(Part 01)
Although Alison Williams was originally from Shallowfield but had lived in Sharpington for five years and she had a nice little flat in Jubilee Court.
The traditional seaside resort of Sharpington-by-Sea suited her very well with its Victorian Pier, seafront hotels, crazy golf, The Palladium ballroom, well maintained gardens, promenade, theatre and illuminations, all the usual things to have a great time by the seaside, as well as amusement arcades and of course the Sharpington Fun Park.
To her mind the whole place, like her, was vibrant and fun.
Her parents still lived in Shallowfield and her Auntie Penny was in the Dulcets and Uncle Bob and his family were in Mornington so the family were all far enough away for her to be totally independent but close enough for her to have peace of mind.
Alison was 35 years old and she was a self-employed gardener and she was best described as a buxom young woman, though quite muscular, about 5ft 10, big chested with a great unruly shock of vivid ginger hair.
At the opposite end of Sharpington from where she lived was very popular with retiree’s with a mixture of Victorian houses and cottages as well as post Second World War bungalows and she had a numerous clientele among them which was growing all the time.
The problem was she was reaching the point when she couldn’t take on anymore.
But she was on the horns of a dilemma because she had too much work for her but not enough yet to employ another full time person.
She had tried a number of casuals and part timers but they had proved very unreliable and to be honest not up to her standard.
She really wanted an apprentice, someone she could train up to eventually become full time, and someone who wanted to learn what she knew.
So when she was working in David Goodman’s garden at the beginning of June his suggestion was music to her ears.
It happened when she was bent over attending to one of the planters
“Alison!” David called
“Morning” Alison said “I’m just packing up”
“Hang on; I need to ask you a favour”
“Ok ask away,” she said
“Do you ever take on casual labour?” He asked
“Yes, but its hard finding someone reliable who turns up when they say they will” she said “Why do you have someone in mind?”
“Yes”
“It’s not some lecherous git you’re trying to set me up with is it?” Alison asked suspiciously
“No it’s a local girl, Wendy Corney”
“Ok I’ll give her a trial” she said “But its hard graft and the money’s shit”
“She won’t mind” David said
“I hope this one works out” she said to herself as she was loading the van
“Then perhaps I might be able to spend some quality time at Ravensbrooke”
Ravensbrooke was a nursery and Garden Center, on the outskirts of Sharpington, where she got all of her plants and gardening supplies and it was also where Ged Kelly worked and he was very much a work in progress and as she was so busy progress was very slow.
(Part 02)
The Monday after she spoke to David she had arranged to have Wendy Corney meet her in David Goodman’s garden.
Alison was pottering about in the garden when she caught sight of a girl in the corner of her eye.
She was a tall skinny waif with short mousy blonde hair which made her look like a shaggy dog.
Wendy was obviously a tomboy, a pretty one with elfin features, but a tomboy none the less.
She didn’t turn around to look at her properly instead she waited until the girl walked cautiously towards her to introduce herself and was amused when she noticed she looked terrified.
“Aaaalison” she said
“Hello sweetie, you’re just in time,” Alison said “come and help me unload the mower”
From the first moment Wendy showed herself to be hard working, willing and eager and a quick learner.
That first day they did five gardens and at the end of the day Alison noticed Wendy was looking very nervous when they had finished loading the truck and she smiled to herself and then Alison said
“Jump in, I’ll take you Ravensbrooke and get you some safety boots and overalls”
Ravensbrooke was a nursery and Garden Center, on the outskirts of Sharpington, where she got all of her plants and gardening supplies. “Did I do alright then?”
“You did great, now jump in” she said but Wendy didn’t move “What’s the matter?” Alison asked
“I don’t have any money” she said
“You don’t need any” Alison said “Now get in”
Apart from being a nursery and Garden Center Ravensbrooke was also a Country Store so it was possible to buy anything from top soil to designer leisurewear.
The variety on offer was what originally attracted Alison to Ravensbrooke because being a one woman operation time was at a premium.
