‘Oh yes. I tried lots on when I came here the first time. I couldn’t stop.’ Holly giggled, her pretty face lighting up with her smile. ‘Ooh!’ She grimaced. ‘Here it comes… another wave of nausea.’
‘Cracker time?’
‘Please.’
Fran opened her handbag and pulled out the small plastic bag containing salted crackers that she’d brought along just in case. Holly’s morning sickness was getting worse and only crackers and ginger ale seemed to help.
As Holly munched on a cracker, her attention focused on overcoming the queasiness, Fran wandered around the shop looking at the gowns on display. There were ivory ones, peach ones and bright white ones. Some had sequins on the bodices and hems, some had long sleeves and some were backless. Some had short skirts and some had fishtails. Fran found herself yearning to try some of them on just to see how they felt against her skin, but that would be a bit weird seeing as how she wasn’t getting married.
‘Ladies, my apologies!’
A small old woman with short white hair, a tanned face, deep lines around her eyes and mouth and silver rimmed half-moon glasses approached them. In her powder-blue two-piece suit, she looked as though she was off to a wedding herself, and all she needed was a fascinator or a hat to finish off her outfit.
‘Demelza!’ Holly finished her cracker then opened her arms and the two women embraced.
‘So good to see you, poppet.’ Demelza peered up at Holly and Fran realised that the woman must be no more than four foot two inches. She was tiny! ‘And who is this?’ Demelza gestured at Fran.
‘This is my best friend, Fran, and I’m hoping that you can find her a dress too.’
‘What?’ Fran frowned. ‘But I’m not getting married.’
‘But you are going to be my maid of honour, aren’t you?’
Fran opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. Instead, her vision blurred. Holly had spoken to her about this a while ago, but then they’d been interrupted, and time had gone on and Fran hadn’t wanted to raise it again. After all, not everyone needed to have bridesmaids and follow traditions and all that, and Holly was getting married at Greenacres, so it wouldn’t be a big fancy wedding ceremony. It was why they’d decided to get married at the vineyard, because they wanted to keep things as informal and relaxed as possible. And, of course, it kept their costs down, which was an important consideration for everyone these days, especially those with young children to raise. Fran was happy to be going as a guest. Plus, not buying bridesmaids dresses would surely save Holly and Rich a lot of money.
‘Holly… I can wear something that I already have if you definitely want me to do this. Save your money for other things. I’m sure I have a few smart frocks at the back of my wardrobe.’
‘No, Fran. I know you have some pretty dresses, but I want you at my side in a new dress bought especially for the occasion. I’ve been thinking about it and you’re so important to me that I need to have you as my maid of honour.’
‘But the wedding’s less than four weeks away.’
‘I know, and I meant to sort this out sooner but I’ve been feeling so poorly and I’ve been sidetracked by… other things.’
‘Aren’t you well?’ Demelza asked, concern etched on her wrinkled face.
‘I’m okay.’ Holly smiled. ‘Just…’
‘You are with child?’
Holly nodded.
Demelza held out a hand to Holly’s middle. ‘May I?’
Holly glanced at Fran then back at Demelza. ‘Okay.’
The elderly lady placed her hand flat on Holly’s stomach and her eyes widened.
‘It’s very early days,’ Holly explained. ‘But I have been feeling dreadful and I swear I’m already gaining weight, even though the nausea means I’m eating less.’
Demelza shook her head. ‘Holly, my poppet, you have a special pregnancy.’
‘I do?’ Holly frowned. ‘How so? Am I carrying a genius or someone who’s going to stop global warming and put an end to world hunger? Wouldn’t that be amazing, Fran, if Rich and I had a child who helped to save the world?’
Fran smiled and nodded. ‘Amazing.’
‘It is not that.’ Demelza shook her head. ‘Well, your child might save the planet someday, but that wasn’t what I meant. I can’t see that far ahead, but what I can tell you is that… There is more than one baby in there.’
‘What?’ Holly’s hand flew to her chest then she emitted an uncertain laugh. ‘There can’t be.’
‘It’s good news, though.’ Demelza smiled. ‘Two beautiful babies to fill your world with love.’
