Chapter 14
The next day the temperature had risen but the sky was slate grey and the rain was coming down in bleak torrents.
The weather suited Lara’s mood exactly. She got up early and went to the shop to check on the delivery and then, taking a few stems of mimosa, pulled on her coat again and went out into the street.
The square was unusually quiet, most people keeping themselves to themselves on such a foul day.
The only figures she spotted in the distance across the square were Sarah from the deli and Kate, the local hairdresser.
Kate had been into the shop a couple of times and Becky had happily chatted to her.
She seemed to be able to draw Becky out in a way that Lara knew she found hard.
From the reaction of the other customers in the shop it was clear she was well known and well liked.
Like Sarah, Kate was a woman Lara thought she would like to know better.
But on the one occasion that Kate had spotted Lara out with Julian in the local Italian – one of their few proper dates rather than hook ups – Kate had laughed, as if at a private joke.
Lara had read pity and ridicule in the laughter and had avoided her ever since, even though Lady Porter said she was an excellent hairdresser – and Lara knew she, or rather her hair, could do with her assistance.
Lara watched as the two women huddled under an umbrella and ran laughing towards the coffee shop. Lara felt a wave of loneliness tinged with inadequacy wash over her, along with the puddle thrown up by a passing car.
She walked across the park and turned right into the adjacent churchyard.
She found Lady Porter’s plot and bent down to tidy the flowers on the grave.
She took the flowers that had died and put them in the bin.
Then in the posy holder she rearranged the remaining yellow roses and added the mimosa.
Lady Porter had once told Lara that the smell of mimosa reminded her of a holiday in the South of France with Reggie, and Lara had never forgotten it.
There was a note next to the yellow roses but the rain had washed most of the ink away.
All she could see was a watery imprint of the letter ‘M’.
Mrs M she thought. It would be just like her, and so much more in keeping with Lady Porter than the traditional chrysanthemums and lilies that Richard had insisted on for their funeral tributes.
Crouching down, rain dripping from her hood onto her nose she started to speak to her friend. ‘I really miss our chats. You were so kind to me, and so much fun. But now I wonder if I asked enough about you. Was I one of those friends who is only ever interested in talking about themselves?’
Despite the cold and the rain, Lara could almost hear Lady Porter’s laughter – her voice telling her not to take life so seriously and to pour them another Pink Gin.
But surely life did need to be taken seriously?
She had to make a go of her business. But need she take herself so seriously?
Be so defensive all the time? Looking down at the roses and mimosa, a glowing arrangement in an otherwise sodden gloomy day, she knew what Lady Porter would have said.
‘Thank you,’ Lara muttered and standing up, she made a silent promise to her friend. I will find out what happened to you. Smiling a little grimly, she changed that in her mind to – we will find out.
Before that, she needed to follow her mother’s advice. For once.
Lara returned to the shop and it was not long before Becky arrived and Abby appeared.
Lara did not stay to speak to either of them but headed out again into the rain, this time walking towards the coffee shop on the corner.
There was no sign of Sarah or Kate. Lara came back bearing hot chocolate and croissants.
‘Becky,’ she said, not looking at Abby who appeared once more and perched on her usual stool in the corner, ‘I have an apology to make.’ Becky looked around surprised.
‘A peace offering,’ Lara said, handing her a drink and a croissant.
She reached into her tote bag that was hanging on the back of the door and pulled out a jar of apricot jam and a knife.
‘I will understand if you want to pour your chocolate over me once I’ve told you. ’
Becky was now looking worried, but stood quietly waiting for what was coming next.
‘I was in the pub last night and Sebastian’s wife, Jessica, was in there complaining about the flowers he bought her.
You know he said he just needed something for one day and I gave him some old flowers.
Well, he gave them to her for her birthday.
’ Lara took a sip of her chocolate to steady her.
‘I felt I couldn’t tell her what he’d done and…
’ Lara was clearly struggling and started pulling her croissant to bits without eating any of it.
‘…And,’ she continued ‘for some reason, I can’t really explain, I said you’d done them and I implied it was your mistake.
’ She stopped and drew a deep breath, looking anxiously at Becky.
Becky did not say anything but looked down at the cup in her hands.
