave. ‘What on earth are you talking about – betrayals?’
‘Ask your friend Stan!’ she calls, not looking back. ‘A little bird tells me you two were quite pally in the past.’ Then before she disappears out of the door she turns to face us one last time. ‘Oh, wait a minute,’ she says, a triumphant glint in her eyes, ‘you don’t even know where he is, do you? Well, goodbye, girls. And good luck!’
‘What on earth is she talking about?’ Amber asks, looking at me aghast. ‘Past betrayals? I feel like I’m in one of your English costume dramas and we should be wearing corsets and long dresses… Come to think of it, that might be fun!’
‘I have absolutely no idea, Amber,’ I sigh, still staring after Caroline. ‘But I’m not about to let her stop us. I have an idea how we can get the approval we need to hold a wedding reception at Trecarlan – and at the same time hopefully discover just what on earth she’s going on about.’
‘How are we going to do that?’
‘By finding a very dear friend of mine.’
Twenty-eight
Verbascum – Take Courage
After our encounter with Caroline, I speak to Ash about the possibility of visiting Babs at her cottage, and he arranges for me to visit his granny the next day.
Ash and I are getting on just fine. He’s lovely to spend time with – always super chilled and relaxed. Sometimes I take Basil to the beach to watch Ash and his mates surf the waves that wash up on to St Felix’s long stretch of sand, and afterwards, if the weather’s good, Ash and I picnic on the beach together, snuggled up on, or under, a blanket with Basil contentedly nibbling on a cheese sandwich at our side.
Ash tries on more than one occasion to get me to mount a board with him. But I insist my surfing days are over, and I’m happy to watch him ride the waves while I enjoy being out in the fresh air.
I surfed with Will. I don’t surf any more.
I hadn’t realised how much I missed the taste, smell and feel of sea air until I returned to St Felix. Living in London and the various other cities I’ve inhabited over the years, I’d got used to the tight, smoggy air. I’d forgotten how clean, fresh and invigorating sea air was, and now I couldn’t get enough of it.
‘I’m just going to see Babs!’ I call to Amber as Basil and I get ready to leave the shop. ‘Are you sure you’ll be OK on your own?’
‘Yes, I’ll be fine. Good luck, Poppy,’ she replies, reappearing from the back room where she’s currently creating a bouquet for a young man to give to his girlfriend when he proposes. Word of Amber’s magical bouquets has begun to spread, and we’ve been getting requests from all over Cornwall from people wanting our help. ‘I really hope Babs can tell you something about this Stan,’ Amber says. ‘And not just for the sake of the wedding. It sounds to me like you really need to see him again.’
Before I can answer, the shop door opens and our fifth customer of the day walks in. And it’s only 10 a.m.! We’ll have to take on someone else to help us if this continues; Amber can’t possibly look after the shop and arrange all the flowers, and it’s inevitable there are going to be times when it’s impossible for us both to be there.
‘I’ve heard you dospecialbouquets?’ the woman says to Amber as Basil and I head out the door. ‘My mother has been ill recently, and…’
Basil and I leave Amber to it – this is most definitely her department.
We’ve got to the point we can always tell when a customer’s going to ask for one of Amber’s special bouquets. Often they’ll hover outside the shop window for a while, looking shifty, then they’ll come in and pretend to browse for a bit. Once they finally get up the courage to ask if we could make them up a ‘special’ bouquet, I hand them over to Amber, who very discreetly asks what their issue is, then disappears out back to consult her books before creating the perfect bouquet for them, always tied with a white ribbon.
As Basil and I walk down the street, waving to Ant and Dec as we pass – the bakery also seems exceptionally busy today – I think about Stan.
Amber’s right, of course. I should have tried to locate Stan as soon as I arrived in St Felix, but what with the shop and then Basil to look after…
No, I couldn’t kid myself; these were simply excuses. I hadn’t gone in search of Stan because I knew that seeing him again would remind me of past times here in St Felix with Will. Even though I’d managed to talk to Ash about Will, I knew Stan would want to reminisce even more, and I wasn’t sure I was ready for that yet.
But I had to do this. It was important, not only for Katie and Jonathan, but for me too.
So as we walk towards Babs’s cottage, pausing occasionally so Basil can do his thing, my mind is very definitely on the past.
