Page 18 of The Village Shop for Lonely Hearts

‘Well, not on those days, but all the others,’ said his mother quickly. ‘Anyway, I don’t want to talk about the chemotherapy. Or any of it.’ She swiftly walked out from behind the counter. ‘I’m going to make a cup of tea,’ she said, rushing through to the back room and up the stairs to the flat.

Josh sighed. He knew that his mum preferred to stick her head in the sand than confront the reality of their situation. He also knew that she was stressed about the scan results later that week. The doctors had been hopeful last time about the future and yet his stomach was still clenched in fear.

His mum had fallen ill way too soon after losing his dad, but they had got through the worst of days, hadn’t they? But there always seemed to be another appointment to stress about.

And he couldn’t face telling her the truth and cause her yet more hurt and worry. So he stayed silent and frustrated, unable to see a way out of their predicament.

He turned back to look out of the window and watched as Grandma Tilly and Amber slowly walked along the other side of the river.

He looked at Amber. Her long dark blonde hair shone in the dappled sunlight peeping through the trees. It was almost the same colour as the changing leaves on the oak trees, he thought.

Perhaps Amber could help his mum see that the shop needed to be reorganised. She was calm, thoughtful. Maybe she would be more gentle than him in persuading his mum to see the light.

As he continued to watch them, he wondered briefly what Amber’s life had been like since their teenage years. She’d always been so quiet when they had been growing up. That much hadn’t changed. But she had done so well for herself, working in both London and New York.

The bell above the door rang as Grandma Tilly pushed it open.

‘It’s lovely out there,’ she said. ‘I love this time of year.’

‘Me too,’ said Cathy, appearing from the back room holding a cup of tea. ‘I saw you both out of the window and I’ve made a cuppa. Do you want one?’

‘Thanks,’ said Grandma Tilly, heading over to the seat behind the till. ‘What have I missed?’

‘Just your grandson’s daily nagging session,’ said Cathy.

Grandma Tilly hugged her coat around her in the cool air of the shop. ‘I timed our walk just right then, didn’t I?’ She gave Amber a large wink before looking innocently at Josh.

‘Apparently we need updating,’ said Cathy, in a sarcastic tone, looking at Amber. ‘Can you believe it?’

Amber shuffled from foot to foot, obviously embarrassed about being put on the spot. ‘I don’t know anything about shops,’ she eventually said. ‘Only the windows.’

‘Maybe you can do something with ours,’ said Grandma Tilly. ‘I’ve always loved the big bay windows here.’

Amber looked startled at the suggestion. ‘Oh, I don’t know…’

‘They couldn’t look any worse,’ carried on Grandma Tilly.

‘Excuse me, I did those windows this summer,’ said Cathy, looking slightly affronted.

Grandma Tilly grinned. ‘I know you did, my darling. I just think we’ve got this amazing window dresser in our midst for a while. Don’t you think we could use Amber’s talents?’

Everyone turned to look at Amber, who was now very pink in the cheeks. ‘If you think it would help,’ she muttered. ‘Of course I’ll redecorate them for you.’

‘Excellent,’ said Grandma Tilly, grinning.

‘See?’ said Cathy in a triumphant tone of voice as she looked at Josh. ‘And you said I couldn’t make changes around here!’

Josh went to speak but found no words coming out. It was hardly the massive changes that were required. He supposed it was a start, but how could two windows change their fortunes for the better?

8

Amber had agreed to create a new window display for Cranbridge Stores, mainly because it made her godmother happier than she had seen her since she’d arrived.

‘I’m so pleased you can do this for us,’ said Cathy, putting her arm around Amber’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze before looking up at Josh. ‘What do you think?’

‘If you think it’ll help,’ he said, with a shrug.

Despite being riddled with self-doubt, Amber felt a small flush of indignance. Was he questioning her expertise? ‘The point of any kind of window dressing is to draw in customers,’ she found herself saying in a prim tone of voice.