THIRTY-TWO
MONDAY 20TH APRIL
‘I wonder what today’s going to bring, not to mention the rest of the week,’ Florrie said thoughtfully as she and Ed set off for work that morning.
‘No drama, hopefully,’ Ed said, flashing her a mood-boosting smile and squeezing her hand.
They’d had a long chat yesterday, in which Ed had surprised her. He’d told her he’d decided not to dwell on his mother’s words, not let them eat away at him. ‘The way I see it is I’ve got two options: I can absorb them, ruminate over them, cling onto them, if you like, until they affect how I feel about myself, influence my outlook on life, which could, ultimately, affect my relationship with you – which isn’t what I want. Or I can push them away and tell myself they’re the words of a person who’s ultimately unhappy with themselves and projecting how they’re feeling onto other people. Yes, what she said hurt like heck at the time, but maybe not as much as if such a display of anger was out of the blue and not the norm; my mother’s always been an angry person – my father, too – always screamed and yelled and hurled abuse, so, in some way, it numbed the pain; took the sting out of it.’
His explanation had horrified her.
‘And you know what’s helped me come to thisrealisation?’ he’d asked. When Florrie had shaken her head and told him no, he’d said, ‘You, Florrie. You and your parents. Living with you, and getting to know your mum and dad, being welcomed in and treated as one of their own, has made me realise what a proper family’s like. How you show your love for one another, how you support one another, the kindness and the care, how you’ve totally got each other’s back no matter what – and I feel included in that – has opened my eyes. And you’ve all made me feel that I’menough. That I don’t have to try to be someone or something I’m not or can never be. And that I’m not the “useless disappointment” my father has referred to me as so many times.’
Florrie’s heart had squeezed as she’d listened.
‘We’re getting married in under two weeks’ time, and I want to take the values and the love that your parents have instilled in and bestowed upon you into our marriage and, hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, our own family. I didn’t know what true happiness and a feeling of security and being loved felt like until I met you and your parents.’ When he’d finished, he’d given Florrie a heart-warming smile and kissed away the tears that had been cascading down her cheeks.
‘Feels like we’ve had a lifetime’s worth of drama over the last couple of weeks. I just want to be able to focus on our wedding without any other distractions getting in the way,’ she said.
‘Well, hopefully, we can, especially if my father can get through to my mother and get her to speak to someone who can help with her addiction; maybe help with her anger issues in the process. It’s a relief to know he’s finally accepted that we’ll never give up the bookshop.’
After Florrie had left with Jasmine yesterday, Ed had contacted his father and told him of his mother’s visit and the heated exchange that had ensued. He hadn’t been surprised to learn that Peter had already been given his wife’s version of events. Ed also hadn’t been surprised to hear they were wildly different from what had actually happened. At the end of their conversation, his father had assured him that he’d speak to Dawn and adviseher to keep away and bring an end to her campaign to get her hands on the bookshop. Peter had finally realised that if the business ever fell into his and Dawn’s hands, it would go straight on the market, and the proceeds would be gone in the blink of an eye. He finally seemed to accept that his son and Florrie were putting all their efforts into making it a success and that it was their efforts that had made it the viable business it was today.
‘You and Florrie have worked hard, son. You’ve both got vision, know what the bookshop needs to make it a success. It’s taken me a while, but I can see that now,’ he’d said during their chat.
His father’s praise had been hard won, and Florrie knew it was taking some sinking in for Ed, who wasn’t used to receiving such positive feedback from a parent.
‘I keep pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming and am going to wake up to find my father’s in on the plan, too.’
‘Trust me, you’re wide awake,’ said Florrie, choosing not to add that she hoped his father was being genuine. Despite her new positive mindset, she couldn’t deny it was a possibility that his father was fooling him, and she knew Ed would be gutted if it later transpired it was all an act.
They stopped a moment to let Gerty have a sniff of the grass that poked through the railings on the top prom, the tangy sea breeze lifting the ends of Florrie’s bob. From their vantage point, it was easy to see the tide was halfway out, lapping around the legs of the pier and the foot of Thorncliffe. The sound of the waves was never far away, even high up on the top prom. The recent weather forecast crossed Florrie’s mind. She’d been watching it closely as the wedding drew closer, and her heart had sunk when she saw storms were predicted for later in the week.
‘I know it’s not great that my father’s been diagnosed with a heart problem, but it seems to have made him look at life differently,’ Ed said, pulling her out of her thoughts. ‘Two years ago, we’d never have been able to have a civilised conversation like that; he’d have been ready to explode on me as soon as I said something he didn’t like, no matter howsmall it was.’
‘Without sounding awful, at least some good’s come out of it.’ Florrie glanced up at Ed to see him looking thoughtful.
‘Doesn’t sound awful, s’just a shame it hasn’t rubbed off onto my mother.’
‘Right then, all you need to do is download the app and set up an account.’ Bear had popped into the bookshop later that morning. He’d just come from Samphire Cottage where he’d installed the new doorbell. ‘The instructions are pretty straightforward, you can select if you want to get alerts if anyone comes to your door, you can even communicate with them if you want to.’
‘Thanks, Bear, that’s great,’ said Ed.
‘Yeah, thanks for getting everything sorted so quickly.’ Florrie selected the app and waited for it to download to her phone. She wasn’t sure she’d need to communicate with anyone, but it would be interesting to see who turned up unexpectedly at their house. Dawn sprang to mind.
‘Oh, and you can also play footage from earlier, check if you missed any callers,’ Bear added. ‘You’d be surprised what it can show up. I know some folk like it when they see wildlife having a wander round their garden during the night.’
‘Thanks again, Bear, let us know how much we owe you and we’ll settle up straight away.’
‘Aye, no worries.’ He smiled. ‘Right, I’d best be off, I’ve got a load of fencing to treat with wood stain over at the Millers. I want to get it finished before the bad weather sets in.’ With a cheery goodbye he headed out of the shop.
‘It’s a shame it’s come to this because of my mother, but I do think these doorbells are a good idea security-wise. Mind, let’s hope we never have to use it for that reason.’
THIRTY-THREE
WEDNESDAY 22ND APRIL
‘No way!’ Ed said as he was sitting at the kitchen table, checking the doorbell app on his phone. They hadn’t been back from the bookshop long and Gerty was having a noisy drink from her water bowl.
