With only half an hour before closing time, Annabel pawed through the TV guide she’d picked up at lunch. There was nothing like a good crime drama to make her forget her own problems and, with a couple of new shows starting this week, she wanted to know if they were worth tuning in for. The synopsis made the first one sound quite good. At last, she thought. Something to look forward to. Just as she was about to read the second synopsis, the shop doorbell sounded and Annabel looked up. She automatically put the magazine to one side and smiled at the young chap who, after a quick look around, seemed relieved to spot the bucket of red roses.

‘Can I take a dozen of these, please,’ he asked.

‘Of course you can, sir,’ Annabel replied.

As he handed her the container, she couldn’t help but notice the man’s nerves. The poor chap seemed so worked up that the whole thing shook in his hands. In Annabel’s floristry experience, this could only mean one of two things. Either he’d been a very bad boy and was about to make a heartfelt apology, or he was being a good boy and about to do something romantic.

She hoped it was the latter and carefully selected twelve of the best blooms before laying them onto sheets of decorated paper. Annabel then began expertly wrapping them into a bouquet. She could see him anxiously fidgeting out of the corner of her eye and decided to let her curiosity get the better of her. ‘Special occasion?’ she asked.

‘They’re for my girlfriend,’ the chap replied. ‘I’m going to propose.’

Annabel felt glad to hear it. She much preferred to think of her flowers displayed in a vase somewhere, rather than simply dumped in the bin. Plus, the poor man appeared to need a good woman behind him, if only to show him how to use an iron. ‘How exciting,’ she said.

The doorbell sounded once more, signaling yet another customer and, after glancing over, Annabel gave a friendly nod to the older lady now making her way inside.

‘Would you like to see the ring?’ asked the young chap. He proceeded to take a box out of his inner jacket pocket and seemed to anticipate her response as he carefully opened its lid. ‘I chose it myself.’

Annabel took in the simple gold band and beautiful solitaire diamond. Despite the man’s appearance, he certainly had taste. ‘She’ll love it,’ she said. ‘It’s gorgeous.’

Clearly relieved to hear this, the chap proudly tucked it away again.

‘There you go,’ said Annabel. ‘Beautiful flowers for a very lucky lady.’

The man flushed red as he produced a couple of notes from his wallet and swapped them for his purchase. ‘Keep the change,’ he said.

‘But won’t you need it?’ asked Annabel.

‘Sorry?’ said the man.

As she rang up the till, he seemed to suddenly panic and Annabel felt guilty for sending him into another tither. As these events go, it was as if she’d made him think he’d forgotten something important. ‘For the champagne,’ she calmly replied. ‘When she says yes.’

The man visibly relaxed. ‘Right, for the champagne,’ he said. He still refused to take the money and simply waved a dismissive hand before heading for the door.

‘Excuse me,’ Annabel called out.

Before he could leave, she hastily raced from behind the counter and grabbed a couple more roses along the way. ‘Here,’ she said to the young chap. ‘Twelve of these declare your ultimate love, whereas two show your commitment to the forthcoming marriage. Maybe you could give these to her tomorrow.’

The man looked at the roses in her hand. ‘Thank you,’ he said, appreciatively taking them. ‘I will.’

‘Good luck,’ Annabel called after him, as he finally made his exit.

After re-taking her place behind the counter, she began cleaning up the odd bit of leaf left over from the dozen roses. Annabel glanced up at the older lady; she appeared to be looking for something in particular. ‘Can I help you?’ she asked.

‘That was a lovely thing you just did there,’ said the woman.

Annabel shook her head. ‘Ah, it was nothing.’

The woman smiled before getting back to her search. ‘Who doesn’t love flowers?’ she said. ‘They’re all so beautiful, so cheerful. Did you know each and every one of them has their own special meaning? That’s what makes it so hard to choose.’

Annabel thought that it was nice to meet someone who appreciated all things floral as much as she did, she eyed her potential customer, who was wearing striking patterns and bold red statement jewellery; she obviously enjoyed the finer things in life, along with a sense of style. Unlike me, thought Annabel. After looking down at her own somewhat boring attire, even that young chap in his crumpled suit demonstrated more pizazz.

She suddenly remembered her conversation with Dan, about how his mother never saved anything for best. She pictured his face, just thinking about him made her heart pang and, in refusing to let herself go there, she tried to dismiss the memory as quickly as it had arrived.

She returned her attention to the customer. ‘What is it you’re looking for?’ she asked.

‘Oh, I’ll know it when I see it,’ said the woman. She continued her search. ‘Here we are,’ she all at once added. ‘Perfect.’

Annabel watched her hastily reach down to pick up a bunch of her chosen flowers. In her excitement, however, she must have moved too quickly. It looked like she was about to faint and Annabel rushed over to help before the woman could injure herself.

After relieving her customer of her belongings, she gently took her by the arm and steered her towards the stool by the counter. ‘Here,’ she said. ‘Take a seat.’

‘Talk about a head rush,’ said the woman, clearly thankful for the assistance. ‘I don’t know what came over me.’

‘You do look a bit pale,’ said Annabel. She placed the woman’s handbag and flowers on the counter and helped her on to the stool. ‘Let me get you some water.’

She quickly headed out back, grabbed a glass, and turned on the tap. ‘Do you want me to call someone? A doctor maybe?’ she shouted through. After returning to the woman, she set the glass down for her to drink from when she was ready.

