Page 9 of A Brambleberry Manor Christmas
What about the pawnbroker’s? Could I make some money thatway? Harvey had given me some lovely jewellery over the years. Maybe that wasthe way out of this mess?
All I knew was that if, by some miracle, I managed to helpgive that lovely couple a wedding day to remember – instead of a totalnightmare as they tried to find another caterer at the last minute – I’d giveup the business afterwards. I’d waded in, with a naïve idea of making moneyfrom the word go, without giving proper thought to the financial side ofthings. It was clear I didn’t have a business brain. And I never wanted to feelthis level of panic over letting people down ever again in my entire life!
With a heavy heart, I gathered up the jewellery I thoughtmight make a good return at the pawnbroker’s in the morning. Then I traileddownstairs, grateful that Tavie was watching TV in her room and knew nothing ofmy inner turmoil.
A good strong cup of tea. That’s what I needed. Then I’d sitdown and work out exactly how much cash I’d need to make from the jewellery inorder for this nightmare to go away…
But I was foiled at the first hurdle by a lack of milk inthe fridge. Tavie must have used the last of it on a bowl of cereal when shecame in from school. Wearily, I grabbed my coat and walked down to the cornershop.
As I stood in the small queue at the till – held up by a manasking how to fill in his lottery slip – my eyes wandered over to the confectionaryshelf. A gigantic bar of milk chocolate was staring at me, within easy reach.It was also the last one on the shelf, which somehow made it even moretempting. (The rest were tiny. They could be devoured in two or three bites, ifa person was feelingreallydesperate and in need of comfort.) Thatlarge bar was definitely calling out to me.
I reached out to grab it.
But someone got there first. A small hand with a gold band onthe ring finger, studded with what looked like diamonds. And a tag attached to thering that saidFor Sale.
Feeling disgruntled at the chocolate’s disappearance, butintrigued by the ring, I turned to find that the wearer was a short woman witha bleached blonde pixie haircut with pink tips. She was turned away, helpingherself to a second bottle of wine, and I glared at the chocolate in herbasket, almost tempted to swipe it, I was feeling in such a miserable mood. Iwas sure I’d seen it first, anyway!
She turned around and caught me glaring.
‘Sorry, did I just beat you to it, there?’ She grinned andscooped up the bar, handing it over. ‘Have it. I’ve been indulging myself fartoo much lately.’
‘Oh.’ Now that she was being so nice, I didn’t want to berude. ‘No, it’s fine.’
‘Take it.’ She placed it in my basket. ‘You look as miserableas I feel underneath this clown smile of mine.’
‘Well…thank you.’ I felt guilty now. ‘Not having a good day,then?’
She groaned. ‘If this fella would sort out his lotterynumbers and get on his way, I’d feel a whole lot happier.’
I grinned, my eye shifting to the eye-catching ring. ‘Arethey real diamonds?’
‘Oh, yes.’ She frowned and brought up her hand to examineit. ‘Actually, you’ve got me thinking now. Maybe they’re paste. I wouldn’t putit past the mean bastard.’ She grinned. ‘You want to buy it? Because I’mtelling you, you really don’t. This ring is cursed.’ She held it up again andwiggled her hand and the diamonds twinkled under the stark overhead light.‘Eternity ring, my arse. I’m sure he only bought it because I was gettingsuspicious of all the late nights he was working.’
‘Are you separated, then?’
‘Yup. Divorced soon, hopefully. In fact…’ She pursed herlips and pulled off the ring. ‘Time to ditch it.’ She slipped it into her bagand sighed. ‘I was with Ed for twenty-six years, from the tender age of sixteen.Gave him two kids, all grown-up now and flown the nest. We’d been planning whatwe’d do when it was just us again – and guess what? The bastard tells me, onthe day we were supposed to be booking a romantic trip to Venice, that he’sfallen in love with the woman who works in the post office and he’s leavingme.’
‘Oh, that’s awful.’
‘It was. I thought it was odd when he developed a passionfor selling things on eBay. Turned out he was having his package handled inmore ways than one.’
The man in front of me, who was wearing a yellow reflectivejacket and carrying a hard hat, turned round at that point.
‘I keep telling you, Flo. He wasn’t good enough for you.’ Hewinked at her. Then he turned to me, and I noticed he had a really nice smile.‘This one thinks she’s past it, just because she’s over forty. I keep tellingher the best is yet to come but she won’t believe me.’
‘Oh, you’re so romantic, Mr Construction Worker,’ she saidpertly, with a strong hint of irony. ‘You don’t know anyone who wants a cursedring, do you?’
‘The name’s Paul, as you well know. And I’d slip that ringinto a Christmas cracker, where it no doubt came from.’
She nodded. ‘Nice idea.’ Then she pointed at the counter.‘Your turn to get served.Paul.’
He grinned at her, shrugged with mock hopelessness at me,paid for his newspaper and left.
‘He seems nice,’ I pointed out, handing over a note for themilk and the chocolate. ‘Do you know him well?’
‘No. We just keep bumping into each other in here, that’sall.’ She touched the slide with the pink flower on it, holding her fringeback. ‘He’s okay. Bit full of himself.’
I grinned, waiting for her to be served. ‘So is Ed, your ex,the reason you’re feeling bad today?’
