Page 53 of An Enchanted Moment on Ever After Street
Feeling accepted makes me think of Darcy, and I look to the upstairs window of The Beast’s Enchanted Rose Garden and think about him up there, excluded and alone, when everyone who works alongside him is down here, laughing about a garden that he’s solely responsible for.
There are blinds in the upper windows of his shop that arealwaysclosed, but today… Today, there’s a gap between one of the slats, and I’m certain there’s a shadow there, looking out.
Come out. I say it in my head, but I know he’s unlikely to walk out into a street full of strangers. I let my mouth tip up into a smile instead, hoping I’m looking at where his eyes might be, and for a fraction of a second, one of the slats moves up and down, just once, like Darcy is winking back.
It makes my smile turn into a full-blown grin and I tilt my head and incline it towards the others, silently inviting him to come outside. There’s no response from the blind, but I can feel eyes on me, and this time, they’re not Darcy’s.
Mickey has caught my exchange with the unseen person behind the window. ‘We happened to notice you two have been spending time together…’
‘He’s helped me with the garden. That’s all. We talk every day.’ I’m playing it down. I don’t justtalkto Darcy every day. I bare my soul to him, but that’s not for anyone else to know.
‘Oh my goodness, what’s he like?’ Imogen squeaks, and now every eye on Ever After Street is on me again, and even the birds in nearby trees have quietened down in anticipation of gossip.
‘Is he really a beast?’ Lissa asks. ‘Where did his scars come from? They must be pretty awful to keep them covered the way he does?’
‘I’ve, er… I’ve never actually seen him.’ I was trying not to draw attention to him, but maybe theyshouldknow. I can’t take credit for the change in my gardenorthe boost in my self-confidence. Darcy deserves people to know how special he is.
Almost everyone in the little group is now looking up at his window, and this time when I look up, that gap in the blind has gone. ‘He’s not a beast. He’s… lovely.’
‘Lovely, eh?’ Mickey says with waggling eyebrows.
Usually I’d blush and mumble something incomprehensible, but Darcy deserves better than that. ‘Yes. Lovely,’ I say with a confident nod. ‘He’s kind and thoughtful. Protective. Generous. He loves Mrs Potts – my cat, not the teapot – he’s the nicest, most non-judgemental person to talk to, but…’
‘He makes himself an outsider,’ Ali finishes for me. ‘He’s welcome here anytime.He’sthe one who chooses not to come. None of us care what he looks like or if he wants to wear that hat and scarf.’
I don’t want Darcy to be the subject of local gossip, but Idowant our colleagues – sometimes they feel more like friends lately – to know that he isn’t the ‘Scary Neighbour’ they think he is. ‘He doesn’t think he’ll be accepted because he’s chased you all away so often.’
‘We’re going to have to do something about this,’ Ali says. ‘He’s a part of our little street too. There will always be a place here for him, a safe space where no one is going to judge him. Even if he throws wine bottles at our heads from time to time.Notaccepting people isnotwhat we do on Ever After Street.’
‘Is that what we’ve been doing?’ Mickey sounds troubled. ‘Excluding him? Gossiping about him?’
‘We do, don’t we?’ Lissa jumps in before anyone can answer. She looks horrified and there’s remorse in her voice. ‘He’s “Scary Neighbour” to all of us. We’re all guilty of it, aren’t we? We’ve all sat here and made up theories about what he’s hiding. No wonder he never comes out.’
‘I didn’t realise…’ Imogen says. ‘I don’t give a damn what he looks like, his shop is incredible. Those window displays are the stuff of magic. So many customers talk about them.’
‘He’s so talented,’ I add. ‘He grows these incredible one-of-a-kind roses that he’s bred himself and no one realises how special they are.’
‘But people find it hard to connect to him. His displaysarebeautiful, but customers go into that shop expecting a person to chat to, someone to give them advice about flowers or plants and if he’s there at all, then he most definitely doesn’t want to be disturbed. People leave empty-handed because they’re scared of him,’ Sadie says.
‘I think he deliberately drives people away so they don’t ask questions. He’d rather be seen as a beast than risk not being accepted.’
‘That’s just heartbreaking,’ Lissa says and a chorus of agreement runs through the group, every eye trained on the unseen shadow behind Darcy’s window. ‘When someone has put up walls that high, they don’t need to stay inside them.’
‘I’m going to go and buy some flowers today.’ Mickey nods decisively.
‘Me too,’ Ali says.
‘MyBeauty and the Beastdisplay could do with a fresh red rose or two,’ Lissa adds.
By the time the meeting ends, having got completely off-track from what we were supposed to be discussing, there are promises from every trader to go and say hello to Darcy today, and I’m unsure if he’ll be angry at me for talking about him behind his back, but I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that Darcywantsto be accepted and will secretly be quite touched.
As everyone says goodbye and goes back to their respective shops, Sadie catches me. ‘When are you coming for this dress fitting then? It’s such short notice, it’s a good job we’ve got another seamstress now and I’ve got time for this.’
She must have the wrong person. ‘What?’
‘The dress he’s ordered for you?’ Her eyes flick towards The Beast’s Enchanted Rose Garden.
‘What?’ I repeat. ‘Darcy has ordered me a dress?’
