Coat Tails

By Marie Penman

Pic: Shutterstock

When Allie found the shopping list in the pocket of the charity shop coat, it turned her life around…

Although it was only November, a spell of heavy rain accompanied by whistling north winds meant that Allie was at the stage of considering hibernation.

The idea of just burrowing away and sleeping until the sun came out and long hours of daylight returned sounded appealing, especially this year.

Allie’s husband, Jim, had been made redundant in September when the electrical company he’d worked for throughout their marriage had suddenly closed down. Within a few weeks, Jim had managed to get another job, working shifts in a supermarket warehouse, but their household income had taken a hit.

Jim didn’t let this affect his permanently positive outlook on life.

“We’ll just have to tighten the belt a bit, Allie,” he said.

“We’re luckier than most people in that we’ve paid off our mortgage, so we’ll manage. Maybe cut back a bit on Christmas this year…”

Which was another reason why Allie just wanted to hibernate. Imagine going to sleep in November, missing out on all the stress and hassle of Christmas shopping! What a luxury it would be to simply wake up in spring, when the leaves were turning green again and the sky was no longer dark and overcast.

There was no denying that this winter was going to be tough and Allie sighed as she pulled on her jacket, ready to head out for her job in a local solicitor’s office. It was only part-time but she knew she should be grateful, especially when so many people struggled to find work.

The rain began almost as soon as she left the house.

This, combined with the bitterly cold wind, almost took her breath away. She walked quickly, trying to generate heat by getting her circulation going, but was still freezing by the time she got to the office.

Her flimsy jacket was soaked through and she hung it on a radiator to dry. She could do with a new winter coat, something that would keep her warm and dry, but there was no budget for it.

By the time she finished her shift that afternoon, the feeble daylight had already gone and the sky was dark. Allie decided to walk home along the High Street, so she could pick up something for dinner, and had only gone a few hundred metres when the heavens opened again.

“Just my luck,” she muttered to herself, as the rain ran down her collar and plastered her hair to her head.

Jim, the eternal optimist, had a saying for situations like this: “No such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing.”

Allie gritted her teeth as she felt her thin jacket get wet all over again.

She tried to keep her head down as she struggled along the street but glanced up at one point as she passed a charity shop. There, in the brightly-lit window, was a beautiful quilted winter coat. Allie paused to glance at it, then on impulse, pushed open the shop door to take a closer look.

The shop was warm and welcoming.

Two assistants were chatting away and a Christmas CD was playing in the background – already!

She approached the staff and asked if she could try on the coat in the window and they bustled about, getting a small ladder to reach it in the display.

“There you go, dear,” one of the women said, as she handed the coat to Allie. “It’s a lovely coat – just what you need on a day like today!”

Allie noted the label – it was from one of the more expensive high street stores, out of her price range, even when Jim had been earning a decent salary.

She took off her soaking wet jacket and slid into the coat, which immediately felt cosy and comforting. It was a beautiful cream colour, padded with a thick fleece lining and a warm hood, and Allie could tell it would be waterproof.

She luxuriated in the fit and feel of it as the two shop assistants fluttered around, telling her it was a perfect fit and looked as though it had been made for her.

Allie glanced at the price tag.

She knew she was going to buy the coat, no matter the cost. It was ten pounds, more than she’d ever paid for an item in a charity shop before, but worth every penny.

She handed over the cash, asked one of the women to cut off the price tag, then shoved her old jacket into her bag and walked out wearing the new coat.

All of a sudden, the wind and the rain didn’t matter. The coat was amazing! She’d never had such a warm, waterproof garment, which basically made the bad weather irrelevant.

Allie’s mood lifted dramatically and she smiled gleefully to herself, so pleased to be cosy and dry on such a foul day.

She tucked her hands into the fleecy coat pockets and marched to the supermarket, trying to think of something to cook for dinner.

With the kids now grown up and living in their own flats, it was just her and Jim in the house, and to be honest, some days Allie didn’t feel like cooking at all.

As she ducked into the supermarket, grabbing a basket at the door, she realised there was a bit of paper in one of the coat pockets and pulled it out.

It was a shopping list, written in neat capitals with a purple pen.

Allie smiled at the eclectic items included: wine, nail varnish, chocolate, sausages, lentils, fresh herbs, hair dye… and with an added reminder at the bottom of the page about changing library books.

It felt strange to be reading someone else’s list – almost like reading their diary – but Allie found herself cheered by the short selection and imagined the woman who had written it.

She seemed to enjoy the finer things in life – wine and chocolate – but also took care of her appearance – nail varnish and hair dye – and still found time to read. Allie liked the sound of her.

