‘Do you remember my original design for the shop? With the tractor?’
He laughed. ‘How can I ever forget?’
‘Shut up,’ she muttered.
He really did love to make her blush, he thought.
‘Well, you probably don’t recall,’ she told him. ‘But in my design I had a number of crates placed around the tractor.’
‘What for?’ he asked.
‘Fruit and vegetables,’ she said, smiling.
Even though he was tired, he made the effort to stare over to where the red tractor was and tried to envisage how it could look.
‘I think it could really work,’ she carried on. ‘They don’t need to be in the refrigerator and I found a whole load of blackboard signs and paint out the back. We could write the prices on those. A touch of gingham cloth. Maybe some pumpkins. Rustic but still in keeping, if that’s OK? It would almost be like our very own market stall.’
She was looking at him warily as if waiting for him to flat out refuse the idea. Instead, he nodded. ‘I like the sound of that. Should I start wearing a cowboy hat?’
‘Well, it would match that old leather jacket of yours,’ she told him.
‘I’ll have you know this was my dad’s,’ he replied, tugging at the zip. ‘It’s a classic.’
‘Like the tractor?’ she said.
‘You’re the boss. Sort of.’ Josh found he was smiling as he leant back against the chimney breast and closed his eyes.
‘What do you think?’ he heard her ask.
‘Sounds grand. Carry on, ma’am,’ he told her, keeping his eyes closed and giving her a mock salute.
He sat and rested whilst he heard Amber moving around the shop. He knew her so well that he knew that she was already beginning to sort out the crates. But he didn’t mind. He trusted her taste and design.
She had finally begun to have a little confidence in herself and it was lovely to see her blossom, he thought.
He opened his eyes briefly and watched as she gave a little skip of joy as she rushed into the back room to pick up more decorations.
Josh closed his eyes once more, smiling to himself.
38
The following morning dawned bright and sunny, which, Amber observed, seemed to lift everyone’s spirits.
‘Aren’t people kind?’ said Glenda, the vicar, as she swept into the shop. ‘We asked for donations for those poor people who have lost so much in the floods and we’ve been inundated!’
‘All thanks to your very own Cranbridge Times,’ said Tom, who had come in for his third coffee of the day. ‘And Molly rang the local radio to put the word out as well.’
‘That’s great,’ said Amber, bending down to give Noah the Labrador a stroke as he sat down in front of the till counter.
‘What kind of things do you need?’ asked Josh.
‘Oh! Anything that can be spared,’ said Glenda. ‘Nappies, toothpaste, dog food, such random things you’ve never seen, but it all helps!’
‘I’ll drop a couple of boxes into the church later,’ Josh told her.
‘Thank you so much,’ said Glenda, suddenly doing a double take at the crates that now surrounded the tractor. ‘Is that new? I don’t remember all of this before.’
‘The tractor’s old,’ said Josh, giving Amber a wink. ‘But the produce is new and local. Very local. All within ten miles of our village.’
Josh had rushed out first thing that morning and had come back with a van full of fresh fruit and vegetables from the local farms. Potatoes, carrots and parsnips jostled for space alongside the apples and pears that Amber had filled into each separate crate. She had to admit to herself that it looked absolutely perfect.
‘Excellent!’ said Glenda, grabbing one of the paper bags to fill with apples. ‘I see I shall have to come in here more often!’
She wasn’t the only enthusiastic customer saying that they would be returning. As more villagers came in for hot drinks and yet more bin bags and everything else needed for the big clean-up, they too were noticing the new range of meat and vegetables.
Amber wasn’t at all surprised that the local produce was a huge hit with everyone who came into the shop. Each customer seemed to be running low and, being unable to get to the huge supermarket still cut off with the floods, everyone was rushing into the shop to try and restock their own cupboards.
Consequently, Josh had to head out for more stock from all the local farms.
He certainly appeared to be a lot happier, she thought, watching him restock the fridge and whistling to himself. It was like a completely different man. She wasn’t sure what had changed, but he seemed so much more relaxed for the past couple of days.
She was also secretly thrilled that her design idea for the fruit and vegetables had worked. She had arranged all the wooden crates around the tractor at varying heights. Where the crates were broken or looking a bit grubby, she covered them in the gingham cloth that she had found. Once covered, she built up the crates on top, artfully arranging the vegetables inside and then attaching a small blackboard showing the price. The final touch was some more dried leaves and fairy lights, as well as a few pumpkins for good measure, across the top of the tractor.
‘No plastic packaging either,’ said one customer, nodding her approval. ‘It’s so important for the carbon footprint.’
Amber nodded as if that was what she had intended all along. But, yes, she supposed it did also reduce the waste. Especially as the majority of customers brought their own bags with them anyway. Those that hadn’t, she’d had the inspired idea to use up the brown paper bags that Josh had found. He had seemed particularly thrilled with the fact that they could use them.
She had also made sure that the word ‘local’ was used as often as possible so that everyone understood where their food was coming from.
She was particularly pleased to see Stanley come into the shop at his usual time.
‘You’re back,’ said Amber, hesitating as to whether to give him a hug or not. In the end, she thought what the hell and gave him a brief hug. ‘How are you?’
‘All the better for seeing you, my dear,’ he told her, staring around the shop with wide eyes. ‘Well, you have been busy whilst I’ve been otherwise engaged.’
‘Do you like it?’ asked Amber.
Stanley nodded. ‘Some lovely-looking apples, I see.’
‘All local,’ Josh told him, looking proud of himself.
‘And there’s local meat and dairy products too,’ added Amber. ‘Take a seat and I’ll make you a coffee, if you’d like.’
‘Thank you, my dear.’
Whilst he drank his coffee, they updated Stanley on all the recovery efforts after the flooding.
‘I hear you’re moving into one of the bungalows?’ asked Josh.
‘Unbelievable stroke of good fortune,’ Stanley said. ‘By the end of next week apparently. I shall miss my old home, but I shan’t miss the stairs, I must confess. Although Belle is doing a marvellous job of looking after me at the pub in the meantime.’ He looked a little teary as he looked at Josh. ‘And I must thank you for coming and finding me.’
‘That’s what neighbours are for,’ said Josh.