Page 67 of The Cosy Christmas Chocolate Shop

She began to feel a little nervous. The Chocolate Shop Café was going to open at 2.00 p.m., only six hours’ time. The paint was still drying on the windowsills, the shelves needed restocking – there wasn’t a single chocolate in the shop yet – and there were still curls of wood shavings and dust loitering. She turned the radio up loud and set to her task.

Chloe turned up mid-morning, just after Adam had dropped off the red seat pads that had been beautifully sewn by his gran. Emma spotted her sister-in-law half-hidden by a stack of cushions at the shop door and dashed to help her.

‘These look amazing, Chloe – they must have taken you ages. Thank you so much.’

As they got the cushions inside the shop, and positioned them in the first window seat, it was obvious how well the colours would go. The cushions were in reds, creams and greys, some plaid. Emma spotted one that was the same deep red as the seat pads with a beautiful appliqué star in a silvery-grey that had obviously been hand-stitched on.

‘Wow – I love this one. Did you do all this needlework?’

‘Yes, I got a bit carried away. Thought that might look pretty on the centre of each window seat. There’s another one the same in the car.’

‘Aw, I love them.’

‘And …’ Chloe began to pull out a long material bunting strip in similar colours to the cushions. As she opened it out, handstitched with a letter on each flag, it read THE COSY CHOCOLATE SHOP. ‘Oh, Chloe, this is just beautiful.’ Emma felt herself getting a bit choked up. ‘It must have taken you ages.’ She took the bunting in her hands and tried it against the countertop. ‘I love it! And look …’ Next she placed the star-patterned cushion in the centre of the others. ‘All set up on the window seat, don’t your cushions look just fabulous?’

‘Not bad,’ Chloe agreed modestly.

‘Well, I think we need to be the first to sit and use it, don’t you? It’s about time I took a breather. How do you fancy a coffee and a brownie?’

A few minutes later they were trying out the new window seat, testing the springiness of the new seat pads beneath them. They chinked their coffee cups together. ‘Cheers.’

‘Cheers, Chloe, and thank you so much, and James too. You guys have been amazing.’

‘Oh, yum.’ Chloe had just bitten into a square of brownie. ‘These are seriously good. Mmm, and the coffee.’

‘Yeah, I’ve sourced the ground coffee from a chap who’s just set up his own business in Berwick. It’s great, isn’t it, a really rich flavour? He does different blends. This is my favourite, Harry’s blend.’

‘I’m sure the café will go well for you, Em. It’s bound to. What’s not to like? Good coffee, chocolates everywhere, tea and cake, and you at the helm.’

‘I hope so. I’m feeling a tad nervous right now, to be truthful.’

Only time would tell. Her friends had invested time and energy, her parents had invested much of their savings in this, she’d invested her heart and soul, and her bank account really needed this to work out. It wouldn’t be long before the landlord would be snooping around again, checking on the work she’d had done, and the next thing she’d know he’d be hiking up the rent yet again, despite the fact she’d paid for all the renovations herself.

‘Well, this really is great, so cosy. And look, you can check what’s going on in the world outside the window, yet you’re here in this little magical world of chocolate too.’ Chloe smiled.

Emma looked out at her village. It was now a beautiful crisp autumn morning, the sky a vivid turquoise. She could just see down the hill, past the last of the stone cottages of the main street, where the glint of light was catching on the water of the harbour, boat masts bobbing. It was such a special place.

‘I love it, honestly,’ Chloe continued. ‘I shall be going straight back and telling all my friends about it.’

‘Thanks so much.’

They chatted some more about the girls, family life, Alfie. Emma didn’t mention Max, it was all too soon and confusing, and she was so busy with the shop she could barely catch her breath this morning as it was.

‘Well, I suppose I ought to get going,’ Chloe announced. ‘And I’m sure you’ve got lots to do too.’

‘I have indeed. But it was nice having a ten-minute breather. I’m expecting the chocolate supplies back with Bev any minute now, ready to fill the shelves with. It’s still looking a bit bare in here.’ She’d already set out what she could from her kitchen storage, but there were several gaps on the shelves.

‘It looks great already. Well then, Emma, very best of luck!’

‘Thanks. Oh, and don’t forget the launch on Friday, and bring the girls along too. It’s from seven o’clock.’

‘We’ll be there. And yes, I’ll let the girls have a late night as a treat. We would never hear the last of it if they knew we’d had a party in a chocolate shop without them.’

‘Hah – yes.’ Emma gave her sister-in-law a big thank-you hug as she left.

Two hours later, Bev and Emma were sitting outside in the back courtyard at the little table-for-two, grabbing a quick cup of coffee and making the most of the unusually warm October sunshine.

Bev and her husband had turned up half an hour before with a hatchback full of chocolates they’d been storing over the weekend. Pete was now away collecting a second load.