‘But I already have Luke.’
‘And he will have two lovely little sisters to care for.’
Holly held out a hand to Fran. ‘Cracker, please. Quickly.’
Fran handed Holly the plastic bag and Holly pulled out a cracker and stuffed it into her mouth. She chewed it then grabbed another one, closing her eyes as she digested the carbs and the news.
Fran took a deep breath and let the idea of Holly having two babies settle in the air. It wasn’t how they’d thought the dress fitting would go, obviously, but it certainly was interesting news. If it was correct, that was, because how could this strange old woman possibly know something that hadn’t even been confirmed by a medical professional yet?
An hour later, thoughts of twin pregnancies had slipped from her mind and Fran felt like a princess as she twirled in front of the long mirror, her body clad in silver silk. The silver chiffon sleeves of the dress sat just above her elbows, the silk bodice was gathered under her bust and the skirt fell to her ankles where it seemed to glide against her skin. Combined with the silver headband set with tiny pearls and diamantes and a pair of silver wedge heels, the outfit was perfect. All it needed now was a matching pair of earrings and possibly a different pair of glasses. Demelza hadn’t needed to measure her or ask her size, she’d just disappeared into the back of the shop and returned with this perfectly lovely dress.
‘Are you ready?’ Holly asked from the adjacent changing room.
‘I am. Are you?’
‘Yes. On three?’
‘One. Two. Three!’
They pushed the curtains aside and stepped out into the communal changing area and gasped in sync.
‘You look amazing!’ Fran squealed as she gazed at Holly.
‘So do you!’ Holly clapped her hands. ‘I knew that dress would be perfect for you when Demelza brought it out to show us.’
Demelza smiled at them both, her hands clasped in front of her, and she nodded gently.
Fran gazed at Holly’s dress, a silver silk Grace Kelly-inspired affair with a corset-style bodice, lace shoulders and lace sleeves. It was gathered at the waist then it clung to her hips and fell to her feet. There was a lace overskirt that was the same length as the dress but it was left open at the front. Holly’s blonde hair had been loosely tied back and on her head was a delicate tiara and a silver veil that drifted delicately down to her shoulders.
‘Holly, it’s just perfect.’
‘I know.’ Holly smiled. ‘When I came in here, Demelza said she had the perfect dress just waiting for me and when I tried it on… I knew it was the one. Then I told her about you and she said she had a wonderful dress to match this one and… oh… it’s just wonderful on you. Thank you, Demelza! You are such a star.’
Demelza chuckled, shaking her white head. ‘I just know what suits beautiful young ladies and you two are an absolute vision. You will have a wonderful wedding and a happy marriage, Holly – this is just the beginning. And you will too, Fran.’
‘What?’ Fran stepped backwards. ‘Me?’
‘Oh yes, poppet. It’s in your future. I see it as clearly as I see you standing here before me. He’s very handsome, isn’t he?’
The hairs on Fran’s arms stood on end and she swallowed hard. This was silly, superstitious talk and she’d take no notice of it, although she couldn’t deny that her interest had been piqued.
‘Wh
o’s she going to marry?’ Holly asked and Fran shot her a warning glance.
‘Someone she already knows. Not well, not yet, but she likes him and he likes her. They have some obstacles to deal with first but nothing that can’t be overcome.’ Demelza tapped the side of her nose. ‘And I’m seeing something else… is it clay? Or bread dough? He’s working it with big hands with lovely long fingers and… yes.’ Demelza grinned at Fran.
Fran made a mental note to tell Holly later that what Demelza had said could be applied to anyone and it really was silly. But the clay/bread dough comment was a bit close to home. She hoped Demelza hadn’t really been able to see anything, especially not what had happened when she’d been with Ethan and they’d both been covered in clay. Of course she hadn’t though, the shopkeeper clearly picked up on information about people and was good at reading them, and Holly had probably let it slip that Fran was a ceramist last time she was here and… Her head ached from trying to reason it away, so she pushed all thoughts of how or why from her mind and focussed on the lovely dresses instead.
