A French Affair (16 page)

‘Divorced?’ Gina had squeaked.

‘Yes,’ Anthea had said. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to gossip. He was married to a Frenchwoman – Yvette. They split up – oh, a little while ago now.’ Something about the way she said it made Gina think she had not liked this Yvette. Unfortunately she had said no more, and Gina did not know her well enough to dig further.

‘Sally and I got everyone to chip in a bit towards expenses, but we didn’t manage to persuade them to dress up,’ Gina said now. ‘One or two were quite keen – there’s a lovely guy who’s very into Gilbert and Sullivan; he and his wife were well up for it – but the others said no, basically.’

‘Shame. I love a good dress-up myself.’ Anthea laughed. ‘Any excuse to rummage in the dressing-up box!’

‘My sister is just the same. Have you met Sally? Come over and I’ll introduce you before we open. She’s been brilliant. It was her idea to get the nursery where her girls go to put leaflets in the children’s bags. They’ll be a bit young but they might bring their wealthy parents. You never know.’

As they went to look for Sally, Anthea said, ‘That was a lovely piece in the paper and a really good picture of Oscar. Matthew looked quite good too.’

Gina nodded. It had been a major triumph to even get Matthew to agree to it let alone spruce up the paintwork and the sign outside. But Gina had felt it was worth it: the French House looked positively upbeat in the picture.

‘Ah, here’s Sally. Sal? You haven’t met Anthea, our star auctioneer.’

‘Hi!’ said Sally. ‘You were in
Bargain Hunt
once, weren’t you?’

‘
Flog It
, actually,’ said Anthea, ‘but same difference.’

Gina looked at her watch. It was five to ten. ‘OK, guys!’ she said.

Jenny came forward with Matthew and Oscar, who was sporting a smart new collar. Everyone stood in a line. There was the odd pirate and wench amongst the usual tweed and pearls.

Everyone had picked the smallest and most gift-like items they had. Sally’s chandelier decorations and their other stock were in Tiggy’s care, who promised to sell them as enthusiastically as if she were making money from them too.

All the ‘experts’ were in place. Anthea was ensconced in the middle of the centre prepared to do her best.

‘OK, here goes!’ Gina went forward and unlocked the door.

‘So where is everyone then?’ demanded Matthew on the dot of ten, ten seconds after Gina had turned the sign to ‘Open’.

‘Be reasonable!’ hissed Gina, terrified no one would come and it would all have been a horrible waste of time and money. ‘Remember Sunday opening? That turned out all right.’

‘This is different,’ hissed back Matthew.

Sally, never known for her patience, grabbed a tray of mince pies. ‘OK, I’m going to get them in.’ She whisked out of the door before anyone could suggest she might need a coat.

By ten past ten the first family trooped in. Although it was still early, they fell on the snacks and mulled wine or hot apple juice with enthusiasm.

Gina’s hand shot out with a couple of competitions. ‘If
you can spot all these items on the list,’ she said, ‘you can have a prize!’

She thought she heard Matthew sigh from behind her but decided to ignore it. As she watched the family rush up to the cuckoo clock which was first on the list she thought how great everything was looking. The centre really had livened up lately since the dealers had been bringing in more stock and with the success of the Sunday opening. She felt proud to be part of it. The inside was decidedly less gloomy these days. Now, with all the decorations and every possible form of lighting on display it positively sparkled. Today, at least, it was a place one might actually want to spend time in rather than hurry past or ignore.

Their second visitor was a man in a raincoat bearing a plastic supermarket bag before him like a bouquet of flowers. ‘I need an expert,’ he said nervously.

‘Well,’ said Jenny once he’d been directed to the dealer who specialised in ceramics, ‘I really hope that what’s in there is valuable. It’ll break his heart otherwise.’

A harassed-looking couple with three children came in. They looked like they’d wandered in seeking something – anything – to keep the children safe and entertained.

Sally and Gina exchanged glances, both recognising exhaustion and despair when they saw it. ‘Good morning!’ said Gina. ‘Have a hot drink and a nibble.’

‘Would you like to enter the competition?’ said Sally, to the children, a little boy and two slightly older girls.

‘If you like, we could take the children on the treasure hunt while you have a browse on your own?’ Gina addressed their mother. ‘They’ll be fine with us. My sister has twin girls of her own.’

