My head told me to smile sorrowfully and head back to the car. But my heart … my heart couldn’t bear to see such sadness when there was something I could do to help.
I crossed my fingers behind my back. ‘Then it’s your lucky day.’
Well. I didn’t exactly lie.
Chapter Nine
The woman clung to the edge of the door as if she might collapse if she let go. ‘But we’re strangers, why would you want to help me? I can’t even pay you.’
There was a tiny chink of hope in her eyes and my heart went out to her.
‘Karma,’ I said simply. ‘What goes around comes around. Maybe one day I’ll be in need of assistance and someone will come to my rescue. I’m Fearne and this handsome devil is Scamp. And I’m guessing you must be Nina?’
She nodded, adding flatly, ‘Pleased to meet you.’
She looked exhausted; she had hollows under her eyes the size of moon craters, not helped by smudged eyeliner and streaks of mascara.
I looked past her into the shop. ‘So how can I help?’
I hardly needed to ask: the huge quantity of flowers, which incidentally had the most amazing perfume, and the stack of white packing boxes on the floor were a bit of a giveaway: it looked as if she had a large order to fulfil and was behind schedule.
She sighed. ‘I’m doing the flowers for a friend’s wedding and everything that would possibly go wrong has.’
I chewed my lip, trying not to show my dismay. A wedding. And for a friend. No wonder she was stressed.
‘Oh dear, well I’m here now,’ I said brightly. ‘Let’s get stuck in. When is the wedding?’
Just then the church bells fell silent. Nina’s face crumpled in horror.
‘Now. It’s literally starting now the other side of the green.’ She brushed a tear from her face. She opened the door wide enough for us both to enter. ‘Oh balls. Not only have I messed up Rosie’s wedding, I’ve actually missed it as well.’
She was a guest as well as the florist? I tried not to show my panic. What a nightmare.
Nina said something else then, but it was more of a wail and I couldn’t make out the words. Scamp’s eyebrows were moving from left to right and I could tell he was picking up on Nina’s anxiety. It was time to take action.
‘Why don’t you sit down while you give me some instructions?’ I handed her some tissue paper from a roll on the end of the counter.
She dabbed at her eyes, making the mascara even more smeared.
‘There’s no time for sitting,’ she muttered, but didn’t put up much of a fight when I nudged her into a chair.
As soon as she sat down, Scamp, ever game for some fuss, rested his chin on her knee and gazed up at her with worried eyes.
‘And I hope you don’t mind,’ I said, ‘but Scamp and I are parched. Do you have anything to drink?’
‘Through there.’ Nina pointed to an open doorway at the back of the shop through which I could see a tiny kitchen.
‘He’s impossible not to love,’ said Nina, when I returned with water for all three of us.
I smiled. ‘He was a rescue dog, although in reality, it was he who rescued me. OK, where do we start?’
Nina took a sip of water and then began to tell me what was what.
She was about twelve hours behind schedule. Partly because her assistant, Kelly had left without working her notice to take up another job and she hadn’t yet found a replacement. And partly because the fire in the Channel Tunnel yesterday – the same one which had left Hamish stranded – meant that her flower order hadn’t been delivered and she’d had to buy up what the wholesalers had spare and they had only arrived late yesterday evening.
‘I’ve worked through the night,’ Nina said with a wan smile. ‘I managed to get the buttonholes and the bouquets for the bride and bridesmaids and the swag for the church lychgate done. But the marquee for the reception is totally flowerless.’
‘Is it the marquee at a pub near the river?’ I asked, thinking back to our walk earlier.
‘The Riverside Hotel, yes,’ said Nina.
She told me that after the service, the wedding party would have photographs in the church grounds, then travel on to the hotel where champagne was to be served on the terrace before everyone would retire to the marquee for the wedding breakfast at four.
‘I met the bride a few minutes ago, and the best man.’
Nina gasped. ‘And? How did she seem? Was her bouquet all right?’
‘All the flowers were gorgeous; in fact, I loved them so much, I took pictures to show a friend.’ I pulled out my phone and showed her the photos I’d taken. ‘And she looked radiant, blooming actually.’
Nina made a whimpering noise. ‘Her baby is due in July, the last thing she needs is stress.’
‘Look,’ I said hurriedly, conscious of the time. ‘All is not lost. We’ve got a couple of hours before the wedding breakfast. If you’re quick, you can still get to see them tie the knot.’
She blinked at me, wide-eyed. ‘And leave you here alone?’
‘You can trust me,’ I promised. ‘But if it makes you feel better … There you go.’ I held out my car keys to her. ‘Now I can’t escape with your stock.’
‘Bloody hell!’ Nina said shakily, refusing to take them. ‘I’ve never, I mean, how kind, that’s just … Oh God.’
‘Don’t cry again,’ I said flapping at her. ‘Now go. Or you’ll miss the kiss.’
‘The kiss,’ she squealed, yanking on her apron strings to remove it. The full short skirt of her dress sprang out. ‘Literally can’t wait to see that. Such a gorgeous couple.’
Scamp, buoyed by the new energy in the room, started to bounce around in circles, barking at his tail. I caught his collar before he knocked Nina over.
‘Thanks so much for this.’ She planted a fierce kiss to my cheek. ‘You’re an angel.’
‘See you at the venue,’ I said, feeling slightly hysterical with all this excitement.
She chucked me the shop keys, grabbed a pink corsage from the counter and dashed out of the door. ‘Good luck,’ she yelled over her shoulder. ‘And thank you again.’
Scamp and I watched her sprint towards the green while simultaneously trying to pin the corsage to her dress. Once she’d disappeared from view, I turned back to the scene of floral devastation in the shop.
My stomach flipped at the size of the task ahead and the limited time I had to accomplish it. How would Fiona, the flower school teacher, tackle it? Only one way to find out. I found her number and called her.
‘Heavens above!’ Fiona cried when I brought her up to speed with the job in hand. ‘When I told you to practise, this wasn’t quite what I had in mind.’
‘Me neither,’ I said, surveying the vast quantities of spring flowers awaiting my attention. ‘Where shall I start? And how do I prioritise?’
‘OK,’ said Fiona, clearing her throat. ‘Grab a pen and make notes …’
I did as I was told and for the next couple of minutes I scribbled down as many instructions, including the main priorities and some brilliant cheats, as Fiona could think of.