‘Why?’ Ellie smiled, thinking that her elderly employer was becoming very absent-minded. ‘So that I can apply for a loan to buy this business,’ she reminded him gently. Horace Barry looked dismayed. ‘Leave that for a while yet, Ellie,’ he urged. Bewildered by that reaction, Ellie murmured reluctantly, ‘I suppose I could cancel the appointment—’ ‘Yes…yes, much the best thing for now,’ he cut in to agree with a pronounced air of relief. With a muttered reference to some books that required sorting, the older man then took himself off without offering any further explanation. Ellie frowned. Wasn’t he quite as eager to retire as he had always said he was? What else could it be? Keen to save on estate agency fees, Horace Barry had given her to understand that if she was able to offer a fair price by the end of the year, the shop was hers. Ellie told herself not to make mountains out of molehills. It wouldn’t hurt her to wait, but she was disappointed. Just then, the challenge of taking on her own business would have been very welcome.
