The Second Chance Shoe Shop (21 page)

S
adie woke
up to the sounds of someone in her kitchen. She jumped up and threw back the duvet, glancing at the clock as she pulled on her dressing gown. It was 6:30 a.m., barely light.

‘Esther!’ she said, as she flew downstairs to see a light on in the kitchen and her daughter standing on a stool at the side of the sink.

‘Morning, Mummy!’ Esther said. ‘It’s Daddy’s special day today, so I wanted to make you breakfast in bed.’

Sadie glanced around the room. It looked as if a bomb had been dropped on it. There was a tray on top of the table, with a plate and a knife. She could smell toast burning in the toaster, and tried not to laugh – like mother, like daughter! But the situation could have been much more serious if she hadn’t woken up when she did.

‘I wanted to surprise you,’ Esther said, as she filled a glass with juice. ‘I know I can’t make you a cup of tea, because I’m not allowed to touch the kettle, but I can pour you a drink of orange and make a piece of toast.’

‘You’re not supposed to use the toaster either, missy,’ said Sadie in as stern a voice as she could muster, ‘as you well know.’

‘Don’t worry, Mummy. Nanny had been showing me how to do it. She said that I needed to be a big girl now, and that I could learn how to make toast. I was going to surprise you.’

‘You certainly did that,’ said Sadie. When she saw Esther’s face drop, she relented a little. ‘Come on, then,’ she said. ‘I’ll make us both a nice cup of tea and we can share your toast together. Does that sound good to you?’

Esther nodded and Sadie came up behind her and gave her a hug. Seeing her daughter preparing breakfast had made her realise that her little girl was growing up, and her daddy wasn’t here to see it. She held back the tears threatening to fall. It was going to be a tough day to get through.

‘Don’t be sad, Mummy.’ Esther looked up at her. ‘We have lots of things to do today, don’t we?’

‘We most certainly do, poppet.’

‘I have a card from Nanny to give to you,’ Esther said, tearing out of the room. She thundered up the stairs and came back down moments later with a pink envelope. ‘She says I need to leave you to open it on your own, because it might make you cry and that you wouldn’t want to cry in front of me because you try so very hard not to.’ She looked up in earnest. ‘You can cry in front of me any time, Mummy. I can make you happy then.’

Sadie wanted to ask her if she could mend broken hearts too. Instead, she thanked her and took the card. Esther, true to her word, ran into the living room.

‘I’ll be back in a minute!’ she shouted before closing the door.

Sadie took out the card.

Sadie, I deeply regret what I did. It was a selfish thing to do but, please, I lost my son a year ago, and I don’t want to lose my daughter-in-law too.

Sadie read the words twice, the second time through tears as they welled in her eyes and then fell down her face. Christine was right. Pretending to be someone else had been a terrible thing to do, but in a way she could understand why. It wasn’t for selfish reasons, it was because of grief. And Sadie needed her too. More than she would ever tell her.

Maybe Sadie wouldn’t forget what Christine had done for a long time. But it was time to forgive her.

I
t was shortly
after one o’clock that Riley’s phone beeped. She read the message. ‘She’s on her way,’ she told everyone.

They were sitting on the wall surrounding Sadie’s front garden. To Riley’s right, Dan and Ethan were chatting away. Ash and Cooper were sitting to her left. She smiled at Ash when she caught her eye. It had been a shock to find out the truth about her and Cooper, but she couldn’t be more delighted for them. Ash had ribbed her for days about having conned her into thinking that she was dating a twenty-three-year-old.

Sadie pulled up in her car. Esther got out first and ran to Cooper.

‘What are you all doing sitting on my wall?’ asked Sadie, checking her watch. ‘We said two o’clock, not one, didn’t we?’

‘How was it?’ asked Riley.

‘It was okay,’ said Sadie. ‘I had a lovely morning with Christine and Paul. Well, perhaps lovely isn’t the right word. But I did manage to scatter Ross’s ashes in the garden of remembrance in Hedworth Crematorium.’

The thought brought tears to Riley’s eyes.

‘I never really liked them in the house,’ Sadie said, her voice faltering. ‘Afterwards we sat quietly, all lost in our thoughts while Esther chatted away to Ross as if he was still with us. And then I realised that he
is
still with us.’

‘He’ll always be in our memories and our hearts,’ Riley said.

‘We won’t forget him, will we?’

Sadie looked in so much pain. Riley drew her into her arms.

‘Never.’

Cooper tapped Sadie on the shoulder. ‘We have something to show you before we go inside, but you need to close your eyes.’

Sadie frowned.

‘Close your eyes, Mummy!’ said Esther, ‘or you’ll spoil the surprise!’

‘Do you know what it is?’ Sadie stared at her daughter.

‘Yes, I kept it secret too!’ Esther clapped her hands.

Cooper pulled a woollen scarf from his jacket pocket. ‘Put this around your eyes and no peeking!’

‘I’ll just keep my eyes closed,’ said Sadie, pushing his hand away.

‘Not a chance. I know you.’ Cooper put it in place and tied a huge knot at the back of Sadie’s head. ‘Are they closed?’

‘Yes, but I couldn’t see anything even if they were open. What are you up to, Cooper?’

Cooper led her down the side of the house and into the back garden.

‘I can’t see a thing!’ Sadie protested, feeling the way with her toes as she held out her hands in front of her.

‘That’s the idea,’ said Riley, coming to her side. ‘Here, let me take your hand.’

‘Mind the step,’ shouted Dan, taking up the rear.

Out in the garden, everyone started to speak in whispers.

