Page 29 of The Cotswold Christmas Bookshop

‘Oh I see,’ she said, feeling a wave of relief seep from her body. ‘No.’ She lifted her gaze to find his. ‘Last time I looked, I didn’t have any of those either.’

‘Right… good. It was just last night, when I bumped into you, I saw you with…’ His words trailed away.

‘With Jake. My brother.’

‘Ah, Jake!’ Guy’s expression relaxed into understanding. ‘Jake, who is at university in Manchester. A free spirit who loves travelling, who’s not quite as academic or successful as his older sister.’

‘Oh God!’ Isla’s face crumpled in consternation. ‘Please don’t tell me my mum actually said that!?’

‘Not in those exact words, but that was the clear impression she gave me.’

For the first time, it was brought home to Isla how those expectations from her parents, mainly her mum, had impacted on both her and Jake. She loved her mum dearly, but she had wondered if a lot of her life choices had been taken with a view to keeping her parents happy.

‘Jake is great. He is very different from me, laid-back, funny and kind. It’s good to have him home for Christmas.’

‘And your dancing partner from the pub?’ This was delivered with a raised eyebrow and a tentative look.

‘You mean Ryan! An old school pal. Definitely not in one of those other categories you mentioned,’ she said, matching his smile.

‘Ahh… well, I’m really pleased that we’ve managed to sort out that small misunderstanding. Maybe we should resume the coffee and cake tradition soon?’

‘Sounds like a very good idea to me,’ Isla said, feeling ridiculously excited at the prospect. How could something so insignificant, so everyday, sound so appealing?

‘Right, I should make a move.’

As Guy headed for the door, she caught a familiar whiff of what she suspected was his aftershave, the scent dancing seductively in the air. It always left her wanting more and the temptation to move a little closer and place her face against the collar of his expensive tailoring, so that she could get a better whiff, was almost too hard to resist. Deciding that was probably a step too far at this stage of their friendship, she simply raised a hand to wave him goodbye.

‘See you soon,’ he called.

With the soft tinkle of the overhead bell ringing in her ears, she took a moment to process what had just happened. Nothing and everything. Had something shifted in their relationship? And if it had, did it really matter? In a few weeks’ time, she would be heading back to London with much more important matters on her mind than Guy. He was a pleasant distraction, admittedly, but that’s all he could ever possibly be, although that didn’t stop her mind from entertaining all sorts of possibilities.

Moments later, the bell was ringing again and she looked across to the door to see that Guy was back, an expectant expression on his face. There was the briefest moment where they paused, caught in each other’s gaze before Guy said, ‘I was just wondering if you fancied grabbing a drink together sometime. Not a coffee. A glass of wine, perhaps? There’s a cocktail bar in the cellar of the town hall, if you fancy it?’

Isla had heard of the place but she had never visited there before.

‘That’s a nice idea,’ she said as nonchalantly as she could muster.

‘Great. Tomorrow night, after you’ve finished here?’

‘Sounds good,’ she said, grinning.

A night out with Guy had been something she’d imagined and now she couldn’t wait to discover whether it might turn out to be everything she hoped it might be and more.

20

Isla didn’t have much time to dwell on her date with Guy because the shop continued to be exceptionally busy. It was a good job that Penny had agreed to do some extra hours because it needed both of them to deal with the number of customers who were coming through the doors. In a rare quiet moment, Penny asked Isla, ‘Do you know if Jon and Miriam have made any firm plans for the future of this place? I asked Miriam and she was a bit cagey, said they hadn’t made a decision yet. I know they’ve had a lot on their plate this year, but I really would like to know soon, one way or the other. If I lose my job here, then I will have to find something else quickly.’

‘Sorry, Penny. I know as much as you do, although I really hope it doesn’t come to that. Miriam told me the same, although it obviously doesn’t affect me in the same way.’

Penny’s gaze ran over Isla’s face. ‘Do you really have to go back to London?’ Penny asked with a contemplative expression. ‘I’ll miss you when you go. The shop won’t be the same without you.’

‘Aw, thanks, Penny. That’s a lovely thing to say.’ And she hadn’t been the only person to mention it. ‘I’ve enjoyed being back at Finch’s much more than I could ever have imagined.’

In the space of a few weeks, she’d formed good relationships with her neighbouring traders as well as some of her customers, with a lot of them calling into the shop specifically to see Isla for a chat. She would miss them all, as well as Penny, Henry and Heathcliff. And Guy, too. She gave a thought to how much simpler her life would be if this were her permanent job. Definitely less stressful and probably more enjoyable too, although perhaps her bad feelings associated with the redundancy were making her view the situation in an idealistic way. Being at Finch’s was a wonderful distraction, something to take her mind off her problems elsewhere, but it could never represent a permanent solution. A bit like Guy, she thought, ruefully. He was definitely another intriguing distraction.

‘Good morning, darling!’

Isla looked up to see Diana breeze through the front door with a posse of friends behind her.