Zach sat in one of the chairs. ‘Good view. Did my father sign all this off?’ He waved his hand at the chairs, the pretty blinds, the general décor.
‘Yes. I also had to decorate it all myself,’ she told him.
Zach let out a laugh. ‘I’ve heard that’s not true. You got one of the local men involved. I’m not sure that was sanctioned.’
Sanctioned? What?Effie stared at him in disbelief.
‘Why is everything yellow when the company colours are blue?’
‘Yellow looked fresh for the spring opening. It’s been a hit on social media. Your dad liked it.’
‘So, you’ve been spending all your time on social media rather than working?’
‘No, but it is important to drum up business, especially in a holiday destination. The shop has been a success. Your dad congratulated me on it last week. Turns out his idea to open here was a good one. I’m pleased with what I’ve done.’ Effie pulled herself up proudly.
Zach stood up and stalked around the shop, running his disapproving eyes over the shelves. ‘What’s this? Book matchmaking?’ He pointed to the poster on the wall.
‘It’s my new idea, like a gift box for readers. They tell us their favourite authors and we match them with new books,’ she explained, ‘I’ve had several enquiries already.’ She didn’t tell Zach that she had one box all ready to go for Sue’s daughter, Mattie’s, birthday. It had been such a pleasure to choose new books to inspire the teen.
‘Did Dad say this was allowed?’
‘Er, I don’t know, I didn’t ask. He seemed happy for me to do as I wish.’
‘Do as you wish? Effie, this is not your shop and you’re clearly treating it like it is. I don’t see how Dad can be happy with you deviating from the business plan so much. Yellow door? That has to go, so do those chairs, we don’t want people sitting here just to put their photos online. We want them buying things. It’s a business not a hobby.’
Effie’s jaw hung open in outrage. She spluttered back some expletives before gathering her wits enough to say, ‘The business is doing well. People come because it looks nice and then they buy books. You can check the figures.’
‘I have,’ he said ominously before crossing over to Effie. ‘Look, I came down here as a favour to Dad while he is away to check what you are up to. I was worried you were taking the piss and taking advantage of his good nature. Then I find out that is exactly what is happening. You’re running this shop like it’s your own rather than his or mine.’
‘What?!’
‘I’ve heard all about you joining in with the locals, getting them to do your work for you. You’re more concerned about yourself than the shop. I’m really not happy and I’m sure if Dad knew what was really going on, he’d agree with me.’
‘What are you talking about? Clive is happy,’ Effie insisted.
‘But I’m not. You’re forgetting that you’re just an employee, this business will be mine one day so it’s in my interest to protect it. That’s why you need to go back to the main shop and I’ll be taking over running this one.’
‘Sorry, what?’
‘Pack up, you’re leaving, I’ll call a mate with a van, he can take you and your stuff home.’
‘But I’ve relocated my entire life here to open the shop. I’ve worked hard.’
Zach shrugged. ‘I don’t care. Dad just asked you to set it up, it’s your fault that you went beyond that remit. He never said it’d be permanent, did he?’
Cold ran down Effie’s back. Zach was right. Clive had only asked her to get the shop up and running, there’d been some vagueness between them about the permanence. ‘I just assumed,’ she stuttered.
‘Well, you assumed wrong. Thanks for what you have done, but I’m here to put everything right.’ Zach pulled his phone out of his pocket and pressed a number. ‘Yeah, Dave, can you get that van down here in a couple of hours? Great, cheers, see you soon.’ He ended the call and fixed Effie with a cruel look.
‘Get packing.’
Chapter Forty
‘Come on, van’s here, we haven’t got all day,’ Zach hollered up the stairs.
Effie bit her lip to stop the tears from bubbling over as she glanced around the little flat she’d turned into a cosy home. Her belongings were now stuffed into cases and hurriedly shoved into boxes. Her heart lurched to think she wouldn’t be waking up to the view of the bay, or skipping over the sand for her morning swim and hot chocolate at Lola’s.
Zach appeared in the doorway and gave the flat a once-over. It looked very much as if he was eyeing it up. Effie narrowed her eyes, he had his own place already, what could he want with it?
