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“Not really.”
“Not really?”
“I’m just looking,” she said, her eyes still on the window.
“At what? Chances are you know that place as well as you know yours. It’s next door, and from memory always has been.”
It was then Ted saw the sign on the door. Taking two steps back, he read it.
“Shop for lease, apply within.” He read the words out loud.
Mandy didn’t look his way.
“This place is bigger than yours, right? Has an upstairs area too, by the looks of it.”
“It is bigger,” Mandy agreed. “Mr. Timms has been here as long as us. Upstairs is an apartment he rents out.”
“So are you thinking you want to lease this and expand Tea Total?” It was a leap, but he was a businessman, and it would have been his next step if he owned the business next door.
“It would never work.”
“It may,” he said.
“You think so?”
“Morning, Mandy, Ted.”
“Mr. Timms,” Ted said as the bookstore owner unlocked his door. “When are you thinking about shutting the store, Mr. Timms?”
“Not long, actually. A month, maybe two months,” the man said. “Our grandchildren are in Florida, so we’ve decided to move there. Just need to lease this and the flat, then we’ll be off.”
“Can we come in and have a walk around?”
“Of course. Are you thinking it may complement Tea Total, Mandy?”
“I—ah, I’m not sure yet, Mr. Timms, but it’s something to think about.” Mandy shot Ted a look that was as close to a serious glare as he’d ever got from her.
Ted followed her inside.
“Take your time, I need to pack some books out back. Let yourself out when you’re done, or if you need anything else just call.”
“Thanks, Mr. Timms,” Mandy said.
Ted looked around the space after the man had left. A few feet bigger than Tea Total, with rooms out back. He wondered what she was thinking.
“You didn’t need to ask him, Ted. I would have got around to it.”
“Sure you would,” Ted said, moving to stand beside her by the wall separating the two shops. “Does Mr. Timms own the shop?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me what you would do with this space,” Ted asked her.
“It’s only a thought, I mean I doubt—”
“Mandy. Just say the words.”
She said them still facing the wall.