‘Ooh!’ Holly grinned. ‘That’s so exciting! Who do you think it could be, Fran?’
‘I have no idea.’ Fran rolled her eyes at Holly, trying to indicate that she didn’t want to discuss her imaginary future husband further. Instead, she moved the conversation in Holly’s direction. ‘Why don’t you tell us more about Holly’s twins, Demelza?’
Holly’s eyes bulged and she held out a hand. Fran handed her the cracker bag and Holly pulled out a cracker and nibbled at it.
‘I can’t tell you more than I can see, but yes, Holly, you have two little princesses in your belly and they will arrive late spring, possibly early summer.’
Again, Fran stayed quiet but thought that it was quite a broad guess.
‘Look at my stomach.’ Holly looked down and Fran watched as she ran a hand over the gentle curve. ‘It’s much bigger than it was with Luke and if my dates are correct, I’m almost nine weeks along, which is still very early to have a bump. Of course, I could be wrong about my dates and it could just be that I’m a bit bloated because of the nausea, but I won’t know until my scan. What if it is twins and that’s why I’m bigger? What will Rich think?’
Fran smiled then shrugged but she tried to inject a warning to Holly to be cautious about believing this prediction into her gaze. ‘Why not wait and see what happens?’
She didn’t want Holly to run away with this idea, then find out that it was the mumblings of a very nice, but somewhat eccentric old shopkeeper, so for now it was probably better not to feed the idea any further.
‘Do you know, Demelza, Fran is such a good friend that she’s been keeping my secret about the pregnancy and pretending it’s her who’s pregnant?’
‘How so?’ Demelza asked.
Fran waited while Holly filled the old lady in.
‘What a good friend you are, Fran,’ Demelza said. ‘Holly is lucky to have you.’
‘Oh, I’m lucky to have her too.’ Fran smiled at Holly. ‘I can’t deny that it’s creating some challenges, pretending to be pregnant, but it’s not for much longer so I can live with it.’
‘Do you mean challenges with other people who think that you’re expecting?’ Holly asked.
‘Yes. Ethan Clarke for one.’ The name tripped off her lips before she could stop it, as if it had been waiting there all morning.
‘That’s the one!’ Demelza clicked her fingers as if Fran had just mentioned a name she’d forgotten.
‘He thinks I’m pregnant and I’ve had all sorts of issues arise because of it. He insisted on carrying the boxes I delivered to the tea shop at Rosewood, reprimanded me for drinking mulled wine at the Christmas tree decorating and stopped kissing me because he said it was wrong.’ Fran started as she realised she’d just told them about kissing him.
‘You kissed him?’ Holly’s eyebrows were almost touching the ceiling.
Fran stared hard at the carpeted floor and her scalp tingled uncomfortably. ‘I might have.’
‘When? How?’
‘That’s when the clay came into it.’ Demelza laughed.
The tingling spread from Fran’s scalp to her armpits, but she nodded. ‘Oh… we had a bit of a moment at the potter’s wheel and ended up kissing but he pulled away and said it was wrong. Not just because I’m, apparently, pregnant, but because of his little girl and because he doesn’t know if I have a partner.’
‘Fran, you must tell him the truth!’ Holly had her hands on her hips now and her eyes were filled with determination. ‘You can’t let this lie continue if it’s going to ruin something you could have with that gorgeous man.’
‘No, it’s fine.’ Fran shook her head. ‘I’m not going to force myself upon a man who’s not interested. Anyway, he just confuses me. I have no idea where I am with him and I find my own feelings about him completely baffling.’
Plus he’s already rejected me once and I simply couldn’t bear it if it happened again…
‘You love him.’ Demelza nodded sagely.
‘I do not!’ Fran heard the horror in her tone. ‘I don’t even know him very well.’
And even if I want to get to know him better, I can’t possibly get in the way of what he has with Tilly. It’s just not fair on the little girl to turn her world upside down.
‘Doesn’t matter. It’s love. I can feel it in my water.’
‘Perhaps that’s the three cups of Earl Grey you’ve had since we arrived.’ Fran raised an eyebrow at Demelza.
