by Lesley Eames
The following morning Lily overheard customers talking. ‘I see they’ve got a buyer for the shop next door,’ one said.
As soon as a breathing space opened up in the day’s work Lily ran out into the street. Sure enough, a board outside the Sollifords’ shop announced, Sold Subject to Contract.
The estate agents were Chambers & Sons, 16 Marley Row. That was only five minutes’ walk away.
‘Would you mind if I took a longer break today?’ she asked Mr Bax and Phyllis.
She ran all the way to Marley Row where the estate agents had a ground-floor office.
The gentleman inside looked puzzled by the appearance of a young girl who could surely have no interest in purchasing or leasing property. ‘May I be of assistance?’ he asked.
‘I’m enquiring about the Sollifords’ haberdashery shop. I believe you’ve agreed a sale?’
‘That is correct.’
‘Is it going to continue as a haberdashery shop?’
‘I believe the purchaser’s interests don’t run to haberdashery. Chocolate was mentioned. But I’m afraid I haven’t understood the nature of your interest, Miss…’
‘Tomkins. It’s just that a friend of mine is looking for a position in the area and I wondered if the new owner might need staff.’
‘I have no information about staffing requirements.’
Lily nodded, disappointed but unsurprised. Then the word chocolate suddenly loomed large in Lily’s mind. ‘Do you mean the sort of chocolate people drink?’
‘I’m afraid I don’t know. And I’m not sure I should be discussing a client’s private affairs.’
‘Is your client a young gentleman?’
‘Mr Goddard is in his middle twenties, I believe. Do you know him?’
‘He isn’t from around here?’
‘From Switzerland, but—’
It was all the information Lily needed to identify her blue-eyed customer as the Mr Goddard who was buying the shop. ‘Thank you,’ she said, anxious to leave now.
She stepped back outside, feeling the bite of the winter wind though it didn’t feel half as bitter as her emotions. What a fool she’d been. He hadn’t been interested in her. He’d come to her tea room only to study the street outside and ask questions that would help him decide whether the shop next door suited his ambitions – a café that sold warm chocolate drinks and doubtless more besides. And when he’d stood outside looking up, he’d been staring at the building rather than at Lily.
Doubtless his café would have money behind it. The sort of money that could provide a place of comfort and sophistication, and soon entice customers away from Lily’s homespun enterprise.
Mr Goddard hadn’t lied to her. But he’d abused her friendly openness and trust, and that made her feel angry. Hurt too, and worried because if the tea room was driven out of business, Mr Bax wouldn’t be able to sell it as a going concern. He might even decide to retire all the sooner without the tea room to interest him. That meant Phyllis and Lily would lose both their income and their home.
She’d been walking quickly as the thoughts circled in her head but now she slowed her steps. Perhaps she should wait until she had a clearer idea of what Goddard had in mind before she said anything to Mr Bax and Phyllis. There was no point in worrying them prematurely, especially as the sale was subject to contract. Anything might happen to stop it from becoming final.
She called in on the stationers and bought some card as an excuse for having been out. ‘Got it,’ she said, waving the card as she walked into the bakery.
Lily didn’t like deceiving her friends. She went upstairs thinking harsh thoughts about Mr Goddard from Switzerland.
TWENTY-TWO
Lily looked up at the Sold board every day but weeks passed and it never changed back to For Sale. Lily had no idea how long it took for a property to change hands but various possibilities passed through her head:
1. The lawyers were simply taking time to do whatever lawyers did.
2. Mr Goddard had decided not to purchase the building after all but the estate agents
hadn’t got around to changing the board.
3. There was no need to change the board because another buyer had stepped into Mr
Goddard’s shoes.
‘It’s a nice little business, is haberdashery,’ Mr Bax told a customer who asked if he knew what was happening next door. ‘Someone might buy it as a going concern.’
‘They might,’ Phyllis agreed. ‘I just hope they don’t sell fish. Awful smell!’