It was fun taking the children around, encouraging them to spot the carved owl up on a high shelf and getting them to tick it off. They soon got into it and were looking intently at everything, vying with each other to be the first to see the statue of a man with a lion at his feet.

Harold had planned the treasure hunt carefully, not encouraging children into areas where they could break things. Even so Gina found it a little nerve-racking and was relieved to take them back to their parents so they could choose a prize.

‘Thank you so much for that,’ said the mother, looking calmer and wearing a little ring that her husband had bought for her.

‘It was fun,’ said Gina. ‘Wasn’t it?’

The children jumped up and down. ‘Yeah! Can we do it again?’

‘No, we need to get off now. Granny’s this afternoon!’ The woman’s enthusiasm was a little forced. ‘That’ll be fun, won’t it?’

‘No,’ said the eldest child, a girl of about six.

‘But at least we found her a present she’ll like,’ said her mother, clutching a package and not bothering to argue. ‘Thank you so much,’ she said again before taking her family away.

‘You know, I think we should offer escorted treasure hunts as standard,’ said Sally. ‘I bet people would be so grateful to have a few minutes’ child-free time that they buy something out of gratitude.’

Matthew too had been doing child duty, but with two boys who were really a bit big for treasure hunts. Gina spotted him enthusing them by encouraging them to spot samurai swords and vicious-looking nutcrackers.

As she went to fetch some wine she had to acknowledge that he was very good at it. It was a shame he’d never had children, he was so good with them. He was one of those people who didn’t know anything about children so treated them just like adults – to very good effect.

‘Never put me through that again,’ he said to Gina, biting into a pasty a little later, duty done. ‘I had no idea what I was doing.’

‘You were brilliant,’ she said. ‘Really. I was following you round so I could mock, but they loved you!’

Matthew tried very hard not to look pleased.

At about four o’clock the centre emptied of the public and Gina and Sally went round to the dealers to see how they felt the day had gone. They’d grinned at each other when they’d overheard a couple commenting on how much better this place was to so many of the other antique shops in the town. They’d never noticed it before but they would definitely be back. However, the most pressing thing now was to find out if the other dealers felt it had gone well. And they did. Almost everyone had sold a bit more than they would have expected to, which meant the day’s sales were already well up.

‘And I discovered a couple of nice pieces,’ said Harold, who’d got into the festive spirit and was wearing a twinkling bow tie powered by a tiny battery. ‘I passed them on to Anthea to put in the next auction, but I’ll go along too in case they don’t make what they should.’

‘Why didn’t you just buy them yourself?’ asked Sally.

‘I thought the lady who’d brought them in would get a bit more for them at auction and although they were nice, they weren’t exactly what I prefer. But as I say, I’ll
make sure they don’t go for nothing when sale time comes.’

‘That’s really very kind of you,’ said Sally.

Tiggy, extra draped in strings of beads and shawls in honour of the season, broke in. ‘Anthea will make sure they do. She’s good at her job.’

‘So how was it for you, Tiggy?’ asked Gina. ‘Did you find anything wonderful?’

‘I didn’t buy anything but I think it was thoroughly worthwhile. A couple of people said they had things they’ll bring in after Christmas. I think we showed people we’re just the same as they are and they shouldn’t be nervous about coming in.’

Gina nodded. ‘That’s brilliant.’

‘Sally’s crystal decorations all sold and I did sell quite a lot of smalls myself,’ Tiggy said.

Harold grunted. ‘No one calls the little items “smalls” these days.’

Tiggy laughed. ‘Well, I like the old terms.’

Gina and Sally moved on leaving Harold and Tiggy arguing gently about the terminology of the antiques trade. They found Matthew talking to the dealer who had the largest pitch, John Webster. It had taken all Sally’s girlish charms to get him to agree to the upheaval. Gina broke in on them, knowing he was key: if he’d done well Matthew would be satisfied it had been worth it.

‘How did it go?’ she asked.

John looked at her thoughtfully. ‘Not bad at all,’ he said at last. ‘I must confess I’m surprised. Sold a tallboy I’ve had for years. Bit odd really. People don’t usually buy furniture at Christmas.’ Then, not wishing to be too
upbeat, he went on, ‘The trouble is, we’ve got to do it all again tomorrow.’

