Chapter 9
Hannah paused at the door of the wool shop and bit her lip. Why was she feeling so nervous all of a sudden?
‘Quit being ridiculous!’ she muttered, glaring at her flustered reflection in the window.
After all, she was just dress shopping for a random meal with her even more random neighbour and his son. What was the worst-case scenario here? That she wouldn’t be able to find anything suitable to wear and would end up in her tatty jeans. Hardly a disaster!
Actually, no. That wasn’t the worst-case scenario at all, was it? What if she somehow, inadvertently, managed to wreck poor old Jason’s birthday? Didn’t Gareth always say she had a knack for turning any occasion into a car crash?
Yep… that right there was probably the worst-case scenario.
Hannah’s stomach flipped, and for a second she considered calling the whole thing off. She could just pop a note through next door’s letterbox and then hide for the rest of the day. It wouldn’t be too hard to come up with a plausible excuse, would it?!
‘Okay, now you’re just being daft,’ she huffed, straightening her shoulders while pretending to admire the window display. She needed to stop letting Gareth’s poison ruin everything. They weren’t married any more. He was no longer part of her life. There was a good reason for that!
‘Get a grip!’ she huffed, cross with herself.
Even if this meal did end up being a disaster for some bizarre reason, what was the big deal? Give it two weeks, and Aunty Millie’s house would be on the market. She’d never have to set foot in Seabury again… and she’d definitely never see Mr Eaves or Jason again.
Great. Sorted.
Except for the fact that she’d just managed to thoroughly depress herself with her own pep talk. The random wriggle of nerves in her stomach was now being kept company by a great big lump of sadness.
Blimey. She really was just a massive mess of emotions right now, wasn’t she?!
‘Luckily, I know just the cure for that!’ she muttered, eyeballing a gorgeous beanie hat with what looked like a prancing Stanley pattern running around its rib.
Yep – it was definitely time for a spot of retail therapy!
Pulling her bag more securely onto her shoulder, Hannah pushed the door open before she could change her mind again. She didn’t get very far before she had to pause, blinking rapidly. The light in the shop was cosy and golden, and it took her eyes a couple of seconds to adjust.
‘Wow!’
The word tumbled out of her in an unguarded gasp of delight. The entire back wall of the shop was solid wool. Ball after ball stacked all the way up to the ceiling.
‘See… that’s the kind of reaction I love!’
Hannah jumped and glanced around. Sure enough, there was someone curled up in one of the vast armchairs near the window. She was wielding a pair of chunky needles, and the longest rainbow scarf Hannah had ever seen trailed across her lap and down onto the floor.
‘Sorry, I didn’t see you there,’ said Hannah, shooting the woman a sheepish grin. ‘I kind of got hypnotised by the wool wall!’
‘It does tend to have that effect the first time people see it,’ said the woman, popping her needles down before uncurling and getting to her feet. ‘I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Connie.’
‘Hannah,’ she said with a smile.
‘Of course you are,’ said Connie, nodding as if she’d just managed to slot a puzzle piece into place. ‘You’re the expert sheep wrangler!’
‘Blimey,’ laughed Hannah. ‘It’s far too easy to get a reputation in this town. I’m going to have to be more careful what I get up to.’
‘Well, it certainly sounds like you worked your magic with Bernard. David was singing your praises.’
‘David? Mr Eaves was in here?’ said Hannah in surprise.
‘Of course,’ Connie nodded. ‘He’s good friends with Ewan – that’s my other half. Anyway, he popped in to give us an update on Bernard.’
‘Is Bernard yours, then?’
‘Yes. I mean, no… not really.’ Connie paused, looking confused. ‘Sort of.’
‘Well, at least that clears it up,’ laughed Hannah, stooping down to stroke a ball of deep green wool. It was definitely going to have to come home with her!
‘Poor old Bernard was actually left tied to the front of the shop last week,’ said Connie.
‘What?’ Hannah raised her eyebrows, even as she grabbed a second ball of wool, this time in a rusty orange.
‘Yep, he was abandoned,’ said Connie. ‘There was a note pushed through the letterbox asking us to take care of him.’
‘But why would someone dump him on you?’ said Hannah. ‘You’re a wool shop! A very nice one and everything… but…’
‘Some people’s logic is… interesting,’ said Connie with a little shrug. ‘We sell wool… so I guess they drew some kind of line, joined the dots, added two and two and got ninety, and decided we’d be nice to a sheep?’
‘That’s so random!’ said Hannah.
‘Yeah, that’s one way of putting it,’ said Connie.
‘Thing is, we’ve already got a baby to wrangle.
Between her and the shop, there’s not much time for poor old Bernard.
Even if we did want a new woolly companion, we’re not exactly equipped to look after a sheep.
We’re looking for a good home for him, but in the meantime, David offered to keep an eye on him. ’
‘Just for the record, I don’t think next door’s garden’s equipped for looking after a sheep either,’ said Hannah, raising an amused eyebrow. ‘Wherever he ends up, I just hope the fence is better than the one between our houses!’
‘I’m really sorry,’ said Connie.
