The Second Chance Shoe Shop

by Marcie Steele

  ‘You’ll be fine.’ Ash sounded confident. ‘You have been for this long. Don’t forget it’s down to you that the shop hasn’t closed before now.’

  ‘I wish you were right, but I’m nothing special.’

  ‘You’re the glue on their heels!’ Ash came out in her defence. ‘You made that shop what it is today. It might not be what you intended, but it survived because you motivated the staff.’

  It was kind of Ash to say that, as well as Dan earlier that day, but Riley disagreed. They worked as a team and she hardly had to keep them under control. Occasionally there was a need to give them a telling off when they weren’t pulling their weight, or when Dan fooled around too much, but most of the time everything ran smoothly.

  ‘If we could stock more fashionable items, and at decent prices, we might survive another summer, but even with that I don’t think we’ll be able to handle another Christmas. At this rate, I’m going to be out of a job come autumn.’

  ‘No, you won’t, Riles. You’ll work something out. You always do.’ Ash glanced at her watch before jumping to her feet. ‘I have to go. See you tomorrow.’

  Riley nodded. ‘Enjoy your date. I want to hear all about it in the morning.’

  ‘I don’t have to tell you everything, Riley Flynn,’ Ash remarked, her cheeks reddening even more.

  ‘Yes, you do!’

  Once Ash had gone, Riley was left with the night stretching out in front of her. Still, she didn’t mind so much. It would give her time to do some surfing, catch up with some of the crowd on Twitter. Mind-numbing stuff that might stop her thinking about work.

  After the week they’d had, Sunday couldn’t come round quick enough. It was just after half past twelve when Sadie opened her front door to find Riley, Dan and Ash standing on her doorstep. Cooper, who had been Ross’s best friend, had arrived earlier and, although the weather had been quite overcast, he’d started tidying the garden for spring. It had only begun to rain during the last hour.

  ‘Christ on a bike, it’s lashing down out there,’ Ash exclaimed, shaking her head. Droplets of water ran off the hood of her coat.

  Riley gave Sadie two bottles of wine. ‘We’ll be needing a hot toddy instead of these!’ she cried.

  ‘What about me?’ Dan ran a hand over his head, his tone teasing as he looked at Riley pointedly. ‘My hair is such a mess.’

  Riley pushed him playfully into the hall.

  Sadie grinned as she closed the door behind them, watching them troop through to the tiny kitchen at the back of the house. They made more noise than Esther when her friends were visiting.

  ‘Cooper!’ cried Ash as she spotted him drying off his hands. She draped her arms around his neck. ‘How are you, me old devil? I haven’t seen you in, oh, let’s see, a week maybe?’

  Cooper blushed as she hugged him. ‘Hey, Ash.’

  Although his first name was David, Cooper had been known by his surname at school and it had stuck with him throughout his life, so much so that he always introduced himself as that. Sadie couldn’t remember the last time anyone had called him David.

  Along with his cheeky grin, Cooper had dazzling blue eyes underneath thick eyebrows. His skin darkened at the sight of sun, and his business as a handyman, being outdoors often, meant that he had a permanent T-shirt tan during the summer months. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on his frame, his skinny jeans fitting perfectly. A tribal tattoo peeping over the top of his pale blue shirt collar was the only thing that might make him seem a little menacing.

  ‘Where’s Christine?’ Riley turned around in a full circle. ‘Is she upstairs playing with Esther?’

  ‘She’s not coming,’ said Sadie. ‘Paul isn’t working so they’re going out for lunch on their own. Kind of glad, really.’ She looked a bit sheepish as she popped the wine on the side and busied herself getting out glasses. ‘It’s been quite full-on with her this week.’

  Riley grimaced. ‘It doesn’t get any easier for her, does it? How are you?’ She rubbed gently at Sadie’s arm.

  An uncomfortable silence dropped on the room, as if suddenly it struck everyone that Ross had been gone for a nearly a year. They had been a tight group of friends for years. Ross, Dan and Cooper. Sadie, Riley and Ash. They’d had some great late nights − a little less often since Esther was born − and they had been planning on catching up on a child-less weekend away when Ross had been diagnosed with cancer.

  Sadie looked away for a moment, concentrating on getting the wine in the glasses before it went all over the table as her hands shook.

