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‘Yeah, I guess. She means well but,’ Flora sighed, ‘she’s got this slight “poor me” thing going on. And everything is about her.’ Flora caught herself. ‘God, I’m so sorry, Mack. I’m sure the last thing you want to know about is my slightly complicated relationship with my mother.’ She laughed a little. ‘I love her really.’
‘Oh, no, don’t you worry. I’m sure you do,’ said Mack, nodding sagely. ‘Right, let’s get these wines off the shelves.’
‘No, Johnny and I can do that. You take down the point-of-sale cards…’
Just then the door opened. Mack looked up to see a tall, dark-haired woman smiling at him. ‘I’m sorry but we’re not open yet.’
‘Oh, no, I’m not here to buy wine. I just thought you might want an extra pair of hands.’
‘Susie! What are you doing here?’ Flora went to give her friend a hug.
‘Well, I thought the least I could do was come and help you, given that it’s very much in my interest that you’re open for business as soon as possible.’ She laughed, pulling her long hair into a ponytail. ‘Hi, Johnny.’
‘Mack, this is my friend Susie. She lives just at the top of the high street.’ Flora grinned. ‘This is really kind of you but, honestly, you really don’t have to—’
‘I want to, seriously. Gets me out of the house.’ She winked at Flora.
‘That’s brilliant, thank you.’ Johnny came over, handing her a coffee cup. ‘You’ll need this before we get going.’
Before long the shop floor was covered in bottles and Flora, Johnny and Susie were wiping the empty shelves. Mack was busy setting more bottles up on a long table in the room at the back of the shop, ready to be tasted. The doorbell went again and there stood Kate, hair piled up on her head, sporting a leopard-print tabard.
‘Mum! What on earth are you wearing?’ Flora burst out laughing.
‘I’ve just bought it in the hardware store next door, along with this.’ Her mother gestured to the mop and bucket in hand. ‘What do you think?’ Kate did a half-twirl and a curtsy for the crowd.
‘You look ridiculous. But thank you.’ Flora got up and went to kiss her mother. ‘We really appreciate it.’
‘Hi, Kate!’ Johnny waved from the back of the shop, still on his knees beside the shelves.
‘Hello, darling, how are you?’ Kate turned to Susie. ‘I don’t believe we’ve met, I’m Kate, Flora’s mum.’ Kate extended her hand.
‘I’m Susie, very nice to meet you. Gosh, you look so alike.’
‘Do we really? Flora won’t like that, will you, darling?’ Kate laughed, looking at her daughter.
‘It’s a great compliment, Mum.’ Flora managed a smile despite her mother’s response annoying her. Not because she didn’t think they looked alike – they undoubtedly did – but the inference that Flora wouldn’t like it irritated her. Every. Single. Time.
‘Anyway, I thought I might as well come and make myself as useful as possible.’ She looked towards the back of the shop. ‘So where is the famous Mack?’
‘He’ll be through in a minute. He’s just out the back.’ Flora took the mop and bucket from her mother.
‘So what were you thinking in terms of the space?’ Kate glanced about the shop. ‘The exposed brick is beautiful and the shelves…’ she touched the nearest one, built by Mack all those years ago, ‘… lovely. But you could brighten the space up by giving the ceiling a fresh coat of paint.’ Kate looked over to the counter. ‘And you could top that with something like copper to give it a slightly more up-to-date look.’ She peered over the counter at the stairs. ‘And a runner on those stairs wouldn’t go amiss.’
‘Good idea, but we’ve got the tiniest of budgets to do this place up so…’ Flora glanced at Johnny.
‘Don’t worry, darling,’ said Kate. ‘I can sort that out. Leave the paint to me, too. Not the actual painting, obviously. But I can get the right colour for you, a lightish grey, I think. I’ll have a look.’
‘Thanks, Mum, that would be amazing. And what about an area with a tasting table, given we’ve not got much space?’
‘Well, let’s see. You could…’ Kate stepped carefully across the floor towards the back of the shop, ‘… have a bench along this wall, one that folds down so you can put it up when you’re not using it. And a table that comes down from this wall,’ she pointed, ‘topped to match the counter.’
‘Like Flora said, we’re on a tight budget.’ Johnny stood up.
‘Leave that with me, too, Johnny.’ Kate threw him a smile. He knew her well enough to know she was on a mission and the best course of action, for now, was to let her get on with it. They could argue over numbers later.
‘Thank you, Kate, that’s great.’
‘So this must be your mother, Flora!’ Mack appeared from the back of the shop. ‘Pleased to meet you.’
