‘Oh, you know. Shows, restaurants, shopping,’ said Brooke vaguely. ‘Can’t bring my little brother to the big city and not give him the full tourist experience, can I?’ She tapped her foot. ‘Whereisthis Ted person?’
Ivy considered Trip. It was odd that he would leave the show for sightseeing in London when he was so into it. But she supposed Brooke knew him best.
‘Ted usually waits in the lane,’ Josie said. ‘Make sure he takesit easy on the narrow roads and don’t let him go too fast. His eyesight is not what it was – his cataract op is coming up.’
‘Good to know,’ said Brooke, hoisting her case. ‘Come on, Trip.’
‘Right,’ said Ivy, gathering herself. She realised her expression must be hurt and she pasted on a cheerful smile. ‘I hope the journey is okay. Oh, I forgot,’ she held out the paper bag, ‘I bought you breakfast.’
‘Sweet of you,’ said Brooke, taking the bag. ‘Thanks.’
Ivy hesitated. Something felt off, she was sure of it. Brooke was smiling, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. There was a tension in her posture. Wary, almost. And Tripdefinitelyseemed oddly evasive – not his usual chatty self. But why? What had changed?
‘See you then,’ said Trip. ‘Keep an eye on the show for me. Don’t let Mr H make any unscripted changes or snap decisions. Tell him absolutely no fires. Sketch what I’m missing maybe? And if you see a single snowflake, you have to alert meimmediately.’
‘Will do. Have fun,’ Ivy said, trying not to wonder why she already missed him when he hadn’t even left yet.
After they said goodbye and the door swung shut behind them, Ivy went to the window and watched them, Trip chatting all the way up the street. She went back to the counter and switched on the computer, thinking that the shop suddenly seemed very quiet.
Josie gave her a pointed look over the top of a box of returns.
‘What?’ Ivy said, pulling the day’s orders up on the screen.
Josie raised an eyebrow. ‘Oh, please. I know a lovestruck expression when I see it.’ She sighed happily. ‘It’s as I predicted. You and Triparedrawnto each other.’ She sounded pleased with herself. ‘I predicted that his positive energy and your own more … muted aura would collide and fireworks would ensue. I knew it.’
‘You know nothing,’ Ivy said briskly, keeping her eyes on the spreadsheet. ‘Trip and I are just friends. Wait, scrap that. Acquaintances. Acquaintances who see each other every day. Is there a word for that? Anyway, that’s what we are.’
‘All right, darling,’ Josie said as she started shelving books, ‘if you say so. But all of my senses are tingling. I am never wrong about affairs of the heart.’
‘Fin was besotted with you for five years before you noticed,’ Ivy pointed out. ‘He had to order your entire back stock of Russian novels in an attempt to save you from penury before you paid attention to him.’
Josie waved her hand. ‘The mysteries of ourownhearts are impenetrable,’ she declared grandly. ‘Butyourheart, my dear, is as clear as glass.’
Ivy’s phone buzzed on the counter and she grabbed it. Her heart leapt when she saw Trip’s name on the screen.
This guy Ted drives like a maniac. See you in a few days, I’ll bring you something crassly commercial and unnecessary from Camden Market.
Ivy bit back a smile. Her heart began to flutter in her chest, just as it had when the fairy lights had come on and she had found herself lost in Trip’s serious, intent gaze.
Josie smirked. ‘Just acquaintances, hmm?’
‘Stop,’ said Ivy, turning back to the spreadsheet. She couldn’t stop the smile from breaking out as she began to work through the orders.
But all the same, she couldn’t quite forget Brooke’s evasiveness and couldn’t help wondering what had taken the pair to London at such short notice.
Later that afternoon, the bell above the shop door jingled and Erin strode in, grinning broadly.
‘Well, well, well,’ she sang, brushing the drizzle off her coat. ‘If it isn’t Ivy Pearson, Fox Bay’s most secretive resident. Anything you would like to tell me? About you, the Wonderland lights and a certain very hot American tourist? Hmm?’
‘They’re just acquaintances,’ said Josie, around a mouthful of sourdough. ‘Apparently.’ When Ivy shot her a glare, she held up her hands. ‘I’ll be in the back, stocktaking. You talk to your friend, darling.’ Josie slipped out of sight, chuckling under her breath.
‘I’m not being secretive,’ Ivy said, ‘and I have nothing to tell. What are you talking about?’
Erin leaned on the counter, her bouncy hair tumbling over her shoulders. ‘Oh,please. I am – and so is all of Fox Bay, to be honest – talking about you and Trip and the positivelyelectricchemistry we saw last night.’
‘I don’t know what you mean,’ said Ivy, flushing. ‘There was no chemistry, electric or other—’
‘Electric,’ Erin said firmly. ‘We saw you during the countdown. The way you were looking at each other was intense. Like something out of a film. Mei was annoyed about it for five minutes because she kind of liked him, but she says on reflection you’re clearly meant to be and you can’t fight chemistry like that. So she’s cool with it, in case you were wondering.’
