I went into our little kitchen, put my bag and coat away in the cupboard, and put the kettle on.
The shop felt different now that I owned half of it. As lovely as it was I could see that it needed updating.
I made the tea and took it through to the shop area.
Carol sipped hers, pulled a face and said, “It’s a bit better than your usual. Now, let’s talk about the shop and what we’re going to do. First, the name. I think we should change it. ‘Second Hand Rose’ is so old fashioned.”
I banged my cup on the counter, “Absolutely not! The name stays the same. Rose left us this shop and we are going to keep her name!”
“Okay, no need to shout. Look at the mess you’ve made with your tea. You’re so clumsy, Kate,” Carol tutted. She took a tissue out of her skirt pocket and mopped up my mess.
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “I agree that we need to make the shop more modern, but I don’t want to get rid of everything that Rose built up. She put all her life and soul into this shop.”
“I know, but some of the items have been in here since I started work. Those old tables and chairs, nobody wants them at such high prices. Should we have a sale? Get rid of the old stuff and then we can get newer items in.”
I narrowed my eyes at Carol. “What do you mean newer items? This is a second hand shop. You’re not thinking of doing away with the business altogether are you? You’re not planning on making it a cheap and cheerful kind of shop?”
Carol frowned, “I don’t do cheap and cheerful. I just thought we could stock the sort of items people are looking for. We can buy them from markets and auctions, you can restore them, I can price them, and before you know it we’ll be making a healthy profit.”
“Why do I have to restore them? I know I helped Rose but I’ll never be as good as her,” I said.
“I thought you could do some of the restoring at home, for smaller items. Then you could have more time with Emily after school and in the holidays,” Carol said.
“Oh! That’s quite thoughtful of you,” I said.
“Don’t sound so surprised! I can be thoughtful. Now, there’s an auction in Leeds tomorrow. I thought I’d go and take a look. See if I can find some quality items for the shop,” Carol said.
“I’ll come with you. It’s Saturday, Emily can come with us,” I smiled.
Carol shook her head, “You’ll only get in the way. I’ve got something else for you and Emily to do.”
Carol handed me a flyer. I read it.
“A car boot sale? It starts at 5am!” I said.
Carol nodded, “I thought mums of young children got up early. Make sure you’re there at 5. You don’t want to miss the good stuff.”
“Why can’t you go?” I asked.
“There’s no point us both getting up early. Anyway I like having a lie in on a Saturday,” Carol said, thoughtfully.
‘The Last Laugh’ is available to buy here:
Amazon Com
Amazon UK
The first book in this series, ‘The Final Bet’ is available here:
Amazon Com
Amazon UK
SECOND HAND GHOSTS
THE LOST BABY
By
GILLIAN LARKIN
KINDLE EDITION
Published by Gillian Larkin on Kindle
Copyright 2013 by Gillian Larkin
Cover illustration by istockphoto.com
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, electronically or mechanical without permission from the author.
The Lost Baby: A Ghost Mystery Story (Second Hand Ghosts Book 2) Page 4
