Semi-Sweet by Roisin Meaney Read Free Book Online Page A

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     strings.
    “I don’t know about that chair on the wall,” she said. “I’m not sure about it.”
    “Just you wait,” Geraldine said. “It’ll be a real talking point.”
    It was Granddad’s rocking chair. They’d painted it bright blue to match the sign above the shop, and they’d gotten a man to
     hang it on the yellow wall to the left of the counter, since there was no room for it on the floor.
    “What if it falls off and kills someone?” Hannah asked.
    “Don’t be silly, dear,” her mother answered placidly. “The man said a hurricane wouldn’t knock it off that wall.”
    Another minute went by, and another. The orange clock ticked steadily.
    “I should have gotten a computerized cash register,” Hannah said. “Nobody uses a drawer for money anymore. It’s ridiculous.”
    “It’s quaint, and people will be charmed by it. And the bell over the door, too, lovely and old-fashioned, really characterful.”
    “Mmm.” Hannah wondered if there was such a word as “characterful” and decided that she didn’t care.
    At eight minutes past nine, a man’s head appeared around the door. “You open?”
    “Yes.” A twin chorus.
    “Nice bell. Blast from the past.” He spotted the rocking chair on the wall. “Now, that makes a change from a picture.”
    Geraldine laughed, catching Hannah’s eye triumphantly. “We wanted to be original.”
    “Well, you’re certainly that.” He approached the counter. “I believe it’s your first day.”
    “It is—and you’re our very first customer,” Geraldine told him.
    “Am I really?” He peered at the cupcakes on the stand. “In that case I’d better buy something. What’s good?”
    “Everything,” Geraldine told him, resting her mug on the shelf behind her. “And I’m sure you saw our sign telling you about
     our opening offer of a free cupcake with every order, but since you’re the first customer, we’ll give you two free.” She turned
     to Hannah. “That okay, love?”
    Hannah smiled and nodded, because what on earth else could she do? “That’s fine.”
    Two free cupcakes, and he might buy only one. She willed herself to relax. Who cared if he bought only one? It was still her
     first sale, wasn’t it? And if he liked the one he bought, not to mention the other two, he’d surely be back for more. And
     it wasn’t even ten past nine.
    So what if she was so tired she could sleep standing up? So what if she still felt miserable whenever she found the time to
     feel anything? She’d just opened her own shop. People didn’t stop eating cupcakes simply because there was a recession. They
     still needed treats—in fact, maybe they needed them now more than ever.
    The man was studying the samples on the stand. “I’ll take two chocolate, or my wife will never forgive me, and two of those
     coconut ones.”
    “Good choice—the coconut are my favorite,” Geraldine said, reaching for a yellow box and almost knocking her tea off the shelf.
     “My daughter made them all, you know, earlier today. They’re as fresh as they could possibly be.”
    “Excellent,” the man replied, pulling a wallet from his jacket. “Tell you what, why don’t you throw in a couple of those lemon-lime,
     too? Since it’s your first day. And I’ll leave the free ones up to you.”
    Six. He was buying six. Hannah watched as Geraldine arranged his purchases carefully in the box. Maybe it wouldn’t be a complete
     disaster. Maybe she’d actually make a small amount of money before her mother bankrupted her.

    The horror bloomed on Fiona’s face. “Tell me you’re not serious.”
    Leah tightened her grip on her water glass. “Mum, I’d hardly joke about something like that.”
    “When?”
    “June.”
    Her mother closed her eyes briefly. “You’re four months gone.”
    “Thereabouts, yes.”
    “And…you’re obviously keeping it.”
    Leah looked sharply across the table. “Obviously.”
    “I assume,” her mother said, “that it’s the