Chapter 5
Wednesday afternoon arrived, and Thea felt a flutter of apprehension.
She then felt daft for being nervous. She’d had plenty of retail experience, even if it had been a fair few years ago, and although the technology might have changed, she was sure she could adapt.
It wasn’t as if Saints’ Farm Shop was a hypermarket, either – she hoped she’d have plenty of time to learn the ropes, and if things didn’t work out, it was only until Christmas anyway.
She’d told herself these facts a few times between agreeing to help out and actually arriving to be trained by Nick.
Confident in her own abilities as a primary school teacher, a job she’d been doing for fifteen years, she wouldn’t have thought twice about learning a new skill or trying a new technique in her classroom.
This really wasn’t so different. As she locked the car and headed in through the farm shop’s doors, she could already see Nick behind the counter, bidding someone goodbye, and as the customer turned to leave, she saw it was Mollie Wakefield, owner of the Purrfect Paws Feline Rescue Centre and part-time manager of the charity shop in the village that had been opened to support the work of the centre.
Mollie gave her a friendly smile as she passed by and a conspiratorial whisper.
‘I’ve just had some Pokémon cards in, if Dylan’s still interested in them. I’ll put them out the back for Saturday if you get the chance to pop in with him.’
‘Thanks, Mollie.’ Thea smiled. ‘I’ll bring him by and see what he thinks.’
Mollie had the knack of being able to source a great deal of things that the Lower Brambleton locals had on their wish lists, especially the children, and the ‘magic’ of the Purrfect Paws Charity Shop seemed to work whatever time of year it was. Thea’s keen eye for a bargain approved.
‘Hi,’ Nick said as she approached the counter. ‘How was your day?’
‘Long,’ Thea sighed, but brightened when she saw Nick’s look of sympathy.
‘It’s always a bit of a slog getting the children ready for the nativity play, but at least it’ll all be done and dusted by the end of next week.
If I have to adjust one more wonky tinsel halo or discourage the donkey from growing his role to more than just a few well-timed “hee-haws” one more time, I think I might bury my head in the manger! ’
Nick laughed. ‘I don’t know how you do it. I certainly wouldn’t have the patience for that kind of gig.’
Thea couldn’t help a rush of pleasure when he laughed.
She also noticed how well the dark blue Saints’ Farm polo shirt suited him.
It offset his beech-leaves-in-autumn coloured hair to a tee.
He’d filled out over the years, too, because of the intensely physical nature of running the farm shop, and she had to concede he’d grown very attractive.
‘It’s kind of sweet, really,’ Thea replied, fearing she’d come across as a bit too cynical. ‘They all try very hard, and the parents are so proud of their little darlings on the stage. I just wish it wasn’t quite so repetitive, getting them all word perfect.’
‘Well, speaking as someone who had a strictly non-speaking role as one half of the stable door in the Christmas nativity play thirty years ago, I’m sure they’ll all look back and feel proud.’
‘Which half of the door were you? I can’t remember.’
Nick pretended to look hurt. ‘I’m offended that you’ve forgotten. Don’t you remember the lengths Mrs Rossiter went to drill the script into us? The poor woman’s hair turned white by the end of it, I seem to recall.’
‘I don’t think we were that bad,’ Thea replied. ‘I think she was just too busy to dye it before the end of term!’ She paused, and then teasingly added, ‘And I bet you can’t remember what part I played, anyway.’
‘Of course I can! I’ll always remember you with one of Lorelai’s tea towels strapped to your head with a dressing gown cord, cuddling that fluffy lamb. You and Tristan made quite the pair of shepherds, although I can’t remember which of you had the line.’
‘He did,’ Thea replied. ‘He always was the bigger drama queen out of the two of us.’
‘And Tris, not here to defend himself!’ Nick was smirking now, before his expression fell. ‘Oh God, Thea, wasn’t that the first Christmas after your parents…’ he trailed off, clearly feeling as though he’d made a misstep in the conversation.
When Thea and Tristan were five years old, their parents had been killed in a car accident near what had been the Lower Brambleton Observatory.
They had been raised by Lorelai at Nightshade Cottage, just down the hill from the observatory.
