Chapter 30
T he morning of the festival finally dawned, and Rosie couldn’t sit still. This was it. The day that would make or break her future and decide where she’d be calling home after the summer ended.
Nervous excitement buzzed through her system, and on another beautiful summer’s day, she arrived at the flower market before anyone else.
Her priority was sorting out her shop so she was on hand to help with any last-minute setting up, and she’d invested some additional money in even more flowers, hoping she would sell them all before the day was out.
It really was make or break with only another week or so to get the bulk of her repairs done on the boat.
She was cutting it fine. As she was unable to face doing anything until her future was secure, the list was getting longer and l onger.
If this whole thing was successful, in many ways her work was only just getting started.
‘Are you ready?’ asked Max, who had dived out to get coffee for them both. She was going to need all the caffeine she could get today. As always, Zoon was with him and settled on a blanket she’d placed at the back of her stall, next to a water bowl.
‘Just waiting for Bas,’ she replied, gratefully accepting the coffee. ‘He said he’d be here early as everyone’s ordered more flowers. It’s been good for his business too.’
Before long, the rest of the team arrived: Finn and Fenna chatting as they came in, Emma and Noah shoulder to shoulder, both smiling with excitement and, Rosie thought, maybe a touch of love too.
The atmosphere became more and more charged as everyone, (even the grumpy old doubters had finally come around) was as excited as she was, proud to be putting their area of Amsterdam on the map and to be saving the heritage of their city.
Once Noah, Finn, Emma and Fenna had set up their stalls, they congregated at Rosie’s.
‘Everyone ready?’ she asked. ‘Everyone excited?’
‘Very much,’ Emma replied. ‘Noah and I decided to team up a bit today too. We’ve both got helpers in so we can show people how to pair meats and cheeses for the perfect dinner party.’
‘What a wonderful idea!’ Rosie clapped her hands together.
‘There are people already waiting outside,’ said Bas as he unloaded the last of his deliveries to another stallholder. His English really was improving.
Finn stood and stretched his arms over his head. ‘I haven’t felt this energised in years. I can’t wait to open and get started.’
‘Let’s hope this works.’
‘Judging by that crowd,’ said Max, peering towards the street, ‘it will.’
‘Shall we, then?’ asked Rosie and they all went to their pitches, ready to meet the customers who had turned out for the first, and hopefully not last, floating flower festival.
The day couldn’t have gone better. Rosie didn’t stop working and was glad to have Max at her side, though they barely spoke, except for serving customers.
Zoon was proving quite a draw and adored the attention, getting cooed over and fussed all day long.
She thought she might have to borrow him more often– if this all worked out.
By mid-afternoon, she’d sold nearly all her flowers.
Unfortunately, that was when the local media decided to turn up, including a photographer.
‘Oh no!’ Rosie panicked. ‘What am I going to do? If they start snapping pictures, my place looks awful. I don’t think even Zoon can save this one.’
Glancing around she saw that, while busy, the other vendors still had plenty of flowers to fill their tubs. They just looked busy while she’d be the laughingstock of the Bloemenmarkt . That was the problem with such a tiny pitch!
‘What can we do?’ asked Max.
‘I don’t know. Tidy? Spread things out a bit?’
‘There isn’t much to spread out.’
She began rearranging things so she looked as successful as the other vendors whose crowds were still gathering, customers fighting for space in their shops.
‘Here,’ said Finn, as he and a member of his staff came over with three overflowing tubs of tulips.
‘What’s this?’ she asked, her eyes widening at the quality of the blooms.
‘A gift. And not just for the cameras.’ He motioned to where they were coming closer, making their way around the market, photographing vendors and customers.
‘You’ve done so much for this market– for the festival– and I have too much stock.
I overbought and I won’t sell them all. You sell these and keep the profits to help with your boat repairs. ’
‘Finn, I couldn’t! That feels—’
‘Right,’ he said sternly, but not unkindly, cutting her off before she could protest too much. ‘It feels right. For me. Please, do me this favour.’
‘That’s very kind,’ said Max, stepping forwards and taking the buckets. ‘Thank you.’
The two pieces of art he’d donated, which had been placed near her stall, had sold almost as soon as they’d opened but in the blur of activity, they hadn’t had the chance to really c elebrate.
They’d shared a quick hug and she’d inhaled his strong scent and felt the warmth of his arms around her.
Now, this offer from Finn threatened to send her emotions over the edge.
