Free Tall Poppies by Louise Bagshawe Page A

days.’
    ‘Oh, Frank,’ Nina said. She knew it wasn’t true, and maybe she ought to turn him down, but money was so tight, she couldn’t afford to. Frank Malone was a lonely man who felt paternal towards her, and she bad made a big difference in the store. ‘I shouldn’t,’ she said weakly.
    ‘Take it.’ Frank brushed aside her objections. ‘I got a cousin in Queens, a lawyer. Did my will. I’ll get him to draw up the paperwork.’
    Nina hugged herself. Five per cent of one tiny store, hardly an empire. But it was something, it was her first step on the ladder. And Frank was a friend, and she was going to have a baby. The future wasn’t rosy, but perhaps it wasn’t so black either.
     
    Three days later Frank Malone ‘had a stroke. He was rushed to hospital, but there was nothing the doctors could do. He died an hour later.
     
    ‘Nina Roth?’
    Nina looked up from sweeping the floor as the door jangled. A tall, stocky man in a homburg and a black overcoat stepped into the store, ignoring the ‘Closed’
     
    6z
     
    sign. She frowned wearily; there was so much to do before the funeral, and nobody else to do it.
    ‘That’s right,’ she said, holding on to the broom in the
    hope he’d take the hint, but the stranger didn’t budge. ‘I’m Connor Malone.’
    ‘Oh.’ Nina blushed, wiped her dusty hands on her apron and came forwards to shake his hand. Connor would be Frank’s son from Albany, the one he was always moaning never came to see him. Connor had a sister, Mary, in Texas and Nina hadn’t been expecting either of them so soon. She wished she’d been wearing something more appropriate than her tatty blue jeans and red checker shirt to meet her new boss. ‘Hi there. I’m so sorry about Frank, Mr Malone. He was always very good to me.’
    She decided not even to mention the five per cent. Connor Malone wouldn’t believe her, she could tell that right away.
    ‘Yeah, he was a generous guy,’ Connor said vaguely, glancing around the shop. ‘He really pulled it together since the last time I was here.’
    Nina couldn’t exactly say that it was mostly her doing, so she just nodded and smiled. ‘Green Earth is doing really well.’
    ‘That’s good, we’ll get a better price for it.’
    Connor Malone was, an insurance salesman, used to sizing up assets, and he liked what he saw: great retail space, attractively laid out, nicely kept. He missed his pop but they hadn’t been close for years, whereas fifty per cent of this store would be a great” windfall for Cheryl and the kids. He was so pleased he missed the look of panic on the face of the small, dark-haired clerk in front of him.
    ‘You’re not going to sell, Mr Malone?’
    Connor glanced at her. ‘Sure, who’d run this place now?’
     
    63
     
    ‘Why not me?’
    ‘I don’t think so.’ The salesman smiled politely. ‘OK, well, thanks for looking after the place till I got here, Miss Roth. I know you didn’t have a contract, but I’ll see you get a full month’s severance. That’s only fair.’
    ‘Mr Malone, don’t you think you should keep Green Earth open? It’s making a nice profit—’
    ‘But my father’s dead,’ Connor explained patiently. ‘Yes, sir, but I did all the book-keeping, I ran the promotions and ordered the stock. I could go right on doing that, and you could hire a junior to help me out.’
    Malone looked at the earnest little face and almost laughed.
    ‘How old are you, honey, twenty-two?’
    ‘ Tm eighteen,’ Nina admitted.
    ‘Yeah? You look older … but still, I didn’t get where I am today by hiring teenage girls to take care of business, even pretty ones,’ he added with a laboured attempt at gallantry.
    ‘But I have been taking care of business,’ she protested. Connor Malone’s face lost some of its genial air.
    ‘Nice try, Nina, but no dice. Sorry. I’ll get you that cheque tomorrow.’
     
    Nina didn’t attend the funeral. Instead she stayed back and organised what passed for an