Chapter 12 #3
Flick looked over at Polly and she nodded too. ‘My new countertops are being delivered tomorrow morning. Ben can fit them for me tomorrow afternoon. After that I’m ready to go.’
‘OK, I’ll get the word out,’ Flick said, making a note to work on some Facebook and Instagram ads and posts on local forums that afternoon.
They talked between themselves for a few minutes then Katherine cleared her throat. ‘So what’s happening between you two?’ she asked Luke and Flick.
‘Oh yes.’ Quinn looked like all his Christmases had come at once. ‘Do tell. ’
Luke dropped Flick’s hand. ‘There’s not really a lot to tell.’
Flick busied herself with a few crumbs on her plate. While she recognised that Luke was trying to protect what they had and not turn their relationship into a source of gossip, it still hurt a little to hear him dismiss it.
‘So it’s just casual sex?’ Ethel said, pulling a face.
‘It’s very new right now,’ Flick said.
‘But aren’t you leaving in a week or two?’ Ethel said to Luke.
‘Yes,’ Luke said. ‘I officially get the keys on Monday. And then there’s a few weeks of renovations before I can move in.’
There was no hesitation, no explanation, nothing to say that he might stay if things worked out between them.
‘So you’ll just sleep with him, get what you want from him and then he leaves?’ Ethel said.
‘Ethel,’ Luke’s voice was firm. ‘Flick is not with me for my money. As hard as it is to believe, she actually likes me for me. And whether you believe that or not, I don’t care. I trust her completely.’
‘Sorry.’ Ethel looked suitably chastised. ‘I’m just looking out for you, that’s all.’
‘Well I don’t need it, especially not when the things you say are clearly hurtful to us both.’
There was an awkward silence.
‘Yeah, sorry,’ Quinn said. ‘I like to wind Luke up because he’s my mate and that’s what we do, but it wasn’t my intention to hurt you, Flick. He is ridiculously happy with you, that’s good enough for me.’
Alex stood up. ‘This whole conversation is making me feel uncomfortable, I feel like I’m back at school. I’m going back to work, there’s a lot to do to my studio before the grand opening on Sunday.’
‘I’ll give you a hand,’ Quinn said, flashing Flick an apologetic smile as he hurried out the room after Alex.
‘I’m going back to work on the gift shop,’ Flick said, she stood up and walked out the room.
‘Are you OK?’
Flick looked up from where she was adding fairy lights to some of the shelves to see Luke leaning against the doorway.
‘Yeah.’
‘It doesn’t matter what they think, remember.’
‘I know, it’s just hard to hear. Though I do appreciate you sticking up for me.’
He moved closer.
‘And I’m sorry for downplaying what we have.
I wasn’t expecting Katherine or anyone to start asking about us.
I didn’t know what to say. Our relationship is private and, while I have no intention of hiding it, I’m certainly not going to tell everyone that you straddling me as we made love this morning was the single sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. ’
She smiled and not just at the memory of him lying in his bed, staring up at her as if she was a goddess.
‘It’s OK, I don’t want to share that kind of stuff either. I guess no one will really take us seriously because you’re leaving in a few weeks.’
‘Yeah, I know.’
And that was it, he didn’t say anything else.
No offers to stay, no, ‘We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
’ It was hard for her to take what they had seriously, let alone anyone else.
She wanted to talk to him about it but she supposed it was too early for big discussions about their future.
She had a few more weeks yet. She ignored the voice in the back of her head that said in a few weeks she would be head over heels in love and if he left he would break her heart.
‘Are you coming to the pirate festival on Saturday?’ Luke asked, which was a change of subject if ever she heard one.
‘Yeah, it sounds like fun.’
‘Are you going to dress up?’
‘Oh sure. I can pop down to the costume shop tomorrow afternoon.’
‘They might be a bit lacking in pirate outfits by now, people hire them out weeks or months in advance, but I’m sure they can find you something suitable.’
‘Have you already hired out yours?’
‘I have my own, in fact a lot of people do, so you might still be able to get one from the costume shop.’
‘I love that you have your own. My sexy Captain Blackbeard,’ she said, looping her arms round his neck .
