Anne Douglas (12 page)

‘What would you like us to do, Mrs May?’ asked Shona.

‘Do? What can we do? Close the shop. Put a notice on the door – “Closed, owing to illness”.’ Mrs May put a hand to her brow. ‘I’ll have to leave it to you. I must go.’

‘What about Mrs Lockyer?’ asked Shona. ‘Shall I telephone her?’

‘Mrs Lockyer? Oh, God, I don’t know. Yes, yes, ring her. Tell her what’s happened. She’ll understand.’

‘Mrs May, are you there?’ came Dr Dell’s voice. ‘I’m ready to follow the ambulance now.’

‘Just do as you think best – I must go!’ Mrs May cried and ran wildly from the shop.

‘Excuse me,’ said the lady customer quietly after a moment or two, ‘but I couldn’t help overhearing. If you’re closing the shop, would you like me to leave?’

Shona and Brigid exchanged glances. ‘We’re no’ sure,’ Shona said at last.

‘Oh, but Mr May’s ill, isn’t he? Such a lovely man, and does such beautiful arrangements!’ The customer gave a sympathetic sigh. ‘Could I perhaps just take my peonies while I’m here?’

‘Certainly,’ said Brigid, rapidly taking on the transaction, choosing the flowers, wrapping them and ringing up the cost on the till while Isla held back, watching, and Shona stood in troubled thought. As soon as the customer had departed, saying she did so hope Mr May would be better soon, Brigid closed the door and looked at Shona.

‘Shall I lock it, then? Shall I write the notice?’

‘I don’t know,’ Shona answered slowly. ‘I’m trying to think what Mr May would have wanted us to do.’

‘Well, we know what Mrs May wanted.’ Brigid shook her head. ‘But did you ever see such a change in anyone? I thought she’d be the sort to keep calm in a crisis but she seemed to go to pieces, eh?’

‘She’s very close to Mr May. They’ve always been together.’

‘But then to give up on the shop like she did – it’s so out of character.’

‘I know. That’s why I’m wondering if we shouldn’t think what’s right to do. What Mr May would want us to do, I mean.’

‘Keep the shop open and fix Mrs Lockyer’s flowers?’ Brigid whistled. ‘Can we, do you think?’

‘We can try. After all, if we don’t do anything, we’ll only be waiting for news and worrying. And Dan will be around with the van to pick the order up around two, anyway. If we shut up shop he won’t know what’s going on.’

‘You’re right. Let’s get started, then. You do your table arrangement and I’ll try to do Mr May’s hall piece. Oh, my fingers are trembling already!’

‘You’re not going to leave me in the shop on my own?’ Isla asked in alarm. ‘I’ll never be able to manage!’

‘We can hear the shop bell from here; one of us will come if there’s a customer,’ Shona told her. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.’

‘Hope we are too,’ murmured Brigid.

Silence descended over the workroom as the two young women settled to their tasks, breathing hard in their concentration as they selected their flowers, stripped leaves and shaped and cut, positioned them, stepped back to check, came forward and sighed. Did their work look all right? Would it do?

‘Damn!’ cried Brigid. ‘There’s the bell!’

‘I’ll go,’ said Shona. ‘I’ve nearly finished. What do you think of these roses? They’re still in bud but they’ll be open tomorrow, and then I’ve got the cream amaryllis.’

‘Lovely,’ said Brigid, frowning over her own tall, dark red arrangement of June flowering gladioli. ‘But you’d better go if you’re going, before Isla has a nervous breakdown.’

Isla, in fact, was already at the workroom door.

‘There’s a gentleman in the shop,’ she gasped. ‘He says he has an appointment.’

‘An appointment?’ Shona stared. ‘With Mrs May?’

‘Yes, will you see him?’

‘On my way,’ said Shona, taking off her overall.

The man waiting in the front shop was large. A large, dominant figure Shona could see at a glance as she approached him, while in his presence, young Isla seemed almost to fade away. Tall and heavy-shouldered, with a broad, strong face made attractive by dimples as he smiled, he wore a lightweight summer suit and a grey trilby hat which he removed to reveal sandy hair. His eyes were green and narrow, his gaze on Shona keen.

‘Fraser Kyle,’ he declared, putting out a hand – large, of course. ‘Here to see Mrs May at twelve o’clock.’

‘I’m Shona Murray, one of her assistants,’ Shona told him, shaking the great hand. ‘I’m afraid Mrs May isn’t here. Mr May was taken ill this morning and she’s with him at the nursing home.’

‘What, Hugh’s ill? I’m sorry to hear that.’ Mr Kyle shook his head in concern. ‘He’s always seemed so well.’

‘I know. Is there anything I can do?’

