The Little Island Flower Stall

Chapter Nineteen

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Sunday arrived. Bella and Celestine decided to keep their date with the food festival in St Helier. Bella insisted they both needed something to take their minds off a difficult and hectic week. Lisa and Bella had parted on amicable terms, but Bella had replied to Rory’s one text afterwards to tell him she didn’t want to see him again. She’d given Lisa the information about Klaus, and as far as she was concerned, that was the end of their partnership.

It was another glorious day, and the streets of Jersey’s capital were thrumming. Bunting was zigzagged across the roads, and baskets of flowers dangled from every lamppost. The crowds were boisterous, though people showed Celestine and her scooter great courtesy. Bella could smell the food stands before she could see them, and as the coloured awnings came into view it intensified: a curious mix of sweet, salty, spicy and sharp. In between snatches of music that changed with every few feet they went were people calling out what they had to offer. Some were walking up and down with platters of samples, and everywhere Bella looked someone was tucking into something she immediately wanted to try.

They stopped at a stage where a chef was demonstrating how to fillet and prepare fresh fish, and Celestine watched with interest while Bella tried to be patient but was soon distracted by the sugar on the air coming from a van selling the biggest chimney cakes she’d ever seen.

‘Do you want to go and get one?’ Celestine asked as she noticed. ‘I can wait here for you.’

Bella shook her head. ‘I want one, but I’m not going to get one yet. I probably ought to get something a bit more nutritious first.’

‘Pish! Thirty years ago you wouldn’t have cared less; you’d have eaten cake and ice cream until you felt sick. I don’t see why being a grown-up should stop you from doing that if it’s what you want.’

‘I can think of lots of reasons why my grown-up body wouldn’t like it.’

‘You’re on holiday – worry about all that when you get home.’

Bella grinned. ‘I’ll have one if you have one.’

Celestine looked doubtfully at a young girl who’d just left the van holding one of their cakes. ‘They’re very big.’

‘We’ll share one then.’

‘I don’t know…’

‘If you think I ought to get one, then you’re going to have to help me out. It’s all very well being on holiday, but I’ll be in a sugar coma for the rest of it if I have to eat one of those all by myself!’

Celestine smiled. ‘To help you, I suppose I could manage a little bit.’

Bella skipped off to queue for their cake, and by the time she’d returned with it, the fish demonstration had wrapped up.

‘Join us back here in fifteen minutes when we’ll be cooking authentic paella,’ the compère announced.

‘Do you want to watch that?’ Bella asked her aunt.

‘I don’t think so.’ Celestine tore a strip from the cake and popped it into her mouth. ‘Ooh, that’s nice.’

‘Isn’t it?’ Bella tore off another section for herself. ‘Want to walk along, see what else there is?’

Celestine nodded.

Bella munched on her cake, occasionally pulling another lump off for Celestine as they began to explore the rest of the festival. They were offered samples everywhere they went, from filo-wrapped feta to rich chocolate brownies. They took some and browsed the stalls of things they liked. Bella bought a bag of dried mango, some honey-roasted pistachios, a heavy slice of baklava and a tub of fat green olives infused with chilli. Celestine went for some candied orange peel, crystallised pineapple and a bag of Indian sweets. They stopped at a cheese seller, and Celestine bought a huge wedge of Brie that Bella joked would take her a year to eat. Then her attention was caught by a stand selling glasses of ouzo.

‘It’s ages since I’ve had ouzo!’ Bella made her way over, glancing back once to make sure Celestine was following. ‘Do you think it’s too early for a sneaky one now?’

Celestine laughed. ‘How should I know? You’re a grown woman – only you can tell if you can drink or not.’

‘What if I end up legless?’

‘I’ll get some kind soul to throw you over the handlebars of my scooter and I’ll carry you around until you sober up.’

Bella burst into laughter. ‘Do you want a glass?’

‘I do not!’

The stallholder was an older man – he couldn’t have been much younger than eighty – with steel-grey hair and quick eyes.

‘Ladies!’ he greeted them, almost bowing. ‘I can get you both a glass, yes?’

‘Just for me,’ Bella said.

‘No?’ The man looked at Celestine. ‘No drink for the beautiful lady?’

‘No, thank you,’ Celestine said primly, though Bella noticed her blush.

He pinched his thumb and forefinger together. ‘Not even a little one?’

