Page 18 of Love from Pretty Beach
Darby accepted his hand, felt a strange sizzle in places she thought were long since dead and he pulled her to her feet. Acutely aware that she was flushed, sweating, dishevelled, and totally and utterly embarrassed, Darby gabbled. 'Anna insisted I try it on. I don’t even like fur.'
Anna held her hands up. ‘To be fair, it was all my fault.’
Darby tried to restore some semblance of dignity to her appearance and fluffed the sides of her hair. She gathered herbag. 'Right. I think I might love you and leave you, I've caused enough disruption for one day.'
'Nonsense. You've provided the most excitement we've had all week.'
'Exactly. I don’t like causing excitement.’
‘A morning of problem solving, for me.’ Anna laughed and turned to Archie as she started to put the coat back on the hanger. 'Thanks for the rescue. We would have had to cut her out of it.'
Archie joked. 'Or called the fire brigade.’
‘That would have been around Pretty Beach in a flash.’ Darby shook her head. ‘How embarrassing. Sorry about that.’
‘If it makes you feel any better, I once got stuck in a Victorian dumbwaiter. I had to be extracted by two paramedics and an unhappy building surveyor.'
'Really?'
'I spent three hours wedged in a space designed for carrying tea trays between floors.'
'What happened?'
'They managed to reverse the pulley system and lower me back down to the basement. It was a very humbling experience. I could tell you stories about building restoration that would make your coat incident look positively mundane. Old buildings have personalities, which is something I have learnt along the way.'
Anna laughed. ‘You want to try volunteering in this shop. Every day is a school day in here.’
‘I bet.’
‘Anyway, what were you after?’ Anna asked.
‘I was popping in to see if you wanted any donations. I have a lot of boys' clothes, but I know you’re a bit tight on space. I must say I don’t have any fur coats at my disposal.’
‘We’d love them. Thanks. Just drop them at any time.’
‘Great.’
‘What have you been up to?’ Anna asked.
Archie smiled. ‘I’ve got work coming out of my earholes, which means I’ve not been doing much.’
‘Will we be seeing you at Daisy’s author thing this week? Didn’t I see you outside there the other day looking at the shop with a certain man?’
Archie nodded. ‘We will.’
‘You’re into author events?’ Anna joked.
‘I’ve been roped in by Suntanned Pete. We were talking about that old awning outside the shop in case the weather is dodgy.’
Darby’s mind scrambled. Author event? The one she’d bought a ticket for to support local authors and independent bookshops. The one she’d had no intention of going to. The one she needed to find a new outfit for.
Archie raised his eyebrows. 'Right then. One rescued vintage coat. I’ll send you my invoice later.'
'Thanks, Archie, you saved the day.'
Archie laughed. 'My pleasure. Thanks for providing me with the most interesting charity shop visit I've had in years. I don't think I'll ever look at vintage clothing the same way again.'
Darby attempted a sweet, happy smile. He might have been joking, but she had never had such an interesting charity shop visit. Never in her life.
