Nick laughed. ‘I’m being serious. I really do like them. Surprisingly, they’re kind of sexy. I’m not so convinced about the slippers, though.’
Eek! I’d forgotten about the teddy-shaped slippers. ‘Oh well, you’ve seen me at my worst. The least I can do is offer you a drink for the shock.’
‘I’ve brought you this.’ He handed me a bottle of wine. ‘I know you were planning hot chocolate, but I thought you may prefer something stronger.’
I smiled again. ‘Thanks, Nick. I’d best get this open then.’
‘I’d have brought you some flowers too, but I figured petrol station flowers for a florist could be an insult.’
‘I hadn’t really thought about that but you’re probably right. Damn! I love being given flowers. Can’t remember the last time someone bought me any though.’
Nick smiled. ‘We’ll have to rectify that soon, then.’ He held my gaze. Stomach gymnastics time again! What was he doing to me?
‘Make yourself comfortable in the lounge and I’ll get some glasses.’ I headed towards the kitchen. I wasn’t sure how I managed to sound so cheerful and casual when I was falling to pieces inside. All I wanted to do was scream at him, ‘Why didn’t you reply to my text? Have you any idea how hard this week has been? And now you’re here acting all heroic. What’s going on?’ But, of course, I didn’t have the guts to say it.
‘Pretty Woman,’ Nick said when I walked back into the lounge. For a fleeting moment I thought he was complimenting me. Then he added, ‘Great film.’
‘Oh, yeah, let me stop that.’ I handed him one of the glasses then grabbed the remote, put the TV off, and put an Adele album on instead.
‘Great CD too,’ Nick said as I sat beside him on the sofa. ‘Are you really sure you don’t mind me being here? I should probably have phoned first. You just sounded so down on Facebook that I came straight round.’
‘It’s fine.’ I gently touched his arm. ‘I’m glad you’re here.’
‘Really?’
‘Really.’
He held my gaze again. It was definitely there; there was no denying the chemistry between us. So what happened after Bob’s leaving do? Should I say something? Should I do something? I found myself staring at his lips and imagining what it would feel like to kiss him. Good grief, Sarah, get a grip.
‘So,’ I said, ‘I really enjoyed last Thursday night. You were right about the Bay Trade guys. Great bunch. Have you heard from Bob since? Have you seen him? Did he enjoy his send-off? Has he gone to New Zealand yet?’
Nick grinned. ‘Yes, I’ve heard from him. I had an email to say thanks for the send-off. No, I haven’t seen him but Skye has. He left on Monday and emailed Skye yesterday to say they’d arrived safely and had unpacked already. Have I answered all your questions? Do you want to shine a light in my eyes to interrogate me further?’
‘Sorry,’ I said sheepishly. ‘It wasn’t meant to be an interrogation.’
‘What about you? Good week in the shop?’
‘Really good. I gave a job to Cathy’s daughter, Jade. Turns out she’s good at persuading customers to part with more cash than intended, just like my friend Clare, so she’s going to be an asset. Sales have been far better than expected. I’ve got Auntie Kay’s accounts so I know what she was making this time last year and I’m way ahead which is a relief as I was worried that I didn’t have what it takes to run the business after so many years in a big corporate.’ I was rambling. Could I just blurt it out and ask him how he felt? Eek! Scary. Maybe I could start with a simpler subject: my business worries. I already knew he was a great listener and, being self-employed too, he was bound to get it. Yes, business worries was a much safer — and far less embarrassing — subject.
‘Sounds great,’ Nick said. ‘So why don’t you look happier?’
I shrugged. ‘Are you sure you don’t mind listening to my woes yet again?’
‘I’m here, aren’t I?’
I plumped my cushion and shuffled a bit on the sofa to get more comfortable. ‘I promise I’m usually an optimist but this is unchartered territory for me. I’ve never been self-employed with the worry of an erratic income stream. I know I should just relax and enjoy the great sales but I can’t help feeling a little worried that the current success of the shop is the novelty factor of me being a new business combined with seasonal trade. What if it goes pear-shaped in the New Year and I destroy everything Auntie Kay worked so hard to achieve? What if I can’t afford to pay my team because I don’t make the business successful enough? What if I can’t earn enough to pay back the loan Auntie Kay gave me to refurbish and stock the shop? I’d feel like such a failure.’
