Delivery Stories

Double Delivery A week later, the late afternoon sun is just beginning to slip below the neighbouring houses when I finish applying the final coat of protective glaze to a 19th-century ceramic biscuit barrel. That concludes the work for today and I am looking forward to an evening of relaxation. The workshop is quiet, filled with the faint, comforting smell of drying paints and damp clay. I am wiping my hands on an old ra...

Next Day Delivery Nicola had been a regular visitor over the last few days, but this week she was on holiday, so I was not expecting any special service this week. I'm halfway through repairing a cracked Delft tile when I hear a van arrive. Not the familiar diesel rattle, this one is newer, quieter, with a different engine note entirely. Wrong company. I set down my brush and wait. The knock at the door is brisk and profe...

Special Delivery I know the sound of her van before I see it pull up in my drive. That particular diesel rattle, the small squeak of the brakes, followed by the thump of the driver’s door. It’s the signal for me to stop restoring broken things to beauty. and move to the window. “Hi there Nicola.” She's in her late twenties, all easy confidence and dark curves packed into that regulation uniform, her hair pulled back under...