Page 103 of A Colourful Country Escape
‘Don’t argue with me, Benedict. I don’t have the strength.’ She wheezed a little, although Lexie had the impression it was for effect this time.
And with that, Mrs Carrington-Noble let go of her physical grip on Ben and Lexie, turned away and began to walk. ‘I always did have a secret liking for sunflowers,’ Lexie heard her mutter. ‘But jazz? Dreadful. He must have picked that up from his father.’
They watched as Mrs Carrington-Noble disappeared behind the shrubbery, looking somehow stronger than when she’d arrived.
Lexie choked back a sob and Ben put his arms around her, enveloping her in his solid warmth.
‘I’d kind of got used to the idea of leaving all this behind,’ Ben whispered against her ear. ‘Shall we give the keys back and live in that camper van? I honestly don’t care where I am, as long as I’m with you.’
‘Sold it,’ said Lexie. ‘Although I quite fancy Mrs Moon’s cottage, if she shacks up with Tom one day.’
‘What? Have I missed something?’
‘Er, not exactly. Just a sort of hunch. Anyway, I’m almost disappointed you won’t be free to run the social media for my new shop, especially after that winning blog post of yours. Quite impressive, from the man who insisted the blog was not to be used to discussaffairs of the heart.’
Lexie would have bet anything that the tips of his ears were going red.
‘Hmm. Well, people change. Anyway – new shop? You have been busy.’ He held her at arm’s length and looked at her with a mix of curiosity and pride.
‘Don’t worry, you’re all invited to the grand opening. It’s on Monday. I can’t wait to show you,’ she said.
And as Ben slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her into him, his fingers unknowingly resting on the tattooed image on her back, she finally knew what she would paint on the shopfront sign. And what she would call the shop.
Chapter 54
‘Are you always going to kick off at midday?’ asked Sky. ‘Because the other shops in the street open at nine.’
Lexie rolled her eyes. ‘It’s our first day – give me a break. I wanted to make sure everything was ready, and to give people time to get here.’ She waved at her mum and dad in the corner, who were chatting avidly with Mrs Carrington-Noble. It was the strangest sight.
‘She just wanted to wait until it was a respectable time to serve fizz,’ said Grace, who was flitting around with Prosecco bottles, keeping everyone topped up. She’d insisted on borrowing one of Mrs Moon’s black housemaid dresses with a white frilly apron, although Mrs M had made some serious adjustments.
‘And to have time to doll herself up,’ said Sky.
Lexie had spent the morning cutting the last tips of rebellious blue out of her hair. She was keeping her natural sunshine yellow for a while. It matched nicely with her vintage sunflower dress from down the road. Well, she was a business owner now. A girl deserved a fresh start.
Lexie looked around at her new shop, taking it all in. She couldn’t quite believe it: her own little empire. Full of furniture she’d painted with paints she’d designed and made herself. Her mum had insisted on stringing up hessian bunting, which she’d made from dresses of women who used to live at Sky’s disbanded commune. A few of the women had been bunking up in their parents’ house, their mum another one always keen to save the world.
Grace had showed up with dozens of helium balloons tied to her four-by-four, which now bobbed along the ceiling – flamingos, seals, zebras …
Ben had arrived with arms full of sunflowers from the garden. Even his mother had brought a huge, colourful bunch – not a funeral lily in sight. It turned out Ben had planted the sunflowers with the help of Tom, who was over in the corner with Mrs Moon, wearing his best dicky bow.
‘Cooee!’ The housekeeper called Lexie from the makeshift stall she’d set up. Apparently fancying herself as the next Lisa Vanderpump, Mrs Moon had told Lexie she’d be renting a little space to sell her homemade cakes in the future. ‘Sage-and-blackberry tea?’ And herbal teas, with Tom in charge of growing the ingredients. It seemed as though the two of them were coming together perfectly, without Lexie’s people-organising skills.
‘No, thank you.’ Lexie held up her glass of bubbles. She would need it for her nerves, with the big reveal of her new shop sign in just thirty minutes. It quite possibly wasn’t the only big reveal she’d be doing before the day was done. Ben was coming to the flat that evening for a night in with Thai takeaway, while Sky went out with their parents. Lexie was secretly hoping he’d be bringing hisRugratspyjamas. Or not …
‘Sage and blackberry is symbolic of lovely new starts, dear,’ Mrs Moon called back.
‘Does it go well with Prosecco?’ Grace asked, as she zipped past again and filled Lexie’s glass.
‘Or sausage rolls?’ asked Sky, as she swanned by with a platter filled with Greggs favourites. ‘Because we’re not all vegan.’
Lexie laughed and made her way over to Ben and Cory, who were standing in the window under a flock of helium flamingos.
Lexie pointed upwards. ‘Watch out. I won’t be responsible for the dry-cleaning bill if they treat you the way your peacocks treated me when I first arrived at your front door.’
Cory smiled and pulled at his board shorts. ‘I’ve never used a dry-cleaners in my life.’ He looked around and nodded. ‘I love what you’ve done with the place, Lex. I’m going to Croyde next week to check out places for the surf shop. You’re pretty inspirational.’
‘Isn’t she?’ Ben grinned and kissed her on the cheek. She was impressed he’d managed to make a fitted purple shirt look so good. The colour suited him.
