Chapter 7
The sight of Nick’s smile of welcome as she pushed open the doors of the farm shop did a lot to calm Thea’s nerves.
Nick, who’d always been the shy and reserved one of their friendship group at school, had, in adulthood, developed a quiet confidence that Thea found calmed her down.
They’d drifted apart over the years, but whenever their paths had crossed, Thea always felt the better for it afterwards, no matter how stressed she was.
When she’d been living away from Lower Brambleton, during those years spent with Ed, she’d not seen much of him, or any of her school friends.
Even when she and Ed had split, she’d been working so hard to provide for the children she hadn’t really had the emotional bandwidth to reconnect with her friends.
However, whenever she’d returned to the village to visit her grandmother and bumped into Nick, her day had always seemed to improve.
She’d always put it down to the strength of a friendship formed in early childhood, but as she walked towards him now, she wondered if something else had been behind that emotion.
‘Morning,’ he called from where he was picking up the last sack of spuds to go out on the display by the front door. ‘All set for today?’
Thea couldn’t help noticing the ease with which he handled the twenty-five-kilo sack, and the slight bulge of his biceps as he did so.
This kind of work obviously kept him fit.
He was in great shape, with broad shoulders and lean hips, hugged snugly by well-fitting light blue jeans, and as he brushed his hair back from his eyes as he straightened up again, she found she was looking at him rather too intensely.
‘I think so,’ she said hurriedly. ‘Where do you want me to start?’
Nick, who’d swiftly returned from outside the front door, grinned. ‘Well, why don’t you stick the kettle on? It’s usually pretty quiet between nine and ten – you’ve missed the people who tend to pop in to get lunch on their way to work.’
‘Sounds good,’ Thea replied. She donned her apron from where she’d hung it back up behind the counter after her training had finished the previous evening.
Nick had shown her the small back office and the kitchen next to the storeroom, so, ascertaining if he wanted tea or coffee, she set to making it while he put the rest of the produce outside.
On her return, Nick was taking a phone call. She tried not to listen in and busied herself with looking through the price list for the loose produce, as well as some of the other documentation she might need. She couldn’t help noticing Nick’s tone of voice, though; he sounded a little stressed.
‘OK. No, look, you take things easy. Yeah, it’s not ideal, but I’m sure we’ll manage here. I’ll pop over after work and give you a hand. OK, bye.’
‘Everything all right?’ Thea asked as Nick ended the call.
Nick slipped his phone into the back pocket of his jeans and gave her a slightly less than convincing smile. ‘Er, not exactly, no. Dad’s put his back out. Silly sod was shifting the Christmas tree into the house last night and he felt it ping.’
‘Oh no,’ Thea sympathised. ‘How is he feeling?’
‘Irritated, mainly, but it means he can’t really come into work for a day or two until it settles back down.
He’s doped up to the eyeballs on painkillers, so it’s not a great idea for him to muck around with the forklift and the tractor, and with Mum’s hip still mending, that leaves us even more short-handed. ’ Nick gave a grimace of frustration.
Thea, who was at her best when she had to think on her feet, put a reassuring hand on his arm. ‘We’ll manage. I’m a quick learner and the film crew will only be around for a few days, won’t they? I’m sure we can muddle through, between the two of us.’
Nick gave her a smile. ‘Shouldn’t it be me trying to make you feel better? I’m in charge now, after all!’
‘I’ll try to remember that,’ Thea laughed. ‘Although I’m sure you’ll have to talk me through quite a bit if we’re going to keep this place running, between the two of us.’
‘I’m here to help in any way I can,’ Nick replied, and Thea felt a shift in the atmosphere between them as he held her gaze with his piercing blue eyes a fraction longer than necessary. ‘You’re really helping me out, Thea, and I’m grateful.’
Thea’s hand was still on Nick’s arm, she realised, with a self-conscious jolt, and she hastily removed it. Clearing her throat, she took a step towards the counter again, and slid behind it, creating a bit more of a barrier between them. ‘Shall I look after here while you do what you need to do?’
Nick nodded. ‘Sure.’ He also looked a bit flustered.
‘There’s a delivery from the bakery coming in any time now, and another from the wholesalers, so I’ll do a quick stock check of the fruit and veg, and the baked goods sections, and then I’ll have to put the surplus from the wholesalers in the barn.
If you can keep an eye on the till, and, if you get the chance, check the stock in the dairy fridge, that would be a great start. ’
‘Will do, Boss!’ Thea quipped, trying not to overthink the pleasant frisson of tension that had developed between them. She needed to stay focussed on the job, even more so now that it looked as though it was just going to be herself and Nick running the place for the next few days.
‘It’ll be fine,’ Nick said as he headed off to check the stock.
Thea wasn’t sure if he was talking to her, or to himself, but she promised herself she’d do her best to help him out as much as she could.
That was what friends did for each other.
And that’s what she and Nick were. Friends.
She tried to forget the way she’d felt when she’d seen him shifting the spuds just now, and the way her hand had just settled so naturally on his arm when she was trying to reassure him.
And the way they’d gazed at each other when he’d been doing the same for her.
They’d been friends for so long, now, it would be daft to think of him as anything else. Wouldn’t it?