Page 26 of The Happy Hour
‘You want to see my kite?’
‘Not been up close and personal with one of these in years. I’m Spade, by the way. One of the market ghouls.’
‘A ghoul?’ Ash laughed, confused, but he was already handing over the coffees, unfurling the kite from where he’d had it tucked under his arm. Perhaps he’d be able to hang out here after all, and maybe he’d even forget about Jess for upwards of thirty seconds at a time. Maybe, he thought, as he untangled the ribboned tail, and Spade whistled in a way that he didn’t think was ironic, there was hope for him yet.
Chapter Ten
Susie had had a disaster, followed swiftly by a meltdown, and Jess was trying to sort it out.
A teenager had gone past her stall on a skateboard, hit an uneven patch of floor, and let go of their coconut-and-lime smoothie, which had upended and landed in a giant, creamy splat all over her Better Babies stall. The girl had been apologetic, but Susie had turned up at No Vase Like Home with tears in her eyes.I’m sure Jess canhelp, Wendy had soothed, and Jess had glanced at all the clocks, seen it was only half an hour until Ash was due, and tried not to groan out loud.
She’d made a mad dash to the nearest hair salon, borrowed one of their water sprays and a hairdryer, and for the last forty minutes had been cleaning and then drying the cuddly toys, changing bags and soft blankets until she was overheated, Susie was smiling serenely, and the fluffy items looked as if they’d been through a round of electric-shock therapy. By the time she’d finished it was ten past twelve and panic had set in.
‘Thank yousomuch,’ Susie cooed. ‘Can I buy—’
‘I have to run,’ Jess said. ‘I need to get these back to the salon, and then...’ She swallowed. ‘And then I’ve got lunch, so—’
‘Another time?’
‘Another time,’ Jess agreed, though she didn’t know what, exactly, she was agreeing to. She pushed through the tourists, gritting her teeth – why was it sobusytoday? – and gave the salon back their things, thanked them profusely, and almost got a faceful of hairspray as she passed by the chair closest to the door on her way out.
By the time she got back to No Vase Like Home, she was flustered and frantic, and the look Wendy gave her did nothing to improve her mood.
‘I tried to tell him you wouldn’t be long, but it was so busy in here.’ They both looked around the empty shop. There were signs of a rush: items left haphazardly on shelves, a blanket pulled out and dumped in a heap. Someone had discarded a crumpled paper bag in the sparkly twigs by the door, but Jess didn’t care about that now.
‘He just left?’ He hadn’t waited for her.
Wendy looked apologetic. ‘I only managed to tell him you weren’t here. I didn’t have a chance to explain why.’
Jess bit her lip. She should go and get a muffin, try to forget about him. Clearly, it was a one-time – two-time – thing. But then...‘He might still be in the market.’
‘You’d better go and find him then,’ Wendy said softly.
Jess grabbed her bag and raced out of the shop.
She didn’t know where to go. She stood, floundering, hoping the answer would come to her. He wasn’t trying on hats at Olga’s stall, and she knew he wasn’t in Susie’s aisle because she’d just come from there. She couldn’t see him down towards the food court, except it was all sobusy,so how was she ever supposed to— She heard laughter, deep and rumbling, and her stomach flipped. Thathadto be Ash. She followed the sound, weaving between tourists and trying not to shove them out of the way, holding on to her last thread of patience. She rounded the corner, saw Spade’s familiar red fedora and also—
‘A kite?’ A laugh bubbled out of her, and the kite, which had legs, was lowered to reveal Ash. His dark hair was untidy, his grey eyes wide with surprise. Her breath caught.
‘Jess? I thought...’ His expression softened. ‘I thought you weren’t here.’
‘I had to help Susie at Better Babies,’ she said. ‘A smoothie disaster. It’s all sorted now, but I’m... I’m sorry I wasn’t there.’
‘You still want to spend time together?’
She stood in front of him, with the beautiful, brightly coloured kite between them. ‘If you do,’ she said. ‘Are we going to fly this?’
Ash’s smile tipped into a grin. ‘That was the plan.’
‘It’s nearly twenty past twelve.’
‘We can have an hour from now.’ His words came out in a rush. ‘But we’ll have to get going. Come on.’ He held the kite out, and she took it. He picked up the two coffees that Spade had balanced on Enzo’s stall.
‘Hey, Enzo,’ she said. ‘Hi, Spade.’
‘You have been busy then, Jess,’ Enzo said.
‘She’s always busy.’ Spade slung his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his traditional half-headlock. ‘Always helping someone out. She scowls about it, but she can’t stop herself. Ash is your man, eh? I always trust a man with a kite.’
