The Second Chance Shoe Shop (18 page)

’
Y
ou
?’ Sadie addressed Christine, her voice almost a whisper. A cloak of dread dropped over her shoulders as the situation went from bad to worse. She had just blamed Cooper for everything when he was clearly not at fault. She had accused him of being in love with her! Shame rushed through her. She’d never be able to look him in the eye again.

‘But why?’ she wanted to know.

‘I’m sorry.’ Christine stepped into the kitchen. ‘It started when I saw your laptop open on the Grieve Together website, when you went to make me a cup of tea. I saw you on there under the name of Clara. And then, when I saw you were chatting to other people, I had the idea to become Tanya. As I chatted to you more, I realised it was a way for me to stay close to Ross, and help you to cope with his loss at the same time.’

‘But you spied on me!’ Sadie shook her head, turning to look at Cooper. His face was creased with hurt and anger, bringing tears to her eyes. ‘And I’ve just accused someone else of doing it. Cooper, I’m so sorry.’

‘Sorry’s not enough,’ he snapped, pushing past her. Sadie reached for his arm but he shrugged her off. As he levelled with Christine, he stopped. ‘What you did . . . That’s sick.’

‘I―’

‘You should leave Sadie alone. Of course she needs to grieve for Ross, but it isn’t healthy to hang on to the past. She needs to look to the future.’

‘A future with you, you mean?’

‘No, that’s not what I mean! We’re just friends – and that’s all we’ll ever be.’ He laughed harshly. ‘Well, at least that’s what I thought we were. She needs to make her mind up who she trusts.’

‘I didn’t know it was her!’ Sadie cried.

‘But you thought it was me.’ His eyes betrayed his hurt. ‘And that fucking stinks, Sadie.’

Cooper marched out of the house, slamming the front door. Sadie closed her eyes. The last time she had seen him so angry was when Ross died and he hadn’t been able to control his emotions, kicking out at his car and denting the side.

‘Mummy, I heard shouting.’ Esther came running down the stairs. ‘Where has Cooper gone?’

‘It’s okay, poppet,’ Sadie smiled as she went to her. ‘Let’s get you back to bed. Nanny and I need to have a chat.’

As she settled Esther in bed once more, she half expected the front door to bang again, for Christine to slip out rather than face her wrath. But she didn’t. Every minute Sadie was away from her, anger boiled up inside.

When she went back downstairs, Christine stood up as soon as Sadie came into the room. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she began.

‘Have you any idea how stupid I feel?’ Sadie cried. ‘I’ve just accused Cooper of spying on me!’

‘I never meant for that to happen.’ Christine looked up. ‘But I’m sure he’ll understand. He loved Ross as much as we did.’

‘Have you any idea how hurt
I
feel?’ She decided to change tack. ‘You’re the one person I would trust to tell anything you wanted to know about Ross, so why did you feel the need to go behind my back? You could have spoken to me at any time.’

‘I couldn’t.’ Christine shook her head. ‘Cooper was right. I was holding you back and I would have felt guilty if you knew it was me. You’re young, and you have your whole life ahead of you. I know you need to find someone else, but I wanted to keep Ross alive until you did. For me.’ She pointed to her temple. ‘All I can remember of him is in here, but I still need to talk about him too. When I was Tanya, you told me things that you wouldn’t have shared if we were talking face to face.’

‘But we do talk. We talk about him all the time!’ Sadie felt exasperated. ‘I shared things with you that I would never have shared with
anyone
face to face. Personal, intimate things, too.’ She held her breath as she remembered something. ‘Did you look in my journal?’

‘No!’

‘Are you sure? I told you where it was!”

‘I would never do that.’

Sadie breathed a sigh of relief. ‘Posing as Tanya was still a nasty thing to do.’

‘I didn’t do it to deceive you.’ Christine began to cry. ‘Having you to talk to about Ross meant that I could imagine he was still here with us. I miss him so much.’

‘I miss him too. But you have to let me move on.’ Tears welled in Sadie’s eyes. ‘And to be jealous of me spending time with Cooper, and my friends? That’s just not on.’

‘I’m not jealous of the time you spend with him,’ Christine said, ‘nor anyone else. I’m envious that you have someone to turn to. Since Ross died, Paul and I haven’t been coping very well. He’s become really withdrawn. By talking to you as Tanya, I got to share your life more and also feel closer to having someone to confide in. I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt anyone.’

‘Sorry might not be enough if I’ve lost Cooper’s friendship.’

‘Let me explain to him,’ Christine pleaded.