The tragedy had rocked the family and the wider village of Lower Brambleton, and still, over thirty years on, it lived in the memories of the residents.
Thea gave him a reassuring smile. ‘It’s all right,’ she said.
‘Tris and I enjoyed the distraction of things like the school plays after we lost Mum and Dad. It wasn’t as if the pain stopped, but it gave us other things to think about for short bursts of time.
And Gran was in the audience that year, cheering us both on in the way that only she could.
’ She looked at him. ‘And you didn’t answer my question.
Which half of the stable door were you?’
‘The better half,’ Nick said dryly. ‘The other boy fell over and nearly took me with him.’
‘That’s right, I’d completely forgotten about that! Talk about a scene – or scenery – stealer! I wonder what happened to him?’
‘Became a carpenter, from what I’ve heard.’ Nick’s tone was so deadpan that Thea couldn’t be sure if he was joking or not.
‘Well,’ Thea said, glancing at the clock behind the counter. ‘Are you ready to get started? I’m all yours for the next couple of hours, if you think that’ll be enough time.’
‘Should be more than enough to show you the basics,’ Nick replied. ‘And anything else you need to know, you can just ask me or Dad as we go along.’
‘Thanks. I really do appreciate the chance to earn a bit more money before Christmas, and I’ll try to do my best for you.’
‘You’re welcome. In fact, you’re doing me a favour, too, so it’s all worked out quite well.
’ Nick turned and reached for an apron that was hanging up on a brass hook behind the counter.
‘I’ve got you one of your own, and although I haven’t had time to get your name put on it, Mum made you a badge to pin on. ’
‘Thanks.’ Thea took the apron and swiftly tied it around her waist. ‘Well, where do we start?’
And as Nick started to take her through the operation of the till, and where the price lists were for the loose produce, as well as how to operate the scales, Thea quickly caught on.
It felt good to be out of her cosy comfort zone of the classroom and learning a new set of skills, or, at least, refreshing some she’d not used in a long while.
Retail might not be where she thought she’d end up at this point in her life, but it certainly beat some of the alternatives, not least worrying even more about paying the bills.
‘So, the film crew are coming in tomorrow morning to set up and do some exterior shots and decide where the interior cameras are going to go. Are you all right with them being around while you’re working?’
Thea hesitated. It would be her first ‘real’ day on the job, and she wasn’t sure how she felt about being caught on TV learning the ropes.
But then, Nick had warned her about the film crew when he’d suggested the job to her, so she didn’t feel as though she could really say no.
‘I’m sure it’ll be fine,’ she said cautiously.
‘But if there’s any way I can be out the back, or doing things just out of the eye of the cameras, I think I’d feel more comfortable. ’
‘Fair enough,’ Nick replied. ‘I suspect they’ll just want lots of shots of pretty looking stuff in the shop anyway, and since Annabelle “volunteered” me to be the main talking head, and Dad’s rather fond of showing off to the camera, you probably won’t need to be in front of shot.
Are you all right with being shown in the background? ’
‘Sure,’ Thea said. ‘I’m more than happy to be a non-speaking extra.’
‘Much like you were in the Christmas play?’ Nick teased. ‘Maybe I should have asked Tristan to do a few hours here, instead!’
Thea laughed. ‘He’d be constantly asking the director for his motivation in every scene, he’s such a perfectionist!’ Thea adored her twin brother, but Tristan was a stickler for things to be just right, and she wasn’t above teasing him about it, and laughing about him with their friends.
‘Best stick with you, then,’ Nick said softly.
When he smiled at her, Thea felt something start to fizz in her stomach.
He really did have a lovely smile. She’d begun to notice things about him recently, but had put it down to feeling a bit lonely.
Who lusted after their friends after all this time, anyway?
She’d never really wanted to examine how she felt about him – past experiences with Ed had made her very risk averse, and Nick had been in and out of relationships himself, but she knew, from what Annabelle had mentioned the last time they’d spoken, that Nick hadn’t been with anyone seriously for quite a while.
And she hadn’t had anyone, serious or otherwise, for even longer than that.
‘Yeah,’ she said, slightly nervously, trying to push those thoughts to one side and concentrate on the job at hand. ‘Best stick with me.’