‘Good neighbours,’ said Stanley, in a firm tone of voice. ‘I am most grateful for your kindness. I hope you’ll let me buy you a drink at some point in the near future.’
‘Of course.’
After Stanley had finished his coffee, he put on his hat and scarf ready to leave. However, the front doorbell rang as the next customer came in. It was Frank, the newspaper owner.
‘Stanley! How are you?’ said Frank. ‘Heard you had to be rescued.’
‘Oh, it was nothing,’ said Stanley. ‘Just a little bit of excitement in my advancing years. Nice to run into you like this. I haven’t seen you for weeks.’
‘Ships that pass in the night,’ Frank told him.
‘A little rusty round the edges after all this rain,’ Stanley replied.
‘Are you in a rush?’ asked Frank. ‘Thought I’d treat myself to one of the coffees that everyone’s talking about.’
‘I’ll take a cup of tea,’ said Stanley. ‘We can take it outside where Amber’s put some lovely comfortable cushions on the benches and catch up.’
‘OK, I’ll get these,’ said Frank. ‘But if Arsenal beats Chelsea tonight, you can buy them tomorrow.’
‘You’re on,’ Stanley smiled.
A few minutes later, the elderly gentlemen were sitting on the bench outside, putting the world to rights and drinking their hot drinks.
‘I have a feeling they might never leave,’ said Josh.
‘Does it matter? Look how much happier they are. Besides, aren’t they a walking advert for our takeaway drinks?’ she told him, smiling.
Josh laughed and wandered away.
Amber realised that she felt so much stronger than she had ever felt before. Despite the awfulness of people being flooded out, she had handled it all and they had made it through. She had had to introduce herself to new people when they had been flooded out as well as speak to them. After all, their problems were far worse than hers. She was growing more confident. And she liked feeling that way at last.
‘Hiya,’ said Molly, coming into the shop. ‘Have you got any more biscuits or something to help Tom’s hangover?’
‘We probably should think about some pastries or something like that at some point,’ said Amber to Josh.
He nodded. ‘Need to find a baker somewhere. I’ll have a think. Anyway, I’m just going to drop this box into the church for the donations fund.’
As he wandered off, Molly grabbed one of the last packets of Jammie Dodgers. ‘That’ll have to do,’ she said, putting it on the counter. ‘He’s been like a bear with a sore head this morning.’
‘So why does he drink so heavily?’ asked Amber.
Molly glanced over her shoulder, but the shop was empty, apart from Josh who was in the far corner. ‘His wife left him about six months ago,’ she said in a whisper. ‘He’s heartbroken. He’s OK when he’s busy, but I think he struggles when everyone goes home. So I’m not sure him living over the pub is going to work out so well.’
‘Definitely not for his liver,’ said Amber, nodding.
The bell signalled the arrival of another customer just as Molly had finished paying and was turning to leave.
‘Hiya,’ Molly said brightly to the woman who had walked towards her. ‘I didn’t realise you came in here?’
‘First time for everything,’ snapped the dark-haired woman.
‘Then let me introduce Amber,’ said Molly, turning to her and smiling. ‘This is Kate Hooper, one of our journalists.’
‘Senior journalist,’ said the woman, fixing on a smile.
Amber’s smile froze on her face as she registered the woman’s name. Kate Hooper? As in Catherine Hooper?
As she stared into the stranger’s face she realised that her suspicion was right. It was the worst of her school bullies.
39
Kate Hooper stared at Amber critically, her head on one side.
‘Have we met? I recognise the name,’ she said, prowling up to the counter.
‘I-I…’ stammered Amber. She was completely stunned. All those years of comments and snide laughter were now fresh in her ears once more. The mocking and cruel jibes. It all came rushing back to her and she felt so anxious, she thought she might vomit.
Kate turned to Molly. ‘Is she a mute? I don’t do sign language.’
‘No,’ said Molly, turning to look at Amber in concern. ‘Are you OK? You’ve gone ever so pale. It must be lack of sleep. We’ve all been on the go for the last few days.’
But Amber could still feel Kate’s eyes burning into her. She gulped away her nausea and stared at the floor as she finally found the words. ‘St Winifred’s,’ she muttered. ‘Mrs Cole’s class.’
Kate peered at her for a moment. ‘Oh! School! I’d forgotten all about that place, to be honest. Of course, I left the area as soon as I could. This is only a temporary relocation.’
Molly frowned. ‘Actually, I think Tom’s quite set on staying here. He likes the village.’
‘He’s the only one who does,’ said Kate, with a sniff. She turned to look at Amber once more. ‘You were one of the quiet ones, yeah? I think I remember. Always had your head in a book.’
Amber nodded, still unable to speak any further for fear of retching.
‘Well, I’d have thought you were more suited to a library, but this is quite sweet, I suppose.’ She looked around the shop, her eyes scrutinising everything. ‘So you’re a shopkeeper now.’
Amber shook her head. ‘It’s not mine,’ she muttered.
‘Oh, so you’re just staff? How nice,’ said Kate, in a patronising tone. ‘I suppose you must be pleased to have some kind of career in any case. After all, you did always struggle so much at school, didn’t you?’
Amber felt a flare of anger at that point. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell Kate how she’d worked in London and New York, but then Josh came over and the words failed her.
‘Hello!’ said Kate, suddenly breaking into a hundred-watt smile. ‘Are you just browsing as well or did you have something more sophisticated in mind?’
Josh gave a little start in surprise at her flirty nature but merely smiled. ‘If there’s a lack of sophistication in this place, you can blame me, seeing as I own it.’
‘Do you?’ Kate was all smiles and sweetness. ‘I was just saying how lovely it is.’
As she continued to flirt and laugh extravagantly at another of Josh’s quips, Molly leaned in to whisper to Amber. ‘Are you sure you’re OK?’
Amber shook her head in response, not being able to find the words.
‘I’m just going to take Amber outside for a second,’ Molly said. ‘I need to ask her advice about something. Back soon!’
Then she grabbed Amber’s hand and dragged her past where Josh and Kate were still chatting and out onto the veranda. Molly kept walking quickly down the steps and along Riverside Lane to one of the benches by the river. Then she sat down and pulled Amber onto the bench as well.
‘What’s going on?’ asked Molly, looking closely at her face. ‘What’s wrong?’