Page 107 of My Kind of Happy

I pressed a kiss to her soft cheek.

‘Goodness me, dear!’ She looked up at me, tongue in cheek. ‘I think you’ve grown.’

‘Yep. Thirty-four and I’m having a growth spurt,’ I laughed, teasingly. ‘Come on in and I’ll put the kettle on.’

‘Do you want your walking frame, Mum?’ Carole asked, shutting Ethel’s door.

‘Me?’ Ethel looked affronted. ‘Not on your nelly, I could run around this village green if I had time.’

I raised an eyebrow at Carole who rolled her eyes fondly.

‘Talking of time, if it’s all the same to you,’ she said, checking her watch, ‘I won’t come in, I spotted a garden centre on the way into the village and I’ve run out of tomato food. I won’t be long.’

Ethel and I waved her off in the direction of Garden Warehouse and went inside.

‘Delightful,’ she declared after I’d given her a tour of the shop.

Scamp hadn’t left her side for a second and now she was seated at the work table he pressed his body against her and stared adoringly up at her.

‘I love all the little details: the props which add character to the displays, and the smell is heavenly.’

‘Those are Nina’s touches,’ I said proudly, from the kitchenette where I pulled out coffee, milk and a china cup and saucer I’d brought in from home especially for Ethel’s visit. ‘She’s very arty, I’m better at the business side.’

I paused and pulled a face. ‘Although after today, that’s debatable.’

‘Oh?’ Ethel raised her eyebrows, as astute as ever. ‘Sounds like you’re having adventures just as I’d hoped.’

‘Oh, I am, don’t worry,’ I laughed drily. ‘Plenty of those.’

Although investing all the business’s money in flowers for an order that was never formally confirmed was probably not quite what she meant by being adventurous.

‘How’s that man, the landlord? Sam, isn’t it?’

‘You don’t forget a thing, do you.’ I chuckled, pouring water into her cup and my usual mug.

‘My legs might be dodgy but my brain still works. It’s the quiz shows; I knew they’d come in handy for keeping the old grey matter alive. Ask me any capital city and I bet I can get it.’

‘OK, what’s the capital of Uzbekistan?’

‘Never heard of it. Anyway, stop changing the subject, I want to hear more about this young man.’

I laughed as I set her cup down. ‘I’ve missed you so much.’

‘Ooh, real china?’ Her face lit up. ‘And I’ve missed you, but I’m here now so get on with it. Sam. All the details please.’

I put my mug down beside hers. ‘Are you sitting comfortably?’

She ruffled Scamp’s fur and her eyes shone. ‘Indeed I am.’

I told her everything. About how Sam had come in to buy some flowers for his wife, which led to them getting back together. I told her about the order we’d had to make up for her from her fancy man Gareth and how treacherous Nina and I had felt delivering flowers to Pandora behind Sam’s back. I told her about the events of Saturday night with the cricket team. Finally, I told her about the fiasco at the Claybourne Hotel and how Pandora had got caught in the same scam, but that Sam had been helping me all day.

‘Poor lad,’ Ethel tutted when I finished. ‘That flibbertigibbet has really put him through the mill. He’s far better off without her.’

‘I think so.’

She eyed me shrewdly. ‘Sounds like he’s quite fond of you.’

I couldn’t help the smile which broke out on my face.