The Snow Globeitself was bad enough; I’m not sure I’d cope with a sequel. Not that there would be any chance of me being in it, obviously, seeing as I haven’t seen Elliot since before it was published.
“Anyway,” I say, clearing my throat to interrupt the sisters, who are now deeply embroiled in a discussion involving who used to run the greengrocers before it was turned into a health food shop. “Elliotcouldn’t help me with my writing even if I wanted him to, because he and I aren’t in touch. I don’t know the guy anymore . And he definitely doesn’t know me. He never really did.”
I glance across at the corner Elliot and I sat in on our first date, as if he might still be sitting there all these years later, listening in to this conversation about himself. But the shabby little booth with the peeling leather seats is long gone; replaced by a huge, glass-fronted fridge containing expensive bottled water and low-cal smoothies. There are no ghosts here. If there were, they’d probably leave, just to get away from the squabbling Poole sisters.
“Evie Snow wasn’t much like you in the movie,” Elsie agrees. “But I do like the bit where she gives the doctor a piece of her mind. That was veryyou, Holly.”
“No, it wasn’t,” I protest, stung. “That never happened, Elsie. You know that. I’ll never forgive Elliot for writing that book of his. It changed everything; and not for the better.”
Elsie exchanges a glance with her sister that makes me wish it was more acceptable to argue with elderly people.
“Now, now,” begins Maisie. “If it wasn’t for ‘that book’, as you put it, none of us would be here. Well, I mean, wewouldprobably behere, in The Brew; but it wouldn’t look like this. Until ‘that book’ came out, The Brew was dying on its feet. They could barely afford to keep the lights on. And now look at it.”
We all dutifully look around us at the interior of the shop, which bears absolutely no resemblance to the chintzy little tea room it used to be when Elliot and I had our first ‘date’ here over a decade ago. That’s the only reason I can bring myself to keep coming here.
“It’s theSnow Globeeffect,” agrees her sister. “It’s like magic. It makes everything better.”
“Noteverything,” I reply, knowing I sound petulant, but not really caring. “Not everything’s been better sinceThe Snow Globecame out. And not everything needs to change, anyway. Maybe some things were better the way they were.”
Like my heart, say. And the way I used to be able to pick up a book without worrying that there might be a photo of my ex on the back cover. Just the simple things, you know?
“That’s the wrong attitude, Holly,” Maisie tells me firmly. “You have to move with the times. Get with the program.”
“You’ve got to catch the vibe,” Elsie joins in eagerly. “Is that how you say it, Maisie?”
“You have to glow-up,” Maisie finishes, ignoring her. “You have toflex. Like Elsie and me. Weflex.”
I gape at her, dumbfounded. It’s like she’s swallowed Urban Dictionary whole.
“Oh, that’s a good one,” her sister agrees, sipping her tea primly. “We do like to flex, don’t we?”
“The question is,” says Maisie, leaning forward and fixing me with a gimlet stare. “Doyou, Holly?”
“Do I…flex?” I pick up my coffee mug and take a long gulp in a bid to hide the laughter that’s bubbling up inside me. “I … I’m not sure. I do a pilates workout on YouTube sometimes. Does that count?”
“Do you want to move with the times, I mean?” says Maisie impatiently. “Do you want to glow-up, like the rest of us, or are you just going to keep on complaining about your boring little life, and how Martin left you because you were frigid?”
“Hang on,” I reply. “That’s a bit harsh, Maisie. I wasn’t complaining. And Martindidn’tsay that. Wait:didMartin say that?”
“He said you had a heart as cold as ice,” Elsie pipes up importantly. “He said not even dragon fire would melt it. He does like dragons, young Martin.”
“That’s what I said,” replies her sister, irritated. “She’s frigid.”
“Freezing,” nods Elsie.
“Maybe a make-over?” suggests Maisie, frowning in concentration as she looks me up and down again critically. “That couldn’t hurt, could it? Remember that time you went into the bookstore and walked right past her, because she’d blended in with one of the shelves?”
“Ooh, I know! She could have a Main Character Moment,” says Elsie, excitedly. “Remember we read about that on the Internet, Maisie? Everyone was having one. I thinkIhad a bit of one this morning, actually.”
“You did not,” retorts Maisie, who hates being outdone by her sister. “That was just one of your migraines, Elsie. And Holly’s already had her Main Character Moment when she was inThe Snow Globe. She can’t have two. That would just be greedy, wouldn’t it?”
“I don’t need a make-over,” I explode, suddenly sounding very like Evie Snow after all. “Ora main character moment. I’m quite happy staying in the background, thanks. And I don’t have a heart of ice. I can’t believe Martin said that. I’m notcold.”
Iamactually quite cold right now, to be honest. But myheartis a completely normal temperature, and I’m just about to tell them that when I happen to glance at the window of the shop.
And there he is.
Again.
