Page 52 of The Winter Bride

Annie blushed again. ‘Well, er . . . he’s a bit older than me I should think, and quite tall.’

‘An’ is he good-lookin’?’

‘I suppose he is, but don’t let your imagination get running away with you,’ Annie warned. ‘I’m sure he’s just being friendly.’

‘But it would be nice if yer could meet someone to go out with from time to time. All you ever do is work,’ Nancy said cautiously. ‘What I mean is . . . I think Monty would ’ave liked yer to be ’appy.’

‘I think it’s far too soon for me to be thinking along those lines,’ Annie said more sharply than she’d intended to. ‘Anyway, why don’t you tell me how things were last night.’

Nancy shrugged. ‘Everythin’ were fine except . . .’ She chewed on her lip, wondering if she should say anything.

‘Go on,’ Annie urged.

‘It’s nothin’ really, I don’t suppose, but I glanced out o’ the window about nine o’clock an’ there were someone standin’ in the shop doorway over the road. I got the feelin’ they were watchin’ our shop.’

Annie frowned. ‘Was it a man or a woman?’

‘It were too dark to tell, they stayed in the shadows an’ they ’ad a hat pulled low over their face. They stayed there for a good hour or more an’ then when I checked again, they’d gone. It were probably just some tramp havin’ a rest.’

‘Yes, I’m sure it was,’ Annie reassured her, but she was troubled all the same. On a few occasions she’d seen someone there in the dark and she shuddered as she wondered if Reggie might have somehow found out where the shop was. It was just the sort of thing he would do. A customer entered the shop at that moment and there was no more time to think as Annie bustled away to serve them and Nancy went back upstairs to watch over Adam.

Marie called in during the afternoon, and like Nancy she was curious to know how Annie had got on with Simon Walters.

She grinned as she eyed the beautiful roses. ‘From Simon by any chance?’ Her eyes were twinkling with mischief.

Annie blushed like a schoolgirl and nodded.

‘I could tell he liked you,’ Marie teased. ‘And what did you think of him?’

Annie sighed. ‘He’s very nice but I’m not ready to be in another relationship yet, so don’t get building your hopes up. I’ll be quite happy to have Simon as a friend, but that’s it.’

‘We shall see,’ Marie teased before going to sift through Annie’s new stock.

Late the following afternoon, as Annie was preparing to close the shop, the door opened and Simon appeared armed with a huge box of chocolates.

Annie didn’t quite know what to say, so she merely mumbled, ‘Er . . . thank you. And for the flowers too.’

‘You’re very welcome. I was wondering if you’d care to join me for a meal this evening?’ Simon asked.

‘That’s very kind of you, but I’m afraid I can’t make it this evening.’

‘Oh, I see.’ He couldn’t hide the look of disappointment that flitted across his face and she felt a little guilty. Even so she didn’t want to lead him on.

‘Perhaps another time?’ she suggested tentatively. ‘I’m actually quite busy now that the shop’s getting more customers in, so I like to spend as much time as I can with Adam and Nancy in the evenings.’

‘Yes, of course. I’m delighted to hear that the business is doing well,’ he said kindly.

Alfred came bounding in at that moment with his tail wagging wildly and Simon bent to stroke him. Annie felt herself warming to him again; he really was a very nice man and good-looking too.

‘Alfred out, you know you’re not supposed to be in here,’ Annie scolded as she ushered him out to the kitchen.

Simon laughed. ‘It certainly looks like you have your hands full with one thing and another, so I’ll say goodbye for now. I could perhaps pop in again one day next week to see if you have any free time?’

‘That would be very nice, and thanks again.’ Annie saw him to the door and once it had shut behind him, she turned the sign to ‘Closed’ and sighed. Why was it, she wondered, that when she saw Simon, she found herself comparing him to Alex? Comparing every man she met to Alex if it came to that! He was nothing more than a beautiful memory now – a part of her past, so why did she still think of him every day? But then how could she not when every time she looked at Adam, she was reminded of him?

With a shake of her head, she turned off the lights and after checking that the door was securely locked, she made her way up to Nancy and Adam.

The following night, Annie was lying in bed half asleep when she heard Nancy potter across the landing and down the stairs. No doubt she was going to the toilet in the yard. Annie had told her on more than one occasion that she had no objections to her having a chamber pot beneath the bed if she didn’t want to go out in the dark, but Nancy wouldn’t have it.