Page 97 of The Little Flower Shop By the Sea
‘I only say what I see,’ Amber says, unfazed. ‘And I see not one, but two hunky men interested in our Poppy.’
‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ I leap in, a bit too quickly. ‘We’ve been through all this before. Jake is not interested in me, I can tell you that for a fact. And you know full well I’m with Ash now.’
Amber merely nods. ‘Yep, so you are. But for how long?’
‘What?’
‘For how long? Ash is only a temporary solution to your troubles. He’s like a pretty Band-Aid covering up a wound. What you really need, Poppy, is a surgeon to stitch that wound up for you permanently.’
I knew what Amber was getting at with her analogy, but I chose to play dumb, and luckily we were interrupted by customers wandering in.
Now, sitting in the garden with Stan, I think again about what she said.
‘Is there someone else, Poppy?’ Stan asks. ‘You don’t have to tell me, of course. But I was a bit of a looker in my time, you know. I had my fair share of female attention. I do know something about complications of the heart.’
I smile at Stan. ‘I bet you were!’ I say, then I sigh. ‘Yes, there’s someone else. But not in that way. It’s someone I’ve liked for some time – since the first day I came to St Felix, as it happens. But the trouble is he’s never shown any interest in me.’
Until yesterday. But was that just a spur of the moment thing? Had Jake meant to try and kiss me, or was it just wishful thinking on my part?
Not that I was ever likely to find out now. Jake obviously thought my running away was an attempt to get back at him for the time at the cottage when I’d tried to kiss him and he scarpered.
‘I find that very hard to believe,’ Stan says, his eyes wide. ‘A pretty girl like you?’
‘It’s kind of you to say, but I hardly think so, Stan.’
‘Now you listen to me, my girl. I may be an octogenarian, but I can still spot a beautiful young lady when I see one, and you are it. You wear a bit too much black for my liking, and you could smile more often, but underneath all that there’s a radiant beauty waiting to emerge.’
‘Oh, Stan!’ I get up and hug him. ‘You say the nicest things.’
‘I only speak the truth, my dear. And if an old man like me can see it, and Ash, then why can’t this other fella too?’
‘Jake’s complicated,’ I say without thinking as I sit back down on my chair.
‘Oh, it’s Jake is it? Lou’s nephew.’
I blush. Damn, I hadn’t wanted to reveal his name.
‘But isn’t that the fella you’re arranging the birthday party for?’ Stan’s brow crinkles.
‘It is.’
‘Ah… the plot thickens.’
‘I’m just doing that as a favour to Jake’s children – Bronte and Charlie. They’re good kids, and they want to give their dad a special birthday.’
‘As do you,’ Stan says, nodding slowly. ‘Right?’
My turn to nod.
‘Ah, Poppy, the human heart is a complicated thing. It rarely ever works in the way we want it to, without heartache and pain.’
‘Tell me about it.’
‘But what I do know is life often has a way of pushing us down paths we don’t want to go, but find ourselves glad we did.’
‘Perhaps.’
‘How about I tell you a story?’ Stan asks. ‘It’s a long tale, but bear with me, it’ll be worth it.’
