The Little Gift Shop on the Loch: A delightfully uplifting read for 2019!. Maggie Conway
‘A bit more than a holiday. I was made redundant.’
‘Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.’
‘I certainly didn’t see it coming,’ Lily said sagely, trying to keep the bitterness from her voice. The last thing she wanted was to unload her woes onto Iris. She’d already done enough without having to provide a shoulder for Lily to cry on.
‘And last we spoke it was going so well,’ Iris remarked.
‘These things happen, I suppose.’ Lily shrugged.
‘Quite. But you know, perhaps some time away won’t do you any harm. And you’re certainly in the right place if you want to unwind for a while.’
‘I’m not going to be here long,’ Lily responded quickly, perhaps too quickly. ‘I’ll be selling.’
Iris gave a kind but knowing look. ‘You must do what you think is right. But there’s no hurry is there?’
Lily looked around, as if looking for a reason but failed to find one.
‘I don’t suppose so, no.’
‘Is there someone waiting for you? A young man, perhaps?’ Iris’s voice tinkled as she shrugged off her jacket revealing a long floaty skirt and white tunic top.
It was so far from the truth Lily could have laughed. Nothing and no one was waiting for her, she thought dismally. An image of James’s handsome face drifted in and out of her mind, pretty much the way he’d done in her life. She shook the image away, helping Iris to lift her bag onto the counter. ‘No one waiting,’ she replied lightly.
Her personal dreams might be lying in tatters but she always had her career to fall back on despite this current setback. She was good at her job and she missed it. Even here, far from her usual environment, she still had to fight a nagging feeling that she should be at her desk, starting a day’s work. The redundancy had indeed been generous so financially at least there was no urgency but even so, she decided there and then that finding another job would be her priority as soon as she sold the shop.
She glanced at her iPhone on the counter, her only link to the outside world and her only chance of looking for another job. Frustratingly, she’d only been able to get a sporadic connection.
‘Do you know if there’s somewhere I can go for Wi-Fi?’
Iris flapped her hand dismissively. ‘I don’t really know about these things but I’ve heard people mention café in the activity centre has a place you can go. Although you know a digital detox might do you good.’
Lily couldn’t help but laugh, recognising it as something her mother would have said.
‘I’ve brought you a few things,’ Iris said, rummaging in her bag. ‘Some incense sticks – chamomile and jasmine, very good for calming the mind. And this,’ she declared holding up a small brown bottle, ‘is my herbal remedy. Ingredients are secret but I can guarantee it’ll make you feel better if you’re having an off-day.’ She laid the items on the counter before digging into her bag yet again, this time producing a ceramic dish wrapped in foil.
‘Shepherd’s pie which you can reheat later, and don’t take this the wrong way but it looks like you could do with a bit of sustenance.’
Lily could only smile her appreciation, well aware she wasn’t exactly looking her sparkly best.
‘Talking of which,’ Iris said, ‘when was the last time you took a holiday?’
Lily pursed her lip.
‘Just as I thought.’ Iris shook her head. ‘Why don’t you just take some time for yourself? Time to just be, time to think – that’s what you need and Carroch is the perfect place.’
Lily nodded blandly. That’s what she’d been avoiding; the thought of empty time terrified her.
‘You could always come for a swim.’ Iris turned to her with bright eyes. ‘Do you remember how you used to love it?’
Lily vividly remembered. Swimming in the loch was one of the few things she’d actually looked forward to in Carroch, her mother having passed on her love of wild swimming. Patty had never taken Lily to girl guides or dance lessons or any of the other activities girls in her school had gone to, but one thing she’d insisted on was teaching Lily to swim from an early age. Although she deplored the chlorinated, characterless heated swimming pools, she had endured them each week to teach Lily to swim.
‘There’s a group meet every morning around eight, down by the jetty. I go most days but you can just turn up.’
‘Perhaps.’ Lily replied noncommittally but she didn’t dismiss the idea totally. She was touched that Iris had included her and felt suddenly lifted by her presence. ‘Thanks for coming today, Iris,’ she said gratefully. ‘Although you didn’t have to rush around today.’
‘I was coming to the shop today anyway.’
‘Oh?’
‘I didn’t tell you on the phone but I would have been here today for the knit club.’
‘Knit club?’ Lily echoed in surprise. Her mother wasn’t exactly the tea and knitting type.
‘Your mum didn’t knit but it was all her idea. One of the ladies in the village your mum was friendly with had recently moved into sheltered housing a few miles away. Patty used to go and visit her and she became friendly with several of the other women living there too. She came up with the idea to use the back room here as a knitting club, somewhere they could come for a change of scenery and bit of company each week. She arranged the transport and everything.’
Lily followed her through a door to what she had assumed was some sort of storage space but was in fact a bright room with a window looking out onto the small back garden. A large trestle table sat in the middle of the floor surrounded by an assortment of chairs and there was a small sideboard piled with tea making things next to a small sink.
‘It had only been running a few weeks and after your mum … well, we carried on. It seemed a shame to stop it when the ladies enjoyed it so much. I hope you didn’t mind?’
‘Of course not.’ Lily hadn’t known about the knitting club but was hardly going to turn up now and start objecting. She looked down suddenly, feeling a brush of something against her leg to see the cat had sauntered in, looking for all the world as if she owned the place. Which now she came to think about it, she kind of did.
‘Hello Misty,’ Iris chirped.
‘I didn’t know Mum had a cat?’ Lily watched Iris bend down to briefly welcome their feline visitor.
Iris wrinkled her forehead. ‘Ah, did I not mention that? She and your mother, well they sort of adopted one another. I would have taken her but I’m terribly allergic and so we decided to let her stay here. Jack lives nearby and very kindly agreed to help out. She’s quite clean though, don’t worry. We took her to the vet’s and had her all checked out.’
‘I met him last night – Jack. Gave me a bit of shock, I can tell you.’
‘Yes, I imagine he would have,’ Iris chuckled. ‘I don’t suppose he’d have been expecting you either.’
Lily hadn’t thought of it like that and it occurred to her now she may have appeared rude last night. But for some reason she couldn’t work out, their brief encounter unnerved her. Maybe it was guilt, knowing she should have been the one helping out, not him. Or maybe it was because there’d been something about his physical presence – almost a vague familiarity – she’d been too aware off.
‘I’m very grateful to Jack, I can tell you. With everything he’s got on he still took time to help with Misty. He’s an absolute gem – you’ll see that once you get to know him.’
Lily bit her lip realising she’d probably overreacted last night. But given that she had no intention of