‘You’ve done enough damage.’ Sadie shook her head. ‘I’m not so sure he’ll ever forgive me. And I need his friendship far more than I do yours.’

Sadie left the room, hoping Christine would take this as her cue to get up and leave too. It worked.

Christine went into the hallway, put on her coat and opened the front door. She turned to Sadie with a remorseful expression.

‘Will you be bringing Esther round in the morning before school?’ she asked. ‘We can still look after her for you. Please?’

Her look was so pitiful that Sadie nodded quickly. Christine had her over a barrel where that was concerned, anyway. She wouldn’t be able to go to work without her help. And she needed work as much as she needed her friends.

Once the door was closed, Sadie sat down at the kitchen table. She couldn’t even cry, she was so angry. Of course she could see that Christine hadn’t set out to deliberately hurt her, she could understand her intentions, but it didn’t excuse her.

And now she had made things so much worse.

S
adie was
up early the next morning after a restless night’s sleep. Her mind had stayed in turmoil since Christine left. She was supposed to be one of the people Sadie trusted. Someone she had respected, who had helped her through grief when she had lost her husband, supported her before and after Ross died. And now it hurt so much to find out how deceitful she had been.

Esther had woken early too. Sadie tried to keep in her tears. Esther was sitting on the rug in front of the fire, colouring book open, pen in hand. Sadie wanted to pick her up, hug her fiercely and never let her go. She could see Ross in everything she did. A look every now and then, the way she did everything so meticulously. The way her tongue was sticking out the side of her mouth as she concentrated with dogged determination.

She was also Christine’s grandchild. With Christine looking after Esther, taking childcare further than was expected of a grandparent – Sadie had to be grateful for that. She couldn’t fall out with her, because she wouldn’t have anyone to look after Esther outside school hours. Even though her job was on the line right now, Sadie didn’t want to think that she’d have to give it up, perhaps live off benefits. It would drive her mad. She wanted to keep her independence, if she could. So, despite how much she was upset by Christine’s actions, Sadie had to make things okay.

She wished she could have confided in Riley, but she couldn’t trouble her at the moment. She had enough on her plate.

‘What’s wrong, Mummy?’ Esther asked, her head down as she continued to colour.

‘I’m okay, poppet,’ Sadie replied.

‘You’re sad,’ Esther acknowledged, this time looking up. ‘Are you missing Daddy today?’

‘I always miss Daddy.’ Sadie gave her daughter a faint smile.

‘I miss Daddy too.’ Esther held up her drawing book. ‘I drew a picture of him for you.’

‘Let me look.’

Esther ran across and sat by her mother’s side on the settee. The picture was of Ross mowing the lawn in their garden. There was a shed and a line left uncoloured down the middle of a green patch, which Sadie assumed was the garden path. A house was in the background and there were two faces looking through a downstairs window.

‘That’s you and me, Mummy,’ Esther smiled, ‘watching Daddy through the window.’

Sadie gave her a hug. For a long time, Esther had drawn pictures of Ross in hospital. Or she’d drawn him in a wheelchair as they’d pushed him around the hospital grounds. Sadie had wondered if it was all she would remember of him. But now it seemed not. Esther could remember a time when her dad was able to do the garden, rather than lie in a bed attached to machines.

For all his bravery, Ross had never once been bothered about showing his weaknesses to her. Sadie recalled the time when he’d got out of the wheelchair, arguing, telling her quite bluntly that he didn’t need it. That he didn’t need her either, fussing around him like he was a child. He’d walked all of four steps before collapsing, falling to the floor heavily. They’d sat in a corridor, people milling around, as he’d cried in her arms. Several people had come to them, offering to help, but she’d shook her head, a weak smile on her lips, saying ‘Thanks, but no thanks.’

They’d stayed there until he’d got his strength back enough to sit in the wheelchair again, and she had pushed him back to his room. She’d come home that night and cried herself to sleep, feeling so lost without him, wondering how she would cope when he wasn’t there for them any more.

That had been three weeks before he’d died. And now she had lost Cooper. He would never forgive her for what she had thought. How could she have been so stupid? Cooper, her friend,
their
friend. How could she have thought he was Tanya? And knowing Cooper, he wouldn’t even go on to a website like Grieve Together. She had jumped to a terrible conclusion.

Once Esther had returned to the floor to draw another picture, Sadie picked up her phone and rang him. She wasn’t surprised when there was no response. Rather than send a text message, she left him a voicemail.

‘I’m so sorry. I was wrong. I’ll understand if it’s too awkward for you to visit me and Esther now, but I― please, if you can forgive me, I need you.’