‘Don’t be daft,’ said Hannah. ‘It’s no one’s fault. He didn’t do any damage—at least not on my side of the fence. Besides, he was kind of cute, plus it broke the ice with next door… so that was an added bonus.’
‘David felt all kinds of guilty about disturbing you!’ said Connie with a chuckle. ‘Now then, I’m guessing you’re here for something to wear tonight?’
Hannah’s jaw dropped. ‘Are you magic?’
Connie snorted and shook her head. ‘Nah, not exactly. David mentioned you might be in at some point. He’s invited you to the hotel, right?’
Hannah nodded.
How was it that everyone in this town seemed to know what she was going to be up to before she did?
‘Lionel said you might be able to help me find something to wear?’ said Hannah, deciding that it was easier just to pretend she was in control of her own destiny… at least a little bit.
‘Ooh, yes, I’d love to!’ said Connie, her eyes lighting up. ‘Do you have anything in mind? Want to pair a nice jumper with something?’
Hannah shrugged, then shook her head. ‘I packed light. Too light, as it turns out. Scruffy jeans and tee shirts are as good as I’ve got, I’m afraid. I arrived ready to scrub, clean and sort through boxes. I wasn’t really expecting to have to dress up.
‘Don’t you worry,’ said Connie, already moving around the shop and snagging items from various rails.
‘I’ll bet you anything we’ll find the perfect dress in here for you somewhere.
’ She paused for a long moment before adding one more to her armful.
‘What do you think of the colour?’ she said, angling it towards Hannah.
It was a rich, deep red. The colour of good wine.
‘That’s actually my favourite colour!’
‘That’s funny,’ said Connie, raising an eyebrow.
‘Why?’ said Hannah.
‘Well,’ said Connie, ‘when David was in here, he said he thought you might like this one.’
‘Wait… what?’ Hannah frowned at the dress. It had a draped cowl neck, and its fine stitches looked almost velvety under the lights.
‘Don’t look so freaked out!’ laughed Connie. ‘He just said it made him think of you. It doesn’t look like much on the hanger but wait until you try it on. Ewan’s a genius… and I promise I’m not just saying that because he’s my other half!’
‘I don’t know…’ said Hannah, not because she didn’t love the look of the dress, but because… why would Mr Eaves be busy choosing hypothetical dresses for her?!
‘Pleeeeeease try it on,’ whined Connie, fluttering her eyelashes. ‘I honestly think you’ll look gorgeous in it!’
‘Okay. Fine, I’ll give it a go,’ laughed Hannah, unable to stand firm in the face of such flattery.
‘Yay!’ said Connie. ‘Now… how do we feel about black with a slit up to the thigh?’
‘Uncomfortable, that’s how we feel!’ said Hannah, shaking her head. ‘It’s gorgeous, but no way.’
‘Maybe you’re right,’ said Connie, cocking her head. ‘This one’s more of a third date dress.’
‘Now hold on just a sec,’ said Hannah, her eyes wide. ‘This isn’t a date!’
‘Of course not,’ said Connie with a small smile.
‘I mean it!’ said Hannah, the wriggle of nerves firmly back in her stomach. ‘This is just Jason and Mr Eaves—I mean David—being neighbourly. They’re just taking pity on me!’
‘Sure,’ said Connie, looking thoroughly unconvinced. ‘Absolutely.’
‘I’m serious,’ said Hannah, her voice low. ‘Please… don’t even think the word date.’
‘Got it,’ chuckled Connie, miming zipping her mouth shut.
‘Good,’ Hannah shook her head and then laughed. ‘Sorry. It’d just be super awkward if that spread all over town.’
‘For the record, I do know what you mean,’ said Connie. ‘But… just for your information… you know, in case you’re wondering… David is single.’
‘Oh. Well… okay.’ Hannah shrugged, doing her best to look indifferent. ‘I mean, I’m not surprised.’
‘Ouch!’ laughed Connie.
‘I didn’t mean… argh!’ Hannah clapped her hand over her mouth. ‘I just meant… he’s a bit… odd.’
Connie snorted. ‘Poor David, this is getting worse and worse.’
‘I didn’t mean… I…’ Hannah sighed. ‘Look. Aunty Millie really liked him, and they were neighbours forever. She saw him lose his wife and learn to be a single dad to a toddler. I mean, I guess he was only in his early twenties, but I was just a teenager, so he’s always been Mr Eaves to me. Mr Eaves with the bees.’
‘You know he’s probably only something like eight or nine years older than you, right?’
Hannah cocked her head and then nodded. ‘Yeah. I guess. But… he’s…’
‘Odd?’ laughed Connie.
Hannah shrugged.
‘He’s a bit eccentric, but he’s a good guy,’ said Connie with a small smile.
‘Yeah, I’m getting that,’ said Hannah, her mind wandering back to the box of goodies that had been waiting for her on the doorstep.
‘Anyway, enough of all that,’ said Connie, waving the armful of dresses at her. ‘We’ve got our work cut out here… you ready?’
Hannah nodded. ‘Let me at ‘em.’