‘Alex.’
‘OK, OK, I’m sorry. If he makes you happy then go for it. But you tell him if he hurts you, he’ll have me to answer to.’
Immy sighed. ‘I’ll be sure to pass that on. Are you having a nice holiday?’
‘Yes, it’s been lovely, very relaxing. Is there anything you need help with in regards to the shop?’
‘Not right now, I’m not sure when we can even get back in there to start cleaning up.’
‘Well, we’ll be back on Wednesday. We’ll come over and see you then.’
‘OK.’
There was an awkward silence then and Immy hated it. She didn’t want to be cross with her sister.
‘I love you,’ Alex said, quietly.
Immy smiled. ‘I know, I love you too. I’ll see you Wednesday.’
They said their goodbyes and Immy hung up. She let out a sigh and got up to go into the kitchen. Why did it feel like everyone was against them?
Xander looked up from the big mixing bowl as she walked in. Etta was concentrating on measuring out the ingredients. He wrapped an arm round Immy and kissed her forehead.
‘How did it go?’ Xander said quietly.
‘Not well, she doesn’t approve.’
‘Of the baby?’
‘Of you.’
‘Oh well, I’m used to that. She’s just being protective, I understand that. And we didn’t exactly have the best start to our relationship. That was my fault. I’ll just have to work extra hard to prove that I’m worth the effort.’
She leaned up to kiss him. ‘I already think that. And I don’t need anyone else’s approval. She’ll come around when she sees how happy I am.’
‘Fairy cakes make me happy,’ Etta said.
Immy laughed. ‘They make me happy too.’
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Immy stood nervously outside her shop, Monday morning. Belinda Skye had phoned at quarter past nine that morning to say she had spoken to Coral, the structural engineer, as a matter of urgency and she’d agreed to come and survey the shop and the rest of the building at ten that morning. Immy wasn’t sure what Belinda had done to get her there so quickly, or whether it was just Belinda’s intimidating authority, but Immy was very grateful for it.
Everything hinged on this report being positive. Yes, she wanted to be able to go back home but if the building was deemed unsafe it would take months to get it right and a whole lot of money too. Then she would have to go through the insurance company and they could easily decide not to pay for some petty reason. She had bills to pay, a business to run, she couldn’t do any of that without the sweet shop. And what about the Easter egg hunt? That had to go ahead, not just forbringing tourists to the town or because the children were so excited for it but because the money raised for charity was important to her.
She turned round and though Xander was busily working away in his shop with his little assistant, she could see he kept looking out the window towards her to see if she was OK.
She turned back. Coral, the engineer, had been in there for an hour already. Immy didn’t know if the length of time it was taking her was indicative of something bad or whether Coral was just being really thorough.
Just then Beth from the bath bomb shop next to Xander’s came over. Immy hadn’t seen her since Lizzie had shown her the photos Beth had taken of Immy and Xander the night of the fire. She’d always been very friendly with Beth before now so Immy didn’t really want it to be weird between them. Randomly she was carrying a large glass jar.
‘Hello Immy.’ Beth approached her like you might a wild animal.
‘Hi.’
‘I, umm… I just wanted to apologise about that whole nasty photo business. It absolutely wasn’t my intention to upset you and there was absolutely nothing malicious on my part in sharing those photos. But I can completely understand how it felt to see photos of you crying being shared round as entertainment. As soon as Lizzie explained I deleted the photos and, I want you to know, she was the only one I sent it to. It was only because we had been talking about you and Xander at Knit ’n’ Natter on Friday and how excited we were to see you two talking so cosily in his shop on Friday morning, that when I saw you hugging on Friday night I just got carried away. It was so tactless and insensitive of me and I’m so very sorry.’
Immy couldn’t help smiling slightly. ‘Wow, that was a heartfelt apology. And you’re forgiven.’
