Читать книгу Heart to Heart - Amber Aitken - Страница 8

The four girls had already disappeared off to explore the sights and sounds of Sunday Harbour when Nicks got back - pale and puckered - from her wave-jumping session. Coral didn’t mention the arrival of the fabulous, big-city girls next door. She simply locked Coral Hut and, with her best friend and her puppy on either side of her, smiled quietly before leaving for home. Not that there was any big hurry. The sun was still high in the sky and lunchtime was a safe distance away, so the two girls ambled along slowly and spoke even less.

Nicks’s cheeks had been painted pink by the sunshine; Coral’s glowed with happiness from her small sweet secret. Nicks was quiet because she was tired; whereas Coral was keeping silent as she wanted to savour the girls’ glitzy glamour (without interruption) for just a little while longer. She had a suspicion that Nicks might not be quite as impressed by the lipglossed, lovestruck ways of the four big-city girls as she was. Nicks was a much more sensible sort.

The trio were just strolling past the Seafood Shack when Romeo stopped. His black nose sniffed the air hungrily, but the girls kept on walking. They passed the bakery, but still the girls kept on walking. It was only when they came to the local charity shop that Coral slowed and came to a standstill.

“Come on, I’m bushed,” groaned Nicks, who was now a short distance ahead.

Coral’s nose was flattened against the shop’s window. “Oh, you have to see this!” She jabbed a finger at the glass and tapped it excitedly.

Nicks knew there was no point in resisting, so she trudged over to see what the fuss was about. Beyond the glass window pane were a pair of used ski boots and a set of four teacups with an uneven number of saucers. Neither of those could be what had got Coral so excited. And then Nicks noticed the mannequin with the missing arm that was half hidden by a bright pink feather boa. Now that was just Coral’s sort of thing.

“It’s pretty, but where would you even wear a pink feather boa?” she said.

“No, not the feather boa. Look!” Coral jabbed her finger at the glass a few more times.

And then Nicks noticed the square brown cardboard box with the words VALENTINE PARTY DECORATIONS (Going Cheap!) scrawled and underlined in thick blue marker pen across one side.

“Could we do this another time?” Nicks suggested half-heartedly.

But Coral had a determined grin on her face. “No way - it’ll be snapped up before we know it!”

“But we’re months away from Valentine’s Day,” Nicks groaned.

But Coral wasn’t listening. “A box full of romance!” she sighed blissfully. “C’mon, I have pocket money.” And then she disappeared through the charity shop’s door.

Nicks hesitated for a moment before scooping Romeo up in her arms and following her friend inside. She found Coral pointing at the box in the window, already discussing her potential purchase with the grey-haired lady behind the till.

“Oh, I remember the poor young dear who donated that box of Valentine decorations to the shop. I remember her well,” she was saying. “That girl sobbed her heart out right on the spot where you’re standing now. You see, she’d just lost her one great love.”

Nicks watched Coral. She was rooted to the spot and staring, silent and unmoving. Her lower lip looked ready to tremble.

“But how did she lose her one great love?” Coral cried out, her mind was reviewing all the possibilities. Was it an illness? An accident? Some natural disaster?

“He ran off with the blonde from Belarus,” replied the charity shop lady matter-of-factly.

Coral’s concentrated face of emotion dissolved instantly. “Oh right,” she said. It was hardly the epic love story she’d been hoping for.

“And the young girl said she never wanted to celebrate Valentine’s Day ever again,” concluded the lady, like she had come to the unhappily-ever-after end of the story.

Coral thought about the dumped girl. If only they knew who she was. There was no doubt in Coral’s mind that the Cupid Company could help her to find love once again.

“So will you be buying the box of decorations in the window?” the lady asked.

Nicks already knew Coral’s answer. “I’ll fetch it,” she quickly answered. She really just wanted to get home.

She returned carrying the box, but Coral couldn’t wait for home. Already she was dipping both hands excitedly into the tangle of decorations dedicated to love. The air was instantly a flurry of red and pink and silver. There were padded fabric hearts that said FOREVER, BE MINE and LOVE BUG. There were dangling cupids, foil garlands of red and silver hearts, heart-shaped window stickers, balloons that spelled L FOR LOVE and a banner that said I LOVE YOU. There was even a tub of fake rose petals for scattering. Coral sighed noisily and stared, starry-eyed. She was in Coral Heaven. And then she thought about the girl whose boyfriend had run off with the blonde from Belarus. It was like holding a piece of history. She sighed again, but was soon drawn to the other items in the charity shop, which was like an Aladdin’s Cave of treasures. Her hands reached for the overflowing shelves, railings and baskets.

“Give the lady your money, Coral,” ordered Nicks.

But Coral had already found another treasure.

“Coral!” A tired Nicks was getting impatient.

Coral spun round with a giant pair of oversized tortoiseshell sunglasses on her nose.

“Ha ha, very funny,” said Nicks. “But I’m really in no mood for fooling about.” She gripped the wriggling Romeo even closer.

“Who’s fooling about?” grinned Coral as she flounced in the direction of a basket of discounted scarves. Dipping her hands inside, she let her fingers ripple through the soft and silky material. Of course she knew there wasn’t much time left ticking on her best friend’s meter, but she hardly needed any time at all. Quickly she found what she was looking for and held it up, smiling. The grey animal-print silk scarf with the sparkle stripe was very fashionable.

Nicks was huffing and puffing now and tapping her foot impatiently, but she clearly wasn’t quite ready to expire just yet. So Coral took one last dip into the basket and came up with a purple paisley bandanna. It would be perfect for Romeo. She gave a small joyful whoop and carried her final purchases over to the till where her box of Valentine decorations was still waiting. This had been her best shopping day ever!

The lady accepted Coral’s money with a gentle smile and was about to place the sunglasses, the scarf and the bandanna inside the box of decorations for easy carrying when Coral slipped the sunglasses from her grip and returned her smile.

“Thanks very much,” she said, “but I’ll be needing those.” She put the sunglasses on her nose and pushed them up as far as they would go. “C’mon, Nicks. C’mon, Romeo.” And then she swished out of the shop with the box of decorations hoisted under one arm like a very big trophy.

Nicks hurried after her, relieved to be leaving, but also a little confused by the sunglasses (although her best friend did have a strange sense of humour). Coral was outside and waiting on the pavement, still wearing the oversized glasses.

“Don’t you think you should take those things off now?” asked Nicks.

“Take them off? Whatever for?”

“Oh, please, stop being silly.”

“I am not being silly. All the celebs wear these. We’ll need to find you a pair too.”

Nicks groaned and made a choking sort of sound. “I don’t think so. They don’t even fit you properly.”

Coral tilted her head at a backwards angle and started walking, narrowly missing a large lamppost.

Nicks returned Romeo to the pavement and quickly caught up with her zigzagging friend. She was no longer feeling quite so tired.

“So how are the sunglasses working out for you then?” she asked with a smirk that was almost as big as her friend’s sunglasses.

“Great!” Coral looked awkward but determined. “They’re lovely,” she said, almost smacking straight into a postbox. She held on to the box of Valentine decorations even tighter. Nicks decided it was wiser not to even ask what she planned to do with those. It looked like her best friend just needed to focus all of her concentration on getting home safely!