Page 122 of The Bookshop By the Loch

Maeve’s usually immaculate blow-dried hair was pulled back from her haunted face in a severe, low ponytail. “I’m sure she’d love that.”

As we approached Celeste’s closed door, Joy emerged from another room. “She’s looking forward to seeing you both.” She nodded in silent sympathy and vanished.

Maeve reached for the handle and creaked it open. “You two go ahead, I want to grab a quick cuppa. Can I get either of you anything?”

Tobias shook his head. “No thanks. Take your time. We’ll call you if anything changes. You need a breather.”

Maeve patted Tobias’s shirtsleeve. “You’ve got a good one here, Lexie.”

Celeste was in bed, supported by a bank of clean, fresh pillows. Her white hair had been brushed and was falling back from her face. She appeared more fragile, yet there was an inner calm about her.

Her weary eyes fluttered open. “Oh, look who it is. The best-looking couple in Bracken Way.”

I blushed and Tobias smiled. “Is it that obvious?” he asked her.

Celeste hitched her eyes up to the ceiling. “You two have been sodding around one another since day one. If I’d been fit, I would have clunked both your heads together.”

“No need for that now,” said Tobias, stroking my hand.

Celeste patted her bed covers and ordered Tobias to fetch over a chair. “Better late than never. I’m delighted.” Her voice was far more paper-thin than usual. “Guess who came to see me at the weekend?”

“Who?” I asked, my voice thick with emotion.

“One Flora Simmonds.”

“No!” I gasped. “What on earth did she want?”

“To apologise for everything over the years.”

I stared at Celeste. “And did you accept her apology?”

She nodded against the pillows. “I made her work for it, but yes, I did. It would have been churlish not to. I think she was worried I might come back and haunt her.” She slid a faint smile over at Tobias. “I might be dying, but I’ve had one hell of a life. A far better one than she ever had, by the looks of it.”

“Don’t say that,” I blurted, snaking my fingers around hers.

She gave them a weak squeeze of affection. “So, what have you been up to apart from the obvious?”

Tobias grinned at her.

“Celeste!” I sighed and shook my head. I pointed over to my laptop which I’d placed in the other empty armchair when we came in. “I’ve been writing the end of your book.”

Her tired eyes brightened for a few moments. “You did it?”

“I promised I would.”

Tobias retrieved the laptop for me and set it up on the bed.

“Would you like me to read it to you?”

“Is the Pope Catholic?”

Tobias rested his stubbled chin on my shoulder. “I think that’s a yes.”

I located the file and pulled up the document on screen. The words I’d written shimmered in front of my tear-cluttered eyes. I cleared my throat and began to read aloud.

Celeste lay back staring at the creamy aertex swirls on her ceiling, while I described how Melissa secured a record contract, became pregnant and married the handsome musician Vince who had stolen her heart. I also spoke of how she was able to fight and keep the child who her parents and authorities wanted adopted.

I continued to read, my words washing over her, transporting her to another place and time.