  Esther broke up the sombre atmosphere as she came thundering down the stairs. Arriving in the doorway wearing a pink dress and navy woollen tights, her hair in bunches, she threw herself at Dan and wrapped her arms around his thighs.

  ‘Dan, I can do a handstand!’ she said. ‘Shall I show you?’

  ‘But you have a skirt on, missy,’ Sadie reminded her. ‘You don’t want everyone to see your drawers?’

  ‘What are drawers?’ Esther looked up at Dan, a face full of innocence.

  Sadie giggled as everyone turned to see what Dan would say.

  He bent down and whispered into Esther’s ear.

  Esther gasped, her hand covered her mouth and then she laughed loudly. ‘My knickers!’

  Sadie shooed them all out of the kitchen. ‘Leave me to the dinner and I’ll shout you when it’s ready. Cooper, there’s beer in the fridge for you and Dan.’

  Minutes later, as she warmed up the gravy, Sadie heard peals of laughter coming from the living room. Her shoulders drooped. As much as she enjoyed having everyone round, sometimes it made her think too much. Ross used to love their monthly Sunday lunch gatherings, and they’d carried on the tradition as much as possible after his death. Sundays were family days, he’d always told her.

  Her parents lived in Dorset now, so she only saw them when she went on longer breaks during the school holidays. They kept in touch online or on the phone. Only that morning, she’d been speaking to her mum on Skype, planning when they would next go for a visit. It would soon be Easter, so if she could take some time off from Chandler’s, she’d book train tickets. Esther loved going by train.

  Riley came back into the kitchen. ‘Need a hand?’

  Sadie wiped away a rogue tear that had fallen and smiled at her. ‘Yes, thanks!’

  ‘Are you okay?’ Riley asked, a concerned look crossing her face.

  ‘I’m fine,’ Sadie sniffed, not wanting to meet Riley’s eyes.

  ‘No, you’re not.’ Riley gave her a hug. ‘And it’s okay if you’re not.’

  ‘Just having an off day, that’s all.’ Sadie clenched her eyes shut, tears stinging. Luckily, she pushed them back.

  ‘Anything in particular brought this on?’

  ‘Just all of us being together sometimes reminds me that Ross isn’t here.’ Sadie swallowed. ‘I don’t want to cry in front of Esther.’

  ‘I know.’ Riley grabbed a serving spoon. ‘Come on, I’ll help you to dish the food out before it goes cold.’

  Once they had devoured their dinner, followed by apple crumble and custard, Dan sat back and rubbed his stomach. ‘I am definitely Fat Dan now,’ he grinned. ‘But a very happy one. Hey, Cooper, you got any good jokes lined up?’ It was as much of a tradition as their Sunday roast for Dan and Cooper to tell a joke or two. Each month they competed for the corniest.

  ‘Always got to get one up on you, my son.’ Cooper dropped his spoon into his bowl with a clatter and an appreciative look at Sadie. ‘You want to hear a pizza joke?’

  ‘I do!’ Esther clapped her hands.

  Cooper glanced at them all through narrowed eyes and shook his head. ‘Never mind, it’s pretty cheesy.’

  Everyone groaned as Esther looked up at Cooper in confusion.

  ‘That’s not funny.’ Then she laughed anyway.

  ‘Okay, here we go.’ Dan rubbed his hands together excitedly. ‘A farmer in the field with his cows counted one hundred and ninety-six of them, but when he
rounded them up he had two hundred.’

  ‘That is so lame!’ cried Riley as everyone laughed. ‘Surely you boys can do better than that, otherwise we might have to start finding jokes too.’

  ‘Okay, okay.’ Cooper held up his hand for silence. ‘A pirate walks into a bar with a steering wheel stuck in his pants.’

  The room dropped into silence as they waited for the punchline. Cooper drew it out as long as he could.

  ‘And?’ asked Sadie.

  ‘The bartender asks, “Doesn’t that bother you?” The pirate says, “Oh ahh, it’s driving me nuts!”’

  ‘The old ones are the good ones.’ Dan held his hand across the table for Cooper to high-five.

  ‘What are nuts, Mum?’ asked Esther.

  ‘Cooper!’ Ash swiped at his arm but he moved it in time.