When she was making Esther’s sandwiches, she heard her phone beep. But it was just an email coming in with a twenty per cent discount voucher.

She cried then. She hoped he would forgive her. Esther needed him around too. It would be terrible for her to lose the two men in her life, especially one of them through her mother’s stupidity.

Cooper was a true friend, a gentleman, and one day she did want to find someone like him for herself.

What had she done?

W
hen Sadie arrived
at the shop after dropping Esther off at Christine’s house, she found Dan waiting for her inside the doorway.

‘Godzilla’s here,’ he told her as the shutter went down again.

‘That’s all we need.’ Sadie pulled a face as she shrugged off her jacket. ‘Please tell me she isn’t staying all day.’

‘I’m going home sick with a migraine if she is.’ Dan shuddered at the thought.

‘I hope she stays. It’ll show her how hard Riley works to keep the shop going. Especially for what they pay her. And us, for that matter.’

‘Morning,’ Suzanne sing-songed behind them as she came from downstairs to stand behind the till. ‘I’m going to be working with you as manager today, so I want everything ship-shape and top-notch.’

‘The shop doesn’t open for another twenty minutes,’ muttered Dan. ‘I’m having a coffee first.’

‘Me too,’ Sadie nodded. ‘If she thinks she’ll have our undivided attention after what she’s done to Riley, she’s got another think coming.’

‘You look pleased with yourself,’ Sadie said, once they were in the staffroom. She narrowed her eyes. ‘What were you up to last night? A hot date?’

Dan shook his head. ‘But it was a great night. I put a few demons to rest.’

When Sadie frowned Dan decided to come clean. Sadie listened with her mouth wide open.

‘Why didn’t you tell me you were seeing her?’ she asked afterwards.

‘I wanted to be sure I was doing the right thing. You never really liked her, did you?’

Sadie shook her head. ‘She was okay, but she was a bit too clingy for my liking.’ She thought of Cooper then and her shoulders drooped. She hoped she could sort things out with him eventually.

‘I guess.’

‘But it’s what makes you happy that counts.’ She smiled at him. ‘And now you can get on with finding a new woman without the weight of the old one hanging round your neck.’

‘Happy days.’ Dan looked at Sadie. ‘But you’re not happy, are you?’

She shook her head. ‘No, but I’ll be okay.’

‘Is it because Ross’s anniversary is getting closer?’

‘I wish it was just that.’ She paused. ‘Oh, Dan. I’ve made a terrible mistake.’ Sadie quickly told him what had happened the night before.

‘Wow. I’m shocked,’ he said afterwards. ‘Although I can understand why Christine did it – grief is a terrible thing and affects people in different ways – but she shouldn’t have been so deceitful. How were things this morning when you dropped Esther off?’

‘A bit icy, but okay. I don’t really have any choice but to visit her.’

‘Maybe it will get easier in time. She’ll obviously be really embarrassed.’

‘It’s Cooper I’m worried about.’

Dan sniggered.

Sadie glared at him.

‘Well, it
is
funny, when you think about it.’

‘It’s not! You should have seen his face.’

‘I’m sure he’ll be fine, once you’ve spoken to him. Oh, come here, you.’ Dan gave her a hug when he saw her shoulders droop again. ‘Cooper will understand. It wasn’t your fault.’

‘But I accused him of having feelings for me!’

‘He’s a big boy. Besides, he’s known you too long. It’d be like sleeping with your sister!’

‘That’s what he said.’ Sadie couldn’t help but smile.

‘Things will be okay, you’ll see.’ Dan got out his iPad. ‘Have you checked the shop’s Twitter feed this morning? Now that the competition is due to close, there have been tons of photos coming in, but I wanted to see how Riley was faring.’

‘There’s nothing except the same garbage. Although there are a lot of people supporting Riley since she tweeted the photo of Clarissa. Clarissa seems to be putting in her two pennies’ worth to keep the hatred going, but it looks to be dying down.’

‘She really is an evil bitch.’ Dan poured water into two mugs. ‘And Ethan seems so nice, I don’t know what he saw in her.’

‘She made him not trust Riley, though. How could he do that?’

‘They were both hurt by other people. I wonder if they’ll get back together again after all this has blown over?’

‘I don’t know.’

‘People should be honest with each other from the start, don’t you think?’

‘I’m a fine one to ask about that!’ cried Sadie. ‘But these are other people interfering to break Riley and Ethan up.’

‘I assume you two have far more to do than chat,’ Suzanne interrupted, coming into the staffroom. ‘Dan, make me a coffee, please. Two sugars, no milk, and make it strong.’

