Page 57 of The Village Shop for Lonely Hearts

As the shelves began to fill, Amber realised that the shop had begun to get a little bit busier as word got out of the revamp.

Belle had popped in for some bread but upon seeing the greeting cards and string, she ended up buying those as well. ‘I only came in for a nose around the place,’ she said, nodding her approval. ‘It’s much better. Maybe I’ll get Aunty and Uncle in to see what ideas we can steal for redecorating the pub.’ Then she laughed. ‘I know. Not a chance, I reckon.’

Stanley said that he had been looking for his screwdriver for ages and that the replacement one would work very well.

Another customer had paid for their bread before spotting the rolls of material and had promptly bought the whole roll of flowery cotton to make some cushion covers with.

‘Maybe this could work,’ said Josh, nodding thoughtfully. ‘Everyone can see more of the stock now.’

‘Of course it will work,’ said Grandma Tilly, who had been coming into the shop on a daily basis. She had said it was to check on progress, but Amber thought that she actually enjoyed sitting on the chair behind the till and chatting to customers.

In fact, Amber was also enjoying talking to everyone who came into the shop. It was still early days for her and she was not used to talking to many strangers, but she was beginning to find a small amount of confidence. In a way, her senses were enlivened as she began to communicate once more with people.

She realised she had almost forgotten how to talk to people in New York. In fact, how to even be with other people. She could slowly feel herself coming back to life again and she felt more connected than she had felt in years.

One afternoon, Amber walked slowly around the shop, wondering what was missing. The trouble was that even when the goods were reorganised, it still felt a little sterile in there.

She stared at the fire burning bright inside the fireplace stove. On yet another dark and wet day, it helped make the place feel much more cosy. But it needed more.

‘Hey,’ said Josh, coming in through the back room.

He’d been out at the cash and carry and had left Amber at the shop. Not that Amber had wanted to return there. It had been a pretty soulless experience. And that was what Cranbridge Stores was still missing. Soul and heart too, she realised.

And pumpkins, apparently. She watched as Josh placed the three pumpkins he was holding onto the counter.

‘Is it Halloween already?’ she asked, with a smile.

‘Not quite,’ he told her. ‘But they were on special offer and I figured what the hell. Somebody might ask for them. I’ve got a small crate full out the back as well.’

She drew her hand down the smooth side of one of the pumpkins, her mind wandering.

‘I wonder if I should change the windows to a Halloween display at some point,’ she said, nodding thoughtfully.

‘If you have the time,’ he told her, gesturing at the still empty spaces in quite a few of the shelves. ‘There’s still a fair bit of restocking to be done.’

‘But the place needs something else,’ she blurted out.

‘Besides the tractor?’ said Josh, laughing.

She looked at the top of the shelves and realised there was quite a bit of space on top of each cabinet. And then there was the mantelpiece above the fireplace. An idea began to form in her mind.

‘I was just wondering how you felt about a few fairy lights and some autumnal touches inside the shop,’ she carried on, feeling brave. ‘You know, to match the window.’

‘That sounds lovely,’ said Grandma Tilly, nodding her approval.

To Amber’s relief, Josh shrugged his shoulders. ‘Knock yourself out,’ he told her. ‘As long as you’re not planning on redecorating me as well, then go ahead. I trust you.’

His words gave her confidence a mighty boost, she found. And as the afternoon wore on, she began to make similar strings of dried autumnal leaves and fairy lights as she had done for the window displays. Then she draped them along the top of the shelving units and across the mantelpiece, along with some conkers and pine cones that she had sprayed silver. In addition, she grabbed some white candles that they had found in a box and placed them at either end of the mantelpiece in a bunch.

Once she had finished, she nodded her approval to herself.

And she wasn’t the only one who liked the autumnal display.

‘This is lovely,’ said Belle when she came in to buy some tinned tomatoes. ‘Really pretty.’

Amber noticed how she warmed her hands up in front of the fire and saw Josh had noticed as well. They locked eyes before he gave her a nod as if to say, yeah, you were right about the fire.

‘Don’t get too smug,’ he muttered as he walked by. But she spotted his wink before he headed out the back.