Tuesdays at the Teacup Club Read Free Page A

brother didn’t do tired. He worked hard, and then he played hard, usually leaving the rest of us for dust
     on nights out.
    ‘Come in,’ he said, reversing his chair and leaving me room to pass.
    ‘Here you go,’ I said, handing him the post. He put it on a side table. ‘Chris, how tired do you mean? Dad said he hadn’t
     heard from you either.’
    ‘I don’t want Dad worrying, he doesn’t need any stress.’ Chris barely looked over his shoulder at me as he spoke.
    ‘Worrying?’ I echoed.
    ‘It’s no one else’s problem. I want to deal with this on my own.’
    ‘Deal with what, Chris?’ I said, my pulse racing. ‘What are you talking about?’
    Maggie
    Monday, 9th September
    Pushing Stan’s buggy ahead of her, Maggie stepped inside Bluebelle du Jour, and took in a lungful of the scent of fresh flowers
     – lilies, freesias and tulips filled her shop, with vintage photos and street signs from Paris on the walls.
    ‘Maggie!’ Anna said enthusiastically, stepping out from behind the counter to give her a hug hello. She was wearing a white
     apron and large silver hoop earrings, her blonde curls up in a top-knot.
    ‘Hi,’ Maggie replied, noticing how fresh and youthful her assistant looked and hoping the bags under her own eyes weren’t
     too obvious. Stan had barely slept last night, or the two nights before, and as a result had been cranky all morning. Cranky
     didn’t come close to covering what Maggie was feeling.
    ‘I’m afraid Stan’s joining us today,’ she explained. ‘Owen got called away at the last minute.’
    Anna bent down to get a peek at Stan, and he gurgled as she tickled his toes. ‘Great. It’s his shop too.’
    ‘So, how’s everything been going?’ Maggie asked.
    ‘Oh, fine,’ Anna said confidently. ‘Pretty quiet this morning, apart from the deliveries.’
    ‘There haven’t been any delays, have there? I was wondering, with the rain and everything.’
    Maggie heard a noise and glanced down nervously at Stan in his buggy, but he was playing with his dummy calmly.
    ‘Everything’s gone smoothly,’ Anna said, straightening her apron. ‘We’ve got a christening this weekend, but that’s been organised
     for a while. And the next wedding we’re doing isn’t for another month.’
    ‘OK,’ Maggie said. ‘Sounds good. Thanks for holding the fort so well.’
    ‘I’ve really enjoyed it. The events especially.’
    Maggie nodded, and carried on nodding, not saying anything. Her mind went blank, and she realised she’d forgotten what Anna
     had just said.
    ‘Are you OK?’ Anna asked.
    ‘Oh, yes. I’m fine,’ she said, shaking off her fatigue. ‘I thought it would be a good time to come in and catch up, but now…’
     She ran a hand over her hair, knotty with tangles, and her words trailed off. She couldn’t catch hold of her thoughts again.
    For the whole weekend days had run ungoverned into nights, dawn drawing around again before she’d even closed her eyes sometimes.
     Stan was teething and keeping her awake almost constantly with his wails of distress. She’d been desperately putting on cooling
     gels and trying to soothe him, but nothing seemed to help. It worried her to see him in pain.
    ‘You could always come back another day?’ Anna said. ‘There’s nothing urgent to deal with, honestly.’
    Maggie considered it for a moment. She’d told herself she’d start back today, and while Stan being there too wasn’t ideal,
     she didn’t want to change her plan.
    ‘I’ll just take a look at the orders and accounts,’ she said. ‘I’ll be out in the back room if you need me.’
    As she said it, she realised how unlikely that was. Anna seemed completely in control. Maggie had once thought no one could
     run the shop like she could, multi-tasking, scheduling and managing events – but perhaps she’d been wrong about that.
    She walked into the back office, wheeling Stan with her, then sat down and switched on the laptop. She opened a spreadsheet