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“Books?”
“Not exactly.” Rowena’s voice boomed with more than its usual decibels. It actually hurt Alice’s ear. “Some documents you might find interesting.”
Goodness, what if it was purchase information on a shop in some sleepy little village with a hyphenated name, a plethora of cats and a teashop called the Copper Kettle?
“What kind of documents?” she managed after a moment.
“Best if I let them speak for themselves, darling. Then we’ll Skype. I’ve sent them to the house, not the shop. They should arrive in about a week, I’m guessing.”
“Okay, Mum, I’ll look out for it.”
“Oh, and can you tell Esther I’ve found her a copy ofMrs Beeton’s Household Management? I’m sending back the most interesting array of books you have ever seen.”
“The shelves are pretty full already.”
Rowena laughed. “We’ll fit them in. What’s all that kerfuffle? I’ve never heard so much noise. Have you put a sale on you haven’t told me about?”
“No, of course not.” Alice walked outside and changed ears.
“Oh, that’s better,” Rowena said.
“Are you still in Cambridge?”
“Yes. For a few more days, then I’m going to your cousin Beatrice’s in Burton-upon-Trent. She’s the one who keeps ferrets and had a bit-part inPride and Prejudice, remember? Anyway, darling, I’m planning to be home in about three weeks.”
Three weeks?What would that mean for her and Aaron? Under Rowena’s eagle eye, romance was hardly going to blossom, let alone rampant sex. Maybe it was time she moved out, found her own little pad.
“But you’re having fun, aren’t you, Mum?” she asked. “It’s been a worthwhile trip?”
For a second she felt Rowena’s hesitation, which was odd because Rowena had the crashing enthusiasm of a Pamplona bull about everything in life. “It’s been, interesting—challenging.” Rowena’s voice drew out the last word, her tone almost pensive.
Was Mum having a mid-life crisis?
Alice looked back through the window of the shop and saw An ho, who owned the café, waving a paper bag with what she was sure was her roll in it. An ho spotted her through the window and beckoned.
“I’d better go, Mum. Customer.”
“Bye, darling. Let me know you got the package, won’t you?”
“Yes, Mum. Bye.”
“Toot, toot, sweetheart.”
Honestly—where did Rowena get these weird phrases?
Alice tucked her phone into her coat pocket and entered the café, saliva building in her mouth as she took her banh mi from An ho with a smile.
She walked back to the Book Genie nibbling her banh mi around the edges. Clearly she needed a dose of iron and B12 because she would happily have ingested it through a drip. Could that be due to the extra activity she’d done lately? Blushing, she pushed the thought away.
Back in the shop she let in a couple of regular browsers, placed her banh mi roll on a plate in the storeroom, where it was easy to nip in and out for a quick bite, and flicked the kettle on for a cup of tea.
“Hey, Alice?”
She ducked her head back round the door. “Carts, what a lovely surprise.”
Carts looked somewhat unkempt, she thought, and thinner than usual, which wasn’t good because he’d never been what you would call well-covered. His jacket hung like it was on a coat hanger rather than shoulders, and his trousers were too short. She remembered the break-up with Lucy. She’d been meaning to text and ask how he was going but the Aaron interlude had completely dislodged it from her mind.
“Are you okay?” Alice pulled up a stool. He really looked like he needed to sit down. “I heard about Lucy.”