  ‘I am the devil.’ Cooper gave an evil cackle. ‘Well, that’s what the women tell me.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘Apparently in the sack, I’m hot stuff.’

  ‘In your dreams,’ Ash smirked.

  ‘How would you know unless you’d been in my bed?’ Cooper squared up to her playfully. ‘You’ll never be able to share those details with anyone, so my secret is safe.’

  ‘Secret?’ scoffed Dan. ‘You think you’re God’s gift to women?’

  ‘It’s better than having to rely on a dating website,’ Cooper teased Dan. ‘You been getting any loving lately?’

  ‘Don’t remind me!’ Dan held his head in his hands, pretending to sob. ‘My latest one was another disaster.’

  ‘Have you seen anything of Sarah, lately?’ asked Sadie, knowing that she was okay to bring up her name. Even though the break up had been Sarah’s fault, Dan knew that his friends had thought a lot of his ex, before she slept with someone else. ‘I still can’t believe you two split up.’

  ‘It wasn’t meant to be,’ Dan sighed dramatically. ‘I haven’t seen her in a while, to be honest. And we stopped texting shortly after I wouldn’t go back to her. I do miss her every now and then, though.’

  ‘She was a laugh,’ admitted Ash, ‘but I couldn’t believe she would do that to you. And you don’t have anyone else lined up to bring for lunch yet?’

  Dan shook his head. ‘I’m doomed, I tell you. Doomed!’

  ‘Our future looks doomed at the moment,’ Riley commented.

  ‘I suppose, if Suzanne has her way,’ said Dan. ‘But then again, we’re not going to be taking part in any competition, are we?’

  ‘Good!’ Sadie pointed at Dan. ‘You’re a master salesman − how can I sell shoes like you do?’

  ‘You’ve either got it or you haven’t,’ said Dan. Over the years he’d worked at Chandler’s, he’d become known for finding the right shoe for absolutely everyone. He had the gift of the gab, if nothing else.

  ‘I was wondering whether to approach the Hedworth News,’ said Riley. ‘I saw an article in the week about a local woman running her business. Perhaps they’d do a write-up on us? What do you think?’

  ‘Maybe we could do a sale and incorporate that into the article?’ suggested Sadie.

  ‘You should do something in the shop window,’ said Ash. ‘People can’t help but look when something is different. Get a crowd, take some photos − and sell some shoes!’

  ‘That sounds a great idea.’ Cooper glanced at Ash. ‘You do have them every now and again.’

  Ash punched him and Cooper tried to look hurt.

  ‘It’s definitely worth a try,’ Dan added. ‘As long as we can all be in the photo.’

  Riley nodded. ‘I’ll give them a call tomorrow.’

  On the bus to work the next morning, Riley tried to come up with a different angle for a story that the Hedworth News might be interested in. She had read the newspaper since she was a teenager. They covered local things with a sense of pride.

  Perhaps the fact that Chandler’s was still on the High Street after its owner’s death could be enough. They had kept it going, despite not being able to do anything they had wanted to make it modern and competitive.

  What could she mention that would grab their attention? Should it be about how long they had survived? Or maybe just the fact that they were a local shop would be enough.

  Once at the shop, she began going through the outstanding invoices which needed to be paid that week. Dan came straight over to her as soon as he arrived. It seemed she wasn’t the only one who had been thinking about things.

  He dropped down on the seat next to her in the staffroom. ‘Do you think we should get in touch with the Hedworth News? Ash is right. We could do something really silly―’

  ‘Or we could come across as professional,’ Riley cut in. ‘We want to attract customers to the shop, not clowns who won’t spend their money.’

  ‘Of course,’ Dan grinned.

  ‘Let’s see if we can get anyone interested first. You never know, we might not even be worthy of a slot.’

  ‘How come?’

  ‘It’s hardly news around these parts, is it? Yet another shop on the High Street with the threat of closure.’

  ‘It could be news if we try to stop yet another shop on the High Street from closing,’ said Dan.

  ‘We’ll make it work somehow,’ said Riley.

  Dan stood up. ‘Better go and help Sadie to open up. Shall I take the banner over to the square again?’

  ‘No.’ Riley shook her head. ‘I’ll do it.’

