Page 18 of In Just One Day
She moved towards the door.
‘And, Flora? Thank you.’
‘Fingers crossed.’ Flora smiled back at him, then flipped the sign over.
* * *
‘So, what did he say?’ Tilda sat on the swing next to Flora. They’d gone straight to the playing fields after school pickup in the hope the children might run off some energy.
‘Well, it’s not a done deal, by any means. We’ve still got to secure a business loan, but Mack’s keen and that’s the most important thing, I guess.’
‘Flora, that’s fantastic news. I mean, your own wine shop!’
‘Well, it won’t technically be ours but it’s as near as we’re going to get to having one for the time being. So yes, we’re over the moon. Johnny seems genuinely excited about it.’
‘Well, you’re going to have some sort of launch party obviously.’ Tilda loved a party, throwing them on the flimsiest of excuses. Her children’s parties were as much for the adults as they were for the kids. ‘Let me help you organise it?’
‘That’s a great idea, but we’ve got masses to do before we get to that, not least sort the stock out. Mack’s carrying stuff he’s had for years and we definitely need to get some more affordable wines in if we’re going to compete with the supermarket over the road. But at least the shop is in fairly good nick. We’ll have to have a clear-out, freshen it up and build a few more shelves so we don’t have piles of boxes all over the floor. Maybe get a tasting bench…’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I like the sound of it.’
‘Sound of what?’ Another voice called across to them.
‘Susie! You made it… but where are the kids?’ Flora jumped up from her swing to offer it to her friend.
Susie gestured to her car. ‘I’ve given them my phone. I need ten minutes without fielding questions from small people.’ She rolled her eyes.
They’d first met Susie a few years before, standing at the school gates. She was terrifyingly immaculate, as were each of her four children, but she was also terrific fun. Before long Flora and Tilda had been invited over to Susie’s house one evening for drinks. Of course, they’d both jumped at the invitation because, more than anything, they had wanted to see what the inside of their new friend’s house – tall and imposing with its pale stone Georgian front – was like.
Susie was funny, whip-smart and – as Flora and Tilda found out that evening – married to a fairly unpleasant man. Her husband, Julian, appeared in the kitchen at one point to ask when dinner would be ready. He barely acknowledged them sitting around the kitchen table. Susie jumped up. ‘Julian, this is Tilda… and this is Flora. They’ve got kids at school, too.’ Susie’s face lit up with a hopeful smile. ‘We’re just having a quick glass before dinner.’
‘Yes, hi!’ Tilda raised her glass. ‘We won’t be long.’ She laughed, a little too loudly judging by the look on Julian’s face.
‘Yeah, hi.’ He glanced across at them briefly before opening the fridge. He looked inside. ‘We’re almost out of beer.’ He took a bottle from the fridge door and left the room.
‘Sorry, I meant to get some today. I’ll go tomorrow…’ Susie called after him, but he was gone before she could finish her sentence. An awkward silence followed. ‘He’s not normally… He’s a bit stressed at work at the moment.’ Susie looked mortified.
‘Don’t you apologise…’ Flora wanted to ask if he was always so rude. Also, why didn’t he buy his own beer if he was so worried about running out? Instead, she bit her tongue.
‘God, don’t you worry. Pete’s a nightmare when he comes back from work. Honestly, he can barely string a sentence together.’ Tilda felt bad giving her husband such bad press when, actually, while he was a bit annoying sometimes, he was hardly a nightmare.
After that night the three of them barely spoke about Julian again, other than the odd passing reference. If ever Flora or Tilda brought his name up in the hope of encouraging their friend to talk about him a bit more, Susie would quickly steer the conversation away to some other topic.
Now, taking the vacated seat on the swing next to Tilda, Susie began to gently swing back and forth, her feet on the floor. ‘So, how was your weekend?’
‘Eventful, actually.’ Flora laughed. She brought Susie up to speed on Johnny’s redundancy, on her near redundancy and the plans to take over the shop. Susie listened intently.
‘And the best thing is,’ Tilda grinned at Susie, ‘that we get to help organise the launch party, and get free wine.’
‘Oh, now that is exciting.’ Susie’s eyes lit up.
‘Hang on, we’re not there yet!’ Flora didn’t dare tempt fate. ‘And I don’t think I ever said free wine.’
‘Look, you worry about getting the shop ready, leave the party to us,’ said Tilda. ‘We’ll get all the mums in from school…’
‘We could start a monthly wine club! Oh my gosh, that would be so fun.’ Susie practically whooped at the thought.
‘That sounds a little too serious for me. I’d rather just be able to come along and drink it,’ said Tilda, laughing.