Nick smiled sympathetically. ‘As one self-employed person to another, I completely get where you’re coming from with the financial security thing. I learned to budget and make sure I have a buffer fund for those tighter months. You’ll probably need to do the same. However, I don’t think you’ve got anything to panic about. You’re making better sales than Kay for two major reasons. Firstly, you offer more choice because you have gifts as well as flowers so you instantly increase your sales potential. Secondly, and more importantly, you’ve got you.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I love your auntie and she’s a really talented florist, but, even to the untrained eye, I can see that her style is very traditional like most of the other florists in The Bay. You bring something different. You can do the traditional stuff, but you also do all these really current designs that look absolutely amazing so I think you’ve got something new and exciting to bring to the town. That’s why your sales are so good and will stay good. Plus, the shop looks so classy now that it stands out against all the other florists in town and makes yours the place to be. So that’s probably three reasons. Must return to school and re-take my maths.’
I laughed. ‘Thanks Nick. That’s really sweet of you.’
‘Credit where credit’s due, Sarah. You’re exceptionally talented which is exactly why…’
‘What?’ I asked when he stopped abruptly and put his hand over his mouth.
‘I’m not meant to say anything.’
‘About what?’ I put my glass down on the coffee table. ‘Nick! You can’t leave me hanging like that.’
‘She wanted to tell you herself.’
‘Who did? What?’ I playfully hit him with a cushion.
‘Okay. Okay. I submit. But you’ve got to promise me you’ll act surprised when she comes in tomorrow.’
‘Who? You’re killing me, Nick.’
‘Skye’s coming to your shop tomorrow. She’s hosting this huge art and crafts exhibition in The Ramparts Hotel in March and she wants you to be the florist in residence or something like that. I don’t really know the details but I know it’s a fairly sizeable commission.’
‘Really? Nick, that sounds amazing. Thank you.’
Nick shook his head and put his glass down too. ‘I didn’t do anything. Skye was really taken with you last week. She’s seen your work in the shop and she’s impressed. But that’s not the biggest news.’
‘There’s more?’
‘Again, you have to promise to act surprised.’
‘I promise.’
‘I’m normally good at keeping secrets but you look like you could do with some good news… Skye’s sister, Kate, is the manager at The Ramparts. Apparently their flower contract is up for renewal. She’s been into the shop a few times to check out your work and she’s really impressed so…’
My mouth dropped open. The Ramparts Hotel was Whitsborough Bay’s only five star hotel and was huge. I’d only been in a couple of times but I remembered that they had flowers everywhere. ‘Are you messing with me?’
‘I wouldn’t do that,’ he said. ‘Kate will join Skye tomorrow so she can introduce herself. She likes to work with local suppliers but she’ll only do business with people she l
ikes. If she warms to you, which I know she will, she’ll ask you to visit the hotel to discuss their needs and give her a quote. I’d imagine a contract like that would be pretty lucrative.’
‘Lucrative? Winning a contract like that would be worth a fortune.’ I squealed and lunged at Nick to give him a hug. ‘Thank you, Nick. That’s just the boost I need.’ I kissed him on the cheek. ‘Thank you so much.’ I gave him another kiss on the cheek but his head turned as I went for a third and I caught his mouth slightly.
‘Sorry,’ I whispered, but I couldn’t bring myself to pull away from him.
Next moment, Nick kissed me on the lips and I felt my whole body tingle with delight as I melted into his kiss. Oh. My. God. So worth waiting for!
‘I wanted to do that last Thursday night,’ Nick said, holding me tightly some time later.
‘I wanted you to but my chaperones scuppered that.’
‘I could have killed Bob and Tony,’ he said. ‘But part of me was relieved they’d stepped in.’
‘Why?’
