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‘Oohthat’s unusual.Nochance to take a sneaky at his credit card then.’
‘No.’
‘Shame.’
‘Why?’
‘Wecould have done a bit of cyberstalking.It’swell cool what trails people leave.Couldhave found out more about him and thisMintygirl.’
‘That’sa terrible thought,’Daisyprotested, half appalled, half incredibly tempted. ‘NotsureIwant to find out aboutMinty.Ridiculousname anyway.Soundslike a toothpaste.’
Miabit her lip, thinking. ‘I’massuming it’sAraminta.’
‘Araminta.Shesounds posh.’Daisycurled her lip, aware she was, yet again, prejudging people purely on name alone.Shescowled. ‘Unlikeme.’
‘Ohmy eggs, you’ve got it bad.’Miawaggled an accusatory finger.
‘Iknow.Ihave.I’vemet the man twice.Twice!’Sheconsidered for a moment. ‘Fourtimes if you include when he comes back to collect his order.Andthe most riveting thingI’vesaid to him is,’ she put a hand to her hip and adopted an affected voice, ‘did you know gerberas mean innocence and true love?’Shesighed. ‘I’mpractically giving him the means to throw him into his girlfriend’s arms.’
‘Doyou think he’ll come in again?’
‘Whoknows?Idon’t know why he comes intoLullburyBayin the first place.’
‘Well, if he does, make him up a bunch of yellow carnations to give to her.’
‘Whatdo they mean?’
‘Rejection!Andif he’s still buying her flowers inSeptember, sell him a cyclamen.Thatmeans goodbye.’
‘Oh,Mia, that’s awful.Forall we know she could be a lovely, generous woman who fully deservesRick.Look, it’s gone quiet.Let’sshut the door for ten minutes, have a cuppa and indulge in whatBellacalls aBelgianbun but which is really heaven on a plate.Thegods blessed the dayBellamoved into this town.She’sa genius.’
‘You’reon!’Miastuck her head out of the door to check the high street.Itwas deserted.Theheat and sunshine had driven everyone down to the beach.Shebanged the door shut, content they weren’t about to miss out on a customer, forgetting to flip over theOpensign.Goingto the back room whereDaisyhad already filled the kettle, she sank onto the scruffy office armchair and openedTheLullburyBayEcho.
‘Ooh,’ she said, to the background noise ofDaisyclattering about finding mugs and plates. ‘Haveyou seen theNinjasare at it again?’
‘Whathave they done this time?’
‘Tiedhuge yellow knitted suns on the lamp-posts in the public gardens.’
Daisyperched on a rickety wooden chair. ‘Loveit!That’llcertainly brighten the place up.’
‘Noteveryone agrees.There’sa letter here complaining about them.’
‘Oh, don’t tell meColonelSmytheis on the warpath again.He’ssuch a grump.Doyou know he moaned about the noise coming fromTheToadandFlamingowhen they had their live bands on?’
‘He’snot so bad.He’sa governor at school.Bitcrusty round the edges but decent enough underneath.’
‘Mygoodness,Mia, did you swallow a sunshine pill?I’venever known you to be so positive about everything and everyone.Workingat that school is really suiting you.’Pushinga cake-laden plate over, she spotted a rosy colour rising in the girl’s usually pale face.Somethingwas definitely going on and it had started whenMiahad begun to work at the primary school. ‘So, tell me who works at the school nowadays.’Shetook a bite into the fresh-cream, pillowy-iced delight that was one ofBella’scakes and was distracted byJanwalking in.
‘SlackingagainIsee, chickadees.’
Daisycut her cake in half and slid the plate over. ‘Hi,Mum.You’rein early, althoughI’mnot sure you’ll be needed.It’sreally quiet today.Haveyou seen what’s in the paper?Knittedsuns in the park this time.’
Janpeered at the double-page spread held out byMiaand chortled.
‘Lookgood, don’t they,’Daisysaid. ‘Hugeyellow knitted suns can’t fail to cheer you up.There’stea in the pot if you want one,Mum.’Sheheard a slight cough from the shop. ‘Didyou flip the sign back toOpen?’
‘No.Didn’ttouch it.’