He smiled. ‘You don’t know who I am, do you? I’ve taken over the nurseries – MacVicar’s market garden.’

‘Oh, I’m sorry.’ Shona went pink. ‘I remember now. Mrs May said some time ago that Mr MacVicar was retiring and someone new had bought the business. But we hardly ever go to the nurseries – Mr and Mrs May do all the buying.’

‘Shame,’ Fraser Kyle said pleasantly. ‘You’d be very welcome if you ever came over. But, look, I’m really sorry about poor Hugh – if you see Mrs May, please tell her that for me, will you? And say I’ll ring her later to find out how he is.’

‘I’ll give her the message as soon as I see her.’

‘Fine. Thanks very much.’ Touching the hat he had replaced, the large man smiled at Shona. ‘Try to come over some time to see my stock.’ He waved a hand around the shop. ‘Before it arrives here, eh?’

‘That’d be lovely,’ Shona answered, meaning it, and walked with him to the door, which suddenly opened to admit two well-dressed women, sisters well known to Maybel’s.

‘Customers,’ Fraser Kyle murmured. ‘Never short of them here, eh? Well, good day, Miss Murray. It was very nice to meet you. I hope we’ll meet again.’

‘I hope so too.’ As his eyes met hers Shona looked away, after which he opened the door and was gone. For a moment, she waited, her hand on the door latch, then moved to Isla who was anxiously watching the sisters.

‘Ask if you can help,’ Shona whispered.

‘They’re just looking at the carnations.’

‘Well, see if it’s carnations they want.’

Sighing a little, Shona guided Isla through the purchase of the sisters’ choice of mixed carnations and sweet peas – ‘something for the drawing room, dear’ – helping her to wrap and tie, ring up the cost at the till, find change and see the smiling ladies out.

‘Now that wasn’t so bad, was it?’ she asked, longing to return to the workroom. ‘You’re surely ready to do a sale on your own now, eh?’

‘I suppose so,’ Isla agreed, yet still called after Shona, ‘but if you hear the bell, you’ll come, won’t you?’

‘Yes, yes, don’t worry.’ As she returned to the workroom, however, Shona was looking worried herself. ‘I don’t know, Brigid, I’m wondering if Isla’s ever going to get the hang of this job. She just gives me the impression that she can’t wait for closing time.’

‘Never mind Isla,’ Brigid replied, still studying her hall arrangement and tweaking flowers into place. ‘What about this fellow who wanted to see Mrs May? What was he like?’

After a moment’s thought, Shona answered simply, ‘Big.’

‘Big?’ Brigid laughed. ‘Not much of a description.’

‘Well, it sums him up. He’s big enough to make sure he gets his own way, I should think. His name’s Fraser Kyle. He’s taken over MacVicar’s.’

‘Oh?’ Brigid’s eyes gleamed with interest. ‘Fancy! I knew someone had bought the nurseries some time ago but never heard who it was. Looks like it’d be something about the plants, then, that he wants to see Mrs May. You told him what had happened?’

‘Yes, he seemed quite upset. Said he’d ring her later.’ Shona sank on to a stool at the worktable. ‘We haven’t heard anything yet, have we? I wonder how Mr May’s getting on?’

‘No news is good news, they say.’ Brigid stood up. ‘Tell you what, though, I think we should have a quick sandwich for lunch and then do that drawing room arrangement for Mrs Lockyer. Before we know it, the van’ll be here, so we’d better crack on.’

‘It shouldn’t take too long. Mr May had the white flowers ready – lilies and phlox and so on. I’ve been thinking about it.’

Over her sandwich, however, Shona was surprised to find herself thinking not of the white flowers waiting for her but of Fraser Kyle and why he might have wanted to see Mrs May. He wasn’t the sort to waste his time; it must have been something important that had brought him into Edinburgh. She couldn’t explain why, but pondering on this made her feel very slightly uneasy.

On the other hand, she knew she was also remembering the look she’d seen in Fraser Kyle’s green eyes when they’d rested on her. He had been attracted, she could tell, as women usually could, which was of no interest, really, as she was not attracted to him and was not likely to see him again. ‘Try to come over some time,’ he’d told her, but it was not possible for her to organize a visit to his market garden – that was up to Mrs May. And who knew what Mrs May would be doing in the future?

Even by the time Dan Hardie, the delivery van driver, arrived at two o’clock, there’d still been no news on Mr May’s condition. A lean-faced man with a short army-style haircut, the driver had had no morning deliveries and had not heard the worrying news until Brigid told him, at which he looked deeply distressed.

‘Och, what a thing, eh? Such a grand boss, and always looked that well, I canna believe he’s been took ill. And you’ve heard nothing?’

‘Not so far, but we’ll just have to get on. Shona, I’ll go with Dan, eh? And explain why we’ve done Mr May’s flowers?’

