Chapter 26
‘Let me see if Sarah’s free,’ Clare said. ‘Can you be trusted not to steal out the till while I’m gone?’
I gripped the stepladder with one hand, the other clenched around a teddy bear.
Moments later, Clare poked her head round the doorway. ‘You’ll never guess who’s just turned up.’
‘Andy?’ I squeaked. ‘What’s he doing here?’
‘I’ve no idea but I don’t think he’s here to buy flowers.’
‘What should I do?’
She frowned. ‘Come out and say hello of course. I thought you two were friends.’
‘We are. But…’
‘But what?’
‘You said it yourself, Clare.’
‘Said what?’
‘His name.’
‘Andy?’
‘His middle name.’
‘Steven? Jesus! Steven! You don’t think…?’
I sighed. ‘I don’t know what to think.’
The bell jingled again. ‘Well, you can’t hide in here forever,’ she said. ‘You’ve got a customer and an ex-boyfriend wanting you. And can you put that poor teddy down before you rip his head off?’
I looked down. My knuckles had actually turned white. Releasing my grip, I gently placed him in the crate. Focus, Sarah! You have a business to run and a friend to face. Neither of them are scary prospects. ‘Can you see to the customer while I see to Andy?’
‘I’ll have to steal you back if they want flowers.’ She leaned over and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. ‘Time to face your past. It’ll be grand.’
She headed back into the shop and I took a few deep breaths before following.
‘Andy! Long time no see.’
‘Sarah!’ He gave me a kiss on the cheek then moved in for a hug. ‘It’s been too long. It’s so good to see you.’
I hugged him back but pulled away laughing when he held on a little too long, muttering something about PDAs scaring the customers and Clare away.
I could tell from the hug that he was carrying a little more weight these days but it suited him.
Gone was the floppy fringe from university, although his hair was still thick and dark.
A very tanned face – out of place in a northern seaside town a few days before Christmas – highlighted the years spent living and working abroad.
‘Welcome back to the UK. But what are you doing here?’
‘I said I wanted to take you out for a catch-up when I got back from Dubai so here I am. You look fantastic, by the way.’
I blushed. ‘Thank you. When did you—?’
But the bell jingled and yet another customer came in. And another. And another. So much for the last half an hour being quiet.
‘I can see you’re busy.’ Andy headed towards the door. ‘What time do you close?’
‘Half past.’
‘I’ll be back then.’
I was about to protest that I had plans, but he’d already gone and an elderly lady was wittering something about chrysanthemums. Or was it christenings?
‘What did he want?’ asked Clare when the shop finally emptied.
‘To have a catch-up.’
‘What? He came all the way back from Dubai for that?’
‘He’s back in the UK,’ I said.
‘London to here is still a trek. I take it you weren’t expecting him.’
‘Definitely not.’
‘Then why’s he turned up out of the blue? People don’t travel several hours without warning just to catch-up with their ex. Hey, do you think he’s about to tell you he made a mistake by letting you walk out of his life eight years ago and he wants you back?’
My legs felt quite weak at the prospect. I leaned against the counter to steady myself, hoping Clare wouldn’t notice.
But Clare missed nothing. ‘Sarah! I know that look. What are you thinking?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Sarah!’
The bell jingled and another couple of customers came in. I quickly made up a bouquet for one of them while Clare sold and gift-wrapped a teddy bear for the other. The unfinished conversation hung heavily in the air.
‘Okay,’ she said the minute the shop emptied again, ‘start talking now. What’s going on in that head of yours? You don’t seriously think he wants to try again, do you?’
‘I don’t know. I always thought Andy and I would get together again one day but the timing never seemed right. Now he’s back in the UK for good, I’m not with Jason anymore, and he’s called Steven.’
Clare put her hands over her mouth and shook her head at me.
‘You need to stop that train of thought this minute.’ She took her hands away and started counting on her fingers.
‘Number one – he’s not Steven; he’s Andy.
Number two – he’s back in the UK, but he lives in London.
Four hours away. And number three – the most important one – you may not be with Jason anymore but you are with Nick.
I haven’t met the guy but I like him already.
You need to hang onto him instead of hanging onto your past.’
I put my arms on the counter and cradled my head in them, my stomach churning.
‘Madame Louisa predicted this was going to happen.’
‘Did she?’
I twisted my head to look at her. ‘She said I’d have to decide between the familiar or the new and should follow my heart, not my head.’
‘What will your heart be telling you? Andy or Nick? And can I just emphasise again that Steven is Andy’s middle name. Not his first name but his middle name.’
‘It’s still his name.’
‘And you still fancy the pants off Nick so don’t you be forgetting that,’ Clare cried. ‘Oh Jesus! He’s back.’
The door opened again. ‘Hi. Only me.’
What was I going to do? I’d told Nick the night before that no Steven could be better than him then in walks the ‘Steven’ I always thought I’d be with forever.
I could not, in a million years, have predicted that.
But maybe it was nothing to worry about.
Maybe Andy really had come for a drink and a catch-up with an old friend.
It’d be nice to do that. As friends. Nothing more.
I was with Nick, and Andy was no threat to that.
The butterflies in my stomach were nothing unusual.
I always had them when Andy got in touch and today they might be more intense because I was surprised to see him and a little thrown by the Steven thing.
‘Right, I’ll be going back to yours just now to get ready for our night out,’ announced Clare loudly when Andy closed the door. She pointed at him. ‘Don’t you keep her long or you’ll have me to answer to. We have plans.’
I couldn’t help but smile at her bluntness. Poor Andy, already put in his place.
‘Hi,’ I said when the door closed. ‘You’re back.’
‘As promised. You obviously have plans for tonight but do you have time for a drink first?’
I smiled. ‘A very quick one. Let me lock up and sort myself out. I need five minutes to cash up.’
‘How about you direct me to your favourite bar and I get the drinks in? You can join me when you’re done.’
‘Minty’s,’ I said. ‘It’s back up—’
‘I saw it earlier. I’ll see you in there shortly. Dry white wine still?’
‘Please.’
I had to count the till eight times before I finally managed to balance it.