  Just ten minutes later, she went back upstairs with the banner underneath her arm. She’d thought it best to run the idea of a feature past Suzanne first but as there was no answer when she called, she left a voicemail on her phone.

  ‘There’s a reporter coming later this morning,’ she told Dan and Sadie.

  ‘Ooh, we’re going to be in the paper,’ Dan cried excitedly. ‘Do we know when it will run?’

  ‘Later this week, hopefully,’ said Riley.

  Sadie gave her a huge grin. ‘You’re a star.’

  Riley tried to put on a brave face as she walked across the High Street in the direction of the town square. Situated outside the shopping centre and the indoor market, there would be lots of passing trade to see the banner. The trouble was, Riley wasn’t sure anyone would see the banner who hadn’t already seen it for years. They needed something new.

  ‘Another sale?’ someone shouted to her.

  Riley turned to see a woman with dark hair tied back in a ponytail and wearing a polo shirt with a logo on it. It was Nicci Worthington. She worked on the fruit stall in the market.

  ‘Hi, Nicci, how’s married life treating you?’ she asked.

  ‘It’s nearly a year, can you believe it?’

  Nicci’s grin told Riley all she needed to know. ‘Yes, and I suppose everyone is asking you about the patter of tiny feet,’ Riley laughed. She’d been asked all the time when she had been with Tom. People were so predictable.

  Nicci rolled her eyes. ‘I’m happy enough being an aunty for now. Our Amy is seven months old. I can’t believe that, either.’

  ‘How is Jess doing?’ Jess was Nicci’s sister-in-law and worked at the family sweet stall.

  ‘She’s fine. They’re both fine,’ said Nicci. ‘I must admit, the baby certainly calmed Jess down. It’s brought the family together too, as well as my sister’s wedding. I guess the men will be heading your way to buy formal shoes soon. Only two months to go!’

  ‘You’re going to be a bridesmaid for Louise and Mark, I hear?’

  ‘Yes, and my sister had better not dress me up in anything too pink, either!’

  Riley laughed as Nicci waved and went on her way. She attached the final loop of the banner in place, checked to see it was level and swiped her hands together. Perfect.

  She made her way back to the shop, her thoughts returning to the newspaper journalist who was calling that morning. Although she was looking forward to seeing Chandler’s in the paper, she knew an article might only increase sales in the short term, if at all. It wouldn’t be enough to keep the shop afloat. Still, anythin
g was worth a shot to get the message to the people of Hedworth that the shop needed their help.

  Half an hour later, Riley looked up from the till as a woman came into the shop. She strode across the floor towards her with purpose, long red hair flying behind her. She wore a grey trouser suit, a white shirt and black heels. Before reaching the till, she pushed black, designer, thick-rimmed glasses back up her nose. Green eyes shone from behind the lenses.

  ‘Hi, I’m Kim Nash,’ she said, holding out her hand. ‘We spoke on the phone.’

  ‘Hi, yes. I’m Riley Flynn, the manager. Thank you for coming to see us.’

  Kim glanced around. ‘Do you have an office or do you want to sit here?’

  ‘Here will be just fine.’ Riley pointed to the leather cubes at the back of the shop. ‘I doubt we’ll be busy enough to get moved from these by people trying on shoes, but if we do, we can go and grab a coffee at Ray’s Cafe down the street.’

  ‘I thought business was good?’ Kim’s ears pricked up.

  ‘It is!’ Riley cursed inwardly. She’d better be careful what she said or else it might get printed. The last thing she wanted was to give the impression that the shop wasn’t doing well. She wanted this feature to celebrate Chandler’s having been on the High Street for over eighty years, the business having been passed down to Albert by his father, and then by Albert to his daughter, Suzanne. There was to be no mention of the fact that they were struggling. ‘It gets busy later. I chose the right moment for you to call,’ she sidelined. ‘Now, what is it that you want to know?’

  After a few minutes of chatting to Kim, Riley’s nerves began to disappear. The journalist was personable, charming, and she only wanted to know about the business. She didn’t seem as if she was going to twist Riley’s every word or make her out to be a demon.

  ‘We’ll do a half-page piece,’ Kim told her. ‘We’ll get most of the facts and figures down, say how welcoming the shop is and how it is keen to stay local and proud. We can mention the sale this coming weekend, and then we can include a photo of you and the staff. That okay with you?’