It didn’t appear to occur to either of them that a new business might be a rival business. Elsie was different. Lily was changing for the cinema one evening when Elsie stretched her long body across Lily’s bed, put her hands behind her head and said, ‘You know what they say about troubles.’
Lily was puzzled.
‘A trouble shared is a trouble halved,’ Elsie explained. ‘It’s nonsense really because a trouble doesn’t shrink just because you share it. But I suppose it means troubles aren’t as heavy if two people carry them. I’m here if you want to talk. If you don’t…’ Elsie shrugged her large shoulders to suggest she wouldn’t push Lily to confide in her.
Lily stood undecided for a moment then sighed. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she told Elsie about Mr Goddard. The important points, that was. There was no need to mention his good looks.
‘Hmm,’ Elsie said. ‘You’ll just have to wait and see what he does.’
‘I shouldn’t tell Mr Bax or Phyllis?’
‘I’d wait until there’s definite news.’
Lily nodded, relieved to know that Elsie’s thoughts mirrored her own.
More time passed and Lily began to feel a glimmer of hope that Mr Goddard’s plans really had come to nothing. But towards the end of February a customer came in and said, ‘I see the builders are starting work next door.’
Lily seized a quiet moment to slip out to investigate. The neighbouring door was open so she stepped inside to see tools and building materials piled on the floor. ‘Hello?’
No one answered but she heard voices in the room behind the shop. ‘Hello?’ she called again, moving towards them only to back up swiftly as a man appeared, clearly not expecting to find his way blocked by a girl.
‘You gave me a fright there, Miss. This place ain’t safe, what with tools and such. What can I do for you?’
‘I’m from Lily’s Tea Room next door. Could you tell me the name of the new owner of this place?’
‘Your pa worried about noise, is he? Tell him we won’t make more noise than can be helped but a man can’t use a hammer without banging it and we’ve a lot of work on, what with fitting out a shop down here and sprucing up the living accommodation upstairs.’
‘I just want to know the owner’s plans for the shop.’
‘Summat to do with sweets, I heard.’
‘Sweets? Or chocolates?’
‘I don’t see as how it makes much difference, Miss.’
‘Is the owner Mr Goddard? From Switzerland?’
‘It’s a Mr Goddard, all right, but I dunno about Switzerland. Now, if you don’t mind…’
Lily took the hint and left.
Mr Bax and Phyllis had heard about the building works too. ‘Well?’ Mr Bax asked, on
Lily’s return.
‘It’s going to be some sort of confectionary shop. Sweets or… chocolate.’
Mr Bax and Phyllis looked at each other. ‘Sugar mice and barley sugars might draw more customers to the street,’ Mr Bax said.
Phyllis nodded. ‘All the local businesses could benefit.’
Lily still said nothing about her suspicion that the chocolate would be the drinking kind, in direct competition to the tea and coffee available in the tea room. Of course, Lily could serve drinking chocolate too but she suspected Mr Goddard’s chocolate would be much more luxurious than anything she could provide.
‘What do you think?’ she asked Elsie later.
‘I still think we need to f
ind out more about this man Goddard’s plans before we say anything to Mr B and Phyllis. Let’s leave it for a day or two then I’ll call in next door and say I’m looking for work.’
‘If you could ask how long the work is likely to take, that would be helpful too,’ Lily said. ‘The builders are making a lot of noise so the tea room isn’t quite the restful paradise it—’ She broke off suddenly.
‘What?’ Elsie asked.
‘It just occurred to me that one way of drowning out noise would be with music.’
‘A gramophone player?’ Elsie was enthusiastic.
‘I’ve no idea of cost but perhaps we could pick one up second-hand. We’d need records too.’
‘It’s my day off tomorrow. I’ll investigate.’
‘You’re a fantastic friend, Elsie. I really do wish you could work here with us.’
‘You’d employ me if you could. Besides, helping the tea room is fun.’
Clearly, that was more than could be said of Elsie’s present job.
She arrived just after closing time on the following afternoon. Grimacing, she shook her head.
