Page 98 of The Village Shop for Lonely Hearts

But it wasn’t good, she knew. She missed their easy chats, the stolen moments.

Perhaps it was for the best, she told herself. Perhaps when she left it would hurt a little less if she kept her distance from now on.

The trouble was that she knew that she had fallen in love with Josh. But he hadn’t made a move since the night of the flood when they had kissed. Perhaps he regretted that too.

She had probably made a fool of herself, despite what Molly and Belle had said. Cranbridge wasn’t her home. And the shop wasn’t really hers, after all. It was time to leave. She would wait until Cathy returned and then she would fly, as she had originally planned, to stay with her parents in New Zealand.

She was trying to stay strong. But she knew deep down that leaving Josh and the village of Cranbridge in the next couple of weeks was going to be the hardest thing of all that she would have to face.

40

The river slowly receded back into its normal path. However, it was still running high and they all had one eye on the weather forecast at all times. Josh was out a lot of the time, helping with the big clean-up operation. The roads needed to be swept and hosed down. Trees needed to be cut and removed from lanes and roads. Fences had to be put back up. But with everyone pulling together, the work soon progressed.

Finally, the electricity was deemed safe enough to be returned to the flooded properties and the families moved out of the pub and back into their houses. They had all lost so much, but, thanks to everyone’s donations, which had taken over almost all of the floor space of the tiny church, at least they had the basics to take home with them and start again.

Josh had begun to venture further to other farms which stocked local meat and vegetables. Local eggs were now displayed at the shop, along with the local cheese and milk.

‘This is wonderful,’ said one customer as she handed over the payment for her purchases to Josh. ‘So nice to have all this on our doorstep. I had no idea.’

‘Thanks,’ he told her. ‘That’s good to know. Everyone seems very keen on the new layout of the shop.’

‘The food is great too,’ she told him, as she packed away her goods into the bags she had bought with her. ‘To know it’s local makes such a difference.’

‘It’s not hard when we’re surrounded by such great farms,’ he replied.

‘Well, I shall be doing all my Christmas food shopping in here. And passing off some of it as my own as well,’ she told him with a wink.

‘I won’t tell a soul,’ he replied.

As she left, his smile faded a little as he remained deep in thought. It was almost the middle of November. Christmas was just around the corner and he needed to plan for what he hoped would be bumper sales.

‘I thought you’d be expensive,’ said another customer.

Josh shook his head. ‘Just the market value for good, local produce.’

The customer nodded. ‘Good idea. I hope you continue to flourish.’

‘So do I,’ said Josh with a sigh, after the customer had left the shop. ‘I’ve just heard they’ve reopened the road into Aldwych at last.’

Amber looked up at the concern in his voice. ‘I’m sure it’ll be OK,’ she told him.

Josh wasn’t so sure.

Despite the recent jump in sales, he felt miserable. Amber was subdued as well, he found. She kept telling him she was just tired, but perhaps he’d gone too far in getting so close to her. They had kissed the night of the flood. Maybe he’d pushed her too much when he should have left her alone. For that reason, he felt guilty, especially when it was because of her that they had achieved so much in the shop. But most of all, he missed her company. Their little chats and her soft laughter.

Kate, the journalist, had asked him out for a drink. But despite her best flirty efforts, it was no use. Despite Kate’s obvious charms, there was only room for one woman in his life. Amber had snuck into his heart when he had been least expecting it. And he had no idea what to do about it, especially as she had tentatively mentioned only the previous day about booking her onward flight. She was just waiting for confirmation from his mum as to when she was returning.

He wanted nothing more than to kiss her again. But it wasn’t fair on either of them. She would move on, leave the country and go and live with her parents in New Zealand. He would stay, and then what?

The thought of running the shop without Amber by his side brought him no joy. How would he decorate the seasons? He certainly didn’t have her eye for detail nor her talent for design. He could continue with all their tentative plans, but it all seemed quite pointless. Especially because, despite the increase in local customers, they were still running at a loss.

‘The trouble is that the customers have dropped away a little now that the road to Aldwych is open again,’ he said, that night in the pub. ‘I mean, the locals have been great, but it’s only a small village.’

‘I know what you mean,’ said Mike, leaning on the other side of the bar and staring around the empty pub.

‘Do you think if you became one of those artisan pubs it might help?’ asked Tom, picking up a chip and showing them just how soggy it looked.

‘We’ve tried,’ said Mike. ‘The missus just won’t have it. She says good home cooking is what’s important.’