‘If I’d walked you home, I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself. I’d have had to kiss you goodnight and I was worried you might reject me because I’m not Steven. I really thought I’d blown it when I texted you those kisses and you didn’t reply.’
I sat upright. ‘I did reply and I thought I’d blown it because you didn’t reply to me.’
‘I didn’t get a reply,’ Nick said.
‘You’re joking.’ I grabbed my phone off the table and started scrolling through my sent items. ‘It’s not there.’
‘Try your outbox?’ Nick suggested.
‘It’s there. I don’t believe it. Damn ancient phone and useless network. I could have saved myself a lot of stress and heartache if I’d thought to check my text had actually gone. You don’t get this with an iPhone.’
‘What did it say?’
I chewed on my thumbnail as I re-read my text. ‘Here. You can read it. Before you do, remember that your text said you’d hoped to give me a kiss in person so you’d sent three by text instead.’ I passed the phone to Nick.
I watched his lips move slightly as he read it. ‘“Steven who?”’ Nick lowered the phone and looked at me, eyes shining. ‘Do you still mean that?’
I nodded. ‘I can’t believe you didn’t get it. I’ve had the week from hell thinking I’d messed things up.’
‘Come here, you.’ He kissed me again.
‘I’m so gutted we’ve wasted a week.’ He kissed the top of my head as I lay against his chest. ‘What must you have been thinking?’
‘I waited at the shop for an hour last Friday. Then I came home and cried my way through a chick-flick fest of My Best Friend’s Wedding and He’s Just Not That Into You.’ I pointed to the Pretty Woman DVD box on the coffee table. ‘Can you spot the theme?’ I decided not to mention the hour spent on my searching for Steven frenzy first. There was such a thing as too much honesty.
‘I’m so sorry.’ He stroked my hair. ‘I had no idea. You know I’d have been there if I’d got your text.’
‘I know,’ I said. ‘To make matters worse, the next thing I heard from you was that text you meant for Skye instead and, when I said you’d sent it to me by mistake, your reply was all formal with no kisses or anything.’
Nick groaned. ‘What a pair we are. I’ve had a miserable week too. When you didn’t reply — or rather when I thought you hadn’t — I thought I’d blown it for pushing you when I knew you wanted to search for Steven. I needed to talk to someone which was why I texted Skye.’
I cringed. ‘Did you tell her about the Steven thing?’
‘Sorry,’ Nick said. ‘I couldn’t avoid it. Are you angry with me?’
I shook my head. ‘She won’t tell anyone else, will she?’
‘No. She’s great with secrets.’
I sat up, reached for my wine, then passed Nick his. ‘What did she say?
‘She understood. She’s quite into clairvoyance.’
I smiled. ‘That doesn’t surprise me.’
‘She said the attraction between us was obvious. She suggested I bide my time and continue to build a great friendship with you so that I could be there for you if you met any wrong Stevens, still be in your life if you met the right Steven, and perhaps become The One if you didn’t meet any Stevens. She’s a great believer in fate, just like you, and she reckoned that if it was meant to be, it would happen.’
‘Sound advice,’ I said. ‘When you came into the shop yesterday…’
‘It was to follow Skye’s advice and make sure we were still friends.’
‘I sent you a text in the hope I’d still catch you. Did you get that one?’
Nick nodded. ‘I was nearly home when it came through.’
‘You didn’t reply, though.’
‘I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know how you felt about me and I was worried I’d text something that might scare you off if you weren’t interested.’
‘I was very interested. Believe me.’ I turned round and kissed Nick again.
‘I don’t want to ruin the moment, but…’ he said when we pulled apart.
‘But what about my search for Steven?’
Nick nodded. ‘Sorry. I have to know.’
‘It’s over.’ I paused. ‘I’ve been in touch with three Stevens during the past week and they all asked if they could meet me tonight. The only person I really wanted to be with was you and, even though I thought there was no chance of that, I still turned them all down. I chose you.’
‘So you don’t believe in the tape any more?’