‘Ha ha! You’ll see, young lady, then you’ll be back for a wedding dress and you’ll tell Demelza she was right.’
Now the old dear was speaking about herself in the third person, so it was probably time to go. Fran only hoped she wouldn’t get the dress orders muddled up, as she really liked the dress Demelza had selected for her. It was a perfect fit, which was lucky as it meant that she wouldn’t need to have it altered and therefore, she wouldn’t need to come back to this shop where she felt oddly exposed, as if Demelza really could see into her heart. What Fran might want deep down, and what she knew she couldn’t have at a more rational level of consciousness, were very different things, and she didn’t need anyone – not even a kindly old lady – poking around in her emotions. Fran already knew that she had to accept things were how they were and could not change. Tilly’s feelings and Fran’s fear of rejection were as solid as blocks of concrete around her ankles and they would stop her from getting carried away with fantasies about Ethan Clarke and what they could have had if the circumstances and timing had been different.
‘Anyway…’ Fran sighed, letting go of her less-pleasant thoughts. ‘You look wonderful, Holly, and Rich is going to adore you in that dress.’
‘Will it stretch if I get much bigger, Demelza?’
‘How many weeks until the wedding?’
‘Three and a half.’
‘It will be fine. The silk is loose around your belly anyway and if it gets a bit tight, you can order a bigger bouquet to hide it, or just enjoy being with child – or should I say children – and letting the world know.’
‘Sorted!’ Holly said.
‘Well, let’s get changed so we can go and buy some cake.’ Fran gently removed the headband from her hair. ‘All this emotion has made me ravenous.’
‘Me too,’ Holly said. ‘And apparently, I’m eating for three now.’
Fran sent out a silent prayer to the universe to ask that Holly not allow herself to become too excited about the idea of having twins. Just in case it wasn’t true. It was a lovely idea, but surely it was better to wait for the scan to find out? Just like Fran would have to wait to find out if there was a husband in her future, a husband like Ethan, because that one seemed even more unlikely than the chance of Holly having a multiple pregnancy. She certainly wouldn’t be holding her breath! Although… the more time she spent around Demelza, the more she was starting to believe that she had some weird psychic quality. It was true that the Internet was a source of infor
mation that Demelza could well have utilised, and Fran could see how knowing things about your clients would help to sell dresses and get them to recommend you to others, but something was telling her that there might be more to Demelza’s predictions that that.
A tiny part of her wanted it to be true and it flickered like a candle flame in a draught, so fragile it could be extinguished at any moment, unless it was protected and nurtured. Could she allow herself to do that?
Whatever the truth behind it all was, Fran did like Ethan and Holly did seem surprisingly excited at the idea of having twins, so whether Demelza was right or wrong about these things, she certainly knew how to make other women smile.
Chapter 12
Hairway to Heaven was one of Fran’s favourite places. From the moment she stepped inside the salon owned by the warm and friendly couple Jamal and Bradley, to the moment she left, she was able to relax, unwind and let go. Today was no different.
‘Good morning, Fran!’ Jamal walked towards her and kissed both her cheeks. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m good thanks.’
He smiled, flashing his perfectly straight white teeth. His spiky dreadlocks were pulled back with a wide navy headband and his beard was neatly trimmed. With his beautiful bone structure and black skin he attracted admiring glances from women and men alike, but he always made it clear that he had eyes for one man only and that was his husband, Bradley Jones-Wilson. The couple were inseparable.
‘Take a seat, Fran, and we’ll be with you shortly.’
He gestured at the sofa in the bay window, so Fran sat down and picked up a magazine, but she didn’t open it. Instead, she gazed out of the window and across the street at the beach beyond the road. Fluffy white clouds raced across the bright sky, reflected on the surface of the dark blue water below. White breakers curled and foamed then lapped at the wet sand of the shore and Fran shivered, realising how cold the water would be. The dark grey cliffs at either end of the curved beach hugged the shore protectively, and gulls launched themselves from ledges and swooped and dived into the water then emerged with full beaks. Fran could sit here and gaze at the view all day and wondered how Jamal and Bradley ever got any work done.
The Christmas Tea Shop at Rosewood Page 14