Free Anne Douglas by The Handkerchief Tree Page A

The brown-haired girl gave Shona a smile. Her face was square and freckled, her eyes brown and friendly. ‘Would you like to come this way? Mrs May is in her office.’
    ‘I’ll leave you, then,’ Miss Ruddick whispered. ‘Good luck.’
    Nodding briefly and holding herself very straight, Shona followed her guide through the front shop, passing the girl at the back, to enter a large office where a slender woman rose from behind a desk.
    ‘Miss Murray for interview, Mrs May,’ said the young woman, at which Shona’s eyes widened. ‘Miss Murray’? She’d never been called ‘Miss Murray’ in her life before.
    ‘Thank you, Brigid.’
    As Brigid withdrew, Mrs May sat down and motioned to Shona to take a chair opposite her desk. ‘So, you’re from Edina Lodge, Miss Murray?’
    Her smile was pleasant, though not particularly warm, Shona thought. Mrs May’s face was too narrow, her mouth too small. Her eyes, like her hair, were almost dark enough to be called black, and her brows, too, were black, though so thin they might have been only pencilled lines. Perhaps they were, for it was obvious that Mrs May, though not young, liked to use make-up, and was one of the few women Shona had met who wore not only bright lipstick but rouge as well.
    Still, she was very smart in a grey dress and jacket. So smart, indeed, that Shona had to fight hard not to lose confidence, for she couldn’t see herself appealing at all to anyone like Mrs May. This was not the time to give up, though. Remembering the lovely shop she’d just been through, she found the courage again to be calm.
    ‘Yes, I’m from the orphanage,’ she replied. ‘They took me in there after my mother died four years ago. My father was killed in the war.’
    ‘I’m so sorry.’ Mrs May’s voice had softened; so had her dark gaze. ‘But I think the orphanage has done well for you. My husband and I, who run Maybel’s, were quite impressed by your application.’
    Good news? Good start, anyway. Not sure what to say, Shona gave a polite smile, as Mrs May went on: ‘Although this post is just for a junior assistant, Miss Murray, it’s very important that we get the right person. The successful candidate will be expected to want to train in all aspects of floristry, and Maybel’s has a first-class reputation.’
    ‘Oh, I know,’ Shona said earnestly.
    Mrs May raised her thin eyebrows and smiled. ‘It’s good that you know something about us. I’d like to tell you more. My husband and I founded the business some years ago. We now employ three assistants and a delivery man with a van. We do flowers for weddings, banquets, private parties, all sorts of occasions, as well as serving the public, who might come in to buy a little bouquet. So – as you can see – anyone who joins us will have to work hard, but will also have a wonderful profession.’ Leaning forward, Mrs May fixed Shona with a long, searching gaze. ‘Tell me, is that what you really want?’
    ‘Yes,’ Shona replied. ‘It’s just what I want.’
    ‘There isn’t time to go into all the details of what we do, but you’ll realize, of course, that we have to know about what we sell. Everything about flowers and plants, how they grow, when they’re ready, how to care for them, what goes with what, how to put together displays and bouquets, making everything look special. And that’s still what you’d like to do?’
    ‘Just what I want to do.’
    ‘Well, then, let’s have another look at your application.’
    As Shona lowered her eyes to her clasped hands, Mrs May read quickly through her so carefully written letter. ‘You say here that you learned to love the trees and plants of the Dean Valley, but also the flowers in the gardens of Edina Lodge – which was a well-known Edinburgh garden at one time, I believe. Can you tell me a little more about the flowers? Which ones did you like best, for instance?’
    Flowers . . . Oh, Lordy, which ones? Which had she liked best? Suddenly,