‘I know. I just think I should at least try.’
‘Who knows, perhaps your secret benefactor will turn up at the opening night, and you’ll find out who he or she is.’
Bridie smiled. The thought had crossed her mind.
‘Well, if anyone can pull it off, it’s you, Bridie. You’ve got so much experience in theatre.’
‘Yeah – acting on the stage. I don’t know much about running a theatre and staging a play. Where will I find all the actors, to start with?’ Her thoughts turned to Julian. He was a producer. He knew how to go about staging a play. And he was the last person she’d ask.
‘Why don’t you cross that bridge when you come to it?’ Hannah said.
Bridie turned the keys over in her hand. ‘I don’t know where to start.’
Hannah looked at the keys. ‘How about visiting the theatre after work? I bet the place could do with a sort out and a good spring clean.’
Bridie had a feeling it could do with a lot more than a spring clean. She dreaded to think what the state of it was inside. She said as much to Hannah.
‘At least take a look. Get the measure of what we’re up against.’
‘We?’
‘I’d like to pop along with you, if you don’t mind.’
‘I’m going to text Oliver. He wanted to know how the meeting went with the solicitor. I’ll expect he’ll want to come too.’
‘So, I can come?’
‘Of course, Hannah. The more the merrier.’
After work, Bridie left Barney upstairs sleeping in his crate with the radio on low. She wouldn’t be long.
She popped on her coat, a scarf and a woolly bobble hat, and stepped outside into the bracing cold January air. She turned around and locked the shop door, then smiled at Maisie, who was standing beside her. Maisie loved going to the art and craft shop after school.
Hannah was standing with Maisie too. ‘I thought you wanted to help me in the bridal shop before we go home?’ she said to her daughter, smiling knowingly. Maisie didn’t spend her time helping out in either shop now. She was always upstairs in Bridie’s flat, playing with Barney, bringing back fond memoriesof when Marlowe was a pup. She’d even asked Hannah, ‘Can we have another puppy?’ Hannah had replied, ‘Absolutely not!’
Bridie had told Maisie that she could visit Barney whenever she liked, which had led to regular visits after school. It worked surprisingly well; Barney and Maisie were occupied while Hannah worked on setting up her bridal shop and Bridie looked after the art and craft shop until closing time, when Maisie and Hannah went home for tea.
Hannah and Maisie stood outside the art and craft shop while Bridie checked she’d locked the door.
Hannah said, ‘Where’s Barney?’
‘He’s upstairs in his crate.’
‘Can’t he come too?’ Maisie asked. ‘He’s going to be so lonely up there all on his own. Pleeeease, Mummy.’
‘No, sweetheart,’ Hannah replied. ‘We don’t know what state the theatre is in.’
Bridie had thought of the potential hazards – debris, broken chairs, and a lot else besides. The last thing she needed was an impromptu visit to see Emily – Joss’s fiancée – who was a vet.
‘Then again,’ said Hannah. ‘We have no idea how long we’ll be.’
They all looked up at the sound of a puppy dog howl coming from the flat upstairs.
Maisie said, ‘See? He’s lonely already.’
Bridie sighed. ‘What am I going to do with him?’
At that moment, Henry’s carers walked into the yard, heading for the bookshop.
