‘Matty.’
‘Matty, yeah.’
‘Yeah.’ Quinn faltered.
‘I mean, not that I… You know, it’s just… No, research purposes.’
‘Research purposes,’ Quinn agreed. Definitely research purposes. ‘I can do that.’
‘Good. Cool.’ Noah smiled. ‘Can you do tomorrow evening?’
Quinn wanted to give a definitive answer, but then he thought, no, why should he? Why should he be at Noah’s beck and call? Play it cool, right? Isn’t that what everyone does? Aloof. Casual.
‘Yes, I can’t wait,’ Quinn said.
Noah smiled, and then Ivy appeared at the door.
‘I wondered where you got to,’ she said, looking from Noah to Quinn. She reached a hand to Noah’s cheek, and Quinn had never been more jealous of a hand, or Ivy. Noah didn’t flinch from her touch. She pulled a strand of fluff from his cheek. ‘This was stuck to you.’
‘Ah.’ Noah looked at the grey fur in Ivy’s hands. ‘That’s a bit of Mr Lavender. His fur gets everywhere.’
‘Mr Lavender?’
‘Hermione’s cat,’ Ivy said. ‘I’m always hoovering up his fur.’
The three of them bade each other goodnight, and Quinn headed home, lost in thought.
An evening of research. Research purposes. A talk off the record. How wonderful this week was turning out to be, and it was only Monday. Christmas was fast approaching. Normally, he would go to his mother’s. But now, with everything going on, he thought he would need to spend it alone. He wasn’t excited about Christmas. Not anymore.
Instead, the protest filled him with excitement. The two author signings. The party.
Oh, one-eyed Jesus, the party!
In all the commotion, he’d forgotten he needed to plan a party. The drag queens were no doubt planning their outfits and makeup, the locals writing their protest signs and then picking out their evening outfits. And him? He was thinking of Hermione, Noah, and the girl band Girls Aloud’s television series,Off the Record, which Noah put into his head by the power of association.
As he got to his apartment, recalling a quote from Nadine Coyle and trying to voice his own Irish accent in his head, he allowed his eyes to drift towards the castle that he could see from his living room window. Lights were glowing inside, no doubt the last preparations being made for a public opening.
And then he realised.
His planned protest was on the day of the castle’s opening.
Oh, what a bad idea that might be. Would the curiosity of a refurbed heritage site and a much-loved staple piece of Hay distract those willing to protest for his shop’s sake?
His phone buzzed. Quinn looked at the screen.
People will protest inside the castle. Two birds with one stone. Save your shop. Appreciate history.
Ivy, her ever more convincing psychic abilities striking again.
ChapterTwenty-Five
Quinn had almost finished perfecting his invites for the party when the door to the shop opened and Gordon strolled in. He closed the invite design so quickly that scientists would need to study him. Some people were not invited, and his cousin Gordon was one of them.
‘Quinn,’ Gordon said, as if they were about to enter a very formal meeting indeed.
‘Gordon.’ Quinn matched the tone. ‘Can I help?’
‘To be honest, I needed a break.’
