Page 65 of My Kind of Happy

Chapter Twenty

The next two weeks flew by and soon it was Nina’s last day. The shop had been like Piccadilly Circus since we opened. Nina had become quite the celebrity in Barnaby after word had got around of her trip and people had been dropping by or calling up to wish her luck finding a Kiwi farmer, giving her their top travel tips for places to visit in New Zealand and asking for signed photos of Molly Wilson, the famous TV presenter who’d be hosting the series.

‘I feel quite overcome,’ Nina said, after waving off Maria and Stanley. She was still clutching a bottle of Maria’s homemade limoncello they’d brought her as a farewell gift. ‘I didn’t think people cared so much for their local florist. It almost feels a shame to leave.’

‘Yeah, right.’ I looked up from preparing a birthday bouquet for someone’s auntie.

Nina acknowledged my sarcasm with a grin. ‘I said almost. There’s no going back now. For a start I’d have to give this limoncello back.’

She’d been like a grasshopper on speed for the last two weeks. Jumping around from one thing to the next. But on the plus side, she’d torn through the shop like a whirlwind, getting rid of old clutter which had probably been hanging around for years. The accounts were up to date and she’d left me list upon list of important contacts, dos and don’ts for every possible scenario from what to do if the shop got flooded to how to deal with the outside tap if it froze. At which point I’d drawn a line and reminded her that she was only going for a month.

Despite her constant level of panic, she looked radiant and glowing. She’d been on a crash diet, which she hadn’t needed, she’d performed two hundred sit-ups a day in the shop which had given the postman quite a shock when he’d dropped off her travel money and found her flat out on the floor and gasping for breath. She’d plucked, preened and pruned every hair on her body (I took her word for that), had had a manicure and pedicure and had treated herself to a spray tan and a whole new wardrobe.

I was going to miss her a lot I realised now as she dashed outside onto the pavement to fling her arms around Rosie, who was attempting to wipe tables in front of the café. She was a joy to work with and although we were very different in many ways, her talent with flowers was something I could only aspire to.

A phone call came in and Nina pulled her mobile out of her pocket, but I got there first on Freddie’s iPad. She was leaving her mobile with me because it had been the shop’s number for so long and had bought herself a new one, but I’d yet to prise it off her.

‘Nina’s Flowers?’ I answered brightly, expecting another well-wisher for Nina. ‘Fearne speaking.’

‘It’s Marcia from the Claybourne Hotel here.’

I almost gasped; a corporate client? I’d almost given up hope. We’d had lots of thank-you messages following our new business party, but next to no actual business. Even Wendy from the funeral parlour hadn’t returned my calls; surely I couldn’t have really annoyed her by running away?

‘Oh, hello! We met at the open day. It’s good to hear from you,’ I said.

Nina walked back in at that moment and I pointed at the phone and stuck my thumb up.

‘We’ve got an event coming up at the hotel and I thought you might be interested in doing the flowers for it. It’s for a client called Edelweiss.’

‘An event at the hotel? Definitely!’ I said loudly for Nina’s benefit, before she had a chance to go any further. ‘Thank you for thinking of us.’

Marcia laughed down the phone. ‘I had a feeling you might say that, let me give you the details …’

Nina gave me a squeeze and a smile and wandered off to top up the flower buckets with water, while I resisted jumping up and down on the spot.

The Claybourne had been asked to take on a booking as a favour for a large hotel in Chesterfield who’d had to cancel after finding themselves double-booked. The event was to be held at the beginning of June and the client was a Swiss pharmaceutical company. Apparently the brand was all about purity and the beauty products contained ethical ingredients and floral extracts.

‘Sounds wonderful!’ I made a note to google them later.

‘I know! I hope they bring lots of samples,’ said Marcia, sounding excited. ‘The hotel manager wanted our usual florist to provide the flowers but I remembered how unfussy and natural your flowers were and I thought you might fit the bill better.’

‘I’m flattered!’ I said, just about keeping the squeak out of my voice. ‘And I’ll make sure we don’t let you down.’

My feet were already doing a celebratory dance. This would be a brilliant addition to our portfolio, not to mention our bank balance.

I made some notes while Marcia gave me all the details. Edelweiss was new to the UK and looking for an exclusive number of franchisees to introduce their beauty products to the British public. They wanted their potential partners to be wowed with flowers when they stepped into the hotel to recreate the brand’s ethos. We were to invoice Edelweiss directly for our work, but the hotel manager had agreed to pay us an initial deposit on their behalf to secure the booking.

‘When you say “wowed with flowers” does Edelweiss have a budget in mind?’ I asked.

Marcia named a sum which made me drop my pen. I thanked her profusely, arranged to visit the hotel for a look round and ended the call.

‘How much?’ Nina’s eyes were out on stalks when I showed her the budget. ‘Bloody hell, well done!’

‘Thanks, but I can’t take all the credit,’ I beamed with pride. ‘I seem to remember it was you she talked to most at the party.’

‘You’ll be the one fulfilling it though,’ she pointed out. ‘And that’s the biggest order the shop has ever had, bigger than any wedding. It’ll take heaps of flowers to fill that hotel; it’ll be a lot of work.’

‘Gosh, I suppose it will.’ I bit my lip, feeling a flutter of nerves. Then I put my shoulders back and took a deep breath. ‘But I wanted corporate clients so I can’t back out at the first sign of difficulty. I’m going to do the best job I can and bring a big fat fee home for the shop. I might even enjoy it.’