people keep travelling the world so
much, all the different cuisines will get mixed up. And it’s getting like that in Dublin already, isn’t it, with all those new restaurants? And here too, Uncle Ambrose in fact, you’re a trendsetter, aren’t you? Bringing in lots of Italian and Greek and other foreign food to Ireland, don’t you think?’
By God, this young one could talk, he thought, watching as she moved across to the olive oil section of the shop. She was like a wind-up toy. An overwound toy, sometimes. So different to Eva’s grownup ways and ever-ready humour. As he walked back to the storeroom, Ambrose thought of Eva’s surprise when he offered her the shop. What would she decide? he wondered. To stay with the shop or go back to her art studies? He really didn’t know. It was so hard to tell with Eva sometimes. She was one to keep her thoughts to herself. He liked that about her. He liked a lot of things about her. She was a lovely girl, warm and friendly, terrific with the customers. Such a shame she had so little confidence in herself. Ambrose knew she had it in her to run the shop, manage the whole business. He just hoped she knew it too.
With a sigh, he took out the stepladder. Time to get back to work. He’d climbed two steps when Meg’s voice behind him made him jump.
‘Uncle Ambrose! What are you doing up there?’
‘The storeroom clean-up, Meg. The job Eva and I dread each year.’
‘Oh, can I help you to do it? I love this sort of thing. I could even set up a system, reorganise it a bit, if you like.’
Ambrose looked around the little room. The storeroom had never been in any particular order but they had all muddled along very happily. So what if it sometimes took a bit longer to find things than it should? What was the rush? But there was Meg, itching to get stuck into it. Oh why not? he thought. If Eva came back and agreed to take over the shop, it would be a good thing for her. And if Eva came back and said she didn’t want to take over the shop, then it would make it easier to pack everything up in readiness for selling.
‘Yes, you can, Meg. Let me get myself a chair here in the doorway. I’ll be the general, directing from afar. You be the soldier on the battlefield.’
Meg beamed at him. Now she really felt like she was helping out. She put her hands on her hips and looked around. ‘It is in a bit of a mess, isn’t it? But I’ll have it all sorted out in no time. Now, what about I put all the pasta and grain in one corner? And the dried produce and all the fruit and nuts could go together too. That way you could come in and get just what you needed, quick as a flash, couldn’t you?’
Ambrose nodded weakly. He wondered if he’d made a mistake giving Eva that extra week off after all.
Chapter ten
‘Feel like a nightcap, Evie? Out on the balcony?’ ‘Great idea.’ Eva opened the double doors and went outside, breathing in the cool night air, listening to the sounds of Melbourne filtering over. The city was becoming more familiar to her each day. While Lainey was at work she’d turned into the Queen of the Tourists, catching trams and visiting the zoo, galleries and museums. She’d read the Melbourne restaurant guide from cover to cover, her mouth watering at the descriptions. ‘Make a list,’ Lainey had urged her. ‘We’ll try and get to as many as we can.’ Eva liked the sound of the lively Greek taverna in Collingwood. The casual Vietnamese restaurant in Richmond. One of the Spanish tapas bars in Fitzroy. And the tiny bar in a city-centre Janeway that sounded like it was all low lighting and high attitude. Tonight they’d been to Lainey’s parents’ house in
the outer suburbs for a barbecue. On the way there, they’d taken a detour through the inner-city area of Carlton. ‘You’ve got to see this,’ Lainey had said. ‘It’s called Lygon Street. We’re in Carlton, Melbourne’s Italian area. You’d swear you were in Milan or Rome some nights.’
much, all the different cuisines will get mixed up. And it’s getting like that in Dublin already, isn’t it, with all those new restaurants? And here too, Uncle Ambrose in fact, you’re a trendsetter, aren’t you? Bringing in lots of Italian and Greek and other foreign food to Ireland, don’t you think?’
By God, this young one could talk, he thought, watching as she moved across to the olive oil section of the shop. She was like a wind-up toy. An overwound toy, sometimes. So different to Eva’s grownup ways and ever-ready humour. As he walked back to the storeroom, Ambrose thought of Eva’s surprise when he offered her the shop. What would she decide? he wondered. To stay with the shop or go back to her art studies? He really didn’t know. It was so hard to tell with Eva sometimes. She was one to keep her thoughts to herself. He liked that about her. He liked a lot of things about her. She was a lovely girl, warm and friendly, terrific with the customers. Such a shame she had so little confidence in herself. Ambrose knew she had it in her to run the shop, manage the whole business. He just hoped she knew it too.
With a sigh, he took out the stepladder. Time to get back to work. He’d climbed two steps when Meg’s voice behind him made him jump.
‘Uncle Ambrose! What are you doing up there?’
‘The storeroom clean-up, Meg. The job Eva and I dread each year.’
‘Oh, can I help you to do it? I love this sort of thing. I could even set up a system, reorganise it a bit, if you like.’
Ambrose looked around the little room. The storeroom had never been in any particular order but they had all muddled along very happily. So what if it sometimes took a bit longer to find things than it should? What was the rush? But there was Meg, itching to get stuck into it. Oh why not? he thought. If Eva came back and agreed to take over the shop, it would be a good thing for her. And if Eva came back and said she didn’t want to take over the shop, then it would make it easier to pack everything up in readiness for selling.
‘Yes, you can, Meg. Let me get myself a chair here in the doorway. I’ll be the general, directing from afar. You be the soldier on the battlefield.’
Meg beamed at him. Now she really felt like she was helping out. She put her hands on her hips and looked around. ‘It is in a bit of a mess, isn’t it? But I’ll have it all sorted out in no time. Now, what about I put all the pasta and grain in one corner? And the dried produce and all the fruit and nuts could go together too. That way you could come in and get just what you needed, quick as a flash, couldn’t you?’
Ambrose nodded weakly. He wondered if he’d made a mistake giving Eva that extra week off after all.
Chapter ten
‘Feel like a nightcap, Evie? Out on the balcony?’ ‘Great idea.’ Eva opened the double doors and went outside, breathing in the cool night air, listening to the sounds of Melbourne filtering over. The city was becoming more familiar to her each day. While Lainey was at work she’d turned into the Queen of the Tourists, catching trams and visiting the zoo, galleries and museums. She’d read the Melbourne restaurant guide from cover to cover, her mouth watering at the descriptions. ‘Make a list,’ Lainey had urged her. ‘We’ll try and get to as many as we can.’ Eva liked the sound of the lively Greek taverna in Collingwood. The casual Vietnamese restaurant in Richmond. One of the Spanish tapas bars in Fitzroy. And the tiny bar in a city-centre Janeway that sounded like it was all low lighting and high attitude. Tonight they’d been to Lainey’s parents’ house in
the outer suburbs for a barbecue. On the way there, they’d taken a detour through the inner-city area of Carlton. ‘You’ve got to see this,’ Lainey had said. ‘It’s called Lygon Street. We’re in Carlton, Melbourne’s Italian area. You’d swear you were in Milan or Rome some nights.’
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