Chapter 3
November
Thursday afternoon, Tom arrived back from his lunch break to watch his apprentice, Janie, plonk a bunch of pale cream roses into the silver display bucket. The stems bounced off the bottom making a tinkling noise that set his teeth on edge. Pushing back his floppy, blond hair, he said, ‘Janie, don’t forget to treat the flowers gently. If you throw them around, you’ll bruise the stems or the petals and then we won’t be able to use them. Okay?’
Janie turned, looking like he’d just praised her to high heaven rather than told her off a bit. ‘Okay, boss.’
Tom shrugged off his thick wool coat and hung it out the back. He wasn’t very good at telling people off and really should have been firmer as it wasn’t the first time Janie had done it, but then, she was such a sweet girl and so perpetually cheerful he didn’t want to be the one to make her frown. She was still learning but was coming on well and showed a particular aptitude for the management side of things. She’d also proved incredibly responsible and given all of that, he didn’t mind waiting till the next time she did it. He’d be just a little bit firmer then, using the tone of voice he kept for Nell when she’d fallen into her own little dream world again, or become pessimistic about the hotel. It was a tone of voice he found himself using more and more as she was worried about failing her parents and running the lodge into the ground. All nonsense, of course, and he’d tell her so when they went for dinner that night. The Langdon Mansion Hotel had been so busy, this was the first reservation he could get. Just then, Janie placed a cup of tea in front of him, bringing his attention back.
‘Thanks Janie. We’ve got a few orders to make up this afternoon. Do you want to do the birthday hatbox or the new baby basket?’
Janie blew on her tea to cool it. ‘Is it for a boy or a girl?’
Tom checked his order book. ‘Girl.’
‘Then I’ll do the baby basket. I love doing girlie ones. Did they say what colours they wanted?’
Tom checked again and as he did little dots appeared in front of his eyes. He tried to blink them away, but the stubborn swimmers refused to budge until he squeezed his eyes tightly shut and opened them slowly. ‘Umm, I’ve written pinks and creams with splashes of yellow for a touch of joy.’
‘That sounds nice.’
He waited for her to say something about the blinking incident, but she didn’t seem to have noticed and was now choosing the basket and flowers that would hopefully make someone’s day.
Standing side by side, they both took a moment to assess the array of blooms in front of them. The till counter ran across the back of the shop and along one wall was a workbench covered in tools, ribbons and trinkets that he and Janie shared between them. The other wall was stacked high with silver buckets all of which contained the most beautiful seasonal flowers and foliage. Bright yellow walls made it feel like the sun was shining, even on this cold, gloomy November day. Through the large front window onto the high street, the sky above was a plethora of shades of grey. Between the dark charcoal rain clouds, smaller, hopeful misty white ones were buffeted together, losing the battle against impending rain.
Even though it was only early November, Christmas orders were beginning to come in and Tom couldn’t wait to get started. He was a big kid at Christmas and absolutely loved getting into the festive spirit, doing so as early as possible. Tom could just see himself and Janie dancing around in Christmas hats as the radio played out and they created gorgeous green wreaths, and winter-inspired bouquets with shiny red baubles. A new catalogue had arrived yesterday full of Christmas things he could decorate his bouquets with, and it was going to be a struggle not to order everything in it. The window display would be changed soon, losing the pumpkins, the warm orange roses and the all-important symbolic poppies, and gaining something festive. Something containing mistletoe and holly with ruby-red berries, and lots and lots of tinsel and giant Christmas baubles and … He could feel the excitement building and took a sip of his tea.
They settled into their normal working pattern of listening to the radio which was already starting to play Christmas songs in between the normal cheesy pop Janie loved. There were numerous cups of tea and a few moments where they assessed each other’s arrangements and made some suggestions. Janie was developing a great eye and Tom was becoming ever prouder of her as she grew and developed under his tutelage.
Just before five, Kieran popped in. His job as a gardener meant he tended to finish with the daylight, and sure enough, the sky behind him was turning a muted dark blue. Somehow the rain had stayed away, the strong winds having blown the cloud cover over them and out to sea. Though his shaved head made him look a little bit like a thug, in reality, you couldn’t meet a gentler soul, and he’d only shaved his head after going prematurely bald at 28. Without thinking, Tom ran a hand through his hair almost to check it was all still there.
‘Whatcha.’ Kieran pushed the door open and winked at Janie, coming to rest on the counter behind which Tom was fiddling about and preparing for the following day. ‘You coming to the pub, Tom?’
‘Ah, no, sorry, mate. I’m meeting Nell at the Langdon Mansion for dinner. We’re scoping out their menu.’
‘Oh, yeah.’ Kieran wiggled his eyebrows in an innuendo-laden manner. ‘Your date.’
Feeling the heat rise on his cheeks, Tom turned to Janie. ‘Do you want to finish for the day, Janie? There’s nothing else to do and if you go
