“What do you mean, ‘done’?”
“We have to do something. And while that’s not exactly what I would have envisioned for your hen and stag dos, I’ll take it.”
“Oh you will, will you?” Aurelia asked, barely containing a grin.
“I will. We can divide up for the swim—ladies to their pond, men to theirs—then join up for a picnic afterward.”
Aurelia cocked her head as she thought before saying, “You know, that could be fun.”
“It will be! We’ll pack lots of wine, and I could make something for the picnic.”
She took in a sharp breath and tried to keep from making a face, but David caught her.
“Not one of my old recipes,” he promised resignedly. “Though there’s this one dish from the Renaissance period that would be perfect for a picnic…” He trailed off and Aurelia could just imagine the bizarre ingredients he was seeing dance before his eyes.
David’s cookbook, based on his blog of historic recipes, had been published earlier that year and—in spite of some of the strange concoctions—had sold quite well.
“Make whatever you like,” she said with a warm smile.
David rubbed his hands together gleefully.
“You’re very pliable today. We’re going to have to sit here until I can think of something else I’ve been wanting you to do.”
They spent the rest of the hour laughing over David’s suggestions, and Aurelia returned to the shop feeling more excited about the prospect of a pre-wedding party than she’d imagined. Julia greeted her at the door, buzzing with her own excitement at having sold books to not one but two customers while Aurelia had been out.
51
Soon,Juliaonlyhada few days left with them, and nights, though Aurelia wasn’t sure how willingly she’d leave. It was a little startling then, when—as she was writing in the shop one afternoon—Julia announced that she’d figured out why the characters had appeared for her.
“It sort of dawned on me as I’ve been talking to them this week. All the conversations we’ve had have been about marriage. Who married who, who wanted to marry who, who could or couldn’t marry who.”
“Who married whom,” Aurelia couldn’t help interjecting.
“Right,” Julia continued, untroubled by her mistake. “They didn’t go to university, they don’t have jobs. They all live in small towns and hardly ever leave home.”
“All true.”
“What do they even talk about with their friends?”
Aurelia thought for a moment. “Well, I’m sure they read quite a bit—there’s no television or internet, so they have to find their entertainment somewhere. Books, newspapers, and magazines would give them news and stories to talk about with friends.”
“Mmm,” Julia said, unconvinced.
“You’ve finishedCranford, right?”
“Yup.” Julia nodded.
“Then you know the characters were constantly talking about what was happening in their friends’ and families’ lives. Sometimes it was gossip or a serious conversation, but they found plenty of things to talk about.”
“Still… it wasn’t much, was it? Their worlds were kind of small.”
“They were,” Aurelia agreed. “InCranford, it was a big deal for Peter to travel to India. His family really might never have seen him again, and the post wasn’t very reliable given the distance.”
“I think that’s what they were supposed to show me,” Julia said, her voice firm. “You were saying it before, back at Granddad’s—that I should go to university and not just plan on running the shop.”
Aurelia nodded, trying not to let her surprise show.
“I should study and travel, maybe even do something else for a while, so that when the shop is mine, I’ll have something to talk about with the characters. I’ll have lived a little before I’m here for good.”
