two should get to work on the plans for the new shop right away,’ Aunt Nan said. ‘Because if you’re going to do it, then there’s no time like the present, and it’ll keep you both out of mischief.’
Working out the plans for the shop kept Aunt Nan amused too.
Florrie’s daughter, Jenny, the retired nurse, continued to help Nan to wash and dress in the mornings, before she went downstairs to sit in her big shabby, comfortable chair in the kitchen, by the stove in its inglenook fireplace.
Here she received a steady stream of visitors, including the vicar, Florrie, her friends from the Women’s Institute and even Felix Hemming from Marked Pages, who brought her a gift of one of the sweet, old-fashioned romances of the type she had often bought from him in the past.
Hebe Winter took to dropping in on her way to her Elizabethan re-enactment meetings, too, an alarming sight in full Virgin Queen rig-out, right down to the wig and huge ruff. Aunt Nan said she kept coming only because she liked playing the Lady Bountiful, and was also trying to wheedle the recipe for the Meddyg out of her, but I think they both enjoyed the visits really.
I left most of the shopkeeping to Bella, so I could be with Aunt Nan, because even though I tried to convince myself differently, I could see that my time with her was limited. I baked lots of cakes and biscuits for the stream of visitors, and ate a fair amount of them myself …
One afternoon, while Florrie was with her, Bella and I began a complete stocktake in the storeroom that had been partitioned off from the shop. It was cramped and cluttered, lit by one dim bulb, which I quickly replaced with something a bit brighter.
‘I’ll pull things out and you write them down,’ suggested Bella. ‘Looking at the dust, I don’t think some of the stuff at the back has been moved for about half a century!’
Bella had to answer the shop bell once or twice, leaving me to rummage alone, and I turned up ancient treasures like plastic overshoes and old-fashioned court shoes made for fairy-sized feet.
Aunt Nan herself had tiny feet which, like people, seemed to have got bigger over the years. I might take after the small, dark Bright side of the family, but I was still several inches taller than Aunt Nan and my feet were size five.
‘She really let the stocktaking slide for a few years,’ I told Bella when she came back.
‘She’s seemed interested in the wedding shoes lately, but I think the shop was getting a bit much for her before I started working here and she just kept it open out of a sense of duty. She’s so much happier about it now that she can see that it has a future.’
‘I hoped involving her in the plans would give her a new lease of life, but … well, even I can see she’s fading day by day,’ I said sadly.
‘I know it’s upsetting, but she’s in her own home, which is what she wants,’ Bella said. ‘She’s happy enough.’
‘I just can’t bear the thought of being without her,’ I sighed. ‘I’m so glad you’re living in Sticklepond too, Bella.’
‘My course starts again tomorrow night. There’s only another couple of weeks to go and then I’ll get my certificate, though much good it will do me in the current job market! Just as well I’ve already found work.’
The course aimed to update office skills, though, as Bella pointed out, she didn’t really have any to start with, except she liked playing with computers. ‘I’ve just put a card up in the Spar window, offering to do anything at home like typing or spreadsheets or inputting data, so maybe I’ll be able to earn a little extra money.’
‘I’m sorry we can’t give you more – or not yet, anyway,’ I said guiltily, because she wasn’t getting much above than the minimum wage.
‘It’s all right. The shop’s barely been ticking over and the short opening hours suit me, so I can spend lots of time with Tia. I’m not going to have any more children so I’d like to enjoy her childhood with her.’
‘At least you got to have one child, which is more than I managed,’ I said sadly.
‘You’re not that old yet – you could still find someone else.’
‘What, and then have one of the wicked sisters come and snatch him away before I could get him to the altar? I don’t think so!’
‘I don’t suppose Rae would ever dare to show her nose up here, would she?’
‘Probably not, but Marcia’s in Middlemoss, don’t forget. Still, I don’t expect our paths will cross, and if Lars tries to persuade me into one of his happy family gatherings next time he’s over here, I’ll be sure and have a good excuse ready!’
‘What’s happening with Justin? Is he still trying to ring you?’
Justin had spent the first few days trying my mobile and Aunt Nan’s phone, but I’d either ignored him or put the phone down on him each time.
‘No, he’s given that up, but he’s still texting and emailing me, and I wish he’d stop. It only just seems to have dawned on him that I’ve left him for good and he’s finding it hard to accept that I won’t eventually forgive him and go back. I don’t think Mummy Dearest is having that problem, though, because when Timmy collected my desk and portfolios, he said she was in residence and the whole flat looked so sterile you could eat your dinner off the floor. She watched him the whole time, too, as if he might load the Conran sofa into the van, when she wasn’t looking.’
‘Justin must still miss you, if he’s constantly trying to persuade you to take him back,’ Bella said. ‘But you couldn’t forgive him for something like that, could you?’
‘No, of course not! I don’t know why he thinks he can talk his way out of it, but all his attempts to contact me just upset me even more. That’s it – I’ve given up on love.’
‘Me too,’ Bella agreed. ‘Robert might have betrayed me in a different way by running up huge gambling debts, but I’ve had enough. He seemed so solid and dependable that I trusted him totally, but I’ve learned my lesson. No, I’ll concentrate on being a mum and you can be Tia’s favourite auntie – which you already are – and we’ll turn Cinderella’s Slippers into an astounding success!’
‘I only hope you’re right,’ I said fervently.
Chapter 7: Old Valentines
Another Welsh delicacy is laver bread, which isn’t bread at all, but a sort of stewed seaweed. Mother used to say how wonderful it was fried up in a bit of bacon fat for breakfast, but when she brought some back from a trip to see her relatives – well, it was such a disappointment! Father said it looked like seagull droppings, and to be honest it tasted the way it looked. Not that I’ve ever tasted seagull droppings, of course, dear,that goes without saying …
Middlemoss Living Archive
Recordings: Nancy Bright.
Justin’s emails and texts had started out all apologetic, persuasive and loving, upsetting me and making me miss him … or the man I’d once thought he was.
But then his missives slowly turned sulky and indignant, which was
