Page 127 of The Little Teashop of Lost and Found
Since he was still standing in front of the door, after a moment she gave in, pulled a fat wallet out of her handbag and peeled off some high-denomination notes from a fat wad. ‘I’ve only got euros,’ she said sulkily.
‘I’ll take anything except Monopoly money,’ he said, and counted it when she thrust it at him.
‘That looks about right,’ he said at last.
‘Then perhaps you’d like to move over and let me out?’ she suggested. ‘I’ve never heard so many accusations – and me only coming here out of thekindness of my heart to explain things to Alice when she got hold of the wrong end of the stick.’
‘It was the right end,’ I said. ‘Goodbye, Mrs Muswell. I hope we don’t meet again.’
She made a noise curiously like a kettle coming to the boil and flounced out. From the teashop window we watched her blunder off in a blind fury down the alleyway and, we hoped, out of our lives.
Nile turned to me. ‘Funnily enough, when I caught her looking in your window I was on my way to tell you that the Sèvres set was averyrare design and the last one to go up for auction fetched nearly eight thousand pounds.’
Then we looked at each other and burst out laughing.
The newspaperdidcirculate, for I had my first telephone booking after lunch – Eleri, who, like Sheila, insisted on paying rather than coming as my guest.
‘I only hope Henry approves of my baking,’ I said nervously, and shelaughed and said she’d forbid him to say anything that wasn’t totally complimentary about it.
George left a message turning down the invitation I’d sent him, but adding that any time I was passing and wanted to drop off a cake, I’d be welcome. I think he really meant thecakewould be welcome, not me.
And I must get into the habit of saying ‘Fat Rascal Teashop’ when answering the downstairs phone and not just announcing ‘Fat Rascal!’ which was open to misinterpretation.
The moment all my cupboards, fridges and freezers were full right up, I felt as happy as an autumn squirrel with an overflowing nut hoard.
I’d spent an entire afternoon making fruitcakes, too, which were wrapped in greaseproof and stored in tins, because they keep so well.
Then later that same day, when I checked for telephone bookings again, I found a second message from George Godet, who had completely changed his mind and was coming to the opening tea after all! I decided I’d put him at the same table as the newspaper reporter, so he could give him the uncut version of how his father had found me.
On the Friday,Lola drove herself up in a new, smart little van with ‘Dolly and Lola’s Perfectly Pickled and Preserved Company’ emblazoned up the side.
She’d brought the first consignment of preserves, as well as a modest stock to be displayed for sale in the glass cabinet on the counter. Tilda had now polished it to an eye-dazzling sparkle, along with the mirror behind.
Since she’d got the whole place so clean that you could eat off any surface, there wasn’t much to challenge her until we opened, but if she steam-cleaned the loos any more with that hand-held device she’d persuaded me we needed, I was convinced they’d shrink.
Nile suggested that we meet up with Bel and Thom at the nearby pub that evening for dinner, which was enjoyable, though Lola said afterwards, when we got back to the flat, ‘I like your Nile, but what with Thom and Bel obviously pairing off too, I felt a bit of a gooseberry!’
‘What do you mean,too? He’s notmyNile, so you needn’t feel like a gooseberry onmyaccount.’
‘Oh, come off it,’ she said. ‘It’s time you both stopped pussyfooting around and got together. He’s in love with you and you’re in love with him – what’s preventing you getting together?’
‘Do you really think he’s in love with me?’ I asked. ‘I think he’s attracted to me, so perhaps he thinks he is … but it wouldn’t last. I told you, he’s a commitment-phobe.’
‘And you’re only going to commit if you get the gold-plated guaranteed happy-ever-after,’ she said with a grin. ‘It’s a stand-off!’
‘It’s got even more complicated lately,’ I said, then gave her the full, unabridged version of the Zelda and Robbie weekend, including what Nile had said about our ‘serious relationship’.
‘I don’t know where I am with him,’ I finished. ‘Or even where I want to be.’
‘He’s probably as confused as you are; but it does show him in a nice light, that although he’s attracted to you, he’s been taking things slowly because he thinks you need time to get over Dan.’
‘Or so he says. And anyway, I explained ages ago that although I still thought about Dan a lot, I was ready to move on.’
‘Men can never take a hint,’ she said.
‘Lola!’ I exclaimed, and she grinned.
Then she insisted on going across to Small and Perfect to say goodbye to Nile next morning, before setting off home.
