The Second Chance Shoe Shop by Marcie Steele

blushed as soon as the words came out. It sounded like a double entendre no matter which way she looked at it. She looked down at her menu again quickly.
    Ethan laughed. ‘I might just take you up on that.’
    They placed their orders and waited for their food. The chatter around them was comforting but there was no need for Riley to be nervous as the conversation between them flowed naturally.
    ‘What have you been covering today?’ she asked.
    ‘The usual stuff.’ Ethan took a sip of his drink. ‘I photographed an author visiting a local school to encourage the younger children to read and write. Then I went over to a shop because some woman professes to have found a dead mouse in a bag of crisps.’
    ‘Eww!’ Riley grimaced. ‘Did she really?’
    ‘I doubt it. I reckon she’s after compensation. Or a few free boxes of crisps. The things I’ve covered . . .’
    ‘So do you only do the happy things or do you cover worse things like . . . oh, I don’t know. Accidents, attacks?’ She paused. ‘Murders?’
    ‘A murder in Hedworth?’ Ethan laughed. ‘Chance would be a fine thing.’
    ‘I disagree. That thing that people say on the news about not expecting it to happen on their own doorstep isn’t true for me,’ Riley said. ‘Murder can happen anywhere, at any time, to any class of people.’
    ‘You’re right,’ he nodded, ‘but I bet it wouldn’t happen on my shift. So instead I’m stuck with the boring jobs such as opening local fetes, fundraising stuff and―’
    ‘Bizarre displays in shop windows,’ Riley broke in.
    Ethan grinned. ‘Well, some are far more boring than others. What about you? Have you never wanted to do anything other than work in the shop?’
    ‘You make it sound so attractive,’ she protested.
    He held up a hand. ‘I meant did you have ambitions when you were younger, something that you’d longed to do but never did?’
    ‘Well, when I was a child I always wanted to be a tennis player and play at Wimbledon.’ She hung her head in mock shame. ‘Never going to happen, I’m afraid.’
    ‘Pity. I’d quite like to see you in a short white tennis skirt.’
    Riley smiled shyly, dipping her eyes for a moment from Ethan’s intense gaze.
    ‘Now, though, I wished I’d gone to college to study fashion and design. There’s such a variety of things to do these days, plus so many ways of getting noticed with social media. It must be really rewarding to run a business online.’
    ‘It’s never too late,’ said Ethan. ‘Why don’t you go to evening classes?’
    ‘I think I’d be too much of a mature student for that now,’ Riley laughed.
    As the waiter came over with their food, Riley found herself grinning. She was hoping that Ethan hadn’t got a wife or girlfriend tucked away at home that would come out of the woodwork at the last minute, because she realised that she really liked him. And the signs were looking good that the feeling was mutual.
    ‘Have you always lived in Hedworth?’ he asked.
    ‘Yes. I’ve been in my flat for two years now. I used to share with my friend, Ash − she’s female, by the way. It’s short for Ashleigh.’ She groaned inwardly − why had she felt the need to tell him that? ‘But we have separate flats now, although still in the same building.’
    ‘I don’t live alone. I live with Jimmy.’
    ‘Is he your brother?’
    Ethan shook his head.
    ‘A lodger?’
    ‘Not exactly.’
    ‘Oh.’
    Riley’s shoulders wanted to drop but she remained still as Ethan took out his phone. He scrolled through it for a moment and then turned the screen towards her. Staring back at her was the mostly white face of a Jack Russell terrier, with one tan ear and another patch under his chin. Riley had always had a dog at her parents’ house but had never had one since. Not with Tom, and sadly not with Ash. They weren’t allowed pets in the flats. It was one of the conditions of tenancy.
    ‘Oh, he’s so sweet,’ she exclaimed, feeling a surge of