‘I don’t drink in the day, thank you.’

He shrugged and began to put Bella’s order together. As she got out her purse to pay, he poured another drink and came out from the stall to Celestine’s scooter. ‘Lemonade only,’ he said. ‘For the beautiful lady. On the house.’

‘Oh…’ Celestine blushed harder still as she took the glass. ‘Thank you.’

Bella gave the broadest grin. ‘Thank you,’ she told him as she paid for her own.

‘You are most welcome.’

As they began to walk away, his voice followed them. ‘Beautiful lady! What is your name?’

‘Don’t be silly!’ Celestine huffed, her cheeks now aflame. Bella was trying hard to hold it together, but she couldn’t.

‘Celestine!’ she called back, laughing. ‘Her name is Celestine!’

‘Bella!’ her great-aunt snapped.

‘Celestine!’ he called after in a sing-song voice. Celestine picked up the pace, a still laughing Bella trying not to spill her drink as she kept up. ‘You want my phone number, Celestine?’

‘Oh, the nerve!’ Celestine grumbled. ‘I’m an old lady!’

‘He’s an old man,’ Bella replied. ‘Just goes to show old people can still flirt.’ She took a sip of her drink. ‘Wow!’ She coughed. ‘He’s given me a good measure there!’

‘Be careful!’ Celestine warned.

‘Don’t worry. You said you’d fling me over your scooter, so I’ll be fine, won’t I?’

Further on, they stopped to listen to a mariachi band. Bella had finished her generous measure of ouzo and was feeling tipsy. She started to do silly Zumba steps as the band played, and Celestine rolled her eyes.

‘This is why I don’t drink.’

‘After all the messing around I’ve had over the last few weeks, the least I deserve is a bit of day drinking,’ Bella said, swaying into a wobbly samba.

Celestine smiled fondly at her. ‘Yes, and I’m glad to see you’re being so positive about it.’

‘What else can I be? They’re not worth my tears, that’s what I say.’

‘They’re not. You’re a lovely person, Bella. You deserve to be treated well.’

Bella laughed. ‘Yes. I’m inclined to agree!’

They spent twenty more minutes with the mariachi band and then tried to get a decent view of a stage where a celebrity chef was talking about his latest book, but the crowds here were too big, and with Celestine in her scooter at a disadvantage anyway, they gave up trying to see any of it. Instead, Bella decided to get a taco and then took a couple of free shots of gin before buying bottles in both flavours, and then decided she wanted an ice cream.

Then they went to watch another demonstration about making decorative garnishes out of vegetables, which Bella found faintly laughable but Celestine seemed fascinated by, and when that was over, they walked on. Bella had another shot; this time it was sour cherry rum and it was so good she had to buy a bottle of that too, and finally they ended up at a stall selling meat pies that were so hefty Bella joked they’d make good house foundations.

‘Why don’t I buy us one for tea?’ she asked as they pored over the selection. ‘Chicken and asparagus. That sounds nice, doesn’t it?’

Celestine was munching on the pineapple chunks she’d bought earlier. ‘I’m surprised you can fit anything else in.’

‘If we don’t eat it tonight, we can have it tomorrow. Listen, I’m never going to eat this well again – certainly not when I get home. I might as well make the most of it now.’

Celestine smiled and nodded, though Bella wasn’t so tipsy she couldn’t detect a sadness in it that suddenly checked her own good mood too. Celestine was thinking of the day Bella would leave. Did she think about that a lot? All the time they were together, was she thinking of it and dreading it? Bella couldn’t deny that it was drawing ever closer and with increasing speed, and she didn’t want it to come either.

As she waited to buy their pie, she reflected on what a strange few weeks it had been on Jersey – far more eventful than she could ever have imagined. It was crazy, but she felt changed, despite how short the time had been since she’d driven away from her marriage. It was no time at all and yet felt like a lifetime too, but she could hardly recognise that version of herself now.

Her mind went to Rory. She was sad about how that had ended – strangely far sadder than she was about her split from Sean. Rory had seemed so different, and it had given her hope that he’d be so much better, that here was a man she could be herself with and he’d like her just the same. She was sad that the reality had been a million miles away from her hopes.

She paid for the pie and then popped it into her shopping bag. It was then that she noticed how tired Celestine looked.

