Page 100 of My Kind of Happy

‘No one from Edelweiss has turned up. There’s been no word from them,’ he said grimly. ‘Guests are refusing to pay for their rooms and are now demanding food which hasn’t been paid for. Until we’ve had clarification from Edelweiss—’

Tim interrupted his boss, tapping him on the arm.

Joe growled. ‘What?’

Tim held out the phone. ‘Phone call for you. Says he’s a detective.’

A Mexican wave of gasps and whispers rippled over the assembled crowd. Joe grabbed the phone, marched into his office and shut the door.

I glanced across at Pandora, who can’t have noticed me because she was talking into her phone, laughing and twirling a lock of hair. Two minutes later Joe emerged, ashen-faced.

‘Can I have your attention please, everyone.’ His face was weirdly blank as if he’d been hypnotised and he was clutching the phone to his chest. ‘I have just taken a call from the police. It appears we’ve all been scammed. There is no company called Edelweiss. Today’s event is cancelled.’

A cold stab of fear stole the air from my lungs; I stared at the boxes of imported flowers. Expensive imported flowers.

What the hell was I going to do now?

As the news sank in, the guests swarmed forward angrily, Pandora included. I stepped inside the manager’s office to catch my breath. Joe darted in to put the phone back in its cradle.

‘Where does this leave me?’ I asked, blocking his route back out.

He frowned irritably. ‘Superfluous to requirements, I imagine. I suggest you take your flowers and leave.’

‘Can I sell them to the hotel?’ I stuttered, grasping at straws. ‘After all, the order came via you and it would help me out.’

He stared at me as if I was mad. ‘And who’s going to help us out? The hotel has got the small issue of thousands of pounds of unpaid rooms to resolve.’

I swallowed. ‘As a small business—’

He cut me off, holding his hand up. ‘We’ve already paid you a deposit as a gesture of goodwill on behalf of Edelweiss. I’m not sure where we stand on recovering that.’

With that he pushed past me into the sea of demanding guests. It was no good trying to argue with him. The hotel was owed far more money than I was. Right now the best thing I could do was to get the flowers back to the shop, along with all the displays I’d already done and then come up with a plan to recoup my losses.

I picked up as many boxes from reception as I could and staggered back down the corridor towards the function room. The hard corners dug into my arms; they were bulky rather than heavy and I soon had to stop to readjust them. I rested my hip on a windowsill and leaned forward until my forehead met the cool glass.

So much for my grand idea of corporate flowers being the key to the shop’s fortunes. I’d be more likely to bankrupt us after this fiasco. Something Nina said came back to me about the lack of joy involved with corporate flowers, that she didn’t like it because ordering flowers was simply a chore to be ticked off by some faceless person with a to-do list.

How prophetic that had turned out to be.

The enormity of the situation I’d got myself into hit me head on and my eyes began to burn with tears; it was only flowers and only money, but I’d been gullible and naïve. I felt stupid and lonely and in that moment I’d never missed my brother more. If Freddie were here he’d make light of the situation, make up a silly song for us to sing and annoy me by telling me that one day we’d look back at this and laugh.

But he wasn’t here. Nobody was, this was my mess and I was going to have to sort it out by myself.

Come on, Fearne, get your act together.

I’d got Ethel visiting me in the shop this afternoon with her daughter. I’d imagined sitting her down at the workshop table with Scamp by her side and a cup of tea in her hand while I told her of my triumph at today’s event. I’d been planning to show her the photos and impress her with my work. Now all I’d have to show for it was a shop full of flowers and an empty cash register. I groaned and blinked away the tears.

Outside, a raised brick bed had been planted with calming shades of purple lavender, verbena and petunias, silvery grasses and shiny-leafed hostas.

The order and symmetry of the display held my gaze and I felt my face soften into a smile; four months on from deciding to write my own happy list and flowers still did it for me.

I straightened up, feeling more positive about the task ahead. Ethel wasn’t due until later on, I wasn’t going to let this defeat me; by the time she arrived, I had to have turned the situation around. Somehow between now and then, I had to have some sort of adventure. Buoyed with new energy, I was about to step forward when my phone rang. Trying not to drop anything, I reached inside my bag with one hand and grabbed it quickly. The name on the screen made my breath catch.

‘Hello?’

‘Fearne? It’s Sam.’ His voice was urgent and anxious.

‘Morning,’ I said, swallowing hard. I hadn’t heard from him since Saturday night when he’d stormed out of the shop. If he was about to shout at me for interfering between him and Pandora, I didn’t think I could cope. Not on top of anything else.

‘Listen, sorry to call so early, but I’ve just had a call from a contact of mine. Apparently the Edelweiss company doesn’t exist.’

‘I’ve just found out,’ I said bitterly. ‘I’m at the hotel now.’

‘Oh Fearne, I’m so sorry,’ he said, his voice laced with gentle concern. ‘It’s not just the Claybourne that’s been caught out. Twelve venues in the UK have been scammed and over a thousand people have already come forward to say they’ve lost money.’

I gave a little moan under my breath. I was dreading breaking this to Nina. I’d really wanted to be such an asset to her with my market research experience and my new-girl enthusiasm for floristry. First I’d breached data protection rules and now this. I had to be the biggest liability her business had ever encountered.

‘Fearne? Are you still there?’

‘Yes,’ I gave a stilted laugh. ‘I’m just working out my next move. But hey, I’ll think of something. Thanks for ringing, I appreciate it.’

I heard him take a breath. ‘Would you like some help?’

‘Really?’ My heart skipped with joy. ‘That would be amazing.’

‘On my way.’