Thank God we're up to date; Mr Prewitt was only talking about the premiums going up a few months ago, and I remember writing the cheque. And resenting it hugely, since it had gone up so much.

Graham comes over and puts his arm round his mother.

'Mum, you should go. There's nothing to do here until we've finished. I've phoned Pete and he's on his way over. Why don't I walk you round home?'

'No, I'm fine here I want to make sure it's definitely out.'

'It's out, Mum. Do you want to go in, Jo? You'll need to borrow a helmet, but I can take you in if you'd like a closer look.'

I really don't. Actually, I'm feeling rather frightened, but I need to see exactly how bad it is.

'Thanks, Graham.'

It's much worse than I thought it would be, and strangely better too. Downstairs looks pretty normal, apart from the smell of smoke and wet wool and a few black marks on the walls. There's water on the floor, but everything else seems fine, and the shelves near the front door look completely untouched. The door to the stairs must have been closed, because as soon as you get past it everything's black and soaking wet, the floor, the walls, everything. And you can see daylight through the holes in the roof, and the smell is much worse, so thick and acrid you can almost taste it.

Christ, this is going to take a lot of fixing.

'Next door's worse, love lost the floor in places too as well the roof.'

'Right.'

'Seen enough?'

'Yes, thanks.'

'Let's get you back out in the fresh air then.'

'How bad is it?'

Elsie's desperate for an update.

'It's a mess, but I'm sure we can sort it out.'

Actually, I'm not, but I'm not telling her that on the pavement, particularly with poor Mrs Davis looking like she'll burst into tears at any minute.

'Let's all go back to my house. It's nearest and Gran's there and she'll want to see you, Mrs Davis. Come on, you shouldn't be standing here.'

'I'm not sure I can face her, not after all these years.'

'Don't be silly, Mum you didn't do it on purpose.'

Graham takes her hand and Reg nods.

'Please come, Pat Mary will want to see you.'

We start walking back up the hill but Mrs Davis is still standing looking in our window.

'I never knew you could knit pumpkins.'

I'd better call Mr Prewitt and get on to the insurance people. And then I should get the boys ready for school. Actually, maybe Reg could take them this morning. I don't think I can face all the questions.

Gran's made bacon sandwiches for everyone, and the boys are watching cartoons with Travis.

We're sitting round the kitchen table, and everyone's gone quiet as Mrs Davis puts her cup down.

'Well, that's it for me, I'll not re-open. I've spent too many years with my hands in buckets of cold water; it plays havoc with your joints, you know my hands are terrible some nights. No, I've had enough. There's no money in flowers now anyway, not with the supermarkets all doing them and the computers.'

'Don't rush into anything, Pat.'

'No, Mary, I've been thinking about retiring for ages now.'

Everyone seems to be looking at me. And I realise this is one of those moments where you have to make a decision. I suppose I could claim on the insurance and then decide. But actually, I already know.

'After all your hard work, pet, it's such a shame.' Gran's close to tears now too.

'It's all right, Gran, honestly, I've been wanting to redecorate.'

Everyone smiles.

Actually, I think it's going to take more than a few coats of paint to sort that lot out.

'We'll be open again before you know it, you'll see. We'll tidy up and start again. I'm good at starting again.'

Elsie blows her nose.

'Of course you will, dear, and I'll help. We'll have it sorted out in no time, Mary, probably better than before, what with all the lovely ideas Jo has.'

Reg stands up and puts his cup in the sink.

'Right, well, what we need now is a plan. I'll get on to the insurance people. We can't start clearing up until they've been round. Elsie, do you think your Jeffrey will know the person the insurance people are likely to send round?'

'I should think so. He used to know everyone before he retired, and he keeps up with a lot of them.'

'Right, well, that gives us an advantage. Let's work out our plan of action then.'

As news of the fire spreads more people arrive at the house and by the time the boys are leaving for school with Reg it's like Piccadilly Circus.

'Mum.'

'Yes, Archie?'

'Can we go and see the fire later?'

'It's all over, I told you, Archie. Everything's fine now; you go off to school and have a lovely day, and I'll see you later. What would you like for tea?'

He tuts.

'It's not fair. I wanted to see it, and have a go on the fire engine.'

'They were far too busy for boys to be playing on the fire engine, Archie.'

'They might not have noticed.'

'Go and find your shoes, love.'

I can still smell the smoke. I think I'll have a bath and wash my hair.

Reg is putting his coat on.

'Come on, boys, we might have time to get sweets if we hurry.'

There's a rush for the front door.

I'm in the bath, trying to pretend everything's normal. But it's not. I really don't know if I can do this. I'm too tired. The baby moves and I start to cry, quietly. It's absolutely bloody typical. As soon as I start to think I've got things sorted, bingo, another crisis comes along to tip everything upside down. Maybe I should think about this. I want to carry on, but this might be one of those moments when you're meant to make a new start. Except where would I go? We like it here, we all do. And the shop's just starting to work, with the website and the groups and everything.

Christ, I hope the insurance people don't try to wriggle out of paying, because there's no way I can afford a new roof. And I'll have to make sure the boys aren't worried; Jack will be imagining a small pile of charred embers. I'll have to take them round and show them as soon as it's safe. Archie will love it.

'Are you nearly done, pet? Only Reg is back and he wants to talk to you. He's working out a cleaning rota.'

'I'll be there in a minute, Gran.'

'Are you sure you're all right? You sound funny.'

'I'm fine.'

'You should go back to bed, you know, pet, have a rest I don't want you doing too much.'

'Don't fuss, Gran, I'm fine.'

'Shall I do you another bacon sandwich?'

'No, thanks.'

'I could do you a crispy one, with an egg?'

Actually, that might be quite nice.

'Yes, please. I'll be down in a minute.'

'I'll put the pan on.'

'Thanks, Gran.'

A crispy bacon sandwich with a fried egg. It's a start, I suppose.

Chapter Eight.

September

The Twilight Zone

It's Tuesday morning, and I'm walking to the shop with Connie after dropping the kids off at school.

'I've had an idea, Con, and I want to talk to you about it, but I want you to be honest, OK? Tell me what you really think.'

Actually, I've been up half the night thinking about it, so I'm really hoping she's going to like it.

'Sure.'

'You know Mrs Davis says she's selling her shop next door to us?'

'Yes.'

'Well, if I can sort out the money, I thought maybe I should try to buy it.'

'Then you will have a much bigger shop, yes?'

'Yes, but not just for the wool. I was thinking, the knitting groups have worked so well, and Elsie's always making people cups of tea, so I thought maybe we could have a tea shop too.'

'Like a cafe?'

'Yes, something simple, doing teas and coffees and toasted sandwiches, nothing like a restaurant. A cross between Starbucks and an old-fashioned tea shop, that kind of thing. A place for people to meet, of all ages, Olivia and Gemma and Polly too, as well as all our old ladies.'

'Brava. There's no real cafe here, not open all year, and the coffee from the fish and chip shop is awful. People will love it, I think.'

'The only thing is I don't know anything about catering, so would you and Mark be interested in helping me?'

'We'd love to, but we don't have money, although maybe '

'No, the money should be fine I think I can sort out a business loan. The shop's all mine so I should be able to raise something against that, at least I hope so, no, I meant you could be my cafe advisors, then you could decide what kind of coffee machine we need, and all that kind of thing, and take a percentage of the profits, if we make any. What do you think?'

She kisses me.