Page 69 of The Little Shop on Silver Linings Street
‘Daisy, a very wise man who lives not a million miles from here once said that there’s nothing wrong with fear, it’s the place where courage is born, and I think he’s right, don’t you?’
Daisy smiled. ‘Amos,’ she murmured. It was just the kind of thing he would say.
‘Yes,’ said Flora. ‘And would it also help you to know that when I first went to see Kate about going into partnership with them, I hadn’t even grown any flowers, not a single one? I had a pad of paper, a head full of ideas and the rest I rather rashly made up on the spot. But the wonderful thing about Kate is that she can spot potential. She isn’t necessarily looking for the finished article, just the possibility… So, I know this is terrifying and right now you can’t think straight, but don’t discount it. Have a chat with Kate and letherconvince you that you can do this.’
Daisy nodded. It made sense, but it was still… ‘How do we do this? Do I get in touch with her, or the other way around?’
‘She asked if you could contact her, but not to worry until the new year, she’s flat out busy as you can imagine – it’s wall-to-wall parties at The Castle and they won’t be looking to open up this new venture until early spring. That should give you plenty of time to have a think and make a few plans.’ Flora paused for a moment. ‘And while you’re at it, have a think about designing some more jewellery to go with my prints, because that is definitely something we should do. I can’t decide whether we should have them as prints, or greetings cards, both probably.’
There was a sudden intake of breath. ‘Listen, Daisy, I’m sorry, I’ve got to run, I have a bride coming to see me in ten minutes, but make sure you let me know when Grace’s present is finished, I can’t wait to see it!’
Daisy was still holding the phone in her hand several minutes later, staring into the fire in a daze. She slowly replaced it on the table. This was madness. Stuff like this didn’t happen to her.
She was getting carried away by the dream of it all, that’s all this was – the lure of Christmas magic, the trips out, the experiencing of new things, more than she had ever done over the last few years. Even the possibility of a relationship with Kit that went somewhere beyond friendship. All these things had made her think she was something she was not. For goodness’ sake, she had never had one single commission, let alone two. The chances were that once Christmas was over, several years would go by again before anything similar happened. It was time to get real. She had bills to pay, food to buy and none of that would happen by selling the odd bit of jewellery every now and again. Whichever way she looked at it she needed her income from Buchanans to survive, just as she had for the last eight years, and if that meant she would have to work with Lawrence, at least in the interim until she could find another job, then so be it.
The clay was still in its wrapper, but she needed to get a move on and she pulled it towards her, unfurling it from its protective cover. She had lost her focus now but, taking a deep breath, she pushed everything else from her mind save what she needed to achieve. There would be plenty of time to ruminate later, once she had finished. She had a feeling she would be pounding the towpath quite a bit over the next few days.
She took a break for lunch and another quick one around five when she went for a walk to clear her head but, other than that, she worked solidly through the day. At just gone eleven at night, she rose from the table, cold and stiff. The fire had long since died and she had been so intent on her work that she hadn’t even moved to collect a cardigan to keep herself warm. But she didn’t care, she was finished.
Stretching out her arms and legs, she did a quick tour of the room to get her circulation going again and then she approached her work table, slowly and with a critical eye. The piece had surpassed all her expectations. There had been a moment after firing the heart when she’d thought she’d got it all wrong. It was too fussy, too intricate in parts and looked dull and lifeless. But she’d persevered, she’d had no choice, and, slowly, as she’d polished, its beauty had been revealed. She held her breath and picked up the heart, taking care not to taint its gleam with her fingers, and it nestled in the palm of her hand. It spoke of love, and that was all Daisy wanted.
Laying it down carefully on a soft cloth, she pulled her laptop towards her and began to type a quick message.
To NickCarr1:
Hi Nick,
Sorry it’s so late but I have just finished! I’ll post it tomorrow and keep everything crossed it gets to you in time… Polishing took a lot longer than I thought, and well, you’ll see why. I hope I have given you everything you wished for.
Yours, Daisy.
23
Sunday 22nd December
Three shopping days until Christmas
‘Is everything okay?’ Amos’s face was full of concern.
Daisy opened the door wider and stood back to let him in, trying to rearrange her face into a bright smile as she did so.
‘Yes, I’m fine,’ she replied. ‘I’m just a little tired, that’s all. Come on in.’ She held out her arms for his coat.
‘Flora won’t be long,’ he said. ‘But for obvious reasons we arranged to come separately. I’m supposedly on an errand for Ned because Flora has had to pop out to one of her brides for some last-minute emergency.’ He gave Daisy a long look as soon as he’d removed his jacket. ‘You do look tired though. I hope all this extra work hasn’t been too much?’
But it wasn’t that which had caused Daisy’s tiredness, or it wasn’t the sole cause of it anyway.
‘No, no, it’s been fine. Actually, it’s given me something to occupy my evenings, so I’ve been very grateful,’ she replied. ‘It’s been a bit of a tough week for various reasons.’ She turned to hang up his coat. ‘However, it’s nearly Christmas so enough about that.’ She smiled. ‘I can’t wait to show you Grace’s present.’
And at that a welling excitement began to grow. It had taken her until about eight o’clock last night to finish it, threading all the separate elements together and finally seeing if her design on paper would look the way she wanted it to. She had cried when she saw it.
Amos smiled but he was still looking at her intently. ‘Is it the competition?’ he asked. ‘It must be getting quite intense now we’re so close to Christmas.’
She pulled a face. ‘Pretty much… I’ve had a bit of a falling-out with Kit because of it, but it’s a long story.’ She really didn’t want to talk about it.
‘Then why don’t you tell me while we wait for Flora?’ said Amos, his expression suggesting that he wouldn’t take no for an answer. ‘Because I’ve a horrible feeling I might be to blame.’
‘You do? Well, I don’t see how…’ She led him through into the sitting room where she had already laid out a tray ready for tea. ‘Have a seat, Amos.’
