“We appear to have a visitor.” Carrie nodded to the sleeping cat in the corner.
“Oh, that’s Tabitha,” Seren explained. “She belongs next door, at the bookbinders, but spends most of her time here where she gets to sleep in more comfortable surroundings.”
“I was guessing she had a home. She doesn’t exactly look malnourished.”
Seren grinned. “No, I swear she gets fatter every time I see her.”
Poppy returned with the plates. The warm, flaky pains au chocolat really were delicious. They were just finishing them when the bell above the shop door rang and the first customers of the day arrived. Tabitha opened one eye lazily to check if they were worthy of her notice but seemed to decide they weren’t and closed it again.
* * *
A couple of hours later and Carrie felt she was getting the hang of the till. There had been a steady stream of customers, though at least half were friends of her aunt’s coming to say hello. She’d even managed to take orders for a couple of books.
Poppy had moved closer and closer to Tabitha as the morning went on. The little girl was now sitting with her back against the chair that the cat was still asleep on. Her daughter seemed happy, but Carrie was worried about her getting bored later in the day. She’d promised they could go down to the beach as soon as the shop closed, though.
Seren was staying until one, when the shop closed for an hour for lunch she’d explained. “If you run into trouble this afternoon, just give me a call. I’ll leave my number by the till.”
A few minutes before one, a woman came in wearing shorts and a bright yellow T-shirt. She was tanned and slim and looked in her early forties with blonde, sun-bleached hair. She smiled as she came over to Carrie, who was crouched down tidying up a shelf of historical romances.
“Hi, Carrie?” the woman asked.
“That’s me,” said Carrie, standing up.
“I’m Nat. I run the holiday club here. Mary got in touch with me and suggested your daughter might like to join us in the afternoons. I’ve got all the details here.” She handed Carrie a piece of paper which Carrie quickly scanned. It was so much cheaper than any holiday club in London! With what Auntie Mary was paying her, she could definitely afford for Poppy to go for at least a few sessions a week.
“Oh my goodness, she really did think of everything.” Carrie laughed. “Pumpkin? Can you come over here?”
Poppy carefully put her book down next to the cat and walked over.
“Poppy, this is Nat. She thought you might like to go to the holiday club she runs.”
“Hi, Poppy,” said Nat. “We’re going to be going to the playground and making scones this afternoon, if you’d like to come?”
“Can I, Mummy?” pleaded Poppy.
“Absolutely. Give it a try this afternoon and see what you think.”
* * *
Carrie and Poppy had some lunch together in the flat after Nat and Seren left and then Carrie walked Poppy down to the community hall which was being used as the headquarters for the holiday club. Poppy ran in happily and Carrie walked back up to the shop, enjoying a few minutes in the sun.
The afternoon passed quickly. Carrie was happy knowing that Poppy was occupied and hopefully having fun, and proud that she managed without having to call Seren for help. There were a surprising number of customers. It was the summer holidays she supposed, but still...
Carrie closed the shop at five. She’d been a bit worried about how she was going to get the cat to leave, but Tabitha seemed to realise it was time to go home and waited patiently by the door until Carrie let her out.
Carrie quickly ran up to the flat and packed a bag with some snacks, water, swimsuits and towels. She really hoped Poppy had had a good time and it would be nice for her if she made some friends for the summer.
Poppy was playing tag with some other children in the yard outside the community hall when Carrie arrived. She came running over. “How was the shop? Did you sell lots of books? Is Tabitha still there?”
“The shop was fine. I sold quite a few books and took another order. Tabitha went home when I closed up, but it sounds like she’ll be back tomorrow. But more importantly, did you have a good afternoon?”
“It was so much fun!” said Poppy, taking hold of Carrie’s hand. They began to walk down to the beach. “Nat is really cool, and so is Sam, the other leader. And I made three new friends: Jamie, Katy and Charlotte. Jamie lives on a farm with lots of sheep. I had scones which were so yummy. I had a cheese one and one with strawberry jam. Some people had cream, but it looked yucky. We weren’t allowed to use the oven because it was hot, but I helped make the mixtures. I had to rub the flour and butter together with my fingers.”
“That sounds awesome,” said Carrie. She was so pleased that Poppy didn’t have to spend all her time in the shop and had somewhere fun to go.
They reached the sand and took off their socks and shoes. Some of the holidaymakers had already left or were in the process of packing up, but the weather remained gloriously warm so plenty of people were still around.
“If we walk along for a bit, I’ll show you one of the secret beaches I know about,” Carrie said. “It’s a lovely little bay and we can paddle there. I brought our swimsuits.”
