Page 31 of The Little Shop on Silver Linings Street
She came to an abrupt halt. What on earth was she doing? Today hadn’t been a date, so why was she even considering what it felt like? No, today was simply Bertie trying to make the best of a bad situation and, whatever else she felt, she would always be very grateful to him for that. More importantly, she reminded herself, it had been about who was going to end up running Buchanans and at least she felt more comfortable about the possibility that this might be Bertie. He might not have the most sensible of business heads, but at least she now knew that she could stand in the same room as him and not want to kill him. She was very worried that the same might not be true for Lawrence…
She stood for a few moments looking at the reflection on the water. The sky was perfectly clear and a glowing crescent of moon sat low above the horizon. It would freeze tonight and she shivered; it was bitterly cold. She turned to go, pausing just for a second as she caught a glimpse in her head of her small self, turning circles on the ice. She smiled, wondering if she would ever see the canal frozen over again, and headed up the path to her cottage.
Even though the day had been so lovely, it was always a relief to be home. The cottage welcomed her in, shut out the world and instantly things seemed simpler and easier to manage. She took off her coat and scarf and hung them on the peg in the hallway before moving through to the kitchen. She wasn’t hungry, but a drink would be very welcome. She giggled in the silent space; she might even have a hot chocolate.
10
Tuesday 10th December
Fifteen shopping days until Christmas
It hadn’t been an easy day. She was tired and the shop had been unusually busy for a weekday, with fractious and impatient customers. It didn’t help that, despite her best efforts, nobody had bought a thing. She felt pressured and totally unable even to find any Christmas spirit. And then there were her increasing nerves about this evening’s meal with Grace and Amos. She wished she hadn’t pushed the meal back until later; it just gave her more hours to fret about their meeting.
She sighed and glanced at her watch for about the twentieth time in the last five minutes. There was only an hour to go. Perhaps a cup of tea would help.
‘Cuppa?’ she asked as she walked past Kit.
‘What?’ He looked up as if seeing her for the very first time and she was taken aback by the distraught expression on his face.
‘I asked if you’d like a cup of tea?’
It seemed to take him an inordinately long time to answer. ‘Yes, okay, if you like.’
‘Jeez,’ she murmured to herself as she walked through to the back. Kit was in a weird mood as well today. He’d spoken even less than usual, if that were possible.
She was just pouring water onto the teabags when she heard the shop bell go. Ordinarily she would have checked whether Kit needed any help, but today she just ignored it. He could manage by himself for once. She took down the biscuit tin and took out a chocolate chip cookie, cramming half of it in her mouth. And sheneverate biscuits at work. She didn’t evenlikecookies.
‘Oh dear, is it that bad?’
She whirled around, her hand going straight to her mouth. It was Bertie, a bunch of red roses in his arms. She swallowed, spluttering as she struggled with the half-chewed biscuit. His look quickly changed from one of amusement to alarm when he saw her face. ‘Are you okay?’
Daisy nodded rapidly, her cheeks colouring instantly. ‘Yes. Sorry… I wasn’t expecting… You startled me, that’s all.’ She swallowed the last of the biscuit. ‘See, no harm done. And that was my fault. I don’t normally eat biscuits, I think I…’ she trailed off, eyeing the blooms ‘… don’t really need to explain, do I?’
Bertie shook his head, laughing. ‘No, you don’t. But if you have a biscuit habit that no one else is aware of, don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.’ He watched her for a moment more.
‘How have things been today?’ he asked. ‘Hard going?’ Despite his light-hearted comment earlier she realised that he actually was concerned to find her in the kitchen, stuffing her face with a biscuit.
‘Just… I’m tired, I think. And it’s been a bit of a slow day. Lots of customers, but no one in the mood for buying much.’
The shop bell tinkled and Bertie nodded, waiting a few seconds until he could hear Kit’s voice in conversation. ‘Well, I’m sure you’ve done your best. And it’s no wonder you’re tired. Yesterday was a very long day, which is entirely my fault, but I do want to say thank you. Our day out could have been a complete disaster, but I really enjoyed it. I hope you did too.’
She blushed and nodded, wondering if she should just take the flowers. Bertie was still clutching them, a wide smile on his face.
‘Thank you, it was lovely.’ She reached out a hand just as Bertie lowered his arm to his side.
His face was immediately wreathed in apology. ‘Oh God, Daisy, I’m so sorry…’ He stared down at the roses in his hand. Flowers that were clearly meant for someone else. ‘That was… incredibly rude… I really wasn’t thinking.’
‘No, no, it’s all right… honestly. No, don’t apologise.’ She could barely speak, she’d never felt so embarrassed.
‘I’ve just come from the market and thought I should pop in to say thank you while I was here. I’m just on my way over to see my… well, it doesn’t really matter.’ He swallowed, lifting the bouquet. ‘Actually, you should have these. I can get some more, I—’
‘Bertie, honestly… It doesn’t matter.’
He opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again. He was just as red-faced as she was. And it was all her fault. How could she have been so stupid as to think he would be bringingherflowers?
‘No, it does matter…’ He groaned. ‘I should go,’ he added, ‘before I make things any worse, but I did have a great time yesterday, really.’
She nodded, biting her lip. ‘So, did I, Bertie. And please, don’t worry… I’m not offended.’ She plastered a smile on her face. ‘And if you think about it, it’s really quite funny…’