Just then she heard a cough coming from the door that led to the café. She looked up to see a woman standing there and quickly let go of Luke.
‘Hello?’
‘Hi, sorry to disturb you. I was just next-door having coffee and cake and I thought I’d have a nose around. Is this a gift shop?’
‘Yes it is,’ Flick said. ‘We’re not strictly open right now, but—’
‘But we’re doing a preview event today and over the weekend,’ Luke said.
‘That’s right,’ Flick said. ‘So feel free to have a look around.’
‘We have craft kits down here, everything you would need to have a go at pretty much any arts or craft that you can think of,’ Luke gestured around the room. ‘Upstairs we have the regular gifts like scarves and mugs and chocolate.’
‘Great, thank you.’
‘Take your time and give us a shout if you need anything.’
The woman moved off and Luke gave Flick an excited thumbs up. ‘Your first customer.’
‘Hello, are you open?’ came another voice from the door. Flick looked over to see a couple standing at the door.
‘Yes, please do come in and have a look,’ Flick said excitedly. She turned to Luke. ‘You better get back to your own studio, just in case you have any customers in there. ’
He nodded, gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and hurried from the room.
She watched the people walk around the room, picking up the craft kits and clearly thinking about the possibilities they could create themselves.
It was exciting to think she might be starting someone off on a new hobby or passion for art today and she couldn’t help smiling about that.
Luke had just finished displaying his sculptures around the shop. He hadn’t had enough time to do as many as he’d have liked but there were enough to showcase his work.
He looked up to see Flick wandering in with a big smile on her face. She walked up and slid her arms around him, giving him a big hug.
‘Hey, how did it go at your impromptu preview event?’ Luke asked, stroking her back.
She looked up at him and smiled. ‘It was great. I wasn’t expecting so many people but I’ve easily had forty people come in and have a look around.
And people were buying things, a lot bought the standard gifts and that’s fine, I feel happy that I chose stuff that appeals to people.
But the majority of people were buying arts and craft kits, the mosaic ones especially were popular, as were the little wood-whittling kits.
It made me so happy to think of people going home and making the time to be crafty and that I helped them to do it.
Doing arts and crafts is such a positive thing, for so many reasons.
So many people say they don’t have the time or the skill so selling little kits with all the instructions and materials they need might give them the inspiration to make time and learn a new skill.
And a few people bought the kits as gifts for other people.
What a lovely gift to pass on to someone else. ’
He smiled at her excitement and enthusiasm. ‘I’m so pleased. We even had people coming in here. I sold three smaller sculptures and someone has asked for a commission for a medium-sized piece.’
‘That’s great, I knew once we got people through the door then sales would increase, especially if we offered smaller, cheaper items alongside the bigger stuff. Honestly, I’m so happy, I really think this is going to be a success and it’s all thanks to you.’
‘Oh no, I can’t take any of the credit, this is all you, your passion, your enthusiasm, your determination for it to succeed.’
‘And your donation. We couldn’t have done it without you. None of this would have been possible without financial help.’ Flick fished in her pocket and pulled out an envelope which she handed to him.
‘What’s this?’
‘Twenty-five percent of what I made today.’
‘Oh hell no.’
‘Yes, I promised to pay you back and I will.’
‘No, you earned this. And we have a deal with Polly that she doesn’t pay us anything for two months so she can use the money to order stock and get the business going. The same thing stands for you. ’
‘No, this isn’t right.’
‘It’s my money and I can spend it however I want. I want this to work and the café and the gift shop are a huge important part of that. Use the money to buy new stock or treat yourself to a sexy pirate costume for Saturday.’
She smiled and hugged him. ‘Thank you.’
‘You’re very welcome.’
‘I will pay you back.’
‘I know.’
‘I just feel so happy right now. This is a new start for me, living here, working in my own gift shop. I didn’t know what I was going to do with my life when I came down here and now I feel like I’ve found where I belong.’
Luke smiled and kissed her forehead. He was happy he could do that for her but he couldn’t help feeling desperately sad that in a few weeks she might be embracing this new start without him.