Page 28 of Yule Party on Sunflower Street

Tara looked around. ‘I can just imagine what it could be like with a spring theme in here. All Easter eggs and bunnies, spring flowers and pastel shades.’

‘What would you do with it if you were renting it long term?’ he asked before he could stop himself.

‘I’d change it with the seasons and stock things from local producers and creatives. Gifts, homeware, artwork, greetings cards and seasonal fare. And perhaps hold workshops for different activities like painting, creative writing and… bookbinding.’

‘Bookbinding?’ he asked.

‘Yes. It’s quite fashionable these days. Oh… I would do all sorts of different things,’ she said with a faraway look in her eyes, hands clasped to her chest. ‘Christmas would still be the biggest event of the calendar, of course.’

‘Of course,’ he said, smiling inwardly because Tara had already made it clear that she loved Christmas.

He could picture the shop if she was here full-time, with more ridiculously lavish displays and stock. It would smell of vanilla candles and zesty reed diffusers. Everything would be pretty, colourful and magazine-cover perfect. She’d probably run an Instagram account for it to notify people about the latest delightful stock and create reels to attract followers. It would be very… Tara.

A slow-blooming warmth settled in his chest as if he’d settled in front of a log fire with a cup of cocoa.

‘You’d need to make the numbers work,’ he said, trying to snap himself back to reality.

Her smile faded and she seemed to step back into herself. ‘And there speaks the hard-headed businessman.’

‘Or the man who doesn’t want his tenant to be bankrupt by Easter.’

Tara turned the pad back to face her. ‘It doesn’t matter anyway because this is just temporary.’

‘Yes,’ he said, a sinking feeling in his gut. ‘Anyway, let me go through your party plans with you and see who we can contact to check if it’s doable in two weeks.’

Tara’s smile returned and relief washed over him. Seeing her disappointment had hit him harder than he’d care to admit.

Tara turned the notepad back to him and he glanced at it then set his phone on the counter. He scrolled through his contacts list and started jotting numbers down on the pad next to each point of her plan.

Before he knew it, an hour had passed and they’d created a more cohesive plan, with numbers of people to contact and some more ideas about what would work for the proposed event. Tara had continued to serve customers as they came into the shop and Seth had stood next to her, waiting until she was free again.

When Sadie had returned from speaking to her husband, she’d told them to take a break, so they’d gone to sit in the kitchen area where they’d continued their planning.

Eventually, Seth realised he should probably get on with his day, so Tara walked him to the front door.

‘Thank you, Seth. You have no idea how much your help means.’

‘It was my pleasure. I really hope we can make this work for you and Sadie. I also think it will be a positive thing for the village,’ he said.

‘I hope so too.’ Tara stood in the doorway as he walked back to his van.

As he drove away, he found himself thinking that he’d come to the shop today to work out what to do with it after Christmas. Instead, he’d spent the best part of the morning helping Tara to make the most of the time she had left in the village.

And he had enjoyed every moment of it.

14

TARA

The next day, Tara left Sadie in the shop while she went to speak to some of the local shop owners about the Yule Party. She stopped at a few places then found herself at Dragonfly Dreams. Outside the shop, the hanging sign swayed in the breeze, the bright blue dragonfly catching the morning light. Tara went inside, keen to escape the biting chill of the wind as well as to see what the interior was like.

Dark blue walls made the shop feel cosy and the gold painted woodwork glowed in the light from the hanging lanterns on the walls. The smell of cinnamon and pine greeted her along with that of beeswax furniture polish and a faint hint of incense. Fairy lights draped around the shop twinkled and Tara thought it was the closest thing to a fairy bower she’d ever seen. In fact, she wouldn’t have been surprised if Queen Titania had stepped out from behind the counter and asked Tara if she’d seen King Oberon.

She walked around, taking in the red leather sofa at the far end along with the heavy velvet curtains hanging from the changing room doorways. Music drifted through the air, an instrumental version of popular carols, and it added to the magical atmosphere.

Tara browsed the racks and the shelves, admiring the vintage goods on offer including buttery soft leather jackets and boots, dresses covered with glitter and sequins, cashmere jumpers and silk scarves. There were racks of sunglasses and hats, fascinators and jewellery. A customer could find a full outfit here for a variety of occasions.

Tara jumped when a woman popped up behind the counter. She must have been putting something away underneath it or sitting on the floor because Tara hadn’t seen her when she’d come inside.