But what drew her back there on a regular basis was to see a big bear of a man with a big black beard called Ged Kelly.
He was the same age as Alison and was a local man who had worked as a nurseryman for the Raven family since he left school
Alison had been a customer for ten years but Ged had only been on her radar for two when a promotion brought him out of the greenhouses and onto the shop floor.
She was taken with him the first time she laid eyes on him on bright sunny morning in May as he loaded bags of compost into the back of a customer’s Range Rover.
And after that day she always looked out for him in the store and if she was lucky he would serve her.
Alison knew that he liked her because he stammered when he spoke to her but she knew from hearing him speak with other customers that he didn’t stammer all the time.
As she and Wendy walked through the automatic doors, Alison surveyed the shop floor in search of him but there was no sign so she led Wendy to where the work boots were on display.
They found a suitable pair for Wendy and then went in search of overalls and then as they were looking at work gloves Ged appeared from the stock room right where they were standing.
“Hhhhello Aaaalison” he said
“Hi Ged” she replied
(Part 03)
Alison was so pleased with Wendy over the first month she worked for her, so by the time it was over she was working with Alison for four days a week.
So halfway through July she was working up a sweat cutting the grass in David Goodman’s garden and when she stopped to empty the grass box she saw him coming towards her.
“Morning” he called
“Hello David” she called back just at that moment Wendy appeared wearing identical dungarees as Alison, carrying some empty sacks.
“Hello” she shouted
“Hi Wendy” he shouted back
Then in a lower voice he asked Alison
“How’s she doing?” nodding in Wendy’s direction
“Excellently” Alison replied beaming
“She a quick learner, hardworking, eager and reliable”
“Really?”
“I couldn’t ask for better, and she’s a real sweetie” she said
“I’m so pleased” he said and left them toiling in the soil to go to Abbottsford.
When Alison and Wendy were finished at David Goodman’s they went over to Ravensbrooke to pick up some more materials and Wendy remarked that they made a lot of trips over there.
There was a very good reason why she was spending more and more at the Country Store and that was because in the month since she employed Wendy she didn’t have to rush from pillar to post and had more time to devote to flirting with Ged.
But despite the extra time she was devoting to it she still wasn’t getting anywhere.
The following week it was raining and Alison was going to Ravensbrooke again so she told Wendy to meet her outside David Goodman’s bungalow, it was time to make a concerted effort to snag Ged.
When she got inside the store she went straight to the counter hoping to find him but there was no sign but when she turned around he was standing there.
“Argh” she exclaimed and leapt backwards
“I’m sorry” he said “I didn’t mean to make you jump”
“Oh hello Ged” she said trying to compose herself
“You didn’t stammer”
“No I didn’t did I” he said and smiled
“No you didn’t” she agreed
“Then I had better do it before it comes back” he said
“Do what?” Alison asked
“Ask you out” he said quickly
“Oh” she responded speechless
“So how about dinner?” he said “Friday night?”
“Yeeess” she stammered
“I’ll pick you up at 7.30” Ged said confidently
“Ok” she replied just at the moment there was a tannoy announcement that called him away.
“I’ll call you” he said which would have been very awkward to say had he stammered it.
“Ok” Alison responded shell shocked and encouraged by how well it was going he kissed her.
And he continued to kiss her as the tannoy repeated the announcement.
Alison was going to be late and tardiness was something she did not approve of and she was not setting a very good example to her employee but she was not thinking about that as she drove towards Southern Sharpington.
She was preoccupied with trying to figure out how, despite her intention to ask him out, shy stammering Ged had beaten her to the punch.
Then she concluded that it didn’t actually matter who asked, what mattered was that she was going for dinner on Friday night with Ged Kelly.
When Alison got to David Goodman’s bungalow she was surprised that Wendy hadn’t already started pottering about in the garden but she wasn’t cross.
She was in far too good a mood, in fact she was like the cat that got the cream.
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