Page 142 of My Kind of Happy

Chapter Thirty-nine

The next three weeks flew by. I’d never been so busy yet felt so fulfilled in my life. I’d organised a big sale in the shop to sell off all the little trinket-y items we had on display. Rosie had helped me push it on social media and although the shelves were looking a bit bare, the bank account looked healthier than ever. Wendy had come up trumps as well and I had as many funeral tributes as I could handle. So although it was bittersweet to think that the florist’s would soon be closed, we were going out on a high and Nina had been thrilled with all the updates I’d been sending her.

Annabel had been right about Sam: he was indeed considering investing in a hog-roast oven and after a bit of gentle persuasion he’d agreed to borrow the equipment from the man who was selling his business and do the catering for Laura and Hamish’s larger-than-planned wedding. Sam had been into the shop a couple of times, ostensibly about the termination of the lease and checking when we actually intended to vacate the premises. I can’t lie; I lived for those moments. I missed the closeness we’d shared that weekend, I missed his kisses and the feel of his body against mine. But I’d kept my promise to myself and not offered anything other than a friendly ear, despite sometimes catching a look in his eye which made me wonder as if there was another subtext to his visits that he couldn’t or wouldn’t put into words. He’d hovered at the shop door the other day for so long that I almost asked him if he wanted to talk about it, but I decided against it. I’d promised Pandora I’d keep my distance, and I was proud of my willpower to stand by my word. If he wanted to talk, my door was always open, but it was up to him to make the first move.

I hadn’t seen Pandora either, other than from a distance. Thank goodness.

‘You’re doing absolutely the right thing,’ Ethel had assured me over the phone, when I’d told her how our relationship had fizzled out after only one date. ‘You don’t want to be courting a man who can’t give you his full attention.’

As usual, I mused, Ethel was right.

She was busy, she’d informed me. She’d joined a club for over-nineties run by a jolly ex-bus driver who came to collect her every Friday. Yesterday she’d had a picnic at Castle Howard. She said living with Carole and her husband Ivan had made her feel ten years younger and had invited Scamp and me to visit for her ninety-fifth birthday in October. I’d promised we would.

And now it was noon on Laura and Hamish’s wedding day and we had three hours to go before the big moment. I’d barely had time to blink, let alone sleep in the last twenty-four hours. But Biddy had offered to have Scamp and I’d been at The Evergreens since six o’clock this morning.

There’d been some ups and downs; only last week Terry had caught an infection and Laura had kept an overnight vigil at his bedside. He was weak, but he’d recovered and miraculously, as of this morning, the news was that he’d be coming in an ambulance. He’d be using a wheelchair and we were playing it by ear as to whether Laura and he would simply walk up our flower-strewn aisle arm in arm or whether he’d need one of us to push him.

In other news, Biddy had met up with Nigel. Early days, but the sparkle in Biddy’s eyes was unmissable and I was keeping everything crossed for a happy ending for them.

And Nina was back, irreverent, irrepressible Nina. I’d had my heart in my mouth for ten hours when she’d overslept and almost missed her flight home, but she’d been here for two days now and it was such a relief to have her help in putting the final touches to the wedding flowers. She’d become leaner while she was away; she looked fit and strong after completing all those tasks on the various farms she’d visited and although not tanned like we all were after the mad weather of the last few weeks, she glowed with health and happiness.

This morning, I’d been dipping in and out of Welcome Cottage, checking up on Laura who was having her hair and make-up done in there and now Nina and I were working together to do the last few flowers.

‘Oh balls, snapped another one.’ Nina tutted good-naturedly. ‘I mean sweet peas in a bridal bouquet? Talk about fiddly, they bruise as soon as you touch them.’

‘But they smell divine,’ I argued, snipping some more off Bing’s wigwam of bamboo canes. ‘They’re quintessentially British, they come with zero carbon miles. And they’re free.’

She blew her fringe out of her eyes. ‘Good point, well made.’

I was sounding more and more like Annabel every day.

The wedding flowers, much to my young assistant’s satisfaction, were all British. We’d raided everyone’s gardens and borrowed assorted terracotta pots brimming with geraniums, petunias and fuchsias. There was one at the end of every row of seats. Annabel and two of her best friends had made two willow arches as promised and I’d left her to poke in sunflowers at various intervals around them. Victor, bless his cotton socks and clumpy sandals, had come up trumps and had found us specialist growers around the country who’d been able to supply us with everything else we needed.

‘I’ve missed you so much.’ I stopped winding the last few cornflowers around Laura’s flower crown to give Nina a hug. ‘The shop hasn’t been the same without you.’

‘How have you had time to miss me?’ she laughed. ‘I’m the one who went off to have an adventure, and yet you seem to be the one with the most stories to tell.’

‘It certainly hasn’t been dull.’ I smiled ruefully, watching her nimble fingers add sweet peas while still maintaining the tightness of the posy. I’d told her all about Sam and me. At least I’d admitted some of it; I’d stopped at the part where I invited him to stay the night. She thought he was an idiot for throwing away a chance to be happy and said she planned to tell him as much. I’d persuaded her not to; at least I hoped I had.

I finished the flower crown and set it in the shade; Laura would love it. I’d take it over there in a minute, but first I wanted to double-check the to-do list. I picked up my clipboard and scanned it.

‘Batteries!’ I exclaimed. ‘For the outdoor fairy lights.’

Lucas had got dozens of them on charge inside. Someone needed to fit them now, otherwise they’d get forgotten.

Nina looked at me over the top of her sunglasses. ‘You do know that at some point you’re going to have to put that to-do list away and go and do your other job, don’t you?’

I shrugged. ‘It’ll only take me five minutes to get ready.’

‘Ew.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘You know what they say about sweaty bridesmaids?’

‘No,’ I laughed. ‘I don’t think I’ve heard that well-known phrase.’

‘They say the hog-roast man won’t kiss them behind the bushes.’

‘Yeah, well, I don’t think we need to worry about that. I could bathe in ass’s milk and douse myself in Chanel and I don’t think I’ll be getting any bush action. That was a one-off.’ I clapped my hand over my mouth. ‘Damn, I didn’t mean to say that.’

She gasped, her eyes dancing with triumph. ‘You dark horse.’