‘Lace it with arsenic, more like,’ Dan muttered under his breath so only Sadie could hear. Sadie stifled a giggle.

‘Sorry, did you say something?’ Suzanne glared at him.

Dan shook his head, an innocent look on his face.

‘Well, chop-chop, the two of you.’ She turned to leave. ‘We have a shop to open!’

Sadie followed behind her, pulling mock-Karate moves with her hands.

‘Don’t be long,’ she said to Dan. ‘I won’t be held responsible for my actions if I’m left alone with her for too long.’

‘
H
ave you seen this
?’ Riley said as soon as Ash had opened her front door. She marched in, holding up her phone.

‘I’ve only just got up. I worked late last night, so I don’t need to be in until eleven.’ Ash followed her through into the living room, where she was pacing up and down. ‘What is it?’

‘A job advert. I’ve just seen it online on the
Hedworth News
. It’s my bloody job.’

‘No way!’ Ash gasped. ‘Let me see.’

Riley handed her phone to her, her hand shaking.

‘I knew Suzanne was angry, but I thought she’d calm down after a few days, especially when Sadie told me she was struggling to run the shop. I thought she’d ask me back, but oh no, she’s gone and advertised my position!’

Ash moved her to the settee and pushed her down.

‘All I wanted was to save our jobs and keep the shop open,’ Riley continued. ‘I never expected Suzanne to bring in someone else to do my job.’

‘She must be pretty pissed off to do that,’ Ash said. ‘The advert says the closing date is next Friday. You should put an application in under someone else’s name and turn up for the interview.’

‘What’s the use in that?’ Riley shook her head. She was never setting foot in Chandler’s again.

‘Well, I for one would like to see the look on her face when you turn up and tell her where to stick her poxy job.’

‘Not funny, Ash.’ Riley folded her arms. ‘I should have stuck up for myself when Suzanne fired me. Good manners are a sign of weakness – I read that in a magazine a while ago. Well, this is definitely a sign of that. I’ve done everything I can to save the shop, to help my friends, and what do I get in return? I get fired.’

‘It’s not your fault all this happened.’

‘No, but it is Clarissa’s. If she hadn’t started all this, it might not have got out of hand and my job wouldn’t have been advertised in the paper.’

‘Why do you think Clarissa did it?’ asked Ash, sitting down next to her. ‘She couldn’t have done it just to get back at Ethan. And if she was trying to split you up to get him back for herself, then that was pointless too.’

‘I don’t know, but I wish I had some dirt on her. I’d spread it like wildfire and let her know how much it hurts.’

‘No, you wouldn’t.’

‘Yes, I would.’

‘But you’re not like that, are you?’

‘I did send that stupid tweet, though. I guess that sparked it all up again.’

‘You’re only human. We can only take so much.’

‘More’s the pity.’ Riley sighed. ‘I need to grow some balls.’

‘Riley Flynn.’ Ash shuffled over and gave her a hug. ‘You’re perfect as you are. Clarissa’s just jealous of everything you represent, and everything you have. Imagine being alone to bring up a baby, consumed by the green-eyed monster, and with no partner to support you. Imagine what that must feel like.’

‘I don’t want to,’ said Riley. ‘I’m too busy feeling sorry for myself to even think what she must be going through.’

‘Pregnancy hormones – they must be worse than normal ones, right?’

‘Oh, yuck. Have we got that to look forward to as well? How I love being a woman!’

‘Well, at least we’re always right about everything,’ Ash grinned.

‘Hmm, most of the time,’ Riley replied. ‘I still don’t know what to do about everything,’ she added.

‘I know, but you still have me to worry about you and take care of you. And we will always have coffee and cake.’

‘And wine.’

‘And cake.’

‘And more wine and more cake.’

‘And chocolate.’

‘And cake.’

Riley smiled at her friend, who was trying to cheer her up. If only life was that simple. She had given her heart to Ethan. And she wasn’t sure how to get it back.

E
ven though Suzanne
was struggling to run the shop, Chandler’s had opened on its first day without Riley, and the next one too. Even without Riley being there, Dan and Sadie knew the daily routine. But today they were having a delivery of stock, something that Riley usually took care of. They helped to put it away, but it was Riley who checked it off and made sure nothing was missing.

‘Have you counted those trainers?’ Sadie pointed to several boxes piled at the back of room.

Dan turned to her with a shrug. ‘I can’t remember. Have you?’

‘Well, according to this list, we should have fifteen pairs and I got twenty-two at the last count.’

‘Oh, bloody hell!’ Dan pressed a hand to his temple. ‘We’ll have to start again.’

