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Magda, he noticed, was still looking far too amused for her own good.
“But Charlie,” Becky said, reaching the doorway, a note of warning in her voice. “Don’t forget. I’m still a stakeholder here. And we still need to talk about your plans to increase profits.”
Suddenly it was too cold to be standing by the open fridge. Charlie slammed the door shut with a satisfying crash and turned to Magda. “They finished eating?” She nodded. “Good. Let’s get rid of them, then shut up shop until this evening. I really need a drink.”
* * * *
Mia dropped her pen to the table and let it clatter and roll from there to the floor. “How did I not know things were this bad?”
Ditsy shrugged. “Because I didn’t tell you. It is still my shop, after all, for all that you do most of the actual work.”
“Yeah, well, from now on I’m being more involved in the financial side too.”
Ditsy slammed the accounting book shut and rubbed a hand across her forehead. “I need a drink.”
“We’re not surrendering to alcoholism just yet.” Mia turned the book round to face her and flipped it open again. The numbers didn’t look any better the right way up. “There must be something else we can do. Surely we don’t have to go to Becky and Tony, cap in hand, just yet?”
Ditsy looked uncertain. “I’m not saying I like the idea, but...”
“Ditsy!” Mia tilted her chair on two legs in disgust. “You can’t possibly...”
“I said I don’t like the idea.” Ditsy spoke over Mia until she shut up. “I don’t. I don’t like the idea of flashing lights and late-night brawls and stag parties coming in to gamble nonstop for the weekend. I don’t like relying on the rich tourists who can afford to buy homes they hardly visit. I don’t like the fact this town has more houses standing empty in the winter than occupied. And yes, I much preferred it when we could provide batteries and flour and buckets and spades for young families staying at the B&Bs or the caravan park or the cottages that rent all year round. But things are changing in Aberarian.”
“Well perhaps they shouldn’t.” Mia knew she sounded sulky. She just didn’t really care.
Ditsy sighed. “We need to do what we can to keep the A to Z shop going. Otherwise there’s just going to be another empty shop front on High Street, and how is that going to help anyone?”
“I suppose.” Mia turned back to the book, figuring if she stared at it long enough, it might change the numbers round just to keep things interesting.
Ditsy slammed the cover shut on Mia’s fingers, though, which put paid to that idea. “Look. Becky said they’ve already got Mayor Fielding to hold a town meeting the day after tomorrow. I guess they want to be able to tell their investors the town’s on side before they shell out for the cinema.”
“So we’ve just got to come up with a way to convince the town it’s a bad idea.” Mia thought for a moment, then sighed. “Except then Becky will tell them it’s going to make them rich, and they’ll flock to her again.”
“What about Walt Henderson?” Ditsy asked. “Could we convince him not to sell?”
Mia shrugged. “We could try. But Walt loves his cinema. If he’s considering selling, it’s because he has to.”
“And I bet bloody Susan is just thrilled,” Ditsy grumbled. “She always hated Walt spending all his time there.” Then she brightened. “But the rest of the town, they won’t want to lose it. Maybe we could all club together, or something...”
Mia raised an eyebrow. “You really think anyone in this town would give money to help someone else?” For starters, nobody had any, anymore.
The look Ditsy gave her was almost disappointed. “At some point, dear, you’re going to have to start having a little faith. Some trust in other people.”
“I have faith,” Mia said, surprised. “I trust people.”
Ditsy looked disbelieving. “Really? Who?”
“Well, you.” Mia thought. “And Charlie, I suppose.”
“Exactly!” Shaking her head, Ditsy said, “You always complain the people in this town don’t trust you, that they think you’re just like your father. But the truth is, you don’t trust them. You don’t want to have to rely on anyone, don’t want to let them let you down. Not even Charlie. And I understand why, Mia, really I do. But at some point…”
She trailed off and was silent for a long moment. Then she said, “Be honest. Which bothers you more–the fact that Becky’s here to try to change Aberarian or the possibility that she’s come back for Charlie?”
Mia shuddered. “They’re both pretty horrendous.”
“Seriously, Mia.” Ditsy gave her a stern look. “Which upsets you more?”
“The first, of course.” Mia ignored the small, squirming feeling in her stomach suggesting otherwise. “I mean, I think it would be a disaster if Charlie got together with her again, but it’s his life. His mistake to make.”
Ditsy looked at her so long Mia was almost afraid she was going to reach in and pluck the truth from her head. Then, finally glancing away, she said, “Did I ever tell you why Henry and I called this place the A to Z shop? Why we set it up the way we did?”
Now Mia was intrigued and more than a little relieved at the change of subject. “No. Never.” The A to Z shop had always been a fact of Aberarian life. Like jellyfish on the beach at low tide, and Ditsy’s floral dresses. “I just assumed it was after A to Z Jones.”
Before Mia could stop her, Ditsy had clambered up to stand on top of her stool and was reaching above her head to the shelf running along the length of the wall, just below the ceiling. “Ditsy! What are you… Let me do that…”
But by then Ditsy had climbed down again, clutching a dusty hardback book to her bony chest. “When we got married,” she explained settling onto her stool, “Henry’s great aunt gave us this book.” She pushed it across the counter, enabling Mia to read the title–An A to Z of Love.
“It was a bit of a joke, really,” Ditsy went on, “or at least, we treated it as such. We used to read out entries to each other in bed at night, before we went to sleep. Even if we’d had the most awful day or if we were fighting, one of us would pick up the boo
k, choose a letter and we’d soon be laughing again.” Mia flicked through the pages, smiling at the decorated letters at the start of every chapter. “It’s not overstating things to say this book saved our marriage, more than once.
“When Henry left his job in the city, and we decided to open the shop here instead, Henry insisted it should be called the A to Z shop. He said the entire of human existence and need could be fitted into an alphabet. He said people liked knowing where they stood and where things would have to be. The order of the alphabet was comforting.”
“And he was right,” Mia murmured. After all, the shop was still going, just, thirty years later. They had to be doing something right.
Ditsy nodded. “He was.” Then, as Mia pushed the book back toward her, she shook her head, giving Mia another glimpse of her wicked smile. “You take it. An apology for setting you up with that horrible man. Besides, I think your need is greater.”
Chapter 4
Charlie stared at the collection of ingredients in front of him and tried to remember what he’d planned to do with them before Becky had shown up in town and turned his week upside down.
He wasn’t even sure if Mia would come back for the tasting after the lunch from hell. But on the off chance she did, he was going to have her favorite food ready for her. She deserved it after the afternoon she’d had.
Besides, tastings with Mia, late in the evening when the rest of StarFish was empty, then a midnight movie at the Coliseum, those were the best parts of his week. He wasn’t going to let Becky ruin it for him.
“I have a question,” Magda said, leaning on the counter beside him, and Charlie wondered when she’d come in and how he hadn’t heard the doors.
“Go on,” he said, pretending to be preternaturally aware of his surroundings and not just startled.
“Can you manage without me for the evening on Tuesday? I can get Jenny in to cover for me. She says she could use the work, to be honest.” Magda’s friend Jenny had regularly saved Charlie from disaster when he needed an extra pair of serving hands at the last moment. If he had the money, he’d put her on salary.
