Page 29 of The Village Shop for Lonely Hearts

Josh had laughed. ‘Are you sure about that?’

His mum had reached out and squeezed his arm. ‘Quite sure,’ she’d told him. ‘I trust you. You won’t let me down.’

Amber had watched as mother and son exchanged a tender look before Cathy straightened up. ‘Now, I’ve been thinking that I may need another suitcase to take with me,’ she’d said.

‘For more clothes?’ Josh had said, still smiling as he raised his eyebrows in mock surprise.

Cathy had been rushing around packing up the new clothes that she had treated herself to in Aldwych town.

‘It’s only Primark,’ Cathy had said the previous afternoon, bundling the massive brown paper bag quickly out of sight.

Not only had Cathy picked up a few different clothes, she had also dyed her hair and treated herself to a haircut. She was suddenly looking a lot younger than she had appeared until recently and Amber had found herself realising that Cathy was still only in her mid-fifties.

Josh had spent a lot of time muttering about the petty cash going missing, but he was definitely smiling a bit more. It was hard to stay grumpy with Cathy so cheerful and the excitement about the holiday all around them.

On the day of her departure, as Josh placed the suitcases inside the van, Cathy took a long look around the shop before smiling at Amber.

‘I’ll miss the old place, of course. But I feel like I’m coming alive again,’ said Cathy, drawing her into a hug. ‘Like I’ve been stuck on pause for the past few years.’

Amber nodded. ‘Have an amazing holiday. You deserve it.’

She felt somewhat homesick for her parents, but she knew that she would be heading out to New Zealand to join them in a month’s time so she knew it wouldn’t be for long.

‘I’m sure I’ve forgotten something,’ said Cathy. ‘I’ll just check one last time.’

As she rushed upstairs, Amber went to where Josh was standing with Grandma Tilly next to the van.

‘Where’s she gone now?’ asked Grandma Tilly, a little impatiently.

‘Just double-checking that she hasn’t forgotten anything,’ Amber told her.

Grandma Tilly sighed. ‘I’ll go and hurry her up. It would be a fine to-do if she missed her flight after all this fuss!’

Amber stood next to Josh as they waited outside on their own. It would be awkward, to be sure, to be left alone with Josh. But there was a tiny bit of excitement deep within as she wondered what on earth they could achieve between them.

‘Your mum’s going to have a wonderful time,’ she said.

He nodded. ‘Yeah. She deserves a break.’

‘Absolutely. You never thought about maybe heading out to see your brother in Singapore?’

He blew out a sigh as he turned to face her. ‘Can’t afford it,’ he said. ‘Besides, there was no one to help run the shop with Mum if I went away.’

‘Of course,’ she said, then hesitated before saying, ‘it’s a good thing I’m here then.’

He looked up at her in surprise and smiled. ‘Maybe it is.’

‘I guess the pay is invisible, right?’ she joked.

‘Free bed and board though,’ he added, before his smiled faded. ‘Is this all OK with you? I get the feeling that Mum kind of railroaded you into staying.’

‘I need somewhere to stay,’ she told him. ‘And your mum wants me to decorate the shop before she gets back.’

‘If you can find a clear surface somewhere in there,’ he said, turning his head as his mum and Grandma Tilly finally came out of the shop.

‘Are you sure you’ll be all right here on your own?’ Cathy asked Josh for the twentieth time as she came up to them.

Josh rolled his eyes. ‘Yes, Mum.’