‘I went next door but the builders couldn’t tell me if staff are needed. All they’d say about the building work was that it would take a few weeks.’
‘And the gramophone?’
‘Too expensive.’
‘What’s too expensive?’ Phyllis asked, coming in.
Lily shared her idea for music.
‘What a shame we can’t afford it,’ Phyllis said.
Mr Bax had come in after her. ‘There’s no need to buy a gramophone because I already have one,’ he said. ‘Or rather Beatrice does. She inherited it from an old employer but never uses it. I’ll ask her if I can bring it here.’
He brought it by taxi in the morning. ‘Beatrice says we can borrow it with her blessing. These records too.’ There were more than a dozen of them, from popular music to classical. ‘Where do you want it?’
They settled it in the serving room from where the music could float into the tea room without interfering with the customers’ conversations.
‘Let’s play this one,’ suggested Elsie, who’d come round before work to see this exciting machine. ‘It’s got a terrific name – “The Egyptian Trot”.’
It was a jolly ragtime number. ‘I’m not sure this is the right background music for tea and scones but it’s great for dancing,’ Phyllis said, striking poses like ancient Egyptians she’d seen pictured in a book.
‘I’m too old for dancing,’ Mr Bax said, but Elsie grabbed his arm and made him dance with her.
‘If I’m prepared to dance when I’m as graceful as a hippopotamus, I’m sure you can manage,’ she told him.
She left him shuffling his feet and thrusting his arms about then pulled Lily into the dance as well.
They all danced together, giggling at each other’s more outrageous movements, then Elsie remembered she had to get to work and the others remembered they had to open the shop.
The music not only helped to counter the noise from the builders but also received numerous compliments from customers. ‘Even the customers who only called in for bread were humming and swaying in the queue,’ Phyllis reported, for the music reached downstairs too.
The music ignited Lily’s spirit of defiance. Whatever Mr Goddard had planned for next door, he’d find that Lily’s Tea Room wasn’t going down without a fight.
More weeks passed and Lily was able to put daffodils, tulips and primroses into her displays of greenery. The days were growing longer, the temperature was turning milder and lighter colours were making an appearance in the clothing customers wore.
Spring brought cheerfulness though it also brought challenges. With wheat being in short supply Mr Bax was required to use more raw wheat in his bread, together with maize, barley and even potatoes which he hated because mashing them and mixing them into the dough was a horribly messy process. The war bread didn’t taste as good either so Lily made sure the tea room always had two kinds of soup available as well as baked potatoes and tarts.
She was clearing a table by the window one morning when a glance outside caused her heart to jolt. It was him. Mr Goddard. Crossing the road with a shorter, stockier, limping man at his side. Presumably he was on his way to inspect his building works.
The morning wore on with Lily taking and serving orders while using every spare moment to wash and dry dishes ready for the lunchtime trade. Then lunchtime came and brought Mr Goddard and his stocky companion with it. Lily’s heart suffered another jolt at the sight of him, but when he sent a twinkling smile her way she burned with anger inside. Not that she intended to let him see that anger and neither did she intend to sulk like a petulant child. Either response would pander to his vanity by suggesting he had power over her.
‘Table for two?’ she asked. ‘We’ve only one vacant table, I’m afraid.’
It felt good to show him that her little business was thriving despite its shoestring budget.
She’d spoken politely but impersonally as if she’d never clapped eyes on him before and it pleased her to see his smile falter as though he couldn’t quite believe she’d forgotten him. She waited for both men to sit then passed menu cards to them. ‘Shall I give you a minute or two to make up your minds?’
‘Yes, please,’ Mr Goddard said, clearly puzzled by her coolness.
Lily went to see to some other customers but returned to his table soon, not wanting him to think she kept her customers waiting. Mr Goddard sat back in his chair to study her thoughtfully. When he asked for soup she wrote the order on her pad with a professional smile then turned to his companion.
