Amber was blinking away the tears that had suddenly formed in her eyes. She didn’t even realise that she was wringing her hands together over and over until Molly’s own hand came down on top of hers.
‘Steady,’ she told her, in a calm tone. ‘Take some deep breaths.’
‘Hiya. Is everything OK?’ said Belle, who was walking across the pedestrian bridge towards them. ‘I saw you both rush out of the shop. Is Amber ill?’
‘I don’t think so,’ said Molly, still looking concerned.
They both looked at Amber once more, but she stayed quiet. It had always been her default mode of defence. To withdraw almost immediately upon any kind of criticism or bullying. Like a snail being poked with a stick, she would retreat under her shell and stay there until it was deemed safe.
Belle crouched down in front of her. ‘What is it?’ she said. ‘Tell me what happened.’
‘We were chatting and everything was fine,’ Molly explained. ‘Then Kate, you know, our journalist, she came into the shop and suddenly Amber looked ill.’
‘Don’t tell me,’ said Belle, with a groan. ‘She made some bitchy comment and upset her.’
Molly nodded. ‘Well, you know what she’s like. But, hang on, I think they went to school together. Is that right?’
Amber nodded, feeling Belle’s eyes boring into the top of her head as she stared down at the grassy bank beneath her trainers.
There was a short silence until Belle spoke, this time more softly than she had ever done before. ‘Was it bad? At school, I mean?’
Amber nodded again.
‘Oh no!’ Molly squeezed her hand as she continued to hold Amber’s with her own. ‘Girls are so awful sometimes,’ she said. ‘I always had my best friend to look out for me. She’s always been the mouthy one, so I hide behind her. Even now.’
‘And you can imagine what a name like Belle’s like at school,’ said Belle, rolling her eyes.
‘I loved Beauty and the Beast!’ said Molly, smiling.
‘Yeah except my happy ever after is more a screaming nightmare,’ said Belle.
‘Why?’ asked Molly.
‘That’s a tale for another time when we have lots of gin to drink,’ said Belle, briskly.
There was a sadness about her, thought Amber. Belle was a closed book but very friendly as well. Amber wondered how lonely Belle really was behind the strong, cynical façade.
‘So how are we going to deal with this Kate?’ asked Molly, whispering once more. ‘Could you tell her how you feel?’
Amber shook her head almost violently. ‘I can’t,’ she whispered. ‘I can’t face her. Not even after all this time. I know it’s not a big deal in the scheme of things. So many people have lost all their possessions in the floods. It’s just when I saw her, I felt about thirteen years old all over again.’
And all the pain and misery had returned as well, she thought.
‘We moved around a lot when I was young,’ Amber added. ‘Lots of different schools. It was hard, not having friends.’
‘Kids can be tough,’ said Belle.
Amber’s smile was tight as she nodded in agreement. ‘Then after I lost my job in New York, my parents suddenly retired early to New Zealand and I’m still looking for somewhere to call home.’
‘This is as good a place as any,’ said Belle, nodding thoughtfully. ‘Now, about the other problem. That bitchy Kate. There’s only two options as far as I can tell. One, I push her in the river.’
Molly giggled and even Amber managed to smile in response.
‘Or two, we can poison her with Aunty Angie’s cooking, which, let’s be honest, isn’t exactly unimaginable.’ Belle gave them both a winning smile.
Amber managed a small laugh and the release of emotion caused the tears to finally flow.
‘You’re OK,’ said Molly, giving her a hug and holding her tight. ‘We’ve got your back.’
‘And your front too,’ said Belle, squeezing her knee.
‘Thanks,’ said Amber, when she could finally speak again.
‘That’s what friends are for,’ Molly told her.
‘And I know I could do with a couple around here,’ said Belle. ‘You two are about the only women I know in my age group.’
‘Me too,’ said Amber.
‘Me three,’ added Molly, giving her another squeeze.
And so, for the first time in her life, Amber found that she had friends. And she found herself feeling a little stronger because of it.
The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of activity, for which Amber was grateful. But every time the shop bell rang out again, she gave a start. She found she was always glancing up nervously towards the front door, mainly in fear that Kate would return.
‘You OK?’ asked Josh later that day, looking at her. ‘You’ve been a bit quiet these last hours.’
It was true, she realised. The ease between them had been shattered once Kate had returned into her life. It was as if all her confidence had been eradicated in that one instance and she was back to the shy girl hiding behind the book once more.
‘I’m just tired,’ she told him, forcing a smile on her face.
‘I’m not surprised,’ he said. ‘It’s been a crazy time. Maybe you should take a day off.’
‘It’s fine,’ she said. ‘I’ll just have an early night tonight and get some sleep.’
He nodded thoughtfully. ‘Good,’ he said.
But it wasn’t good, she knew. She missed their easy chats, the stolen moments.
Perhaps it was for the best, she told herself. Perhaps when she left it would hurt a little less if she kept her distance from now on.
The trouble was that she knew that she had fallen in love with Josh. But he hadn’t made a move since the night of the flood when they had kissed. Perhaps he regretted that too.
She had probably made a fool of herself, despite what Molly and Belle had said. Cranbridge wasn’t her home. And the shop wasn’t really hers, after all. It was time to leave. She would wait until Cathy returned and then she would fly, as she had originally planned, to stay with her parents in New Zealand.
She was trying to stay strong. But she knew deep down that leaving Josh and the village of Cranbridge in the next couple of weeks was going to be the hardest thing of all that she would have to face.
40
The river slowly receded back into its normal path. However, it was still running high and they all had one eye on the weather forecast at all times. Josh was out a lot of the time, helping with the big clean-up operation. The roads needed to be swept and hosed down. Trees needed to be cut and removed from lanes and roads. Fences had to be put back up. But with everyone pulling together, the work soon progressed.
Finally, the electricity was deemed safe enough to be returned to the flooded properties and the families moved out of the pub and back into their houses. They had all lost so much, but, thanks to everyone’s donations, which had taken over almost all of the floor space of the tiny church, at least they had the basics to take home with them and start again.
Josh had begun to venture further to other farms which stocked local meat and vegetables. Local eggs were now displayed at the shop, along with the local cheese and milk.