‘What are you lot planning?’ Sadie’s shoulders drooped. ‘I hope you didn’t get a trampoline, Cooper, or else!’

Cooper undid the scarf.

At the far end of the garden was a wooden bench. There was a small plaque in the middle.

‘Come and see what it says, Mummy,’ said Esther, grabbing her hand.

Sadie walked with her and read the words.

‘Look up to the stars and you will see me.’

Sadie’s hand covered her mouth. ‘Who did this?’ She looked at them all in turn.

‘We all did,’ said Riley. ‘Ross was such a big part of our lives that we wanted to buy you something special. We could have bought a bench to be placed in the crematorium but, this way, we thought it would be more personal.’

‘And,’ said Dan, coming to her other side, ‘as we all hang around in your garden, because none of us have one of our own, we thought what better way to remember him when we come over to see you, than to sit on his bench.’

‘We all know how much he loved the garden,’ said Cooper.

Sadie’s eyes filled with tears as she ran a finger over the plaque.

‘Cooper, was this what you were planning?’ Her skin began to flush. ‘I’m so sorry!’

Cooper put up a hand. ‘No need for that. Do you like it? You don’t think it’s too morbid, do you?’

‘We can take it away, if you do,’ said Ash, coming to stand next to Cooper.

Sadie shook her head. ‘It’s perfect. Thank you.’ She looked up at them. ‘Thank you all.’

Sadie still couldn’t get used to Cooper and Ash being an item. But it was the best pairing she could think of. Perfect in all ways. Ash wouldn’t feel threatened in any way if Cooper helped Sadie out, and if they ever did have their own family Sadie probably wouldn’t need him so much by then anyway. Maybe she might even have met her own man by then.

Behind her, she heard a cork popping and glasses chinking. Ethan filled the glasses and everyone stood for a moment.

‘To Ross,’ said Cooper and raised his glass in the air.

‘To the bench,’ said Dan, following suit.

‘To the best husband ever.’ Sadie tipped her glass upside down and poured the drink over the bench. ‘No one can love me like you.’

She looked up at everyone as they stared at her in dismay. ‘I’m toasting the bench, you idiots,’ she laughed.

Riley moved closer to Ethan and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, drawing her close. Looking around at her friends, even though Ross was no longer with them, she felt so lucky to have so many.

Things had started to look up for them all. She had Ethan. Ash and Cooper had taken a bit of getting used to, but now it seemed as if they had been together for ages. Dan was happier in himself now and, with all of their support, Sadie and Esther would be fine.

But the best thing to happen was that Riley had found a new confidence in herself. She’d always thought herself weak, but to get through everything life had thrown at her over the past few months she was obviously strong. With a great bunch of friends to watch her back, she was ready to bring Chandler’s into a new era.

As well as that, over the past couple of weeks she’d been headhunted by several larger companies. After seeing the social media campaign, the success of the competition and the way Riley had showcased the Designed by Frank tote bags (which had got him a lot of attention too), some had asked if she was interested in working in PR. It was something she had thought of, but for now she had declined.

From September, she was going back to college. Ethan had put the idea in her head. And, having recently got to know a lot of students through Marsha and Frank, it didn’t matter that she was older than them. She would fit right in.

A couple of nights a week would get her a Fashion and Design diploma, and she had enrolled on a short OU social media and PR course too. Afterwards she could decide what she wanted to do next. Whether that would be staying in Hedworth or going further afield, she wasn’t sure, but it would definitely be a move from Chandler’s. Working there over the past few months had shown her what she was capable of, and what else might be out there for her if she took a chance. And hopefully, by then, the shop would be thriving.

But one thing was certain – her plans certainly involved the man standing beside her. She smiled at Ethan, who squeezed her hand in return.

Who knew where her shoes would take her next?

F
irst of all
, I want to say a huge thank you for choosing to read
The Second Chance Shoe Shop
. I hope you enjoyed my third outing to my fictional town of Hedworth, and getting to know Riley, Sadie and Dan as much as I did. This was a dream book to write – friendship, love and shoes, my favourite things!

If you did enjoy
The Second Chance Shoe Shop
, I would be forever grateful if you’d write a review. I’d love to hear what you think, and it can also help other readers discover one of my books for the first time. Or maybe you can recommend it to your friends and family…

Many thanks to anyone who has emailed me, messaged me, chatted to me on Facebook or Twitter and told me how much they have enjoyed reading my books. I’ve been genuinely blown away with all kinds of niceness and support from you all. A writer’s job is often a lonely one but I feel I truly have friends everywhere.

You can sign up to receive an email whenever I have a new book out here:

• @marcie_steele
  
• MarcieSteeleauthor
  

E
ver since I can remember
, I’ve been a meddler of words. Born and raised in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, I used the city as a backdrop for my first novel,
Taunting the Dead
, and it went on to be a Kindle number one bestseller. I couldn’t believe my eyes when it became the overall number eight UK Kindle bestselling book of 2012.

Since then, my writing has come under a few different headings – grit-lit, sexy crime, whydunnit, police procedural, emotional thriller to name a few. I like writing about fear and emotion – the cause and effect of crime – what makes a character do something. Working as a housing officer for eight years gave me the background to create a fictional estate full of good and bad characters.

But I’m a romantic at heart and have always wanted to write about characters that are not necessarily involved in the darker side of life. Coffee, cakes and friends are three of my favourite things, hence writing under the name of Marcie Steele too. I can often be found sitting in my favourite coffee shop, sipping a cappuccino and eating a chocolate chip cookie, either catching up with friends or writing on my laptop.

M
el Sherratt (Marcie
) x