Chapter 6
Chapter Six
After another day of rest, Lily felt completely normal again. Flynn messaged her in the morning to ask if she was feeling up to a run, but she declined. She might feel normal but she wasn’t feeling overly energetic. Besides, now that she was feeling better she had to face the reality that she’d be opening the shop soon. She needed to prepare.
As had become her habit, she went down to the shop to tackle anything work related. First on the agenda was finalising the menu for opening day so she could put in an order for the ingredients she’d need and get to work building up a supply of ice cream.
She was scribbling away in her notebook when Flynn wandered in in the middle of the morning. Given his jeans and T-shirt and his fresh appearance, she gathered he hadn’t come straight from his workout.
“How was your run?” she asked.
“Good.” He glanced through the window. “Beautiful blue skies this morning. You missed out. How are you feeling now?”
“Fine. Just not quite up to a run. Besides, I decided I better get to work if you’re going to insist on bullying me into opening in a week and a half.”
“I am.” He dropped a stack of papers in front of her and pulled out a chair. “I’ve just printed these out. What do you think?”
“They’re great,” she said, picking up a flyer and forcing a smile. Rhys had done a brilliant job creating a simple, but effective design – with all the information about the opening of the ice cream shop, along with some cute graphics. “Thank you.”
“You’re really worried about this, aren’t you?” Flynn said softly.
“No.” She shook her head but wasn’t fooling herself, so knew there was no way she was fooling Flynn. “Okay, I am,” she amended. “And I know it’s stupid, but I can’t help it.”
“It’s not stupid. Of course it’s nerve wracking, but it’s exciting too, isn’t it?”
“It should be, but I guess I’ve been too busy worrying about it to be excited.” She set the flyer down. “I’ve always worked for someone else, and I don’t think I ever did anything that required me to take a lot of pride in my work. I really want this to do well.” She sighed heavily. “What if I open and no customers turn up? Or if they hate the ice cream and never come back?”
“That’s not going to happen,” Flynn said with absolute certainty. “The shop will be a success. You’re too stubborn for it not to be.”
That drew a smile from her. “You may have a point there. Though I think you mean I’m determined, not stubborn.”
His mouth twitched at the corners. “Sure. If that’s what you want to call it. Anyway, are we going to plaster this island with flyers, or what?”
“Now?”
“I don’t see why not. The weather is gorgeous.”
“Okay.” She nodded, but her eyes flicked to the door.
“Do you have other plans?” Flynn asked.
“No.” She tapped on the table. “I just thought Glynis might stop by. I haven’t seen her the last two days. She specifically told me she was going to call in.”
Flynn looked at his watch. “She’s usually here earlier than this, isn’t she?”
“Yeah. I guess she isn’t coming today. We should go and put the posters up.” Since Flynn had gone to so much effort, it would be rude not to. Also, she needed to stop letting fear rule her. She’d put the flyers up and open the shop. Everything would be fine. She sucked in a deep breath. “First, I need to get your opinion on the menu for opening day.”
With his usual level-headed approach, he went through it all with her, then waited while she called the garden centre to put in an order for herbs and berries. Then she called the supermarket and gave them her order for cream, sugar and other ingredients.
It was almost midday when they set off for their walk around the island, pinning and taping flyers as they went. Several people stopped to see what they were doing and just about everyone enthusiastically said they’d come along to the opening.
“What if I don’t have enough ice cream?” Lily said as they made their way towards the Mermaid Inn – the last stop on their tour.
“What?” Flynn asked.
“What if too many people turn up on opening day and I don’t have enough stock?”
“Make a lot of stock,” he said, opening the door and holding it for her. “Given how little there is to do around here, I imagine you’ll get most of the islanders calling in.”
“Don’t say that!” She glared at him as she stepped inside. “If everyone comes, I definitely won’t have enough ice cream.”
“Okay, not everyone will come, but you have a lot of freezer space. Just make more than you think you’ll need. Better to have too much than too little.”
She shook her head as they headed for the bar. “Earlier I was panicking that no one would come. Now I’m worrying about the opposite. I would never have thought opening an ice cream shop would be this stressful.”
“I’ll be there with you,” he said, resting an elbow on the bar. “Everything will go perfectly, but if there are any problems, I promise to cause some kind of distraction so no one notices.”
“Like what?” Lily asked, amused.
He looked thoughtful. “If you run out of ice cream, I’ll claim there are too many people in the shop. I’ll spout something about legal capacity and kick everyone out.”
Lily’s eyes widened. “Is there a law about how many people I can have in the shop at one time?”
“Oh, my god!” Flynn laughed loudly. “I need to stop opening my mouth because it feels like anything I say is going to stress you out.”
“Who’s stressed?” Seren asked, appearing from the kitchen with a plate of food in each hand.
“Guess?” Lily said. “It seems like an easy one though… have you ever known Flynn to get stressed?”
“Good point.” Seren moved out from behind the bar. “I’ll be right back.”
They watched as she delivered food to a table nearby, then returned to the bar.
“What are you stressed about?” she asked.
“This.” Lily held up the flyer. “Can you put it up somewhere?”
“Yes.” Seren’s eyes lit up as she took the paper. “Yay! You have a date. Why are you stressed? You should be excited.”
“Tell that to my nervous system. Apparently, all I can focus on are the things that could go wrong.”
“Nothing will go wrong,” Seren said. “Are you going to employ someone to help out?”
“I don’t know.” She had pondered the idea, but then she’d put it out of her head and forgot to come back to it. “Maybe.” Her eyes flashed to Flynn. “Should I?”
“Sorry,” Seren said. “I didn’t mean to cause you more stress.”
Lily pressed her lips together. “I don’t know how busy it will be so it’s hard to judge if I’ll need someone or not.”
“You can wait and see how the first couple of weeks go,” Flynn said. “Then employ someone if you need help. I’ll help on opening day.”
“Me too,” Seren said.
“Thanks.” She exhaled a dramatic breath. “I think I need a drink.”
They ordered food as well, deciding they’d earned a pub lunch, then chatted with Seren in between her serving customers.
“I wanted to ask you something,” Lily said across the bar once they’d finished eating.
“What is it?” Seren asked.
“What do you know about Glynis?” Lily scrunched her nose up, realising she didn’t know her last name or much about her at all. “You know the woman who calls into the shop for ice creams in the mornings?”
“Glynis Ward? She’s such a sweetie. And she’s totally my role model. I want to be her when I’m in my eighties. I swear she’s fitter than I am.”
“She’s great,” Lily said. “Do you happen to have her phone number? I haven’t seen her in a few days, and she specifically said she’d be coming into the shop. I’m a little worried about her.”
Seren shook her head. “I don’t have her number, but I could probably find it out. I know where she lives.”
“That works,” Lily said. “I can call in and check she’s okay.”
“I hope she’s all right.” Seren got her phone out to send Lily the address. “Now that you mention it, I haven’t seen her in a few days either, which is unusual.”
“I’m sure she’s fine,” Lily said. “And she has a carer living with her, so it’s not as though she’s alone.”
“A carer?” Seren’s eyebrows inched upwards. “Are we talking about the same person? I reckon Glynis would have strong objections to needing a carer.”
“She introduced me to her at the garden centre the other day.” Lily frowned as she tried to recall her name. “Maria. I think she said she’s just been helping Glynis for a few months.”
“Okay, that’s even more worrying. Maybe her health isn’t as good as she claims.”
“I’ll call in and check on her,” Lily said as the message came through with the address.