‘We’ll be here all day at this rate.’

‘How long will it take you to move all these boxes?’ Suzanne cried as she stood behind the till twenty minutes later. ‘I’m sick of seeing them.’

‘A long time, while customers are coming in and out as well,’ said Dan, rushing over to someone who had walked in.

‘Sadie, can you input these invoices into the computer system?’ Suzanne thrust a few papers into her hands.

But Sadie gave them back to her. ‘I can help put the stock away, but it was Riley that did all the paperwork. I wouldn’t know where to start.’

‘It can’t be that hard,’ Suzanne protested. ‘I’ll do it myself.’ She disappeared downstairs only to return moments later. ‘Do you have a password to get into the computer system? I can’t seem to find anything on the desk or in the drawers.’

Sadie shook her head. ‘Riley is very careful about passwords and doesn’t write them down in case we get a break-in and someone hacks into everything.’

Suzanne raised her eyebrows. ‘This is a shoe shop, not a government department or a bank.’

‘Have you any idea how old that computer is, and how easily someone could swipe all the business’s money if they got into it? Riley has done her best with things. She’s always thought about what’s right for the shop.’

‘Ring her and get the password,’ insisted Suzanne, ‘and then I’ll reset it.’

‘Sorry, I have a customer to serve.’ Sadie walked past Suzanne to a woman who was holding up a shoe. ‘Would you like me to see if we have that in your size?’

Suzanne turned on her heel and stormed off down the stairs again.

‘Let’s hope she stays down there this time,’ muttered Dan.

An hour later, after everyone had fallen over the boxes a few times, Dan mentioned to Suzanne that they needed to be moved. ‘I’ll take them downstairs and put them out of the way until we can deal with them. They’re a trip hazard. The last thing we want is for someone to sue you for negligence.’

‘Stop being so melodramatic,’ Suzanne pooh-poohed. ‘But if you want to shift them, be my guest.’

‘Oh, I have a customer to serve first.’

Dan went to waltz off but Suzanne grabbed his arm.

‘I’ll do the serving, you shift those boxes.’

By the time another hour had passed, and Suzanne had been sworn at by a toddler, had a drink thrown over her feet, been harassed by an old man who wanted something for nothing, and had to throw out several teenagers who had come in to shelter from the rain, she sat down on a leather cube. Slipping off her shoes, she groaned as she rubbed at her toes.

‘How do you do this every day?’ she asked Dan and Sadie. ‘My feet are killing me, my back is aching, my head is throbbing from all the stress, and it isn’t even the end of my first week.’

‘Not to worry,’ said Sadie. ‘It’s lunchtime soon – half an hour break will do you good.’

Before Suzanne could protest, a man came in wheeling a trolley full of cardboard boxes.

‘Where do you want this order, love?’ the delivery driver asked her.

‘I’m the manager,’ she retorted. ‘Dan, sort this man out.’

‘Is it like this every day?’ she asked once he’d gone.

‘Pretty much,’ said Dan. ‘We can do our jobs without thinking, but we need Riley to do the rest. She keeps everything running smoothly. You should never have fired her.’

‘She lost her job because she was incompetent. And I can’t trust you two to run the shop.’

‘You mean you’re coming to work here full-time?’ Dan couldn’t keep the horror from his voice.’

‘Me?’ Suzanne laughed. ‘I’m only staying until I get someone else to do it. There’s an advert for a manager in the
Hedworth News
today.’

‘What?’ Sadie glared at Suzanne.

Dan folded his arms. ‘I don’t want to work here unless Riley is here too.’

‘Maybe you’d like to join Riley as she looks for another job,’ Suzanne warned.

Dan nodded. ‘I think I would. I can’t work with you. You’re a self-centred underachiever who has been handed this business on a plate. We love Chandler’s, but you’re going to ruin it.’

‘I beg your pardon.’

‘Dan!’ said Sadie.

‘I’m sorry,’ Dan said, ‘but if Riley isn’t here then I’m not staying either. It’s not going to be the same.’

‘I’m not staying if you two aren’t here,’ said Sadie.

‘You can’t threaten me!’ cried Suzanne.

‘No one is threatening you,’ said Dan. He went to fetch his and Sadie’s coats. ‘Come on, Sadie. Let’s go.’

‘You can’t just leave!’ Suzanne shouted after them. ‘Wait!’

‘We can and we are,’ said Dan. ‘We’re both due an afternoon off anyway, because we both worked Sunday, so consider this the hours in lieu that you owe us. You’ll have to run the shop by yourself.’