CHAPTER 35
Just as Rosa was getting worried that her Open Day flyers weren’t going to arrive on time, there was the sound of some post being forced through the letterbox, to land heavily on the front door mat.
She ran downstairs and was delighted to see a thick brown envelope lying there. The flyers! Without hesitation, she ripped open the Jiffy bag and felt quite chuffed. Even though it was one of those ‘design your own’ quick-print companies that she’d used, the flyers did look really professional.
‘Come on, boy, I need to saddle you up,’ she told her trusty hound. ‘We are going on a long walk up and down the street.’
Jacob was watering his plants outside as they marched their way to the top of the hill.
‘Hello, you two.’ He got down to make a fuss of Hot. ‘Notice something different about me?’ he asked Rosa when he stood up again.
Rosa squinted at his face. He pointed to his foot. ‘Plaster off. Game on.’
She laughed. ‘Aw, that’s fab news. Now don’t be camping it up in stilettos for a while, eh?’
‘Alas, I fear my Louboutin days may be numbered, darling. Well, for a few months anyway. The young physio they’ve given me at the hospital is quite cute though, which is always a bonus.’
‘What are you like! So, the flyers have come through for my grand opening.’
‘Your grand opening, dear? Wouldn’t miss it for the world.’ He pursed his lips and winked. ‘Hand some of them over and I shall get touting for you - and of course we will be there to support you. We being me, Raff, and Ugly and Pongo, of course. I will get Alyson to pop down too. Rent a crowd is necessary, especially if the Gazette photographer is coming.’
Jacob gave Hot a treat from his pocket and continued, ‘Rosa dear, I was going to ask if you’d like Raff to make some snacks for you? I’m thinking a few canapes and he does a mean homemade scotch egg. On me, of course, as it’s a special day.’
Rosa was overcome by his kindness. ‘Jacob, that is so bloody sweet of you and the answer is yes, please. I’m down to my last pennies, until I start selling stock that is, so that will be a great help. I’m getting a few bottles of fizz in, and squash for the kids.’
‘It will be fun, and I can’t wait to see the flower power doggy butt-plugs.’ He winked.
After an hour or so, Rosa had got rid of nearly all the leaflets and was heartened by how friendly everyone in the shops and eateries appeared to be. As she approached Seaspray Cottage, she noticed Mary cleaning her front windows. The woman halted her work the moment she spotted Rosa and Hot. Merlin must have got wind of a pooch on his manor and tore out of the wedged-open front door, screeching his indignation and disappearing down the street.
‘Off goes Merlinite mad cat.’ Mary tucked her duster and window cleaner into the pocket of her waist apron.
‘Don’t you worry about him on the road?’ Rosa couldn’t bear to think of Hot running free anywhere that might be dangerous.
Mary coughed. ‘Gosh no, he’s got more than nine lives, that one. Anyway, how are you today, Rosa? You two look like you’re up to mischief.’ She bent down and stroked the dachshund’s smooth, quivering body.
Rosa smiled. ‘No, we’ve just been delivering leaflets to promote the shop opening on Valentine’s Day. I would love you to come, and Queenie - if she’s up to it, of course. You can join me for a glass of fizz.’
‘Oh, I don’t know, and you know Gran doesn’t leave the house.’
‘We have soft drinks too, that’s fine. I’d love you to come. Actually, I saw an old lady in the pub the other night who . . .’
Suddenly, the slightly hunched, deeply wrinkled, dark-glasses-wearing figure of Queenie Cobb was standing at the door. Her long grey hair was neatly tied in a grey plait that reached down to her bottom.
‘Tittle-tattle is futile, Rosa. Always listen to your heart and your gut. Sometimes things aren’t always as they seem.’ She picked a purple crystal up from the windowsill and cupped both hands right around it, murmuring, ‘Even dolphins get caught when they swim upstream, you know.’
With that, the old lady disappeared inside as quickly as she had appeared.
Mary started to rub her ear and shift uncomfortably from foot to foot.
‘It’s fine, Mary, your gran is a wonderful character and the world would be a better place with more of her kind in it.’
Mary looked directly into Rosa’s green eyes with her own of the same colour. ‘I will be there on the fourteenth, just briefly. I’m not one for crowds, me. And I know there will be one.’
‘Thanks, Mary. The more the merrier.’
Back home, Rosa opened the front door to the shop and let out a sigh of relief. ‘Nearly there, Hot. This promoting business is a little more time-consuming than I thought.’
She went upstairs and threw her keys on the kitchen worktop. Queenie was a strange old thing. And what was all that about dolphins? It was as if she’d been listening to their conversation and had interrupted because she didn’t want Rosa to mention what the old woman had said in the pub. Poor Mary; her gran was protecting her from whatever had happened to her. But Queenie had a point: tittle-tattle did have no use. She would let it lie.