The Village Shop for Lonely Hearts

by Alison Sherlock

  Josh was also looking dismayed at the flooding. ‘Think the pub might have just about survived.’

  Amber looked across to where the water was splashing against the front steps of the pub. ‘Let’s hope so,’ she said. ‘Belle said the cellar was going to flood though.’

  ‘Yeah. I think it probably has.’

  She looked back down the lane and saw people were beginning to come out of their houses to survey the damage. Everyone looked a bit shell-shocked from lack of sleep and worry.

  ‘People look shattered,’ she said, turning to Josh.

  ‘I know how they feel,’ he told her with a weary sigh.

  ‘Those people that were flooded have spent the night in the pub,’ she told him. ‘They had the spare rooms.’

  He nodded. ‘That was a good idea. It’s going to take a while to get everyone’s homes cleaned up.’

  ‘Could we put a sign up on the veranda?’ she asked. ‘Offering hot drinks. We’ve got the coffee machine and a kettle. People are going to need some warmth whilst they clear up. It’s so cold.’

  He looked at her for a long time before nodding. ‘You’re absolutely right. They might not have electricity with the flooding. And today’s not the day to think about profits,’ he said.

  Amber found herself falling for him just a little bit more at his kindness.

  As Josh wrote on a large blackboard offering free hot drinks and snacks to anyone who needed it, she filled up the kettle and coffee machine and brought out some more biscuits. They had left the microwave downstairs, so she headed up to the flat to grab what was the last of their own bacon, ready to make bacon sandwiches for anyone who wanted them.

  ‘Good morning,’ said Grandma Tilly, coming out of her bedroom in her dressing gown. ‘Everything OK?’

  ‘Not great,’ Amber told her. ‘The village is quite badly flooded.’

  ‘How awful.’ Grandma Tilly turned back around. ‘I’ll get dressed and head down to give you a hand.’

  As it turned out, an awful lot of people needed their help.

  ‘We’ve had to switch off our power supply,’ said Mike, rushing in. ‘I couldn’t grab a coffee, could I, love?’

  ‘Of course,’ said Amber, turning to make his drink. ‘How’s the pub?’

  ‘Thankfully it’s only the cellar which got wet,’ said Mike. ‘Stuff’s ruined down there. My crisps just floated away.’

  ‘Probably because they were a couple of years out of date,’ said Tom, coming into the shop. ‘As long as the beer barrels are intact.’

  Mike nodded. ‘They should be.’

  ‘Good,’ said Tom. ‘The way today’s going to pan out, I may need to do a rather large drinking session later.’

  ‘How’s the newspaper office?’ asked Josh, coming inside to put another log into the wood-burning stove.

  ‘Empty of both water and staff,’ Tom told them. ‘It came up to the front door and a little inside but no further. I’ve sent everyone out and about to see what the damage is. Did someone mention something about a bacon sarnie?’

  ‘That sounds good,’ added Mike.

  ‘Coming up,’ Amber replied, grabbing the second-to-last loaf of bread that they had to start buttering slices.

  ‘At least it’s finally stopped raining,’ said Mike.

  Amber glanced out of the window and saw that the wind had dropped as well.

  The shop began to fill quite quickly with customers all sharing their flooding horror stories. Amber worked flat out to make sure everyone had something to eat and, with Grandma Tilly’s help, they all had a hot drink as well.

  Most of the homeowners had had to switch their electricity off if they were flooded so were also looking to charge their mobiles.

  ‘This is the first time I’ve felt warm all morning,’ said one woman, standing in front of the fire and warming her hands.

  A few people were sitting down on the bench as they chatted and drank their hot drinks.

  ‘I’d heard about the tractor, but I thought someone was pulling my leg,’ said someone.

  Amber and Josh exchanged a small smile before they carried on working.

  Some more customers bought a large amount of cleaning supplies and the wellington boots sold out quickly as well.

  Josh also made a pile of brooms, rubber gloves and dustbin bags, all of which were soon snapped up.

  ‘Our place got flooded during the night,’ said a woman whom Amber didn’t recognise. She was looking around the shop and in particular at the tractor in a wild manner. ‘I don’t know where to start first. We can’t have breakfast because the electricity is off.’ She glanced down at the two young children she had brought with her.

