Page 69 of The House at Hope Corner
‘Oh…’ Flora glanced in the direction of the garden and then looked back towards the house. ‘I might just check and see if he’s okay,’ she said.
‘What now?’ asked Hannah, frowning slightly.
‘I won’t be long, honestly…’ She grinned again, already beginning to move away before Hannah could argue.
It was hot out in the yard, away from the shade of the trees and out in the full sun. Flora squinted up at the sky. The weather had been perfect for weeks, but goodness, today was a scorcher. She’d be glad to get back inside the relative cool of the kitchen; her dress was far too thick for the heat and even though her hair was pinned up she was beginning to feel rather wilted. She was almost at the house when she noticed a figure standing by the gate at the far end of the yard. A young woman, looking somewhat lost.
‘Hello!’ Flora called, waving an arm. ‘Do you need any help?’
The young woman looked up in puzzlement as Flora approached. ‘Probably,’ she admitted, staring at Flora’s dress. ‘Sorry, I think I must be intruding.’
Flora waved away her concern. ‘Not at all. What can I do for you?’
‘Well, I was given some directions to somewhere called Hope Blooms, but I’m not sure if I’m in the right place or not? I’m not terribly good at following instructions.’
‘You’re better than you think,’ Flora replied, grinning. ‘Apologies, but we haven’t got around to getting our sign up yet… or rather, we nearly did but I ordered it over the telephone and when it arrived it said Hope Balloons. Honestly, whoever heard of a flower farm called Hope Balloons?’
The young woman smiled nervously. ‘So I am in the right place then?’
‘You certainly are. And I’m Flora.’ She held out her hand over the top of the gate.
‘Melissa,’ said the young woman. ‘Are you sure I haven’t come at an inconvenient time? Only the lady at The Castle said you could come here to see the flowers for yourself.’
Oh, Kate, you star, thought Flora.
‘Mind you, that was a couple of days ago,’ she continued. ‘But I haven’t had a chance to get over here since then, I had to take the car in to the garage on my day off.’
‘No problem, you’re here now. Come on in and we can have a chat. I was headed inside as it happens anyway. I’m melting in this heat.’
She opened the gate and led Melissa into the yard. ‘So when are you getting married?’ she asked. ‘Next year?’
There was a long pause, so much so that Flora turned to check if Melissa was all right. She had stopped, an anguished expression on her face.
‘No, in September… in fact, that’s the problem, I don’t know if you can even help us at all but Kate mentioned you were a new florist and might not be so booked up. Mine has just let me down, some massive mix-up or other, and now…’ She broke off, looking like she was about to cry. ‘Now, I’ve got no flowers for my wedding at all.’
Flora gave her a sympathetic smile. ‘Well, we can’t let that happen, and don’t worry, I’m a new grower, not a new florist, so I can definitely help. Come on, let’s go and have a quick chat.’
Melissa looked doubtful. ‘Are you really sure that’s okay?’
‘Positive,’ replied Flora, hoping that it was.
It was much cooler in the kitchen and Flora sat Melissa down, grabbing her notebook that resided more or less permanently on the table.
‘Shall I take a few details first of all, and then we can discuss what you originally had in mind? I don’t have any of my books with me just now, but I expect as you had already booked your florist that you know what you want anyway.’ She glanced out of the window. ‘And there are a few things I can show you today…’ She couldn’t stop the enormous grin from spreading over her face. ‘So, first things first, let me make a note of your full name and take a contact number.’
Several minutes later and Flora had all the information she needed. ‘Does that all sound okay?’ she asked. ‘And come back next week like we discussed, I’ll be a little more organised then and we can really make some plans for you. But the most important thing for you is not to worry, we’ve got plenty of time.’ She was relieved to see that Melissa was looking much happier.
‘I can’t believe that you’ve even seen me today,’ replied Melissa. ‘It’s really incredibly kind of you.’
‘Well, your wedding day should be the one day when everything feels right in the world, shouldn’t it?’ She smiled across the table. ‘Would you like to come and have a look at our flowers now?’
They were just about to leave the kitchen when Flora heard footsteps from behind her.
‘Flora!’
She whirled around to see Ned standing by the door into the hallway, clutching a fistful of papers. He was about to speak again when he realised that there was a third person in the room.
‘Ned! I wondered where you’d got to…’ Flora crossed the kitchen to plant a kiss firmly on his lips, taking hold of his arm. ‘Come and say hello to Melissa. I found her by the gate and we’re just about to go and have a look at the flowers…’ She gave him a very direct look. ‘She’s getting married in September and has very sadly been let down by her florist, so of course I said that we’d be happy to help…’
