Three Amazing Things About You(69)

And then below, in smaller writing: . . . get the fuck out of my kitchen.

‘Yes, yes, that’s fine, just wrap it up, please.’

Flo glanced at Patrick, who nodded and shrugged. She duly rang up the price, took the woman’s money and began gift-wrapping the tea towel in primrose-yellow tissue paper.

As she concentrated on the task in hand, cutting lengths of ivory ribbon and curling the ends with the blade of her scissors, Flo heard a friendly voice say, ‘Hey, Patrick! How are you?’

The woman in the tight pink fleece was busy on her phone now, getting annoyed. ‘Stop complaining, I’ll be there in two minutes . . . Malcolm, if you’d reminded me earlier, I wouldn’t be having to buy something now, would I? So just give it a rest.’

Behind them, Patrick was exchanging jovial words with the man who’d greeted him. Working as fast as she could, Flo finished constructing the ribbon curls, handed the gift-wrapped parcel to the woman and watched as she hurried off to catch up with her husband waiting impatiently in the car park.

She turned back to Patrick just as the man he’d been chatting to was leaving with his friends. He glanced briefly over his shoulder, grinned and raised a hand in farewell before heading off in the opposite direction to the woman in the pink fleece.

For a moment Flo wondered if she was the victim of some elaborate practical joke. Were there hidden cameras recording her befuddled reaction? Was it one of those TV shows where they got lookalikes to fool unsuspecting members of the public?

No, surely not.

‘Who was that you were talking to just then?’ she asked eventually.

Patrick looked the tiniest bit embarrassed. ‘You saw, didn’t you? Or you wouldn’t be asking.’

Still needing to be absolutely sure, Flo said, ‘Was it Prince Harry?’

‘Well . . . yes.’ For the first time, she noticed his cheeks redden.

‘You know him?’ OK, that was a stupid thing to say. Editing out the question mark, she repeated, ‘I mean, you know him.’

‘Hey, it’s not like we’re best friends.’ Patrick shook his head in protest. ‘Really, it’s nothing. Before I opened the shop, I ran a pub not far from Tetbury. Quite a few people from Highgrove used to pop in fairly regularly, seeing as we were only a couple of miles down the road. That’s all it is. He’s a good chap. Always friendly and down to earth.’

‘Wow, that’s amazing. Oh, the girl in the wheelchair,’ Flo exclaimed. ‘Didn’t you hear her earlier saying how much she wished she could see Prince Harry?’

‘Well, yes, I heard her. But he wasn’t here then.’

‘You could have told her you knew him, though! She’d have been so impressed!’

‘Oh no.’ Patrick smiled, clearly horrified by the very idea. ‘That would have been a bit show-offy. No one likes a name-dropper. Now, shall we make a start on the packing up?’

As they made their way back to Bristol, Patrick’s mobile rang. Glancing at the lit-up screen, he said, ‘It’s Dawn, wondering where I am. Could you answer it?’

Feeling a bit weird, Flo picked up the phone. ‘Hi, Patrick’s driving at the moment. We’re twenty minutes from Bristol. He says he’ll be with you by nine.’

‘Ah, that’s brilliant, thanks so much. Is that Flo?’ Dawn sounded friendly. ‘Now tell me, what’s he wearing? Does he look half-decent?’

Flo hesitated, then said, ‘He’s fine.’

‘Is it the grey corduroy trousers?’

‘Dark green corduroy.’

‘Red shirt?’

‘Red shirt,’ Flo confirmed, amused by the hint of eye-roll on Patrick’s part.

Keeping his attention on the road ahead, he murmured, ‘She thinks she’s Gok Wan.’

‘I hate that red shirt. The cuffs are frayed. OK, tell him to pop home first, have a shower and change into the black trousers and striped green and white shirt I bought him. I’ve fixed him up with a hot date and he needs to impress her.’

‘OK, got it,’ said Flo.

‘Thanks. And remind him to put on some cologne, too. The good stuff, not the awful one his sister gave him for Christmas. Thanks, Flo. Have you had a good day?’

‘Really good.’

‘Excellent. Oh, and tell him her name’s Jade. She’s an aerobics instructor, thirty-three, lives in Almondsbury. And she’s great, so we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed – I’m going to get him fixed up with someone lovely if it kills me! OK, bye!’

Flo relayed the details to Patrick, who shook his head in resignation. ‘Oh God, she’s never going to stop.’