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Emily turned to Alice. ‘There’s nothing I really need in Cobblers Yard.’ She glanced at The Potting Shed. Perhaps she’d pop back and buy some fresh flowers for the guest house before they left Aldeburgh.
Alice walked over to the arts and crafts shop and stood outside. Emily followed.
‘Joss told me it had closed down,’ commented Alice.
Emily frowned at the mention of his name.
‘What a shame,’ Alice continued. ‘I wanted to buy a sketchpad and some pencils.’
‘Are you interested in buying a shop?’ Emily joked.
‘Nope. But you might be.’
Chapter 27
Emily and Alice were sitting in The Two Magpies Bakery on the high street, waiting for their lunch. It was a very popular place that also doubled as a café and sold homemade cakes and scones. They had been lucky to find a table.
‘What is this all about?’ asked Emily. Alice wouldn’t tell her anything until they were seated in a cosy corner of the café, their lunch ordered and a large pot of tea sitting between them on the wooden table.
Alice glanced out of the window. The place where they were seated faced a side street which sloped gently uphill. There were pretty red-brick terraced cottages, some with holiday rental stickers in their windows, and a popular fish and chip shop on the corner with a queue snaking down the street.
Even though it was the middle of winter, brave souls were going to sit on benches along the promenade, wrapped up in coats and scarves, to eat takeaway fish and chips. Alice smiled. Perhaps the next time she was there, that was what she would do.
She turned from the window. ‘It’s about Joss.’
Emily looked at her quizzically. ‘Pardon me?’
‘Look, I wanted to come with you and show you the shop, to make amends.’
‘I don’t understand …’
Alice sighed. ‘He mentioned he was taking you out the other evening.’
Emily frowned.
Alice could tell that it was still a sore point and that Emily didn’t want to talk about it, although she was too polite to say so. Alice pressed on. ‘He wanted to show you the vacant shop in Cobblers Yard. He thought it would make an ideal place to start a vet’s practice.’
Emily looked at her in surprise. ‘What makes Joss think I want to start my own vet’s practice? And why would he be interested?’
‘Not to state the obvious, Emily, but it’s because he likes you.’
Emily blurted, ‘Well, why didn’t he take me out to dinner?’ She shook her head. ‘I was so embarrassed. I’d made an effort, thinking we were going out on a date.’
‘I know.’ Alice quickly added, ‘Sorry, I wasn’t being nosy, but I glanced out of the window and saw you and Joss having an argument, and then you stormed off. After what Joss had told me about where he was taking you, it was obvious that you realised you weren’t having a romantic dinner date when you saw Joss in his ripped jeans and old jumper.’
Emily nodded. She dropped her eyes to the table, avoiding Alice’s gaze. ‘Now I feel embarrassed about the way I behaved.’
‘That doesn’t change the fact that he likes you, Emily.’
‘So, why doesn’t he ask me out on aproperdate? Not to see some shop.’
‘Why don’tyouask him out?’
‘On a date?’
Alice nodded. ‘I imagine his reticence could be because he thinks he’s too old for you.’
Emily had wondered that herself. She’d overheard her parents talking about Joss. Her dad enjoyed having their long-term houseguest around, but she got the vibe that her mum did not. She’d heard them talking, and her mum saying they knew nothing about him. Emily looked at Alice. ‘I don’t know anything about him.’
