‘You never know.’
Margot’s lips twisted in thought. ‘I suppose I should keep an open mind.’
Faye looked across at the window again but the man who had been staring must have moved on elsewhere.
Iris interrupted them briefly. ‘Have you two been to see Bonnie again?’
‘We have,’ said Faye. ‘But no luck getting her to talk, I’m afraid. She came to the door, but she quickly made her excuses to get rid of us.’
Iris frowned. ‘She was always so jolly and friendly. I know she’s not going to just spring back to normal, but I worry she’s closing herself off.’ She paused, lowered her voice. ‘And I think she’s going to sell the shop.’
Margot shook her head. ‘Not to the developer.’
‘You know about that?’
Faye explained how close they were in the Midnight Book Club and that chat often centred around a lot more than books. ‘He kept batting them away,’ she said, ‘but they just wouldn’t give up.’
‘They’re not hassling Bonnie at home, are they?’ Margot wondered.
‘I wouldn’t think so. I expect she has the correspondence they’ve previously left for Howard. As far as I know they never turned up at the cottage.’
‘Let’s hope they don’t do that,’ said Margot. ‘I mean, that’s the last thing she needs.’
Iris confided, ‘I really think she’ll sell. She’s not thinking clearly at the moment. She knows what the bookshop means to this town.’
‘She’s in survival mode,’ said Margot.
Iris sighed. ‘I know, and it makes me feel really bad for thinking about myself.’
Faye sympathised. ‘Howard always said you loved working here and he enjoyed your company. Try not to panic, perhaps Bonnie will change her mind.’ Although books had never been Bonnie’s thing so maybe this town really was about to lose their beloved bookshop after all.
‘She might feel differently when she comes in here,’ Margot suggested.
‘Oh no,’ said Iris. ‘Bonnie told me when she closed the bookshop after Howard died that she didn’t ever want to set foot in here again or even think about it. I don’t think there’s any chance of getting her to come down here before she makes the decision to sell.’ She shook her head. ‘I sound like I only care about the bookshop but I’m concerned about her too. She needs people around her but nobody has bumped into her in the street, a few people have seen her but she scurries away from the bakery or wherever she’s nipped out to. She seems to go right back and hide at the cottage without seeing or speaking to a soul.’
‘Why don’t we try visiting Bonnie again tomorrow,’ Margot suggested to Iris. ‘I’m not sure there’s anything we can do if she’s made her mind up to sell the bookshop, but at least we might be able to check whether she’s all right.’
‘Oh, would you? I don’t want to be too much of a nuisance.’ Iris explained, ‘I’ve called her enough times already to ask her questions about this place.’
Margot and Faye left the bookshop but not before Faye turned again to wave over at Theo who seemed very aware that she was leaving and gave her a nod and a smile.
‘Bit of interest there,’ said Margot as the door closed behind them.
‘Sorry?’
‘Theo. He was undressing you with his eyes.’
The comment sounded so out of character for her new friend that it made Faye laugh. ‘He’s with a bunch of kids, teaching them. I’m sure that me and my state of dress were the last things on his mind.’
‘I don’t know,’ said Margot, enjoying this. But then her teasing faded. ‘Do you really think Bonnie will sell to the developer?’
‘It sounds like she wants nothing to do with the bookshop,’ said Faye. ‘We have to respect that, but Howard would hate it, wouldn’t he?’
‘He never wanted them to get their hands on it.’
‘Perhaps she could wait, find a buyer who’ll take it on and keep it the way it is,’ said Faye.
‘Sometimes you just want things to end. And it seems like there’s an easy way out for her with the developer. It’ll be a done deal, over with quickly, and she can move on.’
