Page 90 of My Kind of Happy

Pandora adjusted her sunglasses and pursed her lips.

‘She and I met on the pavement outside,’ she said sourly. ‘She screamed her head off at me and caused a scene.’

‘Really?’ Sam looked at me bemused. ‘Why on earth—?’

‘I didn’t realise you were Sam’s wife then,’ I said, feeling the heat rise to my face. I was annoyed at the way Pandora uttered ‘she’ as if somehow I was in the wrong. ‘And I’m sorry we got off on the wrong footing but I’m afraid it doesn’t alter how I feel. You were at the wheel and not paying attention to where you were going.’

Pandora rolled her eyes. ‘I was scarcely moving. I wouldn’t have hit the bike at all if that mobile phone holder wasn’t so fiddly. I can never get it in properly.’

‘You had an accident?’ Sam looked horrified. ‘Dear God. Was anyone hurt? Were the kids in the car?’

‘No, there was hardly a scratch on the car. And stop fussing, Dad has sorted it all out.’ Pandora tutted irritably and inspected her fingernails. They were painted a nude colour which matched her lipstick. ‘She blew the whole thing out of proportion.’

‘Fearne. My name is Fearne.’ I felt my hackles rise but offered to shake her hand. She gave me a withering look and ignored me.

‘Anyway, all of that is irrelevant,’ she said, folding her arms and glaring at Sam. ‘Now that I’ve discovered your little secret. You and Fearne. It all makes sense now.’

My heart skipped a beat. Had she seen us behind the counter, I wondered, standing closer than we should have been? I glanced at Sam who looked so apologetic and awkward I could have hugged him.

Scamp padded over to her, wagging his tail and jumped up at her legs. She pushed him down and wiped her hands on her jeans. I clicked my fingers to tell him to go back to his bed and he wandered off dejectedly.

Sam inhaled a breath. ‘Yeah, sorry about that, but it was only a little white lie.’

‘Really?’ Her laugh was harsh. ‘Your mum is looking good these days.’

The look she gave me could have stripped paint. The cricket team had gone quiet in the back but now Tom joined us in the front of the shop. ‘Hey Pandora, looking gorgeous as usual.’

‘Thank you.’ She shot him an icy smile.

‘Want a beer, Panda?’ Mikey added, poking his head around the archway.

Pandora bristled. ‘No, thank you. And it’s Pandora, please.’

Mikey pulled a face. ‘Sorry.’

‘Look, love, I only told you I was taking Mum out for dinner because this was meant to be a surprise,’ Sam gestured behind him where the rest of his team mates sat in front of their flower arrangements. They waved awkwardly. ‘We’re doing flowers to give the wives and girlfriends at the match tomorrow. To say thank you for supporting us all season.’

She eyed him warily and a faint flush rose to her cheeks. Probably guilt, I thought, remembering what Sam had said about her lack of help with the cricket teas.

‘I knew you were lying all along.’ She shook her head slowly. ‘I knew when you turned up with those flowers that you couldn’t have arranged them yourself.’

‘I did!’ he protested in disbelief. ‘I promise. Fearne taught me.’

‘It’s true,’ I confirmed. ‘Sam wanted to do something special for you.’

‘Oh. I see,’ Pandora sneered, folding her arms. A collection of gold bangles tinkled on her wrist. ‘A one to one session was it? How … romantic.’

‘No!’ he said crossly. ‘Well, yes, but it wasn’t like that.’

‘It was all perfectly above board,’ I explained, not liking the insinuation. ‘Sam put the bouquet together for you while the shop was open and I was serving other customers.’

Sort of. But Pandora wasn’t listening to me.

‘And then I got a second bunch,’ she said triumphantly, tilting her chin. ‘Guilt, I realised. It had to be. You’ve gone from giving me crappy petrol-station flowers to two expensive bouquets. So I came up here to see what was so interesting at the florist’s all of a sudden. And hey presto, what do I find but the mad woman here, with her road rage and badly manicured fingernails.’

I curled my nails into my fists and not because I was ashamed of them. I wasn’t a violent person, but I wasn’t sure how much more I could take from Pandora Diamond. The air in the shop was almost quivering with tension. Sam looked furious.

‘OK, Pandora, stop.’ He held his hands up. ‘Fearne did help me put a bouquet together. But there was nothing underhand about it. And as for tonight, the rest of the lads fancied having a go themselves so we arranged for Fearne to run a workshop for us all. That’s it. I’ve got nothing to hide.’