Page 8 of Forever Love at Fleur's Flower Shop

‘Well, it’s not as though you really give anyone a real chance, though…’

Fleur snapped her eyes back up. ‘What do you mean? I date! I’m always on the dating apps. All of them! Up until a few days ago, anyway.’

‘Yes, but when you start seeing someone, you don’t give them long.’

Fleur crossed her arms over her chest. What was Bea saying? ‘It’s not my fault we break up. Drew broke up with me, remember? I actually liked him.’

‘Did you though?’ Bea settled herself against the counter, coffee cup in hand. ‘Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ve seen the way you are with them, with the men you date. You jump into a relationship headfirst and then, after a few weeks, you backtrack, you leave messages unopened, you make excuses why you can’t meet up. You distance yourself.’

‘Do I?’ Frowning, Fleur walked back behind the counter and picked up her cup, letting her mouth fill with the sweet caramel latte as she let Bea’s words whir in her mind. She knew Bea was right. ‘I didn’t with Drew.’

Lowering her cup, Bea reached out and took Fleur’s free hand. ‘You did. For the last couple of weeks before your relationship ended, you made up excuse after excuse. You told him that you had to help me with an audit the night you weresupposed to be going to the cinema and that Ruby had pleaded with you to help at the restaurant when he’d planned that romantic weekend away, despite you for once actually getting cover for this place. Shall I go on?’

‘No.’ Shehadmade up excuses. She’d not actually been out on a date with Drew for at least two weeks before he’d turned up at the flower shop and told her it was over. ‘What are you saying?’

‘I’m suggesting there’s a reason you push people away.’ Bea pulled her mobile from her pocket as a text message pinged. ‘Oh, sorry Lindsey’s got to run, Isaac has been sick at school.’

‘Okay, hope he’s all right.’

‘Thanks. We’ll finish this conversation another time, yes?’

‘Yep.’ Fleur slumped her elbows to the counter as Bea hurried out of the shop and across the green towards her bookshop. Bea had seen right through her. She’d clocked how she was in relationships, how she acted, but she just couldn’t help it. It was just the way she was. And for good reason too.

Chapter Six

After tapping on the door to the bookshop, Fleur stood back and waited as she listened to Bea rushing around inside. After a few minutes, the door eventually opened, and Bea joined her on the path.

‘Sorry, I had to find my homework from last week.’ Bea hooked her fingers around the word ‘homework’, before pulling a stack of papers she was holding beneath her arm and shoving them into her handbag.

‘Homework?’ Fleur grimaced. She’d forgotten something, hadn’t she? Everyone was always telling her she’d forget her head if it wasn’t screwed on and they were right.

‘Ah, the homework Gregory set us, remember?’ Bea locked the door before slipping her arm through Fleur’s as they began walking across the cobbles in the direction of the town hall. “Do you need to go back to the flower shop and pick it up? We’ll have time if we hurry.’

‘Nope. I forgot about it, as in completely forgot about it. I’ve not even done it.’ Fleur shrugged. ‘What was it again? Just so I know what I’m pretending I’ve left behind.’

‘Erm…’ Bea pulled out the papers from her bag again. ‘It was to design some posters for the Valentine’s Dance at the townhall. Gregory wanted us to bring them to show him before we stuck them up in our shops.’

‘Yuck. How could I have forgotten?’ Fleur slapped her hand on her forehead.

‘Well, you have had a lot going on recently, what with Matty coming back and all.’

‘Don’t remind me.’ Even just the mere mention of his name made her mouth turn dry. She’d spent the day with her eyes glued to the window just to make sure she’d have enough time to duck behind the counter if he stopped by again.

‘Anyway, don’t worry about it. I’ve done a couple. Take one of mine and tell him you did it.’ Bea took one of the papers and held it out towards Fleur.

‘You’ve a lifesaver, you know that, Bea?’ Taking the paper, Fleur looked down at Bea’s handiwork and laughed. ‘The only problem is he’ll know it’s yours as there are a ton of books drawn on it.’

‘Oh, I’d forgotten about that.’ Bea sighed as she held out the other poster she’d designed.

‘So does that one.’

‘Hmm… sorry. He’d asked us to make it obvious our particular shop was endorsing the dance. When we get there you can just change the books into flowers or something.’

‘I don’t think that’ll work too well.’ Fleur grinned as she held the poster out for her.

‘Sorry, I should have reminded you. I just did it straight after the last meeting and then forgot about them until I heard you knock or else I’d have made sure to check you’d done yours.’ Bea took the poster back and rolled them both up before slipping them back into her bag.

‘No worries. I’ll tell him I’ve got one ready to go back at the shop.’ Fleur sighed. That was the trouble with Gregory, the owner of the grocery store. He thought the whole townworked for him and he could order them around. Just because his family had been running the grocery store for generations, it didn’t mean he had the right to tell everyone else how to run their shops, but it was easier this way. The shopkeepers of Nettleford turned up to the town retail meetings, nodded whilst not particularly listening too well and Gregory got on with stuff. To be fair, he was the one who organised most of the events in the town and without him, more would be delegated, and they’d all have more to do on their plates. Yes, he was annoying, but he did have the best interests of the Nettleford community at heart.

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