  Amber looked at their pale, tired faces. ‘How about a nice hot chocolate and some toast?’ she said to the children. ‘And let’s get mum a coffee, eh?’

  The woman sighed with relief. ‘Thank you so much. I don’t know what to do.’

  ‘Have something to eat and drink and you’ll feel better,’ Amber told her.

  ‘Who wants to give me a hand with the hot chocolate?’ asked Grandma Tilly, leading the children away behind the counter.

  ‘Wow, that smells good,’ said another stranger as he came in.

  ‘Bacon buttie and a coffee?’ said Amber, with a smile.

  ‘I’ve not got my wallet on me,’ he told her, patting his trousers. ‘I’ll go back and get it.’

  ‘It doesn’t matter,’ Josh told him. ‘This one’s for free today, OK, folks?’

  The man smiled gratefully. ‘That’s great. Thanks so much. My head’s all over the place.’ He looked around the shop. ‘I don’t know what I need to start to clear up.’

  ‘We’ve got loads of rubber gloves,’ said Josh, grabbing a nearby box. ‘You don’t want to be poking around in that filthy water in bare hands. It’s not sanitary. Have you taken photos of everything? Marked where the water came up to for the insurance company?’

  The man shook his head. ‘My phone battery’s dead.’

  ‘Bring it in here to charge whilst Amber makes you a bacon sarnie. I’ve been reading about it online,’ said Josh. ‘You want to make a note and take photos everywhere.’

  ‘OK,’ said the man, nodding. ‘Thanks. I’ll grab my phone and I’ll be back.’

  ‘Did someone say that you’re able to charge a phone?’ asked a woman who had just come into the shop.

  ‘At the back here,’ said Josh, pointing to a socket in the wall. ‘I’ll grab an extension lead,’ he told Amber.

  ‘There’s some Post-it notes here,’ she said, remembering seeing them under the till at some point. ‘I’ll write down whose phone is whose.’

  ‘Brilliant,’ said Josh, dashing off.

  At some point later in the morning, people began to come in for essentials, such as nappies, dustbin bags and cleaning materials, as well as biscuits and any kind of food they could eat whilst they started to clean up.

  Amber had barely sat down all morning and could feel herself flagging by lunchtime.

  ‘You OK?’ asked Josh, as they briefly stood in the shop alone.

  Grandma Tilly had headed upstairs to put her feet up for half an hour, on Josh’s insistence as she too was fading.

  ‘I’m fine,’ said Amber. ‘Just a little weary. But at least we have a warm bed to go to tonight. Some of these people have lost everything.’ She frowned, suddenly realising something. ‘Have you seen Stanley today?’

  Josh shook his head. ‘I’m sure he’s just busy.’

  But Amber was suddenly terribly worried. ‘He always comes in here. Always. Dead on half past nine.’

  They looked at each other and then at the time. It was almost twelve o’clock.

  ‘You stay here and man the fort,’ he told her. ‘I’ll go round and see if he answers the door.’

  ‘Hey up,’ said Dodgy Del, coming through the front door. ‘What’s this about free bacon butties?’

  ‘That might have to wait. Do you know Stanley?’ asked Josh. ‘Comes in th
e pub every Wednesday for his pint?’

  ‘Of course,’ said Del. ‘He was my old headmaster. Why? What’s up?’

  ‘We haven’t seen him and he always comes in every day without fail.’

  Del frowned. ‘He’s down Larch Avenue,’ he said. ‘It’s been pretty bad down there, from what I’ve heard. I’m not sure who checked there last night. Come on.’

  Josh slung on his jacket and followed Del out of the shop and down the stairs.

  Amber paced back and forth, half-heartedly buttering some more bread and refilling the coffee machine whilst she waited for some news.

  Finally, after half an hour of anxious waiting, Del rushed up the steps and flung open the front door.

  ‘We found him,’ he said, panting at having run all the way. ‘He was trapped upstairs. Place is flooded downstairs. Josh is getting the boat and we’ll get him out of there.’

  ‘He’s not hurt, is he?’ asked Amber.

  ‘Just a bit shaken. Josh wanted you to know,’ carried on Del. ‘I’d best get back.’

