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 retirees 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 it’s 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.
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
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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