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Katie had shrugged and said okay. Thea and Toby had agreed not to mention Callum. Just then, it had to be their secret, otherwise Katie would find out that Toby was not in school but was spending time with a famous actor in their grandfather’s bookshop.
Thea had thought that if Katie bumped into one of Toby’s friends, they might mention his five-day suspension, but Toby had assured her that wouldn’t happen – he only had one good friend, and Katie avoided him because he wasn’t cool.
When Thea had been putting the DVDs in her bag the night before, making sure she’d packed them so she wouldn’t forget to take them with her in the morning, once again her curiosity had got the better of her. She’d decided to watch an episode. It had turned into so many that she’d lost count before she fell asleep on the sofa at midnight.
She was enjoying the series about the Scotsman who’d lost his castle and moved to America to make his fortune. There were plenty of opportunities on the ranch in America for the actor to go bare-chested – swinging an axe while cutting wood, saving a calf that had fallen into a reservoir – situations concocted, she imagined, just as an excuse to show the actor shirtless. Not that she was complaining.
It wasn’t raunchy, though, which was just as well, given that her thirteen-year-old niece had been watching it. Thea could see how the clean and wholesome television programme could appeal to the whole family.
Perhaps that was why it had been cancelled; times had moved on. She’d Googled the next series and had come across the announcement by the studio that it had been cancelled. She wondered why Callum hadn’t mentioned it. Perhaps he was embarrassed – or, more likely, after so many years starring in that show, it was a sensitive issue; something he didn’t want to discuss with a stranger.
Thea looked at Callum. Perhaps that was why he was pleased she hadn’t watched the show – then she wouldn’t be asking when the next season was due.
The trouble was – and she wouldn’t tell Callum this – that she was hooked. She wished she didn’t have to hand the DVDs over to the old ladies across the yard. She had asked Katie first thing in the morning which catch-up channel they were on. Katie had laughed, and said, ‘You started watching it, didn’t you?’
Thea admitted it. Her niece had said, ‘See, I told you it was really good.’
Thea smiled when she thought back to that.
‘What’s so good?’ Toby had asked, joining them for breakfast that morning in his school uniform, as planned. When he’d found out what they were talking about, he’d surprised his sister when he’d said he’d been watching it too. Although Thea hadn’t been surprised in the least – Toby had made a new friend. His sister would be so shocked if she found out Toby’s new friend was in fact none other than the star of that show. She imagined that if Katie knew, she would change her attitude to her brother and be grovelling at his feet for an introduction. Toby would suddenly turn into the coolest brother on the planet.
Chapter 46
Callum looked at the bag of DVDs in his hand and glanced over his shoulder at the bookshop before he stepped inside the charity shop. He caught Thea standing in the shop window. She waved.
Callum tentatively waved back, a knot twisting in his stomach at the thought that the good-looking girl in the shop window could never be his girlfriend, if she was who he suspected she was – his half-sister.
He sighed heavily. For that reason, he wasn’t looking forward to returning to the bookshop after delivering the DVDs as promised, or to going to lunch with her. Then again, if she was his half-sister, it meant he had a sister, and that also meant he was related to Toby – he had a nephew, and a niece.
But when are you going to tell her about your father?
Callum opened the charity shop door. First of all, he had to be sure that she was the girl in the photo – and that Henry was her father.So, ask her. But he didn’t want to ask her outright –was your father Henry?Or show her the photo just yet. There would be time enough, whether at lunch today, or working with her and Toby, to get to the bottom of who he suspected she was, and what she was doing in his bookshop. And once he was sure, then he’d figure out how he was going to tell her the truth – that Henry had two families, and that he was Henry’s son. He imagined it would come as quite a shock when she found out.
‘Oh, Callum, you came back!’
‘Of course I did, Mabel. I had to see you again.’ He grinned.
Mabel looked at him coyly. ‘Now, you’re making me come over all flustered.’
Marjorie rolled her eyes at the pair of them.
‘I came bearing gifts.’ He walked up to the counter at the back of the shop.
Marjorie looked at the bag. ‘You brought some things to donate?’
‘Oh, er … no. This is for Mabel.’ He smiled as he handed her the bag.
She took it, and looked inside. ‘DVDs?’
‘Yes, the entire eight seasons of my show. I borrowed them from a friend. She didn’t mind me lending them to you.’
Callum caught Marjorie frowning. She said, ‘Well, it looks as though I’m going to be here in the shop on my own for the duration.’
‘Oh, don’t be silly, Marj,’ said Mabel. ‘I’ll get through these in no time. I’ll binge-watch them.’ She looked at Callum. ‘Is that what they call it?’
He nodded. ‘That assumes you like the show. You might not.’
‘Oh, I’m sure I will.’
