Annie
‘When you’re done serving Gary, come to the window,’ Maggie calls to me from the other side of the shop.
I slide Gary’s new dress shoes into a bag and hand them to him with a smile. ‘Enjoy the wedding.’
‘I’d want to enjoy it. Cost me enough,’ he adds with a wink before heading for the door. ‘See ya, Maggie.’
‘Bye-bye,’ she calls back.
I make my way over to the shop window, where Maggie’s bent over sweeping a pile of dust and fluff into a dustpan.
‘Amazing how dirty it gets in just a month,’ she says.
I nod. ‘Want me to run it to the bin?’
She straightens, pressing a hand to her chest as she catches her breath. ‘No need. I can do it.’ She looks around at the freshly cleaned space. ‘Now, these past six months, you’ve really proven yourself, and the customers clearly adore you.’ She makes a face. ‘I mean, Jenny White is a nice lady and all, but she’s always brought her kids in here to be fitted and sized for school shoes, then driven to Turram where they’re a bit cheaper. She doesn’t know I know, but I do.’ She tuts before continuing. ‘I really believe the only reason she bought those two pairs of shoes the other day is because you impressed her with how good you were with her kids.’ She reaches out and pats my arm. ‘My point being I think you’ve earned the opportunity.’
I have zero idea what she’s talking about right now. ‘Which opportunity is that?’
Maggie makes a large sweeping gesture with her arm. ‘You are in charge of the display window this month.’ She’s beaming at me now.
Unfortunately my excitement doesn’t come anywhere close to matching hers. ‘Wow. Thank you.’ I find a smile. ‘That’s… I appreciate everything you just said.’ And I do. Everyone wants to feel valued.
‘I’ll leave you to it.’ She pats me again, then waddles off towards the counter.
I look down at the display risers stacked to one side and try to muster up some enthusiasm for the task. There are still two more hours until we close, and then it’s home to prepare for field service tomorrow. I’m starting the morning with four return visits, which Mum casually mentioned to the sisters in the congregation after the meeting on Sunday. I think it’s safe to say she’s proud of where I’m at spiritually right now.
After arranging the risers, I head out back and select some netball and footy boots to display. It’s that time of year, and Adidas released new styles that arrived earlier in the week. I also grab a box of Blundstones before returning to the shop window.
‘Do we still have that box of toys and balls out back that your grandkids play with when they come in on school holidays?’ I ask Maggie as I pass the counter.
She looks up, thinking. ‘I think they’re in the cupboard under the fax machine.’
I dump the boxes by the window and return to the back, sifting through the random assortment of items. As I’m heading back to the window, the doorbell sounds, deafening all in a twenty-metre radius. I did once politely suggest to Maggie that we could turn it down and still hear it from the back, but her hearing isn’t what it used to be, so it remains at the highest possible volume. I peer around the pile of balls I’m carrying and almost drop them when I see Kevin Reed standing awkwardly inside the door.
All the heartache I’ve spent the past few months burying bubbles to the surface in one glance. That’s all it takes. One reminder of him to bring it all up again.
‘Annie,’ Kevin says by way of greeting.
‘Hi.’ I’ve only seen him twice since Hunter left. He tends to stay away from town, and town tends to stay away from him. ‘Let me put these down, and then I’ll be right with you.’
‘No, no,’ Maggie says, walking around from behind the counter. ‘You keep going with your display.’ She gives Kevin the same welcoming smile she gives all her customers, ignoring the odour of drink taking over the air. ‘You need some dress shoes for the wedding too?’
Kevin gives her a blank stare. ‘Wedding?’
Maggie’s face falls, and her cheeks turn red. Every farmer in the district is going to Gary’s daughter’s wedding. Every farmer except Kevin Reed. She waves a dismissive hand. ‘Never mind. My old brain getting confused. Time for some new work boots?’
‘Size eleven. Wide fit. Thanks.’
Maggie nods. ‘I’ll have to check. I’ve got a feeling we sold our last pair of elevens yesterday.’ She disappears out back, and Kevin’s eyes drift in my direction.
The silence is far from comfortable, but I’m struggling with what to say. ‘How’s the new farmhand working out?’
He shoves his hands into his pockets and takes a few steps in my direction. ‘Well, he shows up, so that’s a big improvement on the last one.’
His last farmhand was Greg Dawson, who was a year above me at school. I heard his mother tell Maggie that he wasn’t learning much and that Kevin was usually still in bed when he arrived in the mornings. ‘That’s positive.’
Maggie reappears. ‘I was right. Sold them yesterday. We do have an order arriving this afternoon. Courier said he’d get here before closing. You want to pop back then?’