Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty-Five
As soon as Fern finished eating she headed back to the shop.
Just as she was about to step through the doorway, she stopped and hovered.
She couldn’t resist watching Daniel without him knowing.
He was kneeling on the rug in the centre of the shop, a vintage magic set laid out in front of him.
A small boy was sitting opposite him, eyes wide, mouth slightly open in amazement, the boy’s mum standing beside the two of them.
Daniel held up a small red ball in his palm. ‘Okay, now. Watch carefully. This ball … is a very cheeky little thing.’ He wiggled his eyebrows dramatically. ‘You put him here,’ he closed his hand, ‘and say the magic words… Pickle-pie penguin pants!’
The boy burst out laughing. ‘They’re not magic words!’
‘Ah,’ Daniel said, very serious, ‘but that’s where you’re wrong. You see, this particular ball has very sophisticated taste. If you say boring old “abracadabra” he just ignores you. But pickle-pie penguin pants? That’s his language.’
Daniel made the sound of a fanfare and opened his hand to reveal it was empty. The boy gasped. ‘Where’d it go?!’
Daniel then tapped the boy’s ear and reached behind it with two fingers. ‘He said he liked you, so he’s moving in.’ He produced the ball like it had grown there.
The boy couldn’t believe his eyes. ‘Mum, please can I have the magic set?’
‘How much?’ she asked Daniel.
‘Ten pounds and I’ll even teach him one trick that’s one hundred per cent guaranteed to impress at birthday parties.’ Daniel winked at the kid. ‘You, my friend, are about to become a wizard.’
Once they’d left, magic set under one arm, Fern stepped into the shop. ‘Pickle-pie penguin pants?’
Daniel didn’t miss a beat. ‘Patented. Don’t steal it!’
She grinned, tossing her bag on the counter. ‘You want a coffee?’
‘Always.’
She headed for the back room, filled the kettle, and flicked it on. Her phone beeped with an incoming email.
Subject: Job Offer. Senior Editor Maternity Cover Opportunity
Hey Fern,
Just a quick one. Jules is going on maternity leave, and we’d love for you to step in as acting senior editor for the next six months. It’s office-based, starting in two weeks, with a solid bump in pay and a chance to really make your mark.
This is the position you’ve been waiting for. I know the answer will of course be yes. Let’s arrange a Zoom call.
Tom
She stared at the screen. Senior editor. Tom was right, this was an opportunity she had been waiting for, and even though it might be temporary, it was another step up the ladder. She made the coffee and returned to the shop, handing Daniel his mug with a little clink.
‘You were lovely with that little boy.’
‘Thank you. That kid reminded me of me at that age. I bought my very first magic set from a car boot. My audience was mostly my gran and a very confused Jack Russell.’
Fern smiled, then perched on the desk opposite him. ‘Can I ask you something?’
Daniel arched a brow. ‘You don’t want me to teach you magic, do you?’
‘I think my magician days are well and truly over.’ Though she wished she could magic up a solution to all of her current dilemmas.
‘Go on then, ask away.’
Fern took a deep breath. ‘Say someone came along and offered to buy the shop. Like, for way more than it’s worth. Enough to give us both a decent payout. What would you say?’
He put his mug down. ‘Hypothetically?’
She nodded.
‘I’d say they were either bonkers or they know something we don’t.’
Her phone buzzed but she ignored it.
‘It’s not hypothetical,’ she said quietly. ‘I’ve received an offer for the shop and all of its contents. A big one. Way over what I reckon this place is worth. I have to decide by next Friday.’
Daniel’s smile vanished. ‘What? But the shop isn’t up for sale. Did you put it up for sale?’
‘No, I didn’t. The offer came through yesterday via Edgar, but the buyer wants to remain anonymous.’
He sat back. ‘Why didn’t you say something sooner?’
‘I had a meeting with Edgar this morning, to gather all the facts, and now I’m telling you. What do you think?’
‘I think it’s very weird.’
‘I know.’
‘You have no inkling who the buyer is? Edgar gave no clues?’
She shook her head. ‘Nothing.’
Daniel rubbed a hand across his face. ‘That’s not a normal offer, Fern. That’s not someone who loves crockery and first editions. That’s someone who wants this place for their own reason, but why? Is this shop built on a goldmine?’
‘Not that I’m aware of.’ She stared at him.
He stood up and started pacing like he always did when his brain kicked into gear.
‘What if it’s connected to the note that came with the dress?
Matilda never married Nathaniel Loring. Why?
Something happened, something she never told anyone …
or perhaps maybe she did. After all, someone very much alive planted that wedding dress. ’
‘It can’t be anyone on the island because Betty said no one knows what happened, and Clemmie and Amelia were adamant that if there was something to know, she would be the one to know it.’
‘Do we think there’s something in this shop that might give us a clue? Maybe Matilda hid something. Or someone else did and now they’re trying to cover it up for whatever reason.’
Fern looked around the shop. ‘You think someone’s trying to buy the secret?’
‘I think someone’s trying to bury it.’
‘Surely we’re just reading too much into this?
’ Her pulse was racing. ‘The offer, the timeline, it all feels like pressure, but there’s more.
Betty showed me the newspaper this morning.
Nathaniel Loring has checked into a private clinic as his health is deteriorating further, but the headline was all about his agent, Alistair Montgomery, who happens to be not only Nathaniel’s best friend, but also Dorothy’s brother and Nathaniel Loring’s sole beneficiary. ’
Surprise was written all over Daniel’s face.