  Amber had a little cry of relief after he’d gone, then pulled herself together as the next person came into the shop.

  ‘Hi,’ said a woman, coming up to the counter and holding a bag. ‘I’m Lesley and I live locally. Look, I’ve been doing all this baking for a fair that’s got cancelled. Anyway, that doesn’t matter. I heard that everyone’s been coming in here, so I thought you could give them away to some of the families.’

  ‘How kind,’ said Amber, looking inside the bag. There were many decorated cupcakes and fruit cakes, all beautifully packaged. ‘These look amazing.’

  ‘It’s the least I can do.’

  As the woman left, Grandma Tilly came back downstairs. ‘How’s it all going?’

  ‘Look at this,’ said Amber, laying out the cakes and telling Grandma Tilly about the stranger’s kindness.

  ‘Everyone just wants to help,’ said Grandma Tilly.

  Amber looked up as Josh came into the shop.

  ‘How is Stanley?’ she asked.

  Josh sank down onto the crate by the fire. ‘Cold. A little bit frightened, I think. He got a bit confused in the dark and couldn’t find his phone to call anyone. He’s going to stay in the pub until we get his place sorted.’

  But as Josh went to stand up, he almost immediately sat back down again, looking pale.

  ‘You look exhausted,’ Amber told him.

  ‘Here, have something to eat,’ said Grandma Tilly. ‘I’ll make you a cup of tea.’

  He looked down at the sandwich she had just handed him in a sort of daze.

  ‘Eat,’ she told him gently. ‘You’ll feel better for it.’

  The sandwich and the tea appeared to bring him back to life a bit.

  ‘Thanks,’ he said, once he’d drunk the last drop of tea out of the mug. ‘I needed that.’

  ‘I’m sure you did,’ she said. ‘You must be exhausted.’

  In the warm light of the fire, Amber could see he was unshaven and weary.

  Josh looked around the shop. ‘We seem to have been cleared out of quite a bit of stock.’

  Amber nodded. ‘They all needed to buy cleaning stuff. And a lot of people were promising to come back in, as well.’

  He nodded thoughtfully. ‘Well, maybe that will be good. If they come back.’ He stood up and stretched whilst he yawned. ‘I’d better grab some plywood. Somebody needs their back door boarding up.’

  Grandma Tilly took his mug into the storeroom to rinse it out.

  As Josh went to head into the back room, he stopped and turned around. ‘You did really well today. Amazing, in fact. The coffee and sandwiches was a great idea. It really helped. You’re a good person.’

  She blushed and looked away. But she found that he suddenly held her chin with his fingers and gently drew it up so she had to look back at him.

  ‘I mean it,’ he said, suddenly searching her face more intently. ‘You’re amazing.’

  There was a long silence as they locked eyes. Amber found she couldn’t look away and had a sudden urge to kiss him.

  Then he gave a little shake of the head as if to wake himself up, before letting go of her chin. With a smile, he left her standing in the shop alone and the moment had passed all too soon.

  ‘Whatever’s the matter?’ asked Grandma Tilly, as she came back into the shop.

  ‘I’m fine,’ said Amber quickly. ‘I’m just a bit overwhelmed, I think.’

  ‘You know why?’ asked Grandma Tilly, reaching out to squeeze Amber’s hand.

  Amber shook her head in reply.

  ‘Because you’re a villager too now,’ she said.

  Amber smiled and found herself nodding, knowing it to be true. Perhaps she had finally found a place to call home.

  35

  Once Stanley had been checked out, Josh left him in the pub to head back to the shop.

  ‘How’s Stanley?’ asked Amber.

  Josh sank down onto the chair by the fire. ‘He’s OK. More shocked than anything.’

  ‘Poor Stanley,’ said Grandma Tilly. ‘But that house was getting too much for him. I told him that the bungalow’s so much easier. I shall be heading back there myself later.’

  ‘Are you sure?’ asked Josh.

  Grandma Tilly smiled at him. ‘It won’t flood now,’ she said, reaching out to pat him on the shoulder. ‘If anything, I think those stairs have made me realise that my little bungalow is just right for me. I shall go and pack up my bag.’

  ‘I’ll walk you home,’ said Josh.

