‘Oh, it’s fine, I’ve done it before.’ She brought over the chair that sat in the corner, climbed up and stood on the table as she hooked the sign over the rail at the top. ‘There.’ But with a wobble, she almost lost her footing.
His hand had wrapped around hers before she could fall. ‘You all right?’ When she nodded, he kept hold of her hand as she climbed back down to ground level.
‘Thank you.’
‘Jasper might have suggested I did it on purpose if you were put out of the game with a fall,’ he laughed as she tried to ignore the butterflies inside of her at the feel of his touch, even though he’d taken his hand away now. ‘He’d think I’d made it happen to get the stall all to myself.’
‘Well, I appreciate you not letting it happen.’
‘You’re welcome.’
The stall was cramped with two selling their own wares and more than once, Morgan bashed her shin against some wooden item or another that was in her way as she passed from front to back of the stall to help customers and get as much sold as possible. Nate, in turn, had to step over one of her boxes and Jasper reminded them both again of health and safety so they did the best they could to clear a gap for them both to work in.
Despite being initially disappointed at not having more space, it was nice to have the company on the stall and when Trevor stopped by with Branston, Morgan didn’t hesitate to wrap her arms around the dog, pleased to see him. She and Ronan had never talked about pets but after having Marley at the cottage and meeting Branston, already she saw pets in her future.
Both Nate and Morgan were exceedingly busy on the stall, although more than once she turned around and looked at the chair she’d moved back into the corner and onto which she’d put the same tatty cushion that had always been there. She’d made it as a needlework project at school using what had once been a shiny gold material but was now a bland beige. She’d been embarrassed, thought it terrible and would’ve preferred to have binned it when she brought it home, but Elaina had insisted she did nothing of the sort. When Elaina hadn’t been up to standing on market days, she’d sat on the chair in the corner, the cushion behind her, even though it offered very little support given how flat it was. And turning now, not seeing her mother there, was emotional for Morgan. It had her catch her breath more than once. And if she closed her eyes, she could see her mum in her position, calling over advice about an item, pricing or talking with a customer, getting as involved as she possibly could.
‘You okay there?’ Nate asked.
She hadn’t realised she’d actually closed her eyes. They sprung open. ‘Sorry, miles away.’
‘I’ll say.’
Jasper checked on them, yet again, as though they were two kids in a playground and could come to blows at any minute. Bless him. The last time he’d come over, he’d brought them an Americano each from the food and beverage stall and lingered until he was reassured that they were actually fine. Sadie brought over cookies and Hildy arrived with a little bunch of peonies she insisted Morgan put into the glass vase with a heart pattern on the front that she had for sale. ‘Customers will get more of an idea how to use it then,’ she said, and at Morgan’s look that questioned what else they would think it might be for, she’d laughed and said, ‘You know what I mean,’ chuckling all the way back to her own stall.
Morgan’s phone rang on the approach to lunchtime and she’d already ignored it three times, so this time she took the call. It was Ronan.
‘Checking up to see if you’re okay. You’ve not been answering.’
She huddled at the back of the stall and sat down in her mother’s chair, which Jasper would’ve positioned here for Morgan first thing this morning when the market stalls were set up. ‘It’s been really busy here.’ The rearranging to fit both her and Nate in had taken up time too. And hadn’t they only spoken last night?
‘Sorry, not the best time to call, is it?’ It was rhetorical.
And she felt bad. He only wanted to talk to his fiancée. ‘It’s fine, I have a break in customer flow at this exact moment, as it happens.’
‘Great.’ He couldn’t keep the excitement out of his voice when he said, ‘I’ve seen a house I like.’
Her spirits didn’t lift the way they should, but then again, she had a lot going on. ‘What’s it like?’ She hoped he wasn’t going to rush into anything before she had a chance to get up there and look properly too.
‘It’s exactly what we’re looking for. A four-bed Victorian semi in a great area, a short walk from Edinburgh’s historic old town. You’ll love it, Morgan – period features, a traditional fireplace.’ It was exactly what they’d discussed. When it was merely a pipedream. ‘Well, should I book us both in to see it? Could you get here during the week?’
‘I’m not sure. I’ve got a lot of work on after being away, then there’s the cottage to sort. I’ll see what I can do.’ She’d only just got back to the village. ‘Why don’t you check it out and let me know first? If it gets your seal of approval, then that’s a good sign and I can look at it when I’m next there.’ And it would buy her some time to do what she needed to. She sometimes thought Ronan didn’t really realise how much she had to do here. The cottage was getting sorted quickly but it was a lot of work, she had this stall, she had her own work to do. And on top of that, she was having doubts that seemed to be increasing by the day.
‘I’ll give the estate agent a call.’ His enthusiasm suggested he was hoping she’d agree to fly up there tomorrow if he liked it. He never had been one to hang around and wait for things to happen. ‘Oh, and I found an amazing cheese and wine bar that you’ll love.’
‘Sounds perfect.’ She looked across at Nate, who was smiling as he handed a customer some change. She adjusted the cushion behind her in the chair, unable to get comfortable. But who was she kidding? It was a terrible cushion, but it made her smile to know her mum had kept it simply because it was Morgan who’d made it.
‘Give me a minute, Ronan, I have a customer.’ She put her phone on the table at the back while she sold the vase along with its content of peonies, and once the transaction was complete, she went back to her call, at the same time rummaging in a box for a replacement item. With so much to sell and very little space, she wanted to make the most of the day’s trading.
When Nate accidentally knocked into her as she stood up and she narrowly missed being bashed in the head by the wooden stool he’d lifted up, she jolted and dropped her phone.
‘Jasper would not be pleased if he’d seen that,’ Nate leaned in to say to her.
She was laughing as she got back to her call and had to give Ronan a recap on the confusion at the markets this morning. ‘Poor Jasper, he was tying himself in knots at his mistake,’ she explained as Nate chatted with the customer who’d decided against the stool and was haggling over the price of a towel ladder.
Ronan had only met Jasper at the funeral but even he’d seen how close Jasper had been to Elaina. ‘Surely Jasper has a loyalty and you shouldn’t have to change your plans for the newcomer.’ And Ronan never coped well when it came to other men in her life if he didn’t know who they were; it was an insecurity he’d had from the day they got together.
‘He’d taken payment,’ she said as quietly as possible. ‘Anyway, it hasn’t totally derailed me; I’m still here.’
