Page 14 of The Little Island Flower Stall
‘Oh no, I’m going to stay. You can be my muscle and do my running around, but there’s no reason why I can’t be here now that I have this scooter.’
‘As long as you don’t overdo it,’ Bella replied.
‘Good. Now that’s settled, we’d better get the till ready.’
While she was glad of Celestine’s expertise on her first day working at Bay Blooms,Bella was also burdened with extra worry. Celestine was fit and able – very fit for her age – but she was also recovering from an injury. Bella wasn’t used to spending time with someone so old either – was she meant to keep a closer eye on Celestine than she would anyone else, simply because she was old? Was that how it worked? Old people didn’t randomly keel over and die at any given moment, did they? So why was Bella plagued by the constant fear that it might happen, especially given that Celestine was working almost as hard as Bella was. She had her scooter, of course, but she quickly abandoned that for long periods of time, complaining that it was difficult to operate in such a confined space and choosing to hobble round on her sticks instead.
Bella had, perhaps foolishly, imagined that they wouldn’t be busy. She was proved very wrong on that front too. The morning presented them with a steady stream of customers. Who on earth wanted to come to the seafront for flowers? Lots of people, apparently. Some walked by and were tempted by the cheap andcheerful posies in a bucket at the front of the stall, while others had more specific requests, which Celestine tended to. This hardly helped Bella’s concerns for her. As the morning left them and lunchtime rolled around, she tried to think of an excuse for her aunt to take a long break.
‘I think I’ve got the hang of things now, and I have some premade arrangements to be getting on with. I expect you’re tired, aren’t you? Do you think you ought to head home?’
‘Not a bit. I’m happy to be out and about. I’ve hated not being able to open the stall, but now, thanks to you, I can get things going again. Being out here is all the recuperation I need. Sea air, sunshine and good company. Why would I want to be cooped up in my dull little house when I can be here with you? I’ll tell you what – I’ll go and get us a crab sandwich for lunch, if you don’t mind holding the fort here. You like crab, don’t you?’
‘I’ve not had a crab sandwich in years,’ Bella said, doubtful, but with the realisation that Celestine had no intentions of leaving her to mind the stall. ‘Sounds nice.’
‘I’ve got a flask too, so we can have a nice cup of tea with it.’
‘Are you sure you don’t want me to go and get the sandwiches?’
‘I’ve got the scooter, and it will give you the opportunity to run things on your own here and see how you go. I might just do a quick round of the stallholders here to say hello and thank them for the lovely cards they sent me after my fall, so I might be an hour or so. Would that be all right?’
Bella nodded, feeling brighter. At least her aunt wasn’t going to be unreasonably stubborn about taking time off. Socialising with old friends would do her good too. Perhaps she had a point about not being cooped up at home. Bella had never been laid up for six weeks with a serious injury, but perhaps there was a mental health aspect to recovery that was almost as important as the physical one. Now that she thought about it, the notionmade a certain amount of sense, especially for an old lady like Celestine.
‘You go – take as long as you need. I’m not super hungry, and I’m sure I can manage the stall.’
‘Thank you. I won’t be too long.’
Bella helped her into the mobility scooter, feeling a little bit like Celestine didn’t need the help and was simply indulging her. Then she went back into the stall to tidy around while her aunt whizzed off on her errands.
Bella had barely begun colour-coding the scraps of ribbon she’d left out on the counter when she was distracted by a sudden screeching commotion. She’d noticed the gull perched atop the lamppost earlier. She’d eyed it warily and the gull had met her gaze in a way that seemed ridiculously human. If she hadn’t known better, Bella would have said it had mischief in its eyes. She’d laughed to herself, dismissing her silliness but having fun indulging the moment just the same.
She watched now as it swooped down and dive-bombed, neatly snatching a sandwich from the grasp of a passer-by.
To make matters worse, before the poor man had even had time to display any shock, another gull was circling overhead, perhaps hoping to pick up any leftovers and, finding none, released a missile that landed with a slimy smack on the man’s jacket.
Afterwards, Bella would feel guilty about laughing so hard, but the situation that had played out in front of her was so surreal and preposterous that she couldn’t help it. She let rip a snorting giggle, so loud that the man’s head snapped round in her direction. Even at the outrage on his face she couldn’t stop. After a moment, he seemed to realise how mad it must have looked to a spectator because he then broke into a sheepish smile.
She was about to apologise, but it was stolen by…later, she would only be able to describe it asa moment.She didn’t honestly know what it was, but simply looking at him had stolen her voice.
He wasn’t her type at all – at least, she didn’t think so. It was so long since she’d considered what her type might be that she wasn’t even sure of that much. But there was something about him, something undeniably attractive. Like there were hidden depths where a woman could lose herself…
Bella tried to shake the thought, but it wasn’t so easy. Eyes framed by heavy brows seemed to mirror the aquamarine of the sea, thick hair so dark it was almost black, deep laughter lines that seemed to suit him as his lips curled into a smile, a smile that changed his face like storm clouds clearing to reveal the sun.
Doing her best to recover, she rooted in a box of supplies for a cloth, which she ran under a tap before rushing over to him.
‘It’s not much,’ she said, offering the cloth. ‘But it might get the worst of it out until you can get properly cleaned up.’
He took the cloth, his lips still curved into that winning smile. At least it was winning Bella over quickly enough. ‘That’s very kind of you.’
‘I just felt bad for laughing. Iamsorry about that, but it was just…your face!’
‘I can only imagine,’ he said. ‘I feel a bit of an idiot, though. I might have overreacted. I never could play it cool.’
‘I don’t think anyone could have played that double whammy cool. The gulls have it in for you today.’
‘It seems so.’ He held out the cloth. ‘Where would you like this? I’m sure you don’t want to handle it with all this muck on, but I don’t know?—’
‘Bin it.’ Bella pointed to a spot further down the promenade. ‘There’s one just there. I’ve got plenty more on the stall.’
