Had she made a terrible, terrible mistake?
‘Tell me how it went with the solicitor,’ said Bonnie to Margot, eager to put the bookshop out of her mind for now. She still hadn’t told Iris to expect a visitor tomorrow.
Margot let out a breath. ‘The wheels are in motion. It’s really happening.’
‘Good.’ Bonnie nodded firmly before she tidied away some of the paints she’d left on the table and a dry brush on the shelf of the easel.
She picked up the jar of water she’d rinsed off her brushes in and forgotten to empty earlier and when she looked up both women were huddled near the back door, their gazes fixed outside. ‘Whatever are you two whispering about?’
Faye’s head whipped round. ‘Nothing. We’re trying to see any of the same view from the photograph.’
Bonnie laughed as she waltzed away with the jar of water and called over her shoulder, ‘Best of luck with that when it’s dark.’
When she emerged, Faye and Margot were sitting at the table and, as previously agreed, they were looking over the menu for a Chinese takeaway a few miles away.
‘Have you checked they deliver?’ Bonnie used kitchen towel to dry the outside of the jar she’d had paint water in.
‘They deliver.’ Faye and Margot were running through suggestions and they all sounded delicious. Bonnie never minded cooking, in fact she liked hosting, but a takeaway this evening would be a real treat.
Once they’d placed the order, Bonnie got some plates ready, the cutlery, and some napkins. ‘I don’t think I’ve had Chinese food in months, possibly years.’
‘Hmm… spring rolls are my favourite,’ said Margot.
‘Crispy duck with plum sauce,’ said Faye.
‘Stop it, both of you, my mouth is watering.’ And she was laughing. It was a sound she’d forgotten all about, and yet it was beginning to come more naturally in recent days.
When there was a knock at the door some ten minutes later Bonnie got up. ‘Well, that was quick.’ And the girls must be hungry because they were lingering behind her as if ready to snatch the bags inside quickly to devour the food.
But it wasn’t the takeaway at all.
‘Iris… everything all right?’ It didn’t look like it. The woman seemed frazzled. Was this another worry about the bookshop? Or had the developer shown up already and dropped her in it for making the call?
‘I’m in a bind,’ said Iris, stood on the step with Midas at her side.
‘Come inside,’ Bonnie urged.
‘I won’t, but thank you. I just really need to get a move on.’
Bonnie reached a hand out to fuss Midas on the head. ‘Iris, tell me what’s happened.’ Sometimes the woman really could take her time to get to the point. But Bonnie felt relief that if this was about the developer she probably would’ve called rather than visited.
‘It’s my mother-in-law; she isn’t well and I really need to go to her. I think I’ll have to stay the night to make sure she’s okay, but I have Midas, and she’s in a flat. She isn’t allowed a dog.’
‘Okay, take a breath,’ said Bonnie. She’d have to get her a paper bag to breathe into in a minute if she didn’t calm down. ‘Where’s Theo?’
‘He’s away. And I’m looking after Midas.’ She smiled at the girls who had stepped closer to hear what was going on. ‘There’s more… The bookshop is locked up at the front, but there’s a problem with the rear door. It won’t lock. I’ve called a twenty-four-hour locksmith and he’ll come out as soon as he can, but I can’t leave it like that.’
Faye picked up her coat and pushed one arm through a sleeve, then the other. ‘Leave it with us, Iris. We can migrate down to the bookshop. We’ll help you.’
‘We have takeaway coming,’ said Bonnie desperately. She didn’t want to walk down the hill. She didn’t want to be stopped and asked questions, looked at like she was a widow, the word that fitted but a word she couldn’t bear to say. And she definitely didn’t want to go anywhere near the bookshop.
‘Would you consider bringing the takeaway to the bookshop?’ Iris pleaded. She really did look stressed and Bonnie didn’t know what to do.
Except deep down she did. She couldn’t leave the bookshop unlocked. She was the owner after all, now that Howard had gone. And what if vandals broke in? What if they made a mess of it? Destroyed the books and everything in their wake? Oh, she couldn’t bear the thought of that. Right now the developers were the least of her worries because Howard would’ve been so upset if something like that had ever happened.
‘The bookshop is my responsibility,’ said Bonnie, surprising herself as the words left her mouth. ‘It’s not for you to worry about, Iris. You go to your mother-in-law and we will deal with the shop and the locksmith.’
Margot took Midas’s lead. ‘And you can leave Midas with us. What are friends for?’
