AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They would find out soon enough. They’d probably spot him going in and out, but just then he decided he’d rather have the chance to get the bookshop in better shape. Then he’d invite them over. Otherwise, they might be sad to find out what state their former home – and their father’s former business – was in. He imagined that they had fond childhood memories of the place, and he didn’t want those to be ruined.
Callum looked at his empty mug and decided that perhaps now was a good time to leave. He would have liked to sit and chat to these two interesting ladies, and find out more about their childhood at the bookshop, but he could hear Dickens carrying on outside, his loud meows growing more insistent.
He guessed the old ladies’ hearing was not what it was, as neither commented on the annoying cat sitting outside their shop window, looking in.
‘Well, I’d better not keep you ladies any longer. You’ve got a shop to run.’And so have I, thought Callum, although he was still wavering over his decision as to what to do with the place. He got out of his seat and thanked them for the tea and chocolate digestive biscuits.
‘Are you helping that young woman we saw?’
‘I’m sorry – what?’
‘The young woman in the bookshop. We saw her leave the shop earlier today.’ Mabel looked at her watch. ‘You just missed her.’
‘That’s not true, Mabel. It must have been at least an hour ago – probably more.’
‘Well, all right, I suppose it was, but it still doesn’t change the fact that if he was here to help out in the bookshop—’
‘I’m sorry,’ Callum interrupted the two bickering sisters, ‘but who are you talking about?’
Mabel and Marjorie turned to look at him. ‘The young lady, of course. I thought you knew who she was.’
Callum felt a headache coming on. Dickens wasn’t helping. He glanced over his shoulder and glared at the cat. He turned back to the two women. ‘I have no idea who she is. Are you saying she has a key to the bookshop?’
Mabel tutted. ‘Well, how else would she have got inside?’
Perhaps she broke in, thought Callum, glancing at the cat.
‘You know, it’s a bit of a mystery, what happened to the previous owner …’
Marjorie shook her head at her sister, Callum noticed, as if to tell her not to talk about it.
Callum was thinking of his dad. He didn’t want to talk about it either. But he did want to talk about the woman they mentioned. ‘Just run that by me again.You said someone has been in my … er … the bookshop?’
‘What were you doing at the bookshop door?’ Mabel asked again. ‘You didn’t say. You’re not helping the young woman, then?’
‘No, I am not.’
‘Ah, you didn’t see the ‘closed’ sign, and you were after buying a book.’
Callum was edging towards the door. ‘I really have to go.’ He wanted to check nothing was missing – not that he’d know if there was; he didn’t have an inventory for the bookshop. But what he did know was that there was expensive bookbinding equipment in the back of the shop.
‘Don’t you want to stay for lunch?’ Marjorie glanced at the clock on the wall. ‘We stop about this time, close the shop, and sit in our little office out back to have lunch.’
‘You are welcome to join us,’ Mabel added.
‘No, I had something at The Two Magpies Bakery.’ Callum’s stomach rumbled, which reminded him he still hadn’t eaten the croissant.
‘Oh, did you? That is a shame,’ said Mabel looking disappointed as she followed Callum to the door. He stepped outside.
She stood in the open doorway. ‘Will we see you again?’
Callum glanced over at the bookshop, before returning her gaze and smiling. ‘Oh, yes. You can count on it.’
‘Don’t forget those DVDs you said you’d sort out for me.’
Callum tried to hide a frown. ‘Yeah, sure.’ He didn’t add that he couldn’t afford to spend money on eight seasons’ worth of DVDs.
‘You’ll pop them round? We’re here until three. Although we do take our hour lunch break.’
