Finally, her hand hesitated before she grabbed the bright red pencil to colour in the tractor.
With a feeling of both excitement and trepidation, she went back downstairs to show Josh.
She shuffled nervously from foot to foot as he stared down at the paper and then up at the shop around him. Then he looked down again and up once more.
Finally, he turned to her with his eyes blazing. ‘It’ll never look this good,’ he said, holding out the pad for her to take from him.
‘It can and it will,’ she told him, feeling bolder than she had ever felt in her life. ‘Give me a week or so to change things around in here. To make it different. If you hate it, then it can go back to how it was. I’ll even work out a way to get the tractor moved. But give me a little time and I’ll show you how amazing it could really look.’
A silence stretched out between them before finally, he nodded his head. ‘OK,’ he said. ‘But I’m not making any promises.’
‘Nor am I,’ she told him. ‘But let me see what I can do.’
‘It’ll take us a week to carry on sorting through all this stuff,’ he said, pointing at all the boxes of goods everywhere.
‘Just trust me,’ she found herself saying.
He smiled unexpectedly. ‘Funny, I never saw you as a confident person before now.’
She returned his smile. ‘I’m not. I don’t know where all this is coming from. Maybe it’s the fumes from the tractor.’
‘Well, be my guest,’ he said, waving his arm around the shop. ‘Lord knows, it can’t get much worse.’
‘That’s what you think,’ she said, with a wink.
At least he was smiling in response as he left to head into the back of the shop.
Amber stood alone in the centre of the shop and did a slow 360 turn on the spot. With a loud gulp, she tried to suppress her fears and doubts about her ability to make the place look good.
Could she really do this? She’d promised Josh she could, so she supposed she had better get on with it. She just wasn’t really sure, deep down, that she could, despite the faith in her own skills.
But she didn’t want to let Cathy down. Nor Grandma Tilly. Not even the memory of Todd. Most especially, she didn’t want to disappoint Josh, because she was beginning to care for him.
And that worried her even more than the sheer magnitude of overhauling the shop.
20
Josh stood by the front door and looked out, and saw that the recent sunshine had given way to more rain.
The yellow leaves that had already fallen to the ground beneath the trees were looking as sodden as the muddy riverbanks. The river was also running quite high. Yet more rain and storms were forecast over the coming weeks.
Of course, that was nothing compared to the tempest that had hurtled through Cranbridge Stores since his mum had left, he thought, turning slowly around.
He blew out a long sigh. The shop was in utter disarray. Although he knew that the piles of boxes in each corner were in some sort of order, removing the large shelves from the middle had left a mess on the floorboards.
Although, of course, the worst of it was the horror of the dirty old tractor that was now in the middle of the shop.
For the life of him, he couldn’t see Amber’s point of view regarding leaving it where it had broken down.
He could see a patch of oil that had leaked onto the floor. And there was still a smoky, metallic tang in the air. He quickly opened the front door, anxious to air the shop out, and came face to face with Stanley.
‘Good morning,’ he said, with a nod.
‘Morning,’ said Josh, wondering what on earth was good about it.
Josh watched as the smile slowly faded into something akin to shock on the elderly man’s face.
‘Good gracious!’ exclaimed Stanley, staring at the tractor with wide eyes. ‘Have you become a garage mechanic overnight?’
Josh shook his head. ‘A temporary glitch,’ he said. ‘Now, the papers have just been delivered out the back. I’ll get yours. You’re a bit earlier than usual this morning.’
‘I’ve got a doctor’s appointment later this morning,’ said Stanley, stepping carefully into the shop. ‘The perils of getting old, I’m afraid. The company I desire is not exactly to be found at our local health care centre.’
Josh stepped over various boxes and weaved his way around the tractor before heading through to the back room.
When he returned, he found Stanley studying the tractor.
‘I must say, this takes me back,’ said Stanley, who had been peering at the dashboard. ‘My father had one of these when we owned our smallholding on the edge of the village when I was growing up. A good solid make, the David Brown 25.’
‘Solid being the operative word when it’s stuck in the middle of a shop,’ drawled Josh.
Not even Amber with her obvious design talents could make the tractor look any good. But right now there was no plan b so he would just have to trust her.
Stanley handed over the coins for his newspaper. ‘Well, you can’t say it’s not unique,’ he said, with a smile. ‘I shall watch what appears to be something of a facelift with interest.’
Josh smiled despite his reservations. A facelift? The shop needed a full makeover, complete with major heart surgery.
As Stanley left, Josh took the coins over to the till, which he could just about find behind a new stack of boxes. He sat down heavily on the stool behind the counter. It had been quite an exhausting few days and he was feeling low on energy. He had got spectacularly drunk with Amber, which didn’t help as it had been a later night than usual. He thought of her standing in the darkness, looking up at him. He had almost been drunk enough to kiss her. Almost.
Besides, he knew that she would probably run a mile if he made a move on her. Which he most definitely wouldn’t. Even if a small part of him was seriously tempted.
He gave his head a little shake. He didn’t need temptation right now. He needed the shop to look like a shop again. With a groan, he slumped forward and put his head in his hands.
‘I’m not surprised you’re feeling like that after the amount of wine you two put away last night.’
He looked up to find Belle standing in the open doorway, staring wide-eyed at the mess in the shop before her eyes flew back to the elephant in the room. Or, rather, the tractor.
‘Morning,’ he said, with a nod.
‘Good morning,’ said Amber, coming into the shop, looking far more cheerful than Josh felt.
‘What the hell happened in here last night?’ asked Belle, walking slowly around the tractor.
‘We had a design meeting,’ said Amber, with a grin.
‘I lost,’ said Josh.
‘Yeah, well,’ said Belle, still looking around in shock. ‘I’ve got to say, I’m rendered almost speechless.’
‘First time for everything,’ drawled Josh.
‘What do you think of the tractor?’ asked Amber in a hopeful tone.
‘Do you have to put 10p in it to make it work?’ asked Belle, peering into the driver’s seat.
‘What are you talking about?’ asked Josh.
‘Isn’t it one of those rides for kids?’ said Belle, straightening up. ‘You know, like a Noddy car or something?’