‘It’s very kind of you to offer,’ her customer replied. ‘But I’ll be alright in a minute.’

Annabel checked the time and decided it wouldn’t hurt to close up a little earlier for a change. ‘Then how about I give you a lift home?’

‘Again, there’s no need,’ said the woman. ‘I have a taxi waiting.’

She indicated outside and Annabel spotted the attending car. The driver, a cheerful looking, portly man, seemed to sense he was being watched and, gave them a wave. In return, the woman held up what looked like the victory sign and mouthed that she’d only be a couple of minutes. He smiled, sticking his thumb up in response.

‘He seems a lovely chap,’ said Annabel.

‘Oh he is. He runs me about a lot these days. Honestly, anyone would think he was my own personal chauffeur. And he isn’t one of those drivers who sits up front, all po-faced, refusing to say a single word. He tells me about his wife and his family, about what they’re up to.’

The woman picked up the glass and began sipping on her water. Much to Annabel’s relief, some semblance of colour finally began returning to her cheeks.

‘Do you have children?’ she asked.

Annabel felt thrown. After the last couple of months it was a subject she preferred not to discuss. ‘I’m afraid not,’ she said. She automatically placed a hand on her belly. ‘I was hoping to, but, well you know.’

‘It just hasn’t happened yet?’ said the woman. She nodded to Annabel’s necklace. ‘I noticed the wedding ring.’

Annabel put a hand up to the chain around her neck. ‘No, it’s not that,’ she replied. ‘My husband, he died.’

‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ said the woman.

Annabel recognised the sympathy in her eyes as she carried on drinking her water.

‘My husband died young too,’ she said. ‘And although you’ve probably heard this a hundred times before, I can assure you, life does go on.’

Annabel smiled; she was trying to disguise the fact that, for her, it most certainly didn’t. ‘I take it you re-married,’ she asked. She might not be able to move on herself, but that didn’t stop her feeling pleased for those that could.

‘Me?’ replied the woman. ‘No, I was too busy single-handedly raising a child to even think about meeting someone else. Of course, that’s not to say I didn’t have the odd admirer or two, I just kept them at arm’s length. Nobody matched up to my husband, you see.’

‘There’s still time,’ suggested Annabel. ‘None of us know what, or who, is around the corner.’

The woman laughed. ‘I think it’s a bit late for me to start thinking like that. But you’ve got plenty of time.’

Annabel took in the woman before her. It felt good to meet someone who knew first-hand what she’d been through; what she was still going through. Family and friends meant well in their advice, but they had a tendency to come over as a tad judgemental when she didn’t follow their guidance. This woman, well she understood.

‘I thought I’d met someone,’ she said. ‘His name’s Dan. But things didn’t work out.’

‘Oh,’ said the woman. Her eyes widened, as if encouraging Annabel to continue.

‘You’d like him. He’s funny, smart, and in the short time we knew each other he helped me to start enjoying life again. And you know how hard that can be when it comes to us widows.’

The woman laughed. ‘Tell me about it,’ she said.

‘It’s not that I compared him to Tom. Tom’s my husband, by the way. I just got scared.’

‘Of what?’

‘I don’t know. Lots of things I suppose.’

‘And did you tell this Dan how you felt?’ asked the woman.

‘No, I hardly dared admit it to myself and I haven’t a clue how he feels about me. Anyway, falling for Dan seemed too much like a betrayal.’ Annabel paused; she wondered if she was sharing too much information. ‘You’ll probably think I’m mad,’ she said. ‘But when my husband was alive I promised I’d stay faithful forever. Childish I know, but I gave my word.’

‘Some promises are meant to be broken,’ said the woman. ‘Thanks to circumstance, sometimes we’re left with no choice.’ She too seemed to pause for a second, as if thinking about her own life. ‘What would your husband want you to do?’

Annabel began wrapping the customer’s flowers. ‘He’d want me to be happy.’

‘Even if that means starting over with someone else?’ asked the woman.

Annabel nodded. ‘Yep.’

‘Well there you go then.’

Annabel sighed. ‘It’s not that easy though, is it?’ she asked.

‘The best decisions in life never are,’ the woman replied. ‘Look, I can’t tell you what to do one way or the other, but what I can say is that you have a long road ahead of you. I know that makes me sound like a hypocrite, but I had a child to keep me going and even though he’s all grown up now, I still do. But it isn’t easy being on your own. No man is an island, as they say, and believe me, it can get very lonely. We need someone to share our lives with. We need to love and be loved.’

‘You sound like my sister and best friend. They think I should just go with the flow and see where it takes me.’

‘Wise words,’ said the woman. ‘Maybe you should listen to them?’

The woman carefully eased herself off of the stool and picked up her handbag. ‘Time I should be going,’ she said, as she headed for the door.

‘Don’t forget these.’ Annabel called after her as she held up the flowers.

The woman turned with a knowing smile. ‘They were never intended for me,’ she said. ‘They were always meant for you.’

Annabel watched her make her exit and felt confused. Why would a complete stranger want to gift her flowers?

‘But …’

Before she could say anything else, the woman was already out of the door and half way into the taxi. Forced to watch it pull away, she looked down at the blooms in her hand.

‘Daffodils.’ Acknowledging their meaning, she couldn’t help but smile to herself.

Annabel stared at the car as it drove off into the distance.

‘New beginnings,’ she said.