‘That would get Mary’s attention without having to jump?’ Ava laughed.
‘Yes, something like that. I’m sorry about the charity, but with the . . . the other things you have going on during the festival, I think you’re going to have a successful weekend.’
‘Thanks, Gino, me too. And honestly, I’m glad you didn’t do the jump. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you. Besides as much as I love that puppy, she’s your responsibility now.’ Ava pointed to Luna, who had walked along the hay bales and was chewing on some bunting. ‘If you break a leg who will chase after her?’ Ava giggled, knowing full well she would step in should anything so drastic happen, but she enjoyed teasing Gino,especially as there was no doubt Luna was the most mischievous of the litter.
Having secured her bike, Ava unlocked the back door of the charity shop. Flo had been in to open up and had, once again, organised the volunteers to cover the day, freeing Ava to watch over the festival and troubleshoot where needed. Hearing Mary, Ava paused. She was muttering to herself and Ava couldn’t quite make out her words. Thinking that if she were still fretting over her new relationship with Gino she would jolt her out of it, Ava decided to make her jump. Leaping in through the door she shouted, ‘Surprise!’
Startled, Mary screamed and turned to Ava, shock on her face and chocolate cake down the ice blue, off-the-shoulder satin gown she was randomly wearing.
‘What the hell! Ava, look at me!’ Mary ran to the sink and began rubbing the chocolate with a wet paper towel.
‘I’m sorry, I had no idea . . . And now I have so many questions.’ She scanned the back of the shop and the array of gowns Mary had scattered across the sorting table and floor. ‘What are you doing?’
‘What am I doing? What are you doing more like?’
‘What are you both doing?’ Ava and Mary turned to see Flo, Henry and Granger staring at them. ‘We could hear the commotion from the front of the shop. I thought we had burglars or something’ — Flo put her hand to her chest as if fending off a heart attack — ‘but here you are playing dress-ups, again, the pair of you.’
‘I’m not playing anything. I’ve just got here,’ Ava protested, her cheeks going red at being told off in front of Henry in her own shop.
‘And I was just trying to eat the piece of my own cake you made me buy.’
Flo looked at Mary and giggled. ‘Miss your mouth?’
‘Only when Ava burst in like a wild woman. You were supposed to be keeping a lookout while I tried this on.’ Mary fixed Henry with an admonishing glare.
‘And I was. At the front of the shop,’ he replied.
‘She must have ridden past the window.’
‘I might have looked away for a moment.’
‘And I was on the till, so you can’t blame me,’ Flo put in.
Ava tried to make sense of what they were saying, but couldn’t. She lifted her hands in the air. ‘Will somebody, please, tell me what’s going on?’
Silence fell and stretched between them for a few moments until Flo coughed.
‘I’ll pop back out front. There’ll be customers waiting.’ Moving past Henry, she headed back to the shop floor.
Ava looked between Mary and Henry. ‘So, what’s going on?’
‘Honestly, I just wanted to try this dress on, that’s all.’ Mary pushed Granger away; he’d taken a keen interest in the cake down her front.
Henry folded his arms and Ava directed her attention to Mary.
‘So why did you need a lookout? You know I wouldn’t have minded you trying the dress on. It looks bloody great on you by the way — perfect with your fair complexion and blonde hair! Sorry about making you jump and the . . .’ Grabbing a paper towel, Ava ran it under the tap and joined in wiping the chocolate cake from the dress before realisation dawned. ‘Oh, wait! You’re going somewhere you don’t want me to know about, aren’t you? That’s why you needed a lookout.’ Ava looked at Henry’s guilty face and knew he was hiding something.
Throwing the paper towel in the bin — causing a momentary distraction for Granger as he pulled it back out again — Ava felt an ache in her chest. ‘Are you two going somewhere? Is something going on? What about Gino?’
‘Mary, we have to come clean. It’s stupid to try to keep the whole thing a secret, now.’
Ava felt as if the room was closing in. The piles of clothes and other donated stock jeering at her as a swell of pain grew in her chest.
Mary held Ava’s gaze. ‘It’s not what you think. We’re not doing anything behind your back or going anywhere in secret. Well, we are, but not in the way you think. I was going to tell you. That’s why I’m meeting you here at six. It was going to be a surprise.’
‘Well, I’m here. So why don’t you tell me now.’ Ava congratulated herself on keeping her voice even.
‘Ava, I didn’t want you to find out like this,’ Henry began.
