Chapter 24 #2
‘Those are doing well! Great idea by the way,’ Emma said. ‘I didn’t really know if you were still game for it but I haven’t called off the Stitch and Witch… is that okay?’
‘More than okay,’ I said firmly. ‘I’ve got some Fleetwood Mac LPs on standby. It would be my pleasure to host.’
Emma beamed. ‘Great! I’ll tell Patricia and Artemis that you’re still keen. And don’t worry about laying out nibbles or anything. We’ll bring cakes and things – everyone’s already baking up a storm for Halloween. What are you going to have us make?’
‘I actually did some googling and I think we can do a nice tarot pouch as a beginner project. But we can work up to a conical hat if they’re keen to come back.’
Emma looked ecstatic at this news. I’d done some very quick maths and between the ten pounds per person to cover hot drinks and my tutelage, plus materials costs, this could make a big difference to the shop’s bottom line for the month.
We went through the usual opening routine and took our seats behind the counter.
I had high hopes of a good sales day seeing as it was the weekend, I’d been posting a LOT about the shop and the Leaford market was on.
This close to harvest festival, it had been relocated to the school playground and side streets instead of the square.
Leaford overflowed with the usual bevy of food stands – jams, chutneys and wine, artisanal cheese from the new owners of Hollyhock Farm, Cressida’s Cakes and a charcuterie stall.
Then there were crafts – macramé plant holders, felted animals, hand-thrown earthenware mugs and leather goods.
The air smelled like hot sugar near the crepe stall and incense near the tarot reader.
It was always a busy day in town. The sounds of people meeting up and haggling, competing with buskers, the school brass band and the shrieks from the bouncy castle.
People invited their friends and families to stay and the whole of Leaford turned out for it.
Emma being back had really lifted my mood.
I asked her about her upcoming date and what she was planning to wear and we talked a little about what restaurants might be good for after axe throwing.
Then Emma started peeling the cardboard sleeve off her takeaway cup, a sure sign she was anxious about what she was about to say.
‘I, um… noticed the boat was gone, when I left early the other day. I went for a walk to clear my head and didn’t see it.’
My insides squirmed and I remembered the confrontation I’d had with Cooper in the shop.
I hadn’t told Emma about it. There hadn’t been a chance to.
The headline last time we’d spoken had been me getting back together with Richard.
I hadn’t wanted to muddy the waters by bringing Cooper into it.
Even though I wanted to tell her now, it felt like opening the door to more questions.
Ones I didn’t want to answer. Ones I couldn’t answer, even in the privacy of my own head.
‘Oh?’ I said instead. ‘Yeah, I think I noticed later that day, actually. He must have moved on somewhere else. I bet the Facebook crusaders are pleased.’
‘Yeah, the whole community group was going nuts over the news. More comments than when they announced the new wind farm,’ Emma said meaningfully. ‘Bet they’re foaming at the keyboard to see he’s back.’
‘He’s… back?’ I repeated, a tingle of surprise and relief running through me. ‘When?’
Emma pulled a thoughtful face. ‘Not sure. He wasn’t there yesterday afternoon, because Margaret and some of the other busybodies went up there to post pictures of some flattened grass like it was the latest North Sea oil spill.
But, when I parked up this morning, I was a bit…
nervous… about coming in, and I went for a walk and the boat was there, puffing smoke.
I saw the dog on deck, tied up to the railing.
He’s cuter in person – or… in dog – than he is in that picture you took. Such a sweet, smooshable lil face.’
‘Yeah, that’s Charlie,’ I said, still processing. Cooper was back? Why? Or, to be more accurate, if he’d left for a reason, what had made him change his mind?
Emma was looking at me strangely and I could see the questions forming behind her eyes. She was putting things together and I couldn’t escape before she took a breath and asked, faux-casually, ‘So, you knew he was gone… did you find that out the same day I did or…’
It was so obvious she thought that Cooper leaving had been the thing that spurred me to get back together with Richard.
It was both annoying and uncomfortably close to the truth.
If I hadn’t been so wrong-footed by Cooper’s outburst in the shop, I never would have gone to see Mum and found out about her and Dad’s relationship.
But I wasn’t back with Richard purely because Cooper had pushed me away.
I hadn’t even been certain I was interested in Cooper.
Just he made me feel… happy, when I was around him.
At least he had until he turned into a completely different person, all cold and shuttered.
‘Yeah, I found out the same day you did,’ I said, truthfully enough. ‘We must have just missed each other on the towpath, to be honest. I’m not sure why he’d leave and come back again.’
Emma’s look of consideration lingered for a moment longer. ‘Maybe he needed to stretch his legs, so to speak? Or he realised he wasn’t quite ready to move on.’
‘Hmm,’ I hummed noncommittally and distracted myself by tidying a basket of ribbon bows that didn’t need tidying.
‘… Tabby?’
I looked up to find Emma watching me, nibbling her lip. ‘I don’t want to start prying again but… maybe this could be a good thing for you. You could go and see him. I thought you two were really hitting it off.’
‘I don’t really think I have any reason to go up there,’ I shrugged. ‘I gave him his clothes back and no one’s messaged me about the dog, so we’re pretty much done. Cup of tea?’
We’d only just finished our coffees but I escaped to hang out by the kettle and avoid further questions.
When I returned with fresh brews, Emma didn’t broach the subject again.
Whatever she thought she knew about me and Cooper, she was mistaken.
There was nothing to know. Nothing to speculate over.
He was just a random guy, outside the unit that was me and Richard.
What did I care where he drove his boat?
Though later, as I busied myself with a budget spreadsheet, I kept finding myself looking up at the shop windows, waiting for a familiar jumper to pass by.