‘I knew Sunday opening was a bad idea,’ said Matthew, partly, Gina was sure, to wind her up.

‘No it’s not,’ said John. ‘It’s an excellent idea. But these events are tiring for an old man.’

‘You don’t have to do tomorrow,’ said Matthew. ‘I’ll stand in for you if you like. It would stop Gina making me take round packs of children.’

Gina made a face at him.

‘But you’re not an expert in furniture in the way I am,’ said John. ‘And I saw you with those kiddies. You looked in your element. That said, I’d quite like your opinion on this bonheur du jour. Haven’t seen you since I bought it.’

Gina and Sally, who had thought the item he was indicating was just a fancy desk, made faces at each other and then went to gather used glasses.

‘
HEY!
YOU’LL NEVER
guess who came in!’ They were having to do it all again the next day, which was partly good because they knew what to expect and partly bad because they were tired. Sally, however, was jumping up and down with excitement, all signs of fatigue gone.

‘Who? The Queen? The
Antiques Roadshow
team? Madonna? Tell me.’

‘Carmella! She came in. With Egan. Of course, I didn’t know it was her but Egan introduced us. And’ – she held up her hand so she wouldn’t be interrupted – ‘I gave her my card. And better, I had pictures of the lamps on my phone. She loved them.’

‘I knew she would,’ said Gina, thrilled for Sally but feeling a bit odd. Did she feel Sally was being disloyal to her having anything to do with a shop connected to her horrible ex-boyfriend? She pushed the feeling away.

‘I’m coming to the shop tomorrow to show her and have a proper interview. Oh Gina.’ Sally’s eyes were wide and ecstatic. ‘I haven’t been so excited about anything for years.’

‘That’s lovely,’ said Gina, still fighting her negative feelings.

‘You don’t mind, do you?’ Sally obviously expected Gina to say no. ‘I mean – Egan and everything?’

‘There are absolutely no feelings left between me and Egan. The only thing I can’t understand is what Carmella, who seems to have everything, sees in a loser like Egan.’

‘He is good-looking,’ said Sally.

‘Yes.’

‘Hon? Are you sure you’re over him? He and Carmella might just be friends, although I did think from, you know, body language that they are an item.’

Sally’s concern was typical but a bit irritating. ‘I’m absolutely over him as a person. I am not over the whole horror of being in a bad relationship and being such an utter fool,’ said Gina, a little more forcefully than she had intended. ‘Now let’s stop talking about my so-over relationship and think about your lamps. You must track down a chandelier bits shop.’

‘Oh I have already. This is me, Gina. I want to make fabulous, individual decorative pieces. It’s something I can do at home and be good at. I’ve discovered what I want to do when I grow up.’

Gina smiled fondly. ‘Any idea when that might happen, Sal?’

Sally pushed Gina affectionately. She was in love. Nothing anyone could say would affect her new-found joy.

As Gina drove home she tried to be happy for Sally but she couldn’t avoid a tiny finger of sadness touching her. As she had feared, Sally and she would not be running their Aunt Rainey’s antiques business together. As a self-employed person she had looked forward to being part of a team and not having to bear all the responsibility
herself. When she’d started out in the world of PR she’d worked for a company and she did miss the camaraderie.

But she’d still have Sally as a sister, she reminded herself, and the event had been such a roaring success. She had proved she was good at her job – something she knew intellectually but had to be reminded of from time to time. Everyone – except Matthew, who was apparently hard-wired to be despondent – was thrilled with the extra boost to their business at a time that traditionally was very hard for antiques dealers. So as she parked her car outside her cottage, she decided she was definitely going to have a glass of wine. She bloody well deserved one.

Gina hadn’t seen Matthew since the Christmas event. He had been visiting friends and dealers a little further afield, Jenny informed her. And Gina herself had been busy: she’d got a little bit more PR business, and had also been to Anthea’s auction house to restock, which meant she wasn’t in the centre as much as she’d hoped to be.

However, today, Gina was at the French House, rearranging her new stock to look appealing in the cabinet, when she realised Matthew was locking up.

‘Hey, I didn’t think anyone else was still here,’ he said. ‘I haven’t seen you for ages. How are things?’ He leant against a table to the side of Gina’s stall.