Page 54 of The Bookshop By the Loch

The woman, her eyes shining with emotion, whipped her ash-blonde head to each of us. “Please. Call me Maeve.” She carried on with her explanation. “There are two items in particular on Mum’s bucket list which I know she’s desperate to achieve before she…” Maeve gave a watery smile and took a moment to compose herself again. “I’m a widow, you see. I know what it’s like to lose someone you love. Anyway, I’d be most grateful if both of you could try to help her achieve these two particular wishes on her bucket list. You will, of course, be generously paid for your time.” Her expression was imploring. “I know you can help my mother with two of her dying wishes. I just know you can.”

As soon as she’d spoken, Maeve appeared almost apologetic.

Tobias indicated towards the office door. “Let’s go and talk in there, shall we?”

Octavia had just arrived by this time, so Tobias asked her if she wouldn’t mind keeping an eye on both Book Ends and Mirror Image, until Chloe arrived. “We won’t be long.”

Then he encouraged Maeve to follow us.

I asked her again if she wanted a cup of tea or coffee, but she settled herself in the swivel chair at our insistence and politely declined.

She kept her handbag sat on her lap, as though using it to shield her from something.

Tobias pulled across another chair for me and sank down in the other, so that the three of us were in a semi-circle, rather than both of us couched behind the heavy walnut office desk.

He shot me a brief look. “Please forgive me for asking but what items might be on this bucket list of your mothers that you think we can help with?”

Maeve’s mouth, dashed with a faint touch of rosy lipstick, edged upwards.

. “When my mother was younger, she always wanted to have her portrait painted.” She paused. “But my grandparents were strict Bracken Way churchgoers, who thought such indulgences were frivolous, so she never pursued it.”

Maeve’s dark, faintly-lined eyes fanned out at the corners as she addressed Tobias. “My mother was born and raised here and I know she’s always been fascinated by the castle. She said when she was younger, she would make her way up to the railings and just stand there, admiring the view. She liked to go up there and be on her own for a while.”

I nodded. That made so much sense to me.

Maeve relaxed her fingers a little. “My mum has written that she’d love to have her portrait painted in front of Bracken Way Castle.”

Tobias considered this. “I’m sure that’s do-able.”

Maeve’s mouth sprang open. “Are you sure? I mean… you must be very busy with other commitments at the moment, what with just having opened your new gallery.”

“Nothing that my staff can’t handle – my job is to paint, so I’m very open to commissions.”

Maeve’s face was almost bursting with relief and delight. “Oh goodness. That’s wonderful. Thank you, Mr Black. Thank you so much! It’ll mean the world to her – and to me.”

“It’s Tobias. And you’re welcome.”

Her eyes sparkled with emotion. “You must tell me your rates and I’ll arrange payment straight away.”

Tobias shook his head. “Please don’t concern yourself with that at the moment. I’m far more interested in meeting my subject and getting to know her, before I begin painting her.”

Happiness radiated out of Maeve’s expression.

“The most important element in any portrait for me is the eyes. This is where I want the viewers of my paintings to concentrate on. Once I get to know Celeste a bit better, I can encapsulate who she is.”

I managed to shoot him a curious glance when he wasn’t looking. This was the second time that Tobias had managed to surprise me. Underneath that brash, “I can be an arrogant dick” bravado, there was a thoughtful, caring side.

My heart gave an odd little flutter as I studied him.

It stole the breath from my throat.

I jerked my head away and tried to act like I hadn’t been staring at him in the first place. “Well, that’s that sorted,” I assured her, trying to keep an odd wobble out of my voice. “Now, did you say there was another wish on her list that you also wanted to discuss?”

Maeve offered Tobias another pink-tinged beam of appreciation, before turning her attention to me. “Yes, Ms Dunbar, there is.”

“Please. Just call me Lexie.”

She examined me with her joy-filled eyes. “Alright. Thank you. Well, several years ago, Mum told me that she’d written a novel.”