As they’d walked up the hill after they left Bonnie’s yesterday, Margot had gone into more detail about the early years of her marriage and the years between then and now. Perry didn’t sound like a bad man, and Margot acknowledged that he wasn’t in a lot of respects. He’d done a lot of things well and she said she’d never felt unsafe. But she had felt unseen, ignored, and taken advantage of, and Faye had to wonder whether that’s what would have happened with her and Brad. If at the first sign of trouble he thought about himself and ran for the hills, what did that say about his ability to commit to a long-term relationship? Not a lot in Faye’s eyes.
As she finished up at the fourth van, mopping the floor and reversing out so that she didn’t step onto it while it dried, she thought about the change she’d made in her own life. She’d felt forced into it when she boarded the plane from Australia but now, rather than feeling like she was getting away from something, it felt like she was discovering a whole new world. Her dad had been contemplating whether this might be a longer-term move than he had originally planned and Faye was almost beginning to have some of the same thoughts. Steph and their mother would hate the weather here, they’d moan about it all the time, but Faye didn’t mind it. As long as she had the right gear then she was sorted, rain, hail or shine.
She put all the cleaning paraphernalia away and went to her own caravan to get ready. After a shower she made a sandwich and with that plus a drink in her backpack she got onto her bicycle and headed for Driftwick Bay. She was a bit nervous about that man confronting her again and had her eyes peeled but so far, thankfully, no sign of him.
Before she went to Bonnie’s she wanted to go all the way down to Lulworth Cove and take in some of the scenery, sit and read her book for a while and appreciate being in Dorset with her dad and now, friends. She didn’t much care that it was cold either; she was bundled up with a fleece-lined coat and a waterproof jacket just in case.
She had a good ride down to Driftwick Bay and after she’d locked up her bike the walk on to Lulworth Cove filled her lungs with much-needed fresh air and ignited a smile at the prettiness of this slice of Dorset. She sat on a bench, read her book until the wind flapped the pages one too many times before she headed back towards the hill.
Before she headed up to Bonnie’s cottage she stopped off at Driftwick Bay Books. Cleaning didn’t involve the same chit-chat that came with hairdressing, and so this morning as she’d worked, Faye had let her mind wander, and she’d come up with an idea she wanted to share with Iris. Faye had seen Bonnie go from someone who would barely open the door let alone talk, to someone who had laughed with them and chatted like a friend. What if the same happened with the bookshop? What if avoiding it was the worst possible thing Bonnie could do? Perhaps if they could get her to come inside again it might just help her to heal a little after losing Howard.
In the bookshop Iris was crouched down beside a young boy who looked like he wasn’t at all sure about Midas, who was obediently sitting next to him. Faye smiled. Midas was a softie; the dog would soon make this little boy fall in love.
As she waited for Iris to be free, Faye browsed the shelves and pluckedMy Favourite Mistakeby Marian Keyes as a treat for herself even though she hadn’t got onto reading the last book she’d bought from here yet. She hadn’t finishedWildeither, and swore it was taking her longer to read because she was treasuring the knowledge that it had been Howard to put it in the telephone box library. She waved away Iris’s concern that she might want to pay and called over that she would browse until Iris was free, and five minutes later Iris was at the counter and Faye had found another couple of books to buy.
‘Midas has another fan.’ Faye watched as the same young boy, next to a man likely to be his dad given how much they looked like one another, giggled at Midas’s wagging tail when he petted him.
‘You’ll have too much in your suitcase when you fly back with all these books.’ Iris laughed as she began to ring up the purchases. ‘They’ll charge you more.’
‘I was worried about that when I first got here, but I think I’ll be fine. As long as I don’t go too crazy.’ Mind you, she was pretty sure she was going to have to buy a new jumper or two because this morning when she’d stepped outside the caravan it had been the first time she’d seen a dense fog that gave the county a chilly feel. The summer had been beautiful, and autumn was off to a pretty good start, but the chillier months would be here soon enough. She wasn’t sure yet whether she would be too.
As Iris finished ringing up the purchases Faye told her that she and Margot had been managing to get Bonnie to talk a bit.
‘She told us about the day Howard came here with the keys and showed it off to her.’
‘She spoke about the shop?’ Iris asked.
‘Yes, and for a while too.’
‘Usually she shuts the conversation down,’ said Iris. ‘That’s a good sign.’
‘Very.’ Because Bonnie had been remembering some of the nice days she’d had with Howard, helping him unpack some of the stock, watching him talk with customers.
‘Did she mention the sale again?’
Faye shook her head. ‘No, but the letter from the developer is beside her phone.’ She quickly added, ‘I wasn’t snooping. I went to use the bathroom and it must’ve fallen to the floor as I passed by.’
‘Did you mention it to her?’
‘No, it didn’t feel right. But I do have another idea to help Bonnie out and maybe at some point get her back to the bookshop.’
‘You do? Come on then, let’s hear it.’
Once Faye had explained, Iris was all for it.
And the plan could start right now. The young boy who had Midas’s attention was about to leave the bookshop and after Iris passed Faye the dog’s lead, Faye got Midas ready and they left the shop to walk the rest of the way up the hill to Bonnie’s cottage.
She let them both through the little front gate and closed it behind them. Already the cottage on the hill had taken on a much more homely feel compared to the first time she turned up here. It was as though the warmth in Bonnie’s eyes the last few days made the whole place feel that much brighter even without Howard around.
Bonnie’s smile didn’t falter when she opened the door. ‘Hello, what’s all this?’ She indicated Midas before stepping back. ‘Bring him inside. Are you thirsty, boy?’ She immediately went to fill a big bowl with water that she set down inside the front door.
Faye had had a suspicion that Bonnie wouldn’t be able to resist Midas, who was a big part of the master plan.
Midas lapped vigorously at the water, sending droplets all over the tiles, but it made Bonnie laugh.Midas, you have the magic touch,Faye wanted to tell the dog. As she’d cleaned that morning she’d thought about Theo, which led to thinking about Midas and his therapy dog status. That had led her to thinking: what if Midas could help someone like Bonnie? As soon as she’d got back to her caravan she’d done some reading online. She found case studies using therapy dogs who could indeed help people who were anxious, and that was Bonnie, wasn’t it? She was nervous talking to people now; she didn’t seem to want to go out. Maybe Midas could help her. And perhaps some day he’d be able to entice her back inside the bookshop. She just wasn’t sure how that part of the plan would work yet.
Bonnie crouched down and made a fuss over Midas. ‘Now, what are you doing with our Faye, here?’
‘I offered to take him for a long walk. He’s working at the shop today and Iris won’t get a chance to take him out much.’
