Chapter 34
THIRTY-FOUR
There’d been no stopping the snow once it had started properly on Sunday evening. And now the whole town was once again muffled under a thick eiderdown of white.
Bear had kindly given Lark a lift to the square in the Land Rover that morning, since he was on his way to a decorating job in town.
As she’d sat beside him, catching up on what they’d done at the weekend, he’d spoken about Lucy’s latest antics, his face glowing with pride.
He was a besotted father if ever there was one.
Lark wondered if Maggie had told him about their conversation and her awkward situation with Nate.
She guessed she probably had and hoped he didn’t judge her badly for it.
Despite texting and calling Nate’s number, she hadn’t managed to get hold of him and he hadn’t returned any of her calls.
That was a first and it made her all the more determined to put things right between them.
So she made up her mind to close the shop for an hour at lunch time and walk round to his workshop.
Lark was sure she’d find him there, especially with him having such a backlog of work to catch up with.
The beautiful wooden box he’d given her on that fateful night had caught her eye from its new home on her dressing table as she’d been getting dressed that morning.
The sight of it had triggered an ache in her heart.
It was a thoughtful gift. Typically Nate.
And he’d been right to think she’d like it.
As for the necklace with the amethyst pendant, that spoke for itself.
He’d have chosen it simply because of her love of crystals.
And he’d listened to her rabbiting on about their individual uses and properties for him to have absorbed at least some information.
She wondered if he was aware that amethysts represented trust. She felt a pang of guilt, wondering if he’d lost his trust in her.
Amethyst also helped alleviate anxiety. She was wearing the necklace now in the hope that it would help ease the tension that currently had her in its clutches.
She’d also worn it in the hope that Nate would see it, that it would send a message to him that she valued his gift.
Though she wasn’t so sure how she was going to get him to see that she valued him if she couldn’t get hold of him.
But there was more than that. The past couple of days had given her time to think and clear her head. And she realised there was something she needed to say to Nate.
Wrapped up well and with her wellies on, Lark crunched her way over the snow-covered path down the square and onto Endeavour Street. The town had been quiet, and the lunchtime traffic was taking it steady thanks to the wintry conditions.
Arriving at the workshop, she was a mix of surprised and disappointed to find everything was locked up, including the small shopfront.
She knocked on the door, telling herself if Nate was there then Bobby would probably bark, giving him away if he was ignoring callers to the door.
But she was met with a wall of silence. She knocked again, just in case, but the response was the same.
She made her way round to the front of the shop and peered in through the window but was disappointed to find the shop floor in darkness.
Admitting defeat, Lark plodded back to the square where she headed over to the bookshop.
The bell jangled noisily above as she poked her head round the door.
‘Am I okay to come in with my wellies on?’ she asked Florrie, who looked up from where she was busy adding more books to the Christmas table display.
She spotted Leah serving a customer at the counter.
Gerty looked up from her bed and was now ambling towards her.
‘Only if you can levitate,’ came Florrie’s speedy reply, her face straight.
‘Only if I can lev—’
‘I’m just joshing, ’course you can.’ She grinned. ‘Come on in. If I turned away everyone who was wearing wellies at the moment, we’d have zero customers, which isn’t what we want.’
‘Thanks.’ Lark noted the woman Leah was currently serving was also wearing wellies.
She headed in, pushing the door shut on the chilly weather outside.
‘I was wondering if you’d seen Nate around and about recently?
I’ve just been round to his workshop but there’s no sign of him and there were no recent footprints outside.
I know it’s been snowing, but I don’t think it’s enough to have completely covered them. ’
‘I agree about the snow. And as far as Nate’s concerned, I’m sure Ed mentioned something about him having to drop some furniture off somewhere today. So he could be doing that before the weather gets any worse.’
‘Oh, okay. That would make sense.’ Lark wondered if it was the units for the pushy couple from Lingthorpe.
She could understand why he’d want to get them off his back as soon as possible, and her dad had said between them they’d made good progress on the units yesterday.
The thought offered her a modicum of relief.
‘Have you made any progress with the stolen books?’ she asked quietly as Leah served a customer.
Florrie rolled her eyes wearily. ‘Well, the cameras did capture someone stealing them, which was good news, but whoever it was they evidently knew what they were doing and managed to keep their face hidden from view.’
‘Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. I know you were hopeful it would help identify the thief.’
‘Ed’s sure it’s connected to Dodgy Dick still having sour grapes about us not selling him this place.
Ed’s heard a rumour Dodgy Dick and Wendy had been hounding the Coopers who have the gift shop round the corner, sending thugs round to wreak havoc on their behalf.
D’you remember, they’d had a window smashed six months ago? ’
‘I do actually.’
‘And the hanging baskets they had outside the shop this summer were stolen. They were found in a nearby street with all the plants ripped out. Mindless stuff.’ Florrie shook her head.
‘Ed said the Coopers apparently threatened them with legal action if they didn’t stop making a nuisance of themselves.
And we all know how Dodgy Dick and that disreputable company he’s frontman for don’t like mention of the police. ’
‘Good point.’ Lark had heard about the trouble the Coopers had been having earlier in the year but hadn’t realised it was at the hands of Dodgy Dick.
Dick Swales originally had a reputation for being a bit of a wheeler-dealer who only just kept himself on the right side of the law.
He’d been a likeable character until he joined the payroll of a shady company from out of the area.
It appeared to have brought out a menacing side to him, one he was putting to use with increasing regularity.
Dodgy Dick relished his role as their frontman for the town, keeping his eyes and ears open for any suitable properties for the group.
Their strategy was to buy businesses at a knockdown price assisted by Dodgy Dick who enlisted the help of his equally disreputable extended family.
They used force and bullying tactics to get the owners to agree to a sale.
The properties would then be sold on for a hefty profit.
‘Well, if the stolen books are to do with Dodgy Dick and his cronies, I hope they don’t give you any more trouble.
’ Lark knew how upset her friend had become when Dodgy Dick had turned his attentions onto the bookshop last year.
But he and Wendy hadn’t been acting on behalf of the company he worked for, they’d wanted the business purely for themselves.
Florrie had told her she wasn’t sure what was worse.
A shadow crossed Florrie’s face. ‘You’re not the only one. I just wish they’d leave us alone once and for all.’