  But as Grandma Tilly headed upstairs, Josh went to stand up and found that his legs were like jelly.

  ‘You look exhausted,’ Amber told him. ‘I’ll make you another cup of tea. And then I’ll walk Grandma Tilly home.’

  The tea brought him back to life a bit.

  In the warm light of the fire, he could see that she was also looking weary. But he was seriously impressed as to how well she had handled the crisis.

  There was a long silence as they locked eyes again.

  Josh found he couldn’t look away and had a sudden urge to kiss her, just like he had the previous night.

  He was just about to lean forward when his phone rang. He brought out his mobile from his pocket and smiled. ‘It’s Mum,’ he told Amber, heading through the shop and outside to get a better mobile reception.

  ‘Hi,’ he said, as he went across the veranda and out onto Riverside Lane. ‘Sorry, Mum. I meant to call you earlier.’

  ‘That’s OK,’ she replied. ‘Denise heard from Amber, so we know that you’re all OK.’

  ‘The village is a mess, Mum.’ His voice caught on the words and he realised just how hard he had suppressed his distress until that moment.

  ‘I heard, love.’ She sighed heavily down the line. ‘Those poor people.’

  ‘We’re doing what we can,’ he told her, looking around at the mud and debris strewn across the lane.

  ‘Of course you are,’ she said. ‘You’re a good person, Josh. Listen, I’ve been thinking and worrying about you all day. I’d have hated for anything to happen to you, knowing how unhappy you are.’

  ‘Mum,’ he began, but she wasn’t listening.

  ‘Look,’ she carried on, talking over him. ‘It was my parents’ shop and then it was ours. But it was never your dream. That was elsewhere.’ He heard her take a deep breath. ‘Perhaps it’s time to let it go. To leave the shop behind, I mean. I promise I won’t be upset. I just want you to be happy.’

  ‘OK, but now you need to listen to me,’ said Josh. ‘I know I’ve been unhappy and have wanted to leave. But something’s changed. I think I could do some good here. Make a life for myself here in Cranbridge.’

  As he said the words out loud for the first time, he knew in his heart how much he wanted to stay. He wanted to belong to a community that helped each other out during the worst of times. If any good could have come out of the village being flooded, it was that he liked feeling part of a team. That they were all in this
together.

  He heard his mum sob down the line. ‘I don’t want to force you to do something you don’t want to do.’

  ‘The thing is, Mum,’ he told her, ‘I really think that I want to stay. I love the shop. It’s my home, and so’s the village. I’ve got friends here.’

  There was a pause whilst his mum smothered what he assumed were tears. ‘If you’re sure,’ she finally said, in a shaky voice.

  ‘I am.’

  ‘You can’t do it by yourself though,’ she said softly. ‘You’re going to need help.’

  He nodded and smiled as he turned to look up at Cranbridge Stores in front of him. ‘And I know just the person to ask,’ he told her, as he watched Amber through the window.

  36

  After talking to his mum, Josh felt ready to face the afternoon.

  In fact, despite barely having more than a couple of hours’ sleep the previous night, he was raring to go. The situation was awful but new and different customers had come into the shop. It had been transformed and, in spite of his reservations about Amber’s design, especially the tractor, everyone had been very positive.

  He just needed them to keep coming in after life had hopefully resorted back to normal for everyone. But how?

  He and Amber stood in the middle of the shop, which was half empty, such had been the high level of customers.

  ‘The first thing we need to do is restock,’ he said.

  Amber nodded. ‘I’m sure more people will need to come in again for more cleaning stuff. Everywhere is such a mess.’

  ‘Good. I mean, not good, obviously,’ he said quickly. ‘I don’t want to capitalise on anyone’s misfortune, but if they can buy anything they need from us then perhaps they’ll return in the future.’

  ‘Careful,’ she told him. ‘You’re beginning to sound as if you care about the shop after all.’

  He looked at her and wondered how she knew him so well after such a short time. He smiled to himself.

  ‘What’s so funny?’ she asked.

  ‘Me,’ he told her. ‘All this time I’ve been telling myself that I can’t wait to get out of here. That we all just need to move on. But last night, with the water getting so close, I felt, I don’t know, terror at losing it all.’