After they had finished their coffee, Cathy persuaded Amber to head downstairs to the shop once more. ‘Josh will show you around properly now that you’re all nice and dry. I’ll tidy up and then we’ll follow you down,’ said Cathy.
Amber went down the wooden staircase and stopped, hesitating as she really didn’t want to face Josh again so soon after falling into the river.
So she stood and stared around the stockroom instead. She looked at the many piles of boxes, all fighting for space. And then at the rusty tractor as well. What was it doing inside? And what on earth did they need a small tractor for anyway? She couldn’t understand the reasoning behind it.
The sound of heavy footsteps clattered down the staircase and Josh nearly ran her down as he rushed into the room beside her.
‘Hey,’ he said.
Amber noticed that he had also got changed and was now wearing a different pair of jeans and sweatshirt. He must have been changing in his bedroom but hadn’t joined them afterwards for coffee and biscuits. He was probably avoiding her, she thought.
His dark hair was still a bit spiky from where it had been wet and she had to concede to herself that he had grown into a good-looking man. She found herself wondering whether he had a girlfriend and what he was doing stuck in such a quiet village.
The silence stretched out as she tried to think of something to say.
‘I was just wondering about the tractor,’ she eventually said, forcing herself to stop staring at him.
‘It was my dad’s,’ he told her. ‘He bought it to try and get it going, but he never got round to doing it up before, you know…’ Josh’s voice trailed off.
‘I’m sorry.’ Amber felt bad, having brought up what must be painful memories. ‘You must miss him.’
Josh nodded. ‘Yeah. Anyway, the tractor’s stuck here,’ he carried on, before adding under his breath, ‘like a lot of other things around here.’
Amber didn’t know what to make of this so remained quiet.
Cathy and Tilly were making their slow way down the stairs.
‘Haven’t you made it into the shop yet?’ said Cathy as they finally reached the bottom.
Amber shook her head.
‘Come on then,’ said Josh, turning away.
So Amber followed him into the shop, with Cathy and Tilly close behind.
As she tried to find somewhere to stand without knocking anything over, easier said than done with everything so crowded, Cathy went over to the long counter which was in the far corner.
‘So!’ she said, in a very jolly tone. ‘What do you think of our little empire?’
Amber smiled and nodded her approval, all the time praying that her face didn’t show how she really felt about the state of the place. It wasn’t good, she thought, staring around. The interior was so dated that it gave off a very tired and old-fashioned feel and not in a country-charm kind of way either. On top of that, the place was packed with shelving units right up to the ceiling, which meant it also felt very crowded and almost suffocating. Every available surface, including the counter where the till stood, was piled high, but it was all so random. There was washing powder and loo rolls. Then newspapers. Eggs. Plastic toys. It was a real mish-mash of goods. There were also a couple of fridges, but whereas one held a small amount of milk and cheese, the other two were dark and switched off. Presumably so they could hold yet more random stock.
Amber found herself thinking that if she lived in the village, she probably wouldn’t come in here either.
But, to her surprise, the bell above the front door jangled as somebody came in. A man in his late sixties weaved his way through the narrow aisles, carefully picking up a newspaper as he moved.
‘Good morning,’ he said, finally making it to the counter.
‘Good morning, Frank,’ said Cathy, smiling. ‘How are you today?’
‘Not bad,’ replied the gentleman. ‘It’s a right miserable day out there though.’
‘Let me introduce my goddaughter, Amber,’ said Cathy, gesturing towards Amber, who was still standing in the middle of the shop. ‘She’s staying with us for a while.’
‘Lovely to meet you,’ said Frank.
Amber nodded. ‘You too,’ she said, as always somewhat uncomfortable about being the centre of attention.
‘She’s just flown in from New York,’ said Cathy, with a proud note in her voice.
‘So good they named it twice.’ The gentleman laughed, patting his pockets as if searching for something. ‘Good Lord, I’ve forgotten my pound coin,’ he said, with a sigh. ‘I’m getting so forgetful.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Cathy told him. ‘You can pay us tomorrow when you come in.’
But Frank was still frowning. ‘I’ve got my debit card on me if that helps. Don’t like not paying my way.’
‘We don’t have a card system here,’ said Cathy. ‘Besides, we know where you live, so there’s no escaping just yet!’
‘Well, if you’re sure,’ said Frank, picking up his newspaper. ‘I’ll be in first thing to pay off my debt.’
‘It’s fine,’ said Cathy. ‘We’ll see you tomorrow.’
After the bell had jangled that the customer had left, Josh went over to the till. ‘And that is why we need a new till and contactless payment,’ he said in a pointed tone to his mother.
Cathy laughed. ‘No, we don’t! This works fine.’
From what Amber could make out, ‘this’ was an extremely old-looking till. It was pretty ugly and not very handy for the modern era, she guessed. Once more, she thought back to Saks Fifth Avenue where nearly every purchase was on a card. But, of course, this was just a small corner shop, not one of the world’s biggest department stores.
‘The customers can’t pay by card at the moment,’ said Josh, clearly getting cross. ‘Not everyone has cash on them these days.’
‘We’re not having this argument again,’ said Cathy in a firm tone of voice, before glancing at Amber. ‘Not in front of our guest.’
Amber shuffled from foot to foot, wishing she was somewhere else.
As mother and son glared at each other, Amber softly excused herself and weaved her way through to the front of the shop, keen to get away from the awkward atmosphere.
The bell jangled as she opened the front door and she stood for a moment on the wooden veranda. Despite the overcast day, the view was sensational. She looked around the riverbanks, the trees all glowing with the warm autumnal colours of gold and red.
At least she was sheltered from the drizzle, she thought, before glancing up and realising that she was standing under a massive gap in the roof of the veranda and that it was leaking. She shuffled away from the leak and looked at one of the large bay windows. Like everything else in the shop, it was packed full of all manner of goods, none of which were remotely enticing. Peering around at the other window, she realised it was equally dismal.
For a moment, she let her imagination run riot, thinking back to the many designs she had created in both London and New York. They had been everything from fantasy to modern and eclectic. Of course, any such design would be totally out of step with sleepy Cranbridge Stores.
And what about the inside of the shop? There were no real displays. It was chaotic. There appeared to be no system or organisation regarding the stock, which was piled up everywhere. Cathy didn’t want to update anything. Josh was unhappy. It was a mess.