The silence was so deafening after half an hour that Carrie turned on the radio behind the counter to the local radio station.
She’d suspected that her aunt’s shop wouldn’t be exactly heaving, but was this usual?
Finally, at five minutes to ten, heralded by the ding of the bell, the door of the shop opened. Carrie saw Poppy jump to attention, ready to help their first customer with whatever they needed.
A pretty young woman with dark hair piled up on her head in a bun apparently held together with a pencil came over to the till with a shy smile on her face. Her brown eyes were huge behind her glasses. She was easily under five foot tall and wore a floral cotton dress with a pale pink cardigan on top and plimsolls on her feet.
“Hello,” said Carrie, brightly. “How may I help you?”
“Hi, you must be Carrie,” replied the woman in a quiet voice with a light Welsh accent. “I’m Seren. I work here part-time. Mary asked me to come in for a few hours this morning to show you the ropes.”
“Oh, brilliant,” said Carrie, relief flooding through her as she realised she really wasn’t being left to figure out the scary till all by herself.
“You know the shop doesn’t open until ten, right?” Seren asked.
“No, I didn’t!” Carrie laughed. “I’ve been standing here for almost an hour wondering why there were no customers.”
“It’s usually slow to start anyway,” said Seren, smiling shyly. “Why don’t I make us both a hot drink and I can talk you through things? Tea or coffee?”
“That sounds brilliant,” said Carrie, gratefully. “A tea would be lovely, thanks. White, no sugar, please.”
Seren went into the kitchen to make the drinks and the shop bell jingled once again. Another woman maybe a few years younger than Carrie entered, carrying a paper bag. She had light brown, shoulder-length hair and wore an apron withThe First Sipwritten on it over jeans and a stripy top.
“Carrie, right?” she said, coming over to the counter. “I’m Lucy. I run the coffee shop next door. I just wanted to pop in to welcome you with some freshly baked pains au chocolat.” She handed over the paper bag with a smile. It smelled amazing. Poppy was over in a shot.
“That’s so kind,” said Carrie. “Yes, I’m Carrie, and this is my daughter, Poppy. It’s lovely to meet you.”
“And you. Please, just pop next door if there’s anything I can help with.”
“Thank you.”
“I hope we get the chance to have a proper chat soon,” Lucy said. “Unfortunately I’ve got to get back to the shop now. I’m training up a new barista, and I’ve left her in charge.”
“Thanks again,” Carrie said.
“No worries,” called out Lucy, opening the shop door. A fat tortoiseshell cat sauntered in as Lucy was leaving. She held the door for it and seemed to think its entrance was perfectly normal.
The cat glared at Carrie as if offended by her presence in her domain and stalked across the shop floor. She jumped up on to one of the armchairs, turned around, arranged herself perfectly and lay down. She closed her eyes, presumably to block out the annoyance that was Carrie and Poppy.
Seren came back out from the kitchen carrying two steaming mugs.
“Thank you so much,” said Carrie. “This is my daughter, Poppy, by the way. She’s basically going to be in charge here.”
Seren laughed. “It’s lovely to meet you, Poppy.”
It was Poppy’s turn to smile shyly.
“Lucy just popped in from next door to introduce herself and brought us some pastries.” Carrie opened the bag to show Seren.
“Oh lovely,” said Seren. “Lucy’s the best, and she makes the most amazing treats.”
“Can we eat them now?” asked Poppy, hopefully.
“Of course,” Carrie replied. “Would you grab us some plates from the kitchen, Pumpkin?”
“Sure!”
“They should be in the cupboard under the toaster,” Seren called out as Poppy headed to the kitchen.
