Ellie was busy finishing the details of the Mayor’s cream and pale sand-coloured hat. For a small woman with broad features, a hat that would give her a lift and make her seem taller and slimmer was important, and its slightly upturned brim should work perfectly. As she fitted the final piece of satin trim on the inside, Ellie watched Harry Regan across the street as he began to shut up his shop.
She had a lump in her throat as she saw him stack the unsold boxes of shoes into the boot of his old Volvo Estate. Walking boots, fine Italian men’s leather shoes, lace-ups and sandals, all unsold, would now be consigned to charity. He was such a nice man and would be missed. Her mother had always relied on Harry and he had helped her many times over the years. The time the pipes burst and the shop flooded, and when a mouse infestation had sent herself and her mother running out into the street, and only two years ago he had boarded up the shop window with a sheet of plywood after a break-in. It was hard to believe that today he was finally closing up and retiring.
At six o’clock everyone in the street gathered in Regan’s Shoes to say farewell. Ellie sipped a glass of champagne as she admired the white-frosted sponge cake Sissy Kavanagh had made for Harry’s retirement. Everyone was trying to be jolly as they wished him well.
‘I might try fishing,’ he joked, ‘catch a few river trout down on the Shannon.’
‘Dad’s thinking of buying a riverside apartment down in Athlone, so he’ll be near me and his grandchildren,’ his daughter Sarah added. ‘He won’t know himself, not having to work all day in this place.’
Ellie knew from the look in Harry’s eyes that there was no hobby on earth that could replace the enthusiasm he’d felt for running his own business.
‘They made me an offer too,’ confessed Scottie O’Loughlin, who owned the toy shop two doors down from Ellie. ‘Obviously nothing like Harry’s getting but they still want to buy me out lock, stock and barrel.’
‘But what about the toy shop?’ Sissy quizzed.
‘I suppose they’d knock it down, get rid of the old and make way for the new. Put some fancy store or restaurant in its place,’ he said, adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses. ‘I’m a sitting duck. The kids nowadays only want those fancy computer games and DVDs and electronic gadgets. They don’t want old-fashioned toys any more. I’m almost as extinct as those rubber dinosaurs I sell.’
‘And will you sell up?’ Ellie asked.
‘No,’ said Scottie emphatically. ‘I certainly won’t. I’m like one of those old pirates. I’d rather go down with my ship, fighting.’
‘Good for you,’ agreed those standing around him.
‘No, I won’t close up like Harry here. What would an old bachelor like me do with himself? I’d go barmy without having the shop to come in to every day.’
‘Scottie, if you don’t mind me saying . . . a bit of a paint job in those nice bright primary colours kids like would make a big difference to the shop,’ suggested Ria Roberts, who owned the women’s fashion shop a few doors down from him.
‘New shelves, and get rid of that big old counter that takes up half the shop and stops the kids seeing the toys,’ advised Harry, who had joined the conversation.
‘Scrap that bloody lino,’ shouted Scottie, forgetting himself for a moment. Everyone burst out laughing.
‘Doing it up a bit wouldn’t have to cost that much,’ Ellie confided.
‘If you need anyone to give you a hand,’ volunteered Harry, ‘I’ll be at a bit of a loose end once I hand over the keys of this place.’
‘Dad!’ protested Sarah, throwing her eyes to heaven.
‘Those fish might have to wait a bit, love, while I help out an old friend.’
They all laughed, glad to see Harry wasn’t going to turn his back on them totally. Scottie asked everyone to join him in a toast and they all raised their glasses as Harry said a few parting words and Sissy passed round the cake. When Harry locked up an hour later for the very last time they all stood out on the street and cheered him.
Thirty-six hours later the old dance hall, Regan’s Italian shoe shop and the empty shop beside it had been boarded up and hidden behind high site hoardings.
Ellie couldn’t get Rory out of her mind and had waited and waited for him to phone her. Nothing for the whole week, and just when she’d given up hope of ever hearing from him again she got a text saying he was missing her! Then he’d started texting her daily. Sending her lines and verses of songs. Ellie tried to keep up and remember who wrote them. He was witty and made her laugh and she hoped that they would see each other again. She checked the new message on her phone. What about dinner in Eden on Saturday? It was from him. Yes, please, she replied immediately before phoning Kim to tell her. Rory was the first guy in a long time to interest and excite her and Ellie couldn’t wait to see him.