Bracing herself with one hand on the counter, Beth scrolled through her address book and pressed dial.
‘Hello?’
‘Mum? It’s me, Beth.’
‘Hello, stranger. So you haven’t dropped off the edge of the earth then? I did wonder when I hadn’t heard from you.’
Beth bit back a sigh at her mother’s snippy tone. The amazing thing about phones was that they worked both ways. She might not have called, but neither had Linda—not that it would occur to her, of course. ‘I wanted to make sure I caught you before you started your day, I know how busy you are.’
‘Well actually, it’s a good job you did call now because the girls from the bridge league are meeting for breakfast at the club this morning.’ Girls might be stretching it a bit, even with the extensive amount of plastic surgery popular amongst them.
‘I wanted to let you know that Eleanor left the emporium to me in her will, and I’ve decided to take over running it.’ She took a deep breath, then hurried on. ‘In fact, I’m hosting an opening party this evening.’
‘But what about your job in London? You can’t possibly hope to manage a shop and keep up with all your other work at the same time. What were you thinking?’
Realising her knuckles had turned white where she was gripping the counter so hard, Beth forced her fingers to unclench. ‘I was thinking that my job wasn’t making me very happy, that I was being taken for granted. Running the emporium is a real challenge, Mum, and I’m having fun being my own boss for a change. I thought you’d be happy for me.’ She hadn’t really, but it was worth a try.
‘Happy?’ Beth winced at her mum’s shrill tone. ‘You’ve thrown away all your prospects to run that smelly, shabby hovel. I knew I shouldn’t have left you in that woman’s care. She’s brainwashed you!’
‘Eleanor was a wonderful friend to me, and it was only through her kindness that you were free to start your new life with Reg. Please don’t speak ill of her.’ It took effort not to raise her voice, but getting into a full-blown fight with her mum wouldn’t do any good. Linda hated Lavender Bay and she would never understand why not everyone else felt the same way.
‘Oh, I might have known I’d end up being the bad guy in all this, when all I’ve ever wanted is what’s best for you. You’re throwing your life away, Beth. I hate to see you throwing away all that potential so you can play at being a shopkeeper.’ A loud sniffle followed the outburst.
When Beth didn’t jump in to placate her, her mum huffed, her crocodile tears abandoned almost as quickly as they’d started. ‘Don’t expect me to wish you good luck. If you have any sense at all you’ll sell that place and use the money towards building a proper future.’
Beth closed her eyes and prayed for patience. Why had she honestly expected anything other than this? ‘Nothing’s set in stone, Mum, but if I do decide to sell it then surely it’s better to be able to offer a going concern rather than an empty shell?’
Stony silence. She bit her lip, refusing to let herself get upset. Well, I just wanted to tell you about the opening tonight. I’ll give you a call sometime and let you know how I’m getting on. Bye, Mum.’
She hung up before her mum had even finished saying goodbye, disappointment weighing her shoulders down. There was no time to brood as someone knocked on the front door. Flipping the lock, she fixed a big smile on her face and opened it. ‘Welcome! Oh, it’s you.’
‘Jesus, B, that’s the scariest expression I’ve ever seen. If you’re not careful, you’ll scare off all your potential customers.’
‘I just got off the phone to Mum.’
‘Oh, God, no wonder you look ready for a scrap.’ Libby bustled in a large box under her arm. ‘Wow, it looks great in here.’ She grabbed a handful of peanuts and stuffed them in her mouth. ‘I’m starving!’
Slapping her hand away from the bowl, Beth laughed, her friend’s vibrant personality the perfect foil to her mother’s coldness. ‘You work in a chip shop, Libs, how can you possibly be starving?’
‘Ugh! Are you kidding? If I never see another saveloy in my life, it’ll be too soon.’ She turned in a circle. ‘Where can I put this?’ She started pushing some of the carefully positioned bowls aside.
Beth leapt forward. ‘Hey, it took me ages to get these in the right place.’ Easing Libby aside, she shifted a plate back six inches to the left. ‘What’s in the box, anyway?’
‘Be patient.’ Libby pulled her tablet out from her shoulder bag and started fiddling with it. She clicked on an icon and Eliza’s face filled the screen. ‘Finally! Did she open it yet? Put me somewhere I can see what’s going on.’
‘Hold your horses,’ Libby scolded. She held the tablet against her chest, pointing it at Beth. ‘Can you see now?’
‘I can see her belly button. Nice blouse, by the way, Beth. Very classy.’ Libby lifted the tablet higher. ‘That’s it, hold it there!’
‘God, you’re bossy.’ Libby nodded at Beth. ‘Eliza and I wanted to say we both think what you’re doing is amazing, and we couldn’t be more proud of you.’
‘And we know you’re going to be a runaway success,’ Eliza chipped in.
‘I was getting to that bit,’ Libby rolled her eyes. ‘So, anyway, we wanted to get you something to celebrate your new venture.’
A familiar tingle started behind Beth’s eyes and she blinked rapidly to chase away the impending tears. ‘You didn’t need to do that.’
‘Oh, hush, of course we did. That’s what best friends are for.’ Libby said. ‘Now open the box.’
The top of the box had been folded in on itself and she tugged one of the long flaps free. A pile of pink tissue paper greeted her. Lifting the other flap, she lifted out handfuls of the paper to reveal a bubble-wrapped rectangle. A gold label she recognised secured the wrapping in place. Pausing, Beth, glanced up. ‘What did you do?’
Libby grinned. ‘Open it.’
Fingers shaking, she peeled the label and folded back the bubble wrap. ‘Oh. Oh my God.’ Inside a white pine frame was a delicate watercolour rendering of a small section of the promenade from the perspective of someone on the beach. Sitting in the centre, slightly larger than the buildings to either side was a beautiful rendering of the emporium, complete with its brand-new stripy awning and a sign showing the new name.
No amount of blinking was going to hold back the tears this time. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she snivelled. ‘Just beautiful. Thank you.’
‘Oh, B, not your makeup!’ Libby dumped the tablet on the counter to fumble in her pocket for a tissue. ‘Deep breaths, deep breaths, come on now.’ She flapped her hands in front of Beth’s face as she pressed the tissue hard against the corners of her eyes.
‘I’m okay, I’m okay.’ Beth took a deep breath and held it for a count of five. ‘I’m okay.’ She grabbed Libby’s face between her hands to smack a kiss on her lips. ‘Thank you. You’re amazing’ Picking up the tablet, she kissed the screen. ‘You too, Eliza. You’re both incredible and I couldn’t have done this without you.’
‘Nonsense.’ Eliza grinned at her from the slightly smeared screen. ‘You did all the hard work, not us. Take pride in what you’ve achieved, and this is only the beginning. I just wish I could be there with you.’
‘Me too. Maybe you can come and see us again in a few weeks once the weather warms up? You’ll need to work on your tan if you’re going abroad.’ Eliza’s bright smile faded, making Beth wince. Foot, meet mouth.
A knock was swiftly followed by the jaunty ring of