Adam had gone silent when Leah said Finn was with Mara. She had heard something being set down at his end of the call.
“Six weeks,” he'd said at last.
“That's what he told me.”
“Then she knew.”
A customer came in, and Leah ended the call. For the rest of the morning she worked. People wanted flowers for a birthday, for a table, for a person they weren't quite ready to forgive. She could manage all of those.
At half past two, Mara sent a message asking if she could come to the shop.
Leah wrote, I'm working. If it's about your bag, you have it.
Mara arrived ten minutes later.
“I need five minutes.”
“I'm closing for lunch. Come in.”
Leah turned the sign on the door. Mara stood among the flower buckets, looking round as if something had moved since her last visit. She usually went straight to the stool behind the counter. Today she stayed where a customer would stand.
“Finn is miserable,” she said.
“He can answer me.”
“He's frightened you'll never look at him the same way.”
Leah put her phone on the counter. On it was the group Mara had made for the party: staff, helpers and friends who had been there late. A row of cheerful messages from Friday still sat near the top, arguments about music and who was bringing ice. Below them, people had asked about Theo. Mara had said he was being cared for, said she was going away for a few days, and asked everyone to give them time.
Leah opened the box for a new message.
“What are you doing?” Mara asked.
“Telling them where I was.”
“Leah. You told Finn. You told Adam. There's no need to make an announcement.”
“They heard him say I was with him.”
“And now you want to humiliate him?”
Leah typed, I need to clear up something from Saturday.
Mara came round the end of the counter.
“Wait. Give me a second.”
“Don't come behind here.”
Mara stopped. Her face looked genuinely hurt.
“I've stood there a hundred times.”
Leah finished the message and read it aloud.
“I was outside alone when I heard the crash. Finn came out to get me and we went in together. Adam wasn't with me. I didn't see Theo fall.”
Mara put both hands on the edge of the counter.
“Just leave it until tomorrow. Please. I have to speak to people about the bookings anyway. We can explain it without everybody going off half-cocked.”
Leah pressed send.
The little message sat there with her name above it.
Mara drew her hands back.
“You always did hate letting somebody else handle things.”
“I let somebody handle this for a day. He used my name.”
“He was trying to help me.”
“You can tell them that.”
Mara took a breath.
“I know you've fallen hard for him. I didn't want to spoil that. But he hasn't been honest with you.”
“No. He hasn't.”
Mara waited, apparently surprised by the agreement.
The phone buzzed. A staff member asked where Adam had been, then addressed Mara directly: Before you go, can you come and explain? We're getting questions from the Saturday guests. I don't know what to say to them.
Mara read the screen upside down. Her own phone rang. She answered it without moving away.
“Finn, wait. Don't set off. No, the bags can stay there.” She listened, looking at Leah's message. “I'll call you when I'm done.”
She ended the call and walked to the window display, where Leah had put two tall branches among the flowers. A loose leaf had dropped onto the ledge. Mara picked it up.
“Remember when we opened this place?” she asked.
Leah watched her fold the leaf between her fingers.
“We didn't open it. I did.”
“I know. I was here.”
“You were.”
“I didn't sleep for two nights before. I was so excited for you.” Mara looked back. “That wasn't pretend.”
The words hurt more than her accusation had. Leah remembered finding Mara asleep in a chair in the back room on the opening afternoon, shoes off, a roll of ribbon in her lap.
“I know,” she said.
“Then don't throw everything away because I didn't know how to tell you about Finn.”
“I'm not taking that message back.”
Mara crushed the leaf. Small pieces fell onto the ledge. She brushed them into her palm and went to the bin.
Leah's phone buzzed again. She didn't look at it.
“We're not leaving today,” Mara said. “I can't go with that hanging there. I'll have them come to the house tomorrow. Explain the bookings, put the rest straight. You should come.”
“Send me the time.”
Mara picked up her bag. At the door she turned.
“You're angry. I understand. I hope you'll remember you cared about me when you walk in there.”
Leah didn't answer. She opened the door, let Mara out and locked it again.
Then she took the sandwich she had brought from home out of her bag and sat on the stool. Her message was still on the screen. She put the phone facedown and ate her lunch.