‘I’m really sorry, Becky,’ Lara added and hoped that this is what her mum had meant by ‘the right thing’. She did not dare look at Abby.
Which was a shame because Abby was smiling encouragingly at her.
Becky eventually spoke.
‘When we did that flower arranging demonstration for the church flower group I spilled a bucket on the floor near Mrs Sutton’s handbag, it left a big watermark in the leather.’
She looked Lara straight in the eye, ‘I told her it was you.’
‘My God! No wonder she’s always so difficult with me,’ Lara blurted.
‘She’s always very nice to me,’ Becky said innocently. And then she grinned.
Lara burst out laughing. ‘I am so sorry, Becky. I should never have blamed you.’
‘Don’t worry about it,’ Becky said, adding a big dollop of jam to her croissant. She looked up. ‘Isn’t Sebastian a cheap arse! You wouldn’t want to be married to him.’
Lara was beaming, she felt so relieved. She even forgot to go through the orders in microscopic detail and just handed Becky the list of the day’s work.
To drown out the sound of the rain on the windows, Lara connected her phone to a small speaker at the back of the shop and put on a playlist. The shop became a cosy oasis away from the storm.
Outside the wind whipped old leaves and stray rubbish around the square, but inside no one noticed.
The lamps shed a gentle glow over the banks of flowers and Lara lit candles around the shop to add to the soft shimmering light.
The air smelt of fresh flowers and herbs mingled with the lingering smell of chocolate.
On a small table in the centre of the shop, Lara placed a large kingfisher-blue jug.
In this she arranged raspberry-coloured lilies, fat roses the colour of plums and stems of creamy, fragrant tuberose.
Lara and Becky chatted as they worked, only pausing occasionally to join in with a chorus of a song they both knew.
It was when Lara was flicking on from a song neither of them liked that Becky mentioned some gossip she had overheard.
It appeared Mrs Sutton had been visiting her sister in Dorchester and had spotted Dr Patil having lunch with Jason Honeybourne.
Mrs Sutton had remarked on it as she had no idea the men were friendly.
There had clearly been a rather pointed reference in Mrs Sutton’s re-telling.
What were they hiding? Were they more than just friends?
Becky had been contemptuous of Mrs S, as she called her.
Abby, however, had caught Lara’s eye and Lara thought her Kindred Spirit had looked more than a little thoughtful.
Before Lara could get Abby aside to discuss this, a song came on that Becky loved and Lara had turned back to the music and the flowers.
Abby watched the occasional singing performances with a crease between her brows and one eyebrow slightly raised.
This morning Abby had discarded her riding habit for a more conventional dress of soft olive-green.
It had a short spencer jacket with pale lemon buttons.
The lemon was picked out in the ribbons of her small but very pretty bonnet that was lying on the bench beside her.
Secretly she would have liked to take off her pale lemon kid gloves and join Becky and Lara as they gathered handfuls of flowers for their arrangements.
But she contented herself with imagining what flowers she would have chosen to go with her dress.
She wondered if Lara would mind if she appeared one day wearing one of the shop’s aprons. She thought she might try it and see.
Due to the weather, business was quiet. Only one or two customers were brave enough to battle through the elements to their door.
Lara took the opportunity afforded by the lull to ask Becky if she had any thoughts on how they could decorate the shop for Christmas.
It was now November and Christmas stock had started to arrive.
Very soon they had their heads together over a growing list of ideas.
As Abby was now standing alongside them making her own suggestions, this took some considerable time.
‘I’ll get the decorations out of the shed this weekend,’ Lara promised. ‘How would you feel about wearing red tops in the run up to Christmas, under our aprons?’ Becky looked less than impressed. Lara ploughed on. ‘Just to look festive along with the shop.’
‘I’m not dressing as an elf,’ Becky said sullenly.
Lara hastened to reassure her.
‘I suppose so,’ Becky said reluctantly. ‘I haven’t got anything but black,’ she added.
I know, thought Lara. ‘I would treat us to a couple of tops. Nothing awful, just deep-scarlet jumpers. Something warm,’ she said persuasively.
‘Okay,’ Becky shrugged, ‘but I’m not wearing reindeer antlers.’
‘Nor am I,’ said a clear voice from just beside her.