‘Thank you,’ she muttered, wiping away a tear and trying her best to hold back more. ‘I don’t know what to say.’
‘Just keep going. Today is proving a huge success.’
‘Quickly,’ said Max. ‘We better get these arranged.’
Rosie set to work and thanks to Finn, her stall didn’t look like someone had looted it and run off with everything she had. As she was putting the finishing touches to it, Max’s phone rang, his eyes widening as he read the screen.
‘Sorry, Rosie. I have to take this. I’ll be back in a minute, okay?’
She nodded, her concentration returning to the task ahead of her. The photographer was drawing closer. Thankfully, she just finished as he arrived with a reporter in tow.
‘So you’re Rosie Harper who’s organised all of this,’ the reporter said, gesturing around her.
‘I can’t take all the credit, I’m afraid. There’s been a team of us working here to get it ready and lots of volunteers have given hours of their time to help design the flyers and hand them out. We couldn’t have done it without everyone’s help.’
‘It’s certainly an interesting new festival. What are your plans for next year?’
‘Well, that really depends.’
She looked over to see Max had returned from taking his call, his phone still in his hand.
He was looking at her expectantly, hopefully, and her breath caught in her throat.
She wanted more than anything to stay, but until the money was counted and she knew where she stood, she couldn’t make a commitment to him or anyone.
‘On what?’ the reporter asked. ‘This seems to have been a huge success.’
‘I hope it has been, but we’ll have to wait and see how much we’ve raised for those who need it.’
She was taking a fee from the profits but if there weren’t any profits, there wouldn’t be a fee. Which meant no money to fix her boat.
‘Well, from what I’ve seen, everyone’s keen for something like this next year. It’s nice to meet you, Rosie. Keep us informed. We’d love to cover it again next year, maybe even be involved somehow.’
The photographer snatched a few more photos, including one of Zoon, who was worn out from all the attention and had fallen asleep on the blanket. Max edged towards her.
‘Is everything all right?’ Rosie asked.
‘Yes, I— Everything’s fine. Rosie, I—’
Before he could finish his sentence, Emma rushed towards her, grabbing Rosie by the shoulders and shaking her as she spoke. ‘He asked me out, Rosie! Noah! He asked me out. We’re going on a date tomorrow night. Can you believe it!’
‘Of course I can,’ she replied, giggling at Emma’s unadulterated happiness. ‘You’re amazing and he’d be a fool not to see it. I’m just sorry none of my advice worked.’
‘Are you kidding? Of course it did! I wouldn’t have gone near him if it wasn’t for you. Speaking of advice, perhaps you should take some of your own?’ Emma nodded towards Max.
‘There’s nothing to say,’ she said quietly, her body throbbing as she battled against her need for him. ‘Not till I know if I’m staying or not.’
‘Then as soon as we close, we better find out.’
The afternoon carried on as successfully as the morning and Rosie relaxed, finally beginning to smile.
Thanks to Finn she’d made an extra few hundred euros and by the time the shutters came down on hers and everyone else’s pitches, everyone was exhausted, but happy.
There hadn’t been time to ask Max what it was he was going to tell her, and nerves had tightened her stomach every time she looked at him.
‘I might have to stay closed tomorrow,’ Emma said, a thin sheen of sweat on her hairline as she came to join them. ‘I don’t think I’ve got any stock left!’
‘Me neither,’ said Noah, placing an arm around her shoulders. ‘We could spend the day together, maybe?’ His cheeks flushed with a subtle pink and Emma nodded emphatically.
‘I’d love that.’
Finn and Fenna stepped forwards too. ‘We should have a celebratory dinner tonight. Everyone is going to donate something from their profits, but from what I’ve seen and heard through the afternoon, we should have made at least a few thousand euros for the fund, and we agreed you’d take a cut, Rosie, didn’t we?
Will a thousand euros be enough to repair your boat? ’
‘A thousand?!’ Rosie spluttered. She shook her head. Zoon woke up and made his way towards them, stopping at her feet. ‘No, no!’ She waved her hands wildly in front of her. ‘It’s too much!’
‘Nonsense,’ added Fenna. ‘You deserve it for all the coordinating you’ve done.’
‘You should take it,’ Emma said gently, resting her hand on her shoulder.
This was exactly what she’d wanted and hoped for, but she couldn’t help but feel guilty. ‘I don’t like having to do it, but I will, in the short term. I’m determined to pay it back.’
Finn stepped forward, handing her a piece of paper. ‘That won’t be a problem. Not with this.’