He was older by as much as ten years and not half as handsome. In fact, his features were ugly when considered individually, his nose being too big, his mud-coloured eyes being hooded and his thin-lipped mouth being half-buried in a beard. But somehow his features added up to pleasantness. Niceness, even. He ordered soup too.
Lily brought their order with swift efficiency. ‘I like the music,’ Mr Goddard commented.
‘Thank you. It’s certainly proving popular.’
‘Useful too,’ he said wryly as he heard a bang from his builders. ‘I’m sorry about the noise. It’s my fault because I’ve bought the shop next door.’
‘I heard it had been sold. It’s going to be a sweet shop, isn’t it? Or am I confusing your shop with someone else’s?’ She shrugged to suggest she wasn’t interested enough to have bothered remembering.
‘Mostly chocolates,’ he said. ‘I’m Luke Goddard. This is my cousin, Pierre Glasse. We’ve been working as chocolatiers in Switzerland where our family has a business.’
Chocolatiers? Lily hadn’t heard the word for people who made chocolate before. ‘When do you expect the building works to finish?’ she asked, as though that were her only concern.
‘In another week or so. Pierre is here to supervise the kitchen installation. We’ll open in three weeks’ time.’
Lily nodded, and was glad when another customer raised a hand to attract her attention. ‘Excuse me,’ she said, walking away.
The two men stayed no longer than it took to finish their meals. Mr Goddard gave her another considering look as he paid the bill but said nothing except to thank her for her service and compliment her on the soup. Lily declined to point out that, if his shop drove her out of business, he’d have to seek his lunch elsewhere.
He left a sixpenny tip under his saucer. Lily wanted to crush it with her heel but tips were to be shared so she tossed it into the tip jar.
Realising Mr Bax and Phyllis might think it odd if she kept quiet about his visit Lily mentioned it casually as they closed for the day. ‘The chocolate shop men came in earlier.’
‘Men?’ Phyllis said.
‘Two of them. They expect to open in around three weeks so we shouldn’t have to suffer with the noise for much longer.’
‘We’ll continue with the music, though?’ Phyllis asked. ‘Customers like it.’
&nbs
p; Lily looked at Mr Bax.
‘I’m sure Beatrice will be happy for you to keep the gramophone,’ he said. ‘Nice chaps, are they? The sweet shop men?’
‘I… didn’t have much time to talk to them. I was busy.’
‘Let’s hope that they make good neighbours.’
Elsie called round later to accompany Phyllis to a lecture on expeditions to the South Pole. ‘The new neighbours came in,’ Phyllis told her.
‘Oh?’
‘Lily can tell you about them while I fetch my coat.’
Elsie waited until Phyllis had left the room then raised an eyebrow at Lily. ‘What did this Mr Goddard have to say? I’m surprised he had the gall to show his face.’
‘I don’t think he regards himself as our enemy exactly. But if the success of his shop means the death of the tea room I suspect he’ll just shrug it off as being the way of things in business.’
‘You’ll have to fight him,’ Elsie advised. ‘I might try again to get a job there. I could feed information to you like a spy.’
‘You’d be dismissed.’
‘They’d have to catch me spying first.’
Phyllis returned, buttoning up her coat. ‘Sure you don’t want to come?’ she asked Lily.
‘Thanks, but I need to make new menu cards.’
After they’d left, Lily took card, pens and a small artist’s painting set into the tea room. She also took her sewing box to experiment with little booklet menus that fastened up the side with ribbon.
She’d been working for only a few minutes when someone banged on the shop door downstairs. Had Phyllis returned for something she’d forgotten? Her key perhaps, given that she hadn’t let herself in?
Lily went downstairs and came to a halt when she saw Mr Goddard through the glass panel in the door. Not wanting to appear naïve and awkward, she pressed on and opened it.
‘I hope I’m not disturbing you but I wanted to give you these,’ he said.
Only then did she realise he was holding a large bouquet of flowers.
‘They’re a peace offering,’ he explained. ‘For all the noise you’ve had to endure.’
‘There’s no need for a gift,’ Lily told him.