‘I’ll call a taxi if you’re done here,’ she said.

‘We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.’

‘I’m tired too,’ Bella lied. A little white one, this time out of kindness. ‘I’m ready to head back. All that booze has made me sleepy.’

Celestine raised her eyebrows, and Bella had to laugh. ‘It’s nice to see you enjoying yourself, at least.’

‘I’m always enjoying myself when I’m with you,’ Bella said. ‘Come on – let’s find a quiet spot to call for our chariot.’

Almost as soon as the taxi had left St Helier, Celestine was asleep. Bella looked across and smiled.

‘Long day for someone?’ Brian, the driver, caught Bella’s eye through the rear-view mirror.

‘Looks like it.’

‘Have you enjoyed it? I’ve run quite a few people over there today. Not run them over…’ He chuckled. ‘I mean taken them over. They wouldn’t be happy if I’d run them over, would they?’

‘It’s been great,’ Bella said, her smile growing. ‘Lots to see. I think it’s on for a few days more, isn’t it?’

‘Probably. Not that I’ll get to it – too busy.’

‘That’s a shame.’

He patted his tummy. ‘I don’t know about that. My wife says I need no encouragement to eat like a pig.’

‘At a food festival, I think it’s allowed. In fact, I think it would be considered rude not to. They’re not going to sell much to people on diets.’

‘Never been on a diet, me.’

He messed around with the dials on his dashboard radio and settled for what sounded like the same classical station he’d listened to when he’d first picked Bella up from the airport.

‘The music was good today as well,’ she said.

‘Oh? What sort of thing?’

‘All sorts. Steel band, salsa, that sort of thing.’

‘That’s good.’

Bella’s phone pinged the arrival of a text message. She pulled it from her bag, her good mood instantly evaporating as she saw Rory’s name.

I’m leaving Jersey tomorrow. I was hoping we might meet before I go so I can apologise properly. But I understand if you don’t want to see me.

Bella locked the phone and dropped it into her bag, letting her head fall back onto the seat with a heavy sigh.

‘Someone else is tired,’ Brian said.

‘Yes,’ Bella replied, eyes still closed. She was tired all right, but it had nothing to do with her day out.

She decided not to reply to Rory, and she didn’t tell Celestine about the text either. They’d barely finished clearing away after their evening meal – both of them marvelling they’d been hungry enough to eat after their day at the food festival – when Celestine began to yawn.

‘You must be exhausted,’ Bella said. ‘Even I’m tired.’

‘Even you? You mean to say I must be more tired because I’m old?’

‘I wouldn’t dare!’ Bella filled the kettle. ‘I’m going to have a mint tea before I do anything else. Do you want one?’

‘Quite honestly I am exhausted. I feel a bit off with it. Probably overtired. I think I’ll go to bed – we’ve got another early start tomorrow.’

‘I’ve told you a million times, there’s no need to get up while I’m here – I can open the stall.’

‘I know, and it’s sweet of you, but I’m in the habit of waking early, and if I’m awake, I might as well be doing something useful.’

‘Then do something useful for yourself. Read a book, watch some telly, knit yourself a tea cosy or whatever.’

‘I’m happiest at the stall. I’ll see you in the morning.’

‘If you’re going to be stubborn about it…’

Celestine rose slowly from her seat at the table as Bella put the kettle on to boil. She seemed stiff and more tired than Bella had at first noticed. ‘Thank you for a lovely day,’ she said.

‘I should be thanking you. It’s done me the world of good not to think about men for a while.’

‘It’s done me the world of good too. Just having you here has been wonderful. It’s been so nice to have company and someone to finally open up to about…well, I feel as if a huge weight has left my shoulders. Thank you for encouraging me to share.’

‘I didn’t do anything.’ Bella was strangely emotional as she dropped a teabag into a cup. ‘I’m sorry for all the years I didn’t visit. I feel as if I missed out on so much time with you.’

‘It wasn’t your fault. You’re here now. You came when I needed you, and that’s what matters. Goodnight, Bella.’

‘Goodnight.’

Bella watched her aunt’s weary steps as she left the kitchen. For a second, she recalled the text message from Rory, still unanswered.

As she poured boiling water onto her mint teabag, releasing a cloud of sharp freshness into the air, she talked herself out of digging all that up again. Some things were best left alone.