I think you can drop this. Just "sending exasperated prayers heavenward" works nicely on its own. I also love that this is her mother’s first reaction. I have a great image of her already.
I love this opening paragraph - it sets the scene well, but as a general comment - I think it’ll be stronger if you cull some of your adjectives. It’s a habit I also share in my writing, and reading the paragraph aloud often helps me to feel out which ones to keep and which to drop.
My breath froze in my chest as I bolted from the safety of the warm cab into a rainy English night.
I love Alyre-the-inept-saleswoman. :D
Always dropping like flies!” Well, that didn’t sound very attractive. “Dropping like stars from the sky!” Alyre hastily added.
Always dropping like flies!” Well, that didn’t sound very attractive. “Dropping like stars from the sky!” Alyre hastily added.
Some of this paragraph and the previous one can be broken up a bit with different sentence structures. If this one was "Signs floated between the various shelves", it’ll switch things up a bit from starting with "I" and make the passage flow better.
