Chapter 27 #2
‘My father thinks it was around this time that she bumped into my ex, and on learning that Luella still had… um… still had feelings for me…’ Ed scratched his cheek, an awkward expression on his face.
He was clearly feeling uncomfortable at sharing this.
‘It would seem the two got chatting and apparently hatched a plan to get us back together. I’m not sure of all the ins and outs of it, but what I do know is that when Luella and I became an item again, she was going to make me “see sense” and either hand over the bookshop to my parents or get me to sell it and give the proceeds to them.
Oh, and she was going to have a small percentage of the profit as a reward for her trouble. ’
‘Wow! That’s some bold plan.’ Florrie couldn’t help but laugh, wondering if it sounded as childish and unsophisticated to Ed as it did to her.
‘It was fundamentally flawed on so many levels, though. I mean, they seem to have forgotten the need to take my feelings into account. Did they really think I was going to have an overnight change of heart and suddenly switch my affections from you to Luella? That I’d cancel the wedding, and my ex and I would live happily ever after?
Let’s not forget the fact that you’re also a joint owner of the bookshop, and Jean and Jack have shares now.
How were they going to get around that? They had a lot of people to convince to go along with their plan. ’
‘Desperate people take desperate measures,’ she said. ‘Panic must’ve skewed your mum’s logic, especially if she’s been getting hassled by loan sharks.’
‘Hmm. Maybe,’ said Ed. ‘My dad told me he wasn’t involved in any of it, and, like I said before, that the reason he came up here was to stop her from going ahead with her plan – he told me he knew nothing about it until Wednesday evening when she’d let slip during a phone call.
She’d originally told him she was visiting a friend and when he questioned her, it apparently all came tumbling out.
He got on a train the following morning and arrived in Micklewick Bay that afternoon.
He reckons the reason he was arguing with her in the square was because she’d told him she was going to crash Jack and Jenna’s reading and tell everyone how badly she and my father had been treated by my grandfather in bequeathing the bookshop to us.
He’d been trying to talk her out of it which had made her angry and was the reason she’d started to scream at him in the street.
It seems your father falling over and hitting his head forced her to abandon her plan. ’
‘Poor Dad, getting caught up in all of that.’ Florrie felt suddenly drained by the situation. She couldn’t imagine how Ed must be feeling knowing his mother was responsible for so much drama. All she knew was that it wouldn’t rest easy with his mild-mannered personality.
‘Oh, and though she still denies it, my father’s pretty certain my mother’s been snooping around our house in search of legal documents relating to the bookshop.
And what’s more, he found a key at her B getting on the wrong side of loan sharks must be quite terrifying.
And in the middle of all this was poor Ed.
She couldn’t begin to imagine how he must be feeling, especially after the heartless words his mother had thrown at him last night.
The thought caused the pity she’d felt for the woman to quickly dissipate.
‘Did he mention the things she said to you last night?’ She couldn’t bring herself to put them into words.
A look of pain flickered over his face, and she instantly regretted asking him.
‘I brought it up, and his response was, “you know what she’s like” and that I shouldn’t take any notice of what she says in temper, that she doesn’t mean half of it.
Told me she loves me “in her own way”, blah-di-blah.
Didn’t come as a surprise, I have to say. ’
‘So basically, he just brushed it off?’ She shook her head in disbelief.
‘Yeah, brushed it straight under the rug with everything else she’s said and done; him, too – he’s not blameless, he’s said and done plenty of unpleasant stuff over the years.’
‘Well, you know what, Ed? I don’t think there’s room under that rug for anything else.
I think it’s time they took ownership of what they’ve done instead of acting like a couple of overgrown children having temper tantrums. That, combined with their bullying and intimidation campaigns, is toxic and it stops now!
I’m sorry if that sounds harsh, but I’ve had enough of them treating you like this, and I’m not going to stand by and let it happen anymore.
’ Florrie could feel her face burn with indignation as a surge of adrenalin hit her bloodstream.
She made the decision there and then that she was going to speak to them.
She needed to get her thoughts off her chest and hope her words hit their target the way Dawn Harte’s had done with Ed. And she wasn’t going to hold back.
Conscious of Ed’s gaze on her, she steadied her breathing and pushed up a smile.
Ed took her hand, his eyes finding hers. ‘Did I ever tell you that you’re totally awesome, Florrie Appleton?’
‘Not nearly enough.’ She grinned, feeling suddenly bashful.
‘Well, let me put that right. Florrie Appleton-soon-to-be-Harte, you may only just scrape over five feet tall—’
‘Five feet two and a bit, actually.’
‘Okay, Florrie Appleton-soon-to-be-Harte, you may only be five feet two and a – very important – half inches tall, but I think you’ve got the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever met. Oh, and on top of that, you just so happen to be totally awesome. That do?’
Florrie let out a laugh. ‘I suppose it’ll do for starters. And I think you’re awesome, too, and you have a great, big heart yourself.’ They stretched across the table, their lips meeting in a soft kiss that made her heart flutter.
‘So, how did it go at the solicitors’?’ she asked, dropping back into her seat, glad to hear his laugh again.
‘Interesting. Old Mr Cuthbert told me I have a couple of options, the first being a cease-and-desist letter, though I told him I doubted they’d take much notice of that.
Mr Cuthbert agreed – don’t forget he knows them of old.
The next level would be an injunction which would have legal consequences if they ignored it. ’
‘Ooh, seems quite scary when you put it like that.’
‘I know, that’s what I thought. He suggested I think about it, discuss it with you, before I make a decision.’
‘Oh, okay.’ Florrie was pleased to hear Mr Cuthbert hadn’t pushed Ed into going for such a drastic course of action straight away, that he’d advised him to give it some consideration.
‘I just can’t get it out of my head that my mother’s temper and complete disregard for other people actually resulted in your dad getting so stressed he took a tumble and ended up in the intensive care unit of a hospital – albeit indirectly.
’ All trace of his earlier smiles had deserted him, his expression now grave.
Florrie was unsure how to respond. It had been an unfortunate set of circumstances, but all the same, Dawn needed to curb that temper of hers. Her dad may be home and being fussed over by her mum, but the outcome could just as easily have been very different. Not that she wanted to dwell on that.
‘He’s on the mend now, which is the main thing.’
‘Aye, it is. And we’re still together, stronger than ever, no thanks to my mother.’ He summoned up a smile.