‘Might be best,’ said Shona. ‘I’ll look after things here.’

‘Looks like you lassies have done a grand job,’ Dan commented as he loaded the arrangements into his van. ‘Mrs May’ll be that grateful.’

‘Don’t know about that,’ said Brigid. ‘She was all for closing the shop today.’

‘Closing the shop?’ Dan shook his head. ‘Now that shows how she was feeling, eh? She’d never be one to close the shop, even if there were bombs dropping on George Street!’

‘Mr May’s illness is worse than bombs to her,’ Shona murmured. ‘She’s taken it very hard.’

‘Well, let’s just hope he’s OK, eh?’

When Dan and Brigid had driven away Shona felt suddenly exhausted, as though the day’s events had taken their toll. She would have given a great deal to sit down with a cup of tea, but the shop was busy and it wasn’t until Brigid returned, reporting on Mrs Lockyer’s shock over Mr May’s illness, that there was a lull and they had time for a break. But it didn’t last long, and they were just about to return to the front shop when the staffroom door opened and Mrs May swept in, looking, incredibly, almost her old self.

‘Oh, girls!’ she cried, her eyes alight. ‘The news is good! Hugh hasn’t had a heart attack and his blood pressure is being treated. They say he’s stable, that he should be all right, but he will have to take great care. Oh, I’m so relieved, I can’t tell you!’

Heavens, no wonder she was looking better! She’d powdered her nose and put on some lipstick, but it was clear to both Shona and Brigid that it was the good news about Hugh that had transformed her back into the woman they knew. And, of course, they felt better themselves, feeling a great weight lifting from their shoulders as Mrs May came in and sank into a chair.

‘That’s grand news!’ Brigid cried. ‘Really grand!’

‘Oh, it is!’ Shona chimed in. ‘We’ve been thinking about Mr May all day.’

‘I knew you would be.’ Mrs May had taken off her hat and was putting back her dark hair from her brow. ‘But what’s been happening here, then? I thought you were going to close the shop?’

The girls exchanged glances.

‘We thought, maybe, we could keep it going,’ Shona answered. ‘And maybe do the order for Mrs Lockyer, seeing as the van was coming anyway.’

‘You did the flowers for Mrs Lockyer?’ Mrs May’s eyes widened. ‘Why, that’s wonderful! Oh, I’m so glad. It’s been on Hugh’s mind; he’s been terribly upset, thinking he’d let her down, and I’m sure it was making him worse. But I’m going back to spend the night at the nursing home – I just came home to pack a few things – and if he’s awake, I’ll tell him there’s no need to worry. I can’t thank you girls enough.’

‘Can we make you some tea?’ Shona asked, but Mrs May was rising and shaking her head.

‘I’m going upstairs now; Miss Bonar will make me a cup. Oh, dear, I should be exhausted but I’m so happy, I feel I could keep going for ever!’

‘By the way, Mr Kyle from the nurseries called,’ Shona told her. ‘He said he had an appointment, but I told him what had happened.’

‘Fraser Kyle?’ Mrs May frowned. ‘I remember now, he did ask to see me but didn’t say why. Did he tell you?’

‘No, just said he was very sorry to hear about Mr May and he’d phone you later.’

‘Oh, well, I don’t suppose it’s very important. He’s a good businessman, though. There’ve been a number of improvements since he took over from Mr MacVicar.’ Mrs May put on her hat again and smiled. ‘Can’t think about that now. Look, you girls have done a grand job here – do you think you can keep going with things tomorrow? I’m not sure when I’ll be back.’

‘We can manage,’ Shona said firmly. ‘Don’t worry about it.’

‘And you’ve got young Isla to help out, too. How’s she shaping up?’

‘Fine.’ Shona glanced at Brigid. ‘A lot to learn, of course.’

‘Everything,’ added Brigid.

‘Well, you’ll look after her, won’t you? Girls, I’ll see you when I can, but thank you again for all you’ve done. So much appreciated!’

When Mrs May had left them, Shona and Brigid gave long relaxed sighs.

‘Thank God, Mr May’s OK,’ said Brigid.

‘Amen to that,’ murmured Shona. ‘I wonder when he’ll be back?’

‘If he comes back at all.’

They were silent for a moment, then Shona said there was no point in discussing it, they’d better just get back to the shop.

‘Aye, rescue Isla, I suppose,’ said Brigid.

It had been such a relief to hear about Mr May, to feel their anxiety rise and float away, that it was only when closing time came and Shona and Brigid could lock the door and end their long, long day that exhaustion again set in.

‘I don’t know about Mrs May, saying she feels she could go on for ever,’ Brigid sighed, ‘but I feel if I don’t get home soon, I’ll just drop where I stand.’