I shrugged. ‘I can’t dismiss the tape because of that stuff about my uncle, the picture, and the bracelet. But I have to assume she was wrong about Steven. I think I fell for you the minute I first saw you looking all dashing in your morning suit and I’ve been fighting it ever since. After Jason, I wanted to believe I was going to meet the man of my dreams and I was so happy to believe that he was called Steven, I had my eyes closed to the Nick right in front of me. If you’ll have me, I don’t think I need to search for Steven any more.’
‘Of course I’ll have you.’ Nick kissed me again. ‘Do you really mean that? It’s over with Steven?’
‘I really mean that. If a Steven walked into my shop tomorrow, I don’t think that there’s anything he could say or do that would make him more perfect for me than you.’
Chapter 25
‘I’ve missed you so much.’ Clare almost knocked an elderly couple flying in her effort to get to my side of the shop counter. ‘Sorry,’ she said, vaguely acknowledging them, ‘but she cannot serve you until I’ve done this.’ She dropped her bag on the floor and hugged me tightly. ‘Ah, that’s grand. You can serve these nice people now. I need a wee and a coffee. Hi everyone.’ With a dramatic wave towards my team, she disappeared into The Outback.
‘I’m so sorry about that.’
Thankfully the customers laughed. ‘I assume she’s a good friend,’ the man said.
‘You’d think so, but I’ve never seen her before in my life.’ They looked so shocked that I felt I had to quickly add. ‘I’m joking really.’
‘What’s the craic?’ asked Clare, reappearing with a drink after the couple had left. ‘I hope you’ve organised a night on the town with your man Stevie and the delightful Rob. Oh, did you want a drink now?’ she added, obviously registering that I was staring at her coffee.
‘I’m fine thanks, but it would have been nice to have the offer, Rudey McRude.’
‘Be off with you. I gave you a hug and you know Clare hugs don’t get dished out that regularly. That’s better than a tea any day, so it is.’
‘That’s true.’ I eyed her suspiciously. ‘What have you been up to?’
‘Nothing. I’m just in a good mood. Will we be having a double date tonight?’
‘I haven
’t organised anything but I can text Stevie to see if they’re free.’
‘You’re busy creating.’ She indicated the half-made bouquet on the counter. ‘Why don’t you give me your phone and I’ll text Stevie while you finish? He won’t be able to say no to me. No man can.’
Grinning at her outrageous display of self-confidence, I handed over my phone. She headed into The Outback. Five minutes later, she returned.
‘What’s this?’ She thrust my phone in front of me.
I glanced down at the message from Nick from earlier that morning and blushed.
* From Nick
Morning gorgeous, I only left you 6 hours ago & I’m missing you already. Wish I could see you tonight xxx
‘Is there something you want to be telling me now?’ she said.
‘Shh.’ I nodded towards Mum and Cathy who were busy re-stocking the flower buckets. ‘Who said you could look through my texts?’
‘It’s the obvious thing to do when some daft muppet hands over their phone,’ she whispered. ‘Am I correct in thinking you’ve ditched the search for your man Steven and shagged some bloke called Nick?’
‘I haven’t shagged him as you so delicately put it but, yes, the search for Steven has been called off.’
‘You horse of darkness. I didn’t think you’d ever dismiss that tape as bollocks. Good on you.’
‘I haven’t dismissed it as bollocks.’
‘But you’re seeing a non-Steven.’
‘Yes, but it isn’t that simple.’
Clare took a loud slurp on her coffee. ‘It seems pretty simple to me. Either you believe the tape and you’re all about the search for Steven. Or you don’t believe the tape and you start dating men called Nick.’
I wasn’t going to win that argument. ‘I still believe in the tape,’ I said. ‘And I’ll explain why later.’
‘Go on. Admit it was bollocks.’
My phone beeped, saving me from a further debate, but Clare grabbed it off me.
‘Oi!’ I tried to retrieve it but she held it high, giggling.
‘It’s from Stevie,’ she said when I gave up and she was able to lower the phone. ‘Not lover-boy.’ She opened the text. ‘Yes! They were planning to go out tonight anyway and would love to meet us.’
Searching for Steven (Whitsborough Bay Trilogy Book 1) Page 20
