Page 17 of The Village of Lost and Found

‘The village has been through a lot,’ Amber told her. ‘Everyone kind of lost their way and then it all started to come together when we began to renovate the shop last year. Of course, the floods were a really tough time. Some people lost everything. But we all banded together.’

Lucy nodded. Frank had told her about the village being surrounded by floods for a few days and that some of the houses had even been flooded.

‘So what do you think about the newspaper so far?’ asked Amber, placing a takeaway coffee cup on the counter between them.

‘There’s a lot to sort out,’ Lucy told her, with a grimace.

‘That’s an understatement from what I’ve seen,’ said Amber, rolling her eyes. ‘Well, Tom’s lovely. And Molly’s so sweet. In fact, we’re supposed to be having a girly night tomorrow night at your place, if Molly’s well enough. You’ll have to join us.’

‘Are you sure?’ said Lucy, feeling a little hesitant. ‘I don’t want to intrude.’ Plus girly nights in her experience had normally been a bitchy, back-stabbing kind of affair, she had found with her few acquaintances back in London. They had never been particularly enjoyable in her eyes.

‘Nonsense! It’s your home too and it’ll be great to have a proper chat,’ said Amber. ‘Anyway, I’m always here for a natter. And Belle from the pub is our age as well, if you get lonely. It’s so nice to have friends, don’t you think? I’ve worked in London and New York in the most amazing department stores, so Cranbridge was a bit of a shock at first before I got to know everyone.’

Lucy was agog. ‘How did you end up here?’

Amber smiled in memory. ‘Cathy, Josh’s mum and the previous owner of the Stores, is my godmother and my mum’s best friend. So I popped in for a visit and never left. You’ll be the same.’

Lucy shook her head. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘Never say never!’ Amber replied. ‘Of course, I fell in love as well.’

‘Yeah, I don’t think that’s me either,’ said Lucy, with a grimace at the thought of her disastrous affair.

Amber laughed. ‘Ha! You sound just like Belle. Seems like you two will have a lot in common if you’re that cynical about love.’

Lucy’s stomach rumbled again so she quickly paid for her breakfast before picking up her coffee and pastry. ‘I’d better get off to work.’

‘Well, good luck with the new job,’ said Amber.

‘Thanks,’ said Lucy.

‘I’d better start decorating. Summer’s on its way! See you,’ said Amber, heading over to pick up a string of sunflowers.

Lucy nodded. ‘See you,’ she said.

As she left, the bell above the door to the shop rang out again and the elderly gentlemen sitting on the bench looked up at her expectantly.

‘I bet you went for the apple,’ said Uncle Frank with a wink.

‘Actually I went for both.’ Lucy stuck her tongue out at him before taking a bite out of the pastry. It was incredible. She sipped her coffee, which was equally good, and gave a satisfied sigh.

But still, as she finished her breakfast, she wondered how she could get out of the girly night that she’d been invited to without upsetting Molly and Amber. She was certain that they probably didn’t really want her there. Unless they were secretly hoping for more details about her affair.

And anyway, what did she know about having real friends? She’d survived this far without having any true friends. And she was doing OK, wasn’t she?

But even she had to admit that she wasn’t so sure about that, after all.

9

Lucy stood in the doorway to the chaotic and messy newspaper office. She looked across at Uncle Frank who had joined her briefly inside before Stanley was going to give him a lift back to his bungalow. ‘How many people worked here originally?’ she asked.

‘Let me see,’ said Uncle Frank, leaning against his crutches. ‘There was the sports journalist. He now works in a gym. Donna, she was the senior journalist. She left for a bigger paper, to our relief. She was a bit of a drama queen.’

Lucy nodded thoughtfully as she looked across at the eight or so desks and chairs that were arranged haphazardly in the large room.

‘Then there was a guy who used to review the restaurants and films, but he moved out of the area. I think that’s everyone.’ Uncle Frank looked sad. ‘It’s pretty quiet in here now. Such a shame when it used to be so lively. Full of noise.’

Lucy knew that Uncle Frank had worked his way up as a journalist through his father’s newspaper until finally becoming Editor before passing that role over to Tom after Aunt Jane had passed away. She wondered if he missed writing up the stories these days.