On impulse, she got out her phone and searched to see if there was an easy recipe with sausages and lentils. She found a delicious-sounding sausage and lentil stew that also involved red onions, peppers and fresh herbs. Inspired by the list, Allie bought all the ingredients – plus some wine and chocolate!

By the time Jim arrived home an hour later, a lovely spicy aroma filled the kitchen as the stew simmered in the oven and the candles that Allie had lit flickered against the dark windows. The wine was uncorked and the table was set for two, with soft music playing.

Jim smiled at her as he looked around in delight.

“Don’t tell me I’ve forgotten our anniversary, Al?”

Allie got up and hugged her husband, happy to have him home with her, and both of them now out of the cold and ready to relax.

“Nope, no special occasion – I just thought we’d have a nice dinner, to make up for this awful weather.”

As the wind continued to blow wildly outside, they sat and ate the delicious sausage and lentil dinner, drinking the wine and toasting their good fortune.

“Oh, I almost forgot…” Jim said, as he fumbled in his pockets. “I’ve got a present for you!” He handed Allie a plastic card. “My staff discount card final arrived, love – twenty per cent off everything in store!”

Allie clapped her hands in glee.

“That’s great, Jim – what a bonus! And imagine how much we’ll save at Christmas time!”

That evening, they lit the log fire and snuggled on the sofa together, talking about their day and making plans for
the weekend.

“I was thinking we could go for a walk along the beach, if the weather improves a bit,” Jim suggested.

“Ah, but the bad weather doesn’t bother me any more, Jim,” Allie grinned. “Wait till you see what I bought today!”

And she jumped up and fetched her new coat, putting it on to model for Jim.

“Wow, that’s lovely, Al,” he said. “It looks brand new – why would someone put it into a charity shop?”

Allie shrugged. “Maybe they put on weight, or maybe they’re so wealthy, they buy a new coat every year? Doesn’t really matter – I’m just happy I was lucky enough to spot it!”

She showed Jim the shopping list she’d found and he laughed as he read it.

“Ah, so that’s why we had sausages and lentils for dinner!”

Allie smiled at him. “I’d never have thought of cooking something like that before,” she admitted. “But the list has given me some other good ideas, too.

“I know we need to tighten our belts a bit, so I’m going to stop buying books and go back to using the library instead. Plus I can cut back on visits to the hairdresser and nail salon and just colour my own hair and paint my own nails.”

Jim laughed again. “So, what you’re saying is, this coat has pretty much changed your life?”

Allie giggled, and spun around again, still loving the way the coat felt.

“Yep, definitely!”

As Allie hung the coat back in the cloakroom, she felt something hard in the lining. She looked inside the coat and realised that it had a small inner pocket, inside of which was a pretty gold necklace. It looked quite expensive so she decided to take it back to the charity shop tomorrow, in the hope it could be reunited with its owner.

Next day, Allie got up early, planning to head into the shop before she started work. The rain had stopped but the wind was still blowing a gale, though this no longer bothered her.

In fact, she was so excited to wear her new coat, she was almost looking forward to going out!

An hour later, she pushed open the charity shop door.

She smiled at the same two women who had been on duty yesterday.

“Hello again, dear!” one of them said. “That coat still looks lovely on you.”

Allie smiled and thanked them, then produced the necklace from her pocket.

“I was hoping you might remember who donated the coat,” she said, as she held it out. “She left this gold pendant in the pocket and I’m sure she’d love to have it back.”

The two women looked at the necklace and sighed.

“Oh, what a shame…” one of them said. “We do actually know who donated the coat, but sadly, we can’t return the necklace to her.”

Allie looked at them, confused.

“The lady died a few months ago, I’m afraid.

She didn’t really have any family but she kindly left a sizeable donation to our charity, which included clearing out her house and belongings. That’s how I knew straight away where the coat had come from – we spent a long time going through all the lady’s things…”

Allie was surprised by how sad she felt, even though she hadn’t known the woman. What a shame that she was longer around writing her cheery little shopping lists…

One of the women patted her hand.

“Why don’t you just keep the necklace, dear, since it came with the coat? It was kind of you to bring it back like that.”

And so Allie arrived at work that day, not only warm and dry, but wearing the pretty gold necklace around her neck.

In the space of just twenty-four hours, her whole mood and outlook on life had changed.

Yesterday she’d been worrying about money and Christmas and wishing she could hibernate, when the truth was, she should be so grateful for everything she had – her family, her home, her health, her happiness…

And now a lovely new coat as well.