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“You’re being an idiot,” she grumbled to herself as she looked in the mirror.
She was. What point was there in caring about what she wore? It was only Jules. Jules wouldn’t notice if she wore a sack. Jules walked around the village orange. She should care less.
She pulled the white shirt on just as the doorbell rang downstairs.
“Morning,” Jules said. She was leaning against the side of the doorway when Billie opened the door, breathless from the run downstairs. Her eyes widened a little. “You look nice.”
“Do I?” Billie said, feeling herself blush. “Um, not through trying.”
“Learn to take a compliment,” said Jules. “Come on then, you ready?”
Billie nodded and pulled the front door closed behind her, locking it smartly and trying not to grin to herself. She looked nice, did she? That was a first coming from Jules. Honestly, she’d thought that she could have two heads and Jules would just carry on as normal.
“So, um, we’re headed…?”
“To the bookshop,” Jules said as she marched them both down the drive and out into the street. “You’re sure to find Mila there, that’s Ag’s mum, she half-owns the place.”
“Only half?”
“It’s a long story. The other half belongs to Ant, who’s a doll, and I suppose to her wife as well. That’d be Adeline Parks who you probably know better as Lloyd Franklin.”
“The crime writer?” Billie asked, surprised.
“That’s right. Try not to fan-girl though, keep it cool.”
Billie bit her tongue. Like she was going to be un-cool. Like she had any idea what cool meant. But then Jules seemed to think she did, so maybe she was kind of cool, or at least not so terribly un-cool.
They completed the rest of the three minute walk to the high street in silence with Jules striding off like she was on a polar expedition, and Billie trying to drag her feet because she wasn’t sure yet what to say to Ag’s parents. And because perhaps she was a little bit waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Why had Jules agreed to help her? Was there some ulterior motive here? Was she being somehow set up?
“Alright, that’s the one,” Jules said, pointing out the crooked little bookshop across the street. “Let’s go find Mila.” She paused for a second. “You okay?”
Billie nodded. Being with Jules when there was a mission was a bit like being swept up in a whirlwind. While Billie herself would probably dawdle around the subject for ages, trying to think of the best thing to say, Jules was one of those bulls in a china shop.
She felt herself being dragged across the road and then the shop bell was ringing and they were walking inside.
She smelled dust and paper and felt immediately comfortable in the little shop.
“Mila!” Jules called out.
But Billie could already hear voices. A gray cat slipped around her ankles and disappeared as they walked around the corner of a bookshelf to see two women, one older with neat white hair and one young with deep blue hair and a toddler balanced on one hip.
“Oh, hey Lilian, what are you doing here?” Jules asked.
“The place used to be mine, didn’t it?” the older woman said.
Billie frowned. “I thought you said the shop belonged to a married couple?” she asked.
“It’s a long story,” said Jules.
“I’d best be off anyway,” Lilian said. “I was just dropping in to pick something up. Besides, somebody needs to keep an eye on that grandfather of yours.” Her sharp eyes were firmly on Jules.
“Tell me about it,” was all Jules said, quite calmly Billie thought.
Lilian’s eyes narrowed. “What’s he up to, anyway?”
Jules shrugged. “You’d have to ask him, Lilian, I honestly couldn’t tell you.”