Fern carried on. ‘He also went to the London Music School and was best friends with Matilda, but never spoke to her again after that Christmas Eve. Whatever went on, he took Nathaniel’s side and has stayed there ever since.’
‘Which has paid him well, if he’s to receive everything from Nathaniel Loring’s estate.
This is all very interesting. Alistair must know the reason why the wedding didn’t take place.
Why else would he cut Matilda off if they were all friends?
’ Daniel looked at her with a serious expression on his face.
‘Ask yourself why someone wants to pay over the odds for a dusty old shop … and why they want to stay anonymous. Let’s pull up the inventory.
Maybe something we logged stands out. Maybe we missed something. ’
Fern flipped the lid on her laptop and turned it between then. Fern’s inbox was still open from when she had checked her emails early that morning, and it had updated to show the email from Tom. Daniel’s eyes were fixed on the words ‘Job Offer’.
Daniel turned to her. ‘Were you going to tell me, or just sell the shop with me as a going concern, and scuttle back to London?’
‘No one is scuttling back to London. It only just landed whilst I was making the coffee and I’ve not had time to think about it.’
‘Do you want the job?’
‘It’s a massive opportunity to prove myself in the industry, and it will open lots of doors for me. The salary is also a big leap compared to what I’m on now, and living in London is not cheap.’
‘It sounds like you’ve already made up your mind. Is this all about money?’
‘Of course that helps. I can’t pay the bills on thin air, even though I’m beginning to think that it’s possible, if this place is anything to go by.
’ Fern noticed the atmosphere had suddenly tensed.
‘Have you ever had a proper salary?’ The words left her mouth before she could stop them.
She hadn’t meant to sound critical, she was simply trying to grasp how difficult it must be, living without the certainty of a steady income.
Then she noticed the sadness in his eyes.
‘I didn’t always fly by the seat of my pants,’ he said. ‘I used to have…’ He shook his head, like he hated even thinking about it. ‘I had a proper job. An office job. Salary, pension, the whole nine-to-five thing. I also had a little flat not far from here. Nothing fancy, but it was mine.
‘When my grandmother passed away, everything changed.’
Daniel scrubbed a hand over his face. ‘After that … I couldn’t do it anymore.
I’d sit at my desk, staring at the screen, and it all felt pointless.
Reports, emails, meetings about nothing.
Everyone I’d ever loved was gone.’ He let out a shaky breath.
‘It was hard losing my grandmother. We were so close.’
Fern’s chest hurt just listening.
‘I really tried at first to show up and get myself into work. I smiled. Told everyone I was fine. But inside I was just empty. It’s hard to explain really.
’ He paused. ‘Eventually I stopped showing up. Lost the flat. Burned through what little savings I had, trying to keep it together, and by the time I lifted my head up again, it was all gone. The job, the normal life, everything.’ Daniel gave a lopsided smile that broke her heart.
‘Somewhere in that mess, I just … made a choice. If everything can be ripped away in a second, what’s the point in chasing stability?
What’s the point in worrying about tomorrow?
Fly by the seat of your pants. Roll the dice.
Live life like every day might be the last. Because sometimes … it is.’
Fern swallowed. ‘Daniel,’ she said, leaning and touching his hand. ‘I’m so sorry.’
‘I know it’s stupid,’ he said. ‘I know it’s reckless and selfish and exhausting sometimes.
I know it makes me a shit bet for someone like you.
Someone who’s smart and ambitious and actually has a future lined up.
’ His voice cracked on the last words. ‘You should take that job, Fern. Go to London. Kick ass. Forget about some guy who makes no money and thinks an antiques shop that doesn’t actually sell any of its antiques is a good way to spend his time. ’
‘Don’t say that.’
‘Why? It’s true.’
‘Stop it,’ Fern said sharply, taking his hand. ‘You’re not a shit bet. You made a lot of money this week and you’re one of the best people I’ve ever met.’
Daniel stared at her. ‘But somehow that’s not enough,’ he said in a low voice.
‘You’re kind,’ Fern said, her voice shaking, ‘funny and brave even when you’re scared. You … you didn’t give up. Even when it would have been easier.’
Tears began to slide down Daniel’s cheeks now, and he didn’t wipe them away.
‘You make everything feel alive,’ Fern whispered. ‘That includes me.’
‘I feel like I let my gran down.’
Fern stood up and wrapped her arms around him. ‘You haven’t. She would be really proud of the person you’ve become.’
He buried his face in her shoulder, clutching her like she was the only solid thing left in the world. For a long time, she just held him.
‘This is the first real thing I’ve felt in a long time. I’m not used to connecting with anyone. I’m falling for you, and I just don’t know what to do about that,’ he murmured. ‘And I’m scared.’
‘Me too,’ she admitted. ‘Maybe that’s how we know this is real.’
The old clock on the wall ticked steadily in the background and the laptop screen behind them went dark. Daniel pulled away slowly, and really looked at her. ‘If you stay…’ he said. ‘If you stay, I’ll try. I’ll try to be better. I’ll try to—’
‘Hey,’ she cut him off. ‘I’m not asking you to be anything but you.’
He gave a shaky nod.
Fern brushed her thumbs across his cheeks, wiping away the tears.
‘I haven’t made any decisions yet,’ she said.
‘But whatever I choose … it’s not just about money.
Or a job or London. It’s about what matters,’ she said simply.
‘And you matter.’ She leaned in and kissed him softly.
The offer on the shop was tempting, but whatever happened next, she wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Daniel.
As she hugged him again, all she could think was: maybe this wasn’t about finding the safest path in life but about finding the people who made the risk worth it. Daniel was worth it.