six years and then get back together. Mark my words, it’s done.’
Suze came into the shop in the early afternoon with a bag of parcels to post. In order to keep buying clothes and make-up she had to sell things she no longer wanted. She had a site online for selling second-hand things and was making a small business out of it, although not one that would ever be in profit. She was still furious about her sister coming home and hadn’t moved anything out of her bedroom to accommodate her. ‘Like I said, she can sleep on the sofa,’ she repeated. Marigold was relieved that Eileen had eventually gone home so she didn’t pick up on the impending feud.
‘It’s between you and Daisy. I’m not getting involved,’ said Marigold. ‘Although I think a little kindness would not go amiss, considering.’
‘Who chucked who?’ asked Suze.
‘I don’t know. She didn’t say. She just said they want different things.’
Suze grinned. ‘Luca doesn’t want to get married and Daisy does.’ Then she added provocatively, ‘Marriage is so old-fashioned.’
‘I’m glad your grandmother isn’t around to hear that,’ said Marigold.
‘Oh, I’ll happily tell her to her face. Times are different now.’ With that, she flicked her hair and skipped out of the shop, leaving her mother to weigh and pay the postage for all her packages.
Tasha had left. The place was quiet. Marigold looked outside. Night came early now. She sat on the stool behind the counter and took a deep breath. She felt tired. It must be the weather, she thought, those dark mornings and dark evenings sap one’s energy. The sun hadn’t come out at all today, so although the snow remained there were no diamonds to sparkle and glitter. The roads were icy. She thought of her mother declaring that she’d slip and break her neck today and hoped she had done the sensible thing and spent most of the day indoors.
When she locked up at closing time she saw Suze’s parcels still waiting to be posted. She frowned and stared at them as if seeing them for the first time. She was sure she had sent them off. But no, there they were, and they hadn’t even been stamped. Marigold felt a strange prickling sensation creep across her skin. It took a while for her to recognize what it was, but when she did, the realization that she was afraid made the prickling sensation even more intense. She felt fear, deep and cold and unmistakable: something was wrong. She’d left her handbag in church the day before and now she had forgotten to post Suze’s parcels. Marigold was not a vague person. Quite the opposite. She was someone who could be relied upon to organize things efficiently. Her entire life she had defined herself by her sharp and lucid memory. Manning the shop and the post office, with all the demands that that entailed, required her mind to be quick and her powers of recollection razor-sharp. They hadn’t, until now, let her down.
Marigold stepped out into the dark and locked the door behind her. Then she walked carefully across the icy courtyard towards the house, feeling strangely unsteady. The lights inside were golden and she could see her mother and Suze through the window, sitting at the kitchen table. The packet of digestive biscuits was open beside her mother. Her spirits sank as she remembered she had forgotten those too. I really am losing my marbles, she thought to herself despondently. She resolved to exercise her mind as Eileen had suggested.
When she went through the back door, Nan was halfway through a story and Suze was hovering in the doorway, trying to escape. Marigold glanced out of the window. The lights in Dennis’s shed were still on, blazing through the darkness. He’d been in there all day. She knew he was making her Christmas present and wondered what the picture would be. The thought of it made her smile and she began to feel brighter. She was tired and, as much as she didn’t want to admit it, she was getting older. It was perfectly normal to forget things at her age. She’d just have to make more of an effort to remember.
At seven the front door burst open and Daisy fell into the hallway, all tousled brown hair and big puffy coat, dragging a large suitcase behind her. Marigold dropped the wooden spoon she was using to stir the sauce and rushed to embrace her.