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“You can walk, and you still bite people’s heads off at times.”
She laughed.
Harriet paid our bill since she’d just scored a very well-paid position, then we headed over to Juniper’s shop.
“Beautiful but Strange. Hm… good name for a shop,” I said, admiring a display of baby clothes with images taken from Alice in Wonderland. “I love that.” I pointed at a toddler’s T-shirt with the Mad Hatter’s face. “I’d wear that if they had adult sizes.”
We stepped into the shop, which smelled of roses. The pastel colors everywhere reminded me of a field of flowers.
Juniper came out and welcomed us with a bright smile. “Hey, you two. Welcome.”
“I love it already,” I said, looking through a rack of women’s wraparound dresses. “These are so pretty. I love the one you wore yesterday.”
“I’ve got this thing for applique. It’s an old-fashioned technique of sewing on shapes. I’m now creating my own shapes too.”
I pulled out a green dress with stitched-on purple and mauve flowers. “This is nice.”
“It will look gorgeous with your long red hair. Hey, take it. It’s a great way to advertise my clothes.”
My jaw dropped. “What? But…”
Harriet pulled out a T-shirt with an image of a huge bone hanging from a dog’s mouth. “This is hilarious.”
“My partner, Jess, prints those. That’s a fresh batch. We were laughing about my wedding ceremony. Jess’s husband’s into building dinosaurs.”
Harriet’s eyes widened. “Really?”
She nodded. “At our wedding, my dog turned up with a bone in his mouth. He’d stolen earlier. A T-Rex bone that Jess’s husband had searched a lifetime for. It caused a huge ruckus. Anyway, she made that as an anniversary gift for Sam. He’s been wearing it around, and everyone wants one.”
“That’s such a great story,” I said, laughing. “I love the fairy-tale theme. The Mad Hatter is great.”
“I’m rather partial to them myself,” Juni said. “Check this out.” She showed us a shift with the Queen of Hearts printed on the front.
“That’s awesome,” I said.
“I’m rather proud of it. Jess is a great printer. I come up with the designs. I like classic shapes. Nothing too busy, to allow the prints to do the talking.”
“So, about the parade we discussed yesterday, I’d love to host it on a Saturday night. Just to bring in a new crowd. Are you still interested?” I asked.
“You bet. I’m crap at promotion. Most of my sales come from the locals and street trade. There’s enough to keep me happy. And with Sam and the brewery, which is popular, we’re pretty blessed.”
“Lachlan set up a date for us to have dinner at the brewery with Aidan and Clarissa. We’ll have to let you know and make it a night. I like beer,” I said.
Juniper smiled before switching her attention to Harriet. “Do you think Orlando will walk again?”
“I have a feeling he will.” Holding the dinosaur-bone T-shirt, Harriet said, “I might buy this for Ollie.”
“Take it,” Juni insisted.
“But you need to make a living,” Harriet protested.
“If it puts a smile on Orlando’s face, then it’s all good.”
“Your son’s a keen astronomer, I hear.”
“He is that. If only I can get him to stop chasing the neighbor’s older daughter.”
I had sensed Miles had a thing for Allegra Thornhill.
