Charlotte heaved her shopping bag into the Maison Nouvelle.
‘Do you mind if I leave this here for a little while?’
‘Of course not,’ Kate said. She was sitting at her workbench stitching pale blue glass beads onto what Charlotte thought looked like a headband.
‘I’ve just got one more thing to get,’ she said, hurrying back out of the door.
Kate smiled to herself. Rosie could be pretty conniving when she wanted. Not only was she keeping Charlotte out of mischief, as well as out of her hair, she was also ensuring that she was helping Bel with the wedding. It wasn’t a case of killing two birds with one stone but three.
Leaving the boutique, Charlotte hurried down Holmeside, turned left into Waterloo Place, then crossed over onto Athenaeum Street, before taking another left onto a very busy Fawcett Street.
Dodging shoppers, she finally reached Bridge Street, where she stopped and tried to find the shop she’d been told was around here somewhere.
The town was packed. Everyone seemed to have left their Christmas shopping until the last minute. Either that or they were out enjoying themselves, partaking in the Christmas spirit.
Charlotte spotted two Admiralty officers who looked as though they were doing just that. They weren’t drunk, but they did look a little unsteady on their feet. If it wasn’t for their age, she might have described them as dashing.
Suddenly she caught sight of two women walking down the street.
Was that …?
Charlotte stood and looked hard.
Her vision was temporarily blocked by a tram slowly gaining momentum as it headed for the Wearmouth Bridge.
Charlotte squinted a little. It was freezing cold, but the sun was shining. Dazzling. She put her hand to her forehead to stop herself being blinded.
Yes, it was.
It was Maisie and Vivian.
Mind you, they didn’t look like they’d been shopping. They weren’t carrying any bags or parcels.
Charlotte lifted her hand to wave and catch their attention.
She was just about to try and cross the road when she saw one of the Admiralty turn around and say something to Maisie. She laughed as he folded her in his arms and kissed her, before taking her hand.
Charlotte dropped her own hand.
The other naval officer was now speaking with Vivian and was offering her his arm.
They were clearly out on a double date.
Charlotte stayed where she was.
The officers seemed a little old for Maisie and Vivian. Must have been at least twice their age.
Charlotte stumbled a little as she felt someone bump into her.
‘Sorry, pet!’
Charlotte smiled and looked back to see where Maisie and Vivian and the two white-suited officers were going.
She caught them just as they disappeared through the main doors of the Grand.
When Charlotte got back to the Maison Nouvelle, she knocked on the door as she always did nowadays to stop Kate having kittens every time she entered the shop. She had noticed her sister always shouted out straight away whenever she came to the boutique and Charlotte had decided to do something similar.
Kate came out of the back room.
‘You done all your chores then?’
‘I have.’ She let out air dramatically. ‘It’s like a bull bait out there, though.’
Kate chuckled.
‘I know, anyone would think it was Christmas.’
Charlotte heard a rustling to her side and looked round to see Bel appearing through the divide in the curtain that provided the backdrop to the front window display.
She was holding her wedding dress.
‘Thank you so much, Charlie, for doing everything. You are a real star. I don’t know what I would have done without you.’
Bel gave Charlotte a hug while holding her dress out so as not to get it creased.
‘Now come and show me what you’ve got.’
Charlotte picked up the bag she had left earlier and the confetti she had bought from the bridal shop on Bridge Street and took them into the back room.
While the three of them drank tea and oohed and aahed over the things Charlotte had bought, Charlotte kept thinking about Bel’s sister and Vivian.
There were a few times she’d thought about mentioning that she’d seen them – after all, Maisie was Bel’s sister and the pair lodged with Kate at Lily’s – but each time something had stopped her.