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‘Do we have a deal?’ he whispered to the old ladies, hoping they had their hearing aids in, if they needed them, and had heard him ask that question again.
The two ladies nodded before turning their attention to the young lady that had just walked into their shop.
‘Hi, I’m Thea.’
‘Thea?’ said Mabel and Marjorie in unison.
‘Yes. I thought I’d come and introduce myself.’
Callum, still standing with his back to her, thoughtOh, my god. Why did she have to come over here at this very moment?
Mabel said, ‘You’re the young lady I saw going into the bookshop yesterday!’
‘Yes – that’s me!’
Both sisters shifted their gaze to Callum. Marjorie said, ‘Callum here has been telling us all about the lovely young lady he is helping in the bookshop.’
‘He has?’
Callum stared at both sisters, mouthing, ‘Remember. The. Deal.’ He heard Thea say, ‘Callum?’
Callum turned around, fixing a smile on his face. The moment he saw her standing there, his heart sank. Why did she have to be so damn beautiful? It was little wonder he was drawn to her – it was a sibling thing. He’d read about this in some article once in a Sunday newspaper supplement, where people got together unknowingly who really had no business being together; who were siblings. Thank god he knew the truth. That did not make him feel any better. He just wished they weren’t related.
He sensed that she was drawn to him too; he knew that she felt the connection. She just had no idea of the real reason.So tell her,that voice in his head insisted.He willed it to stop, thinkingI can’t. Not just like that. She deserves the truth, but I must find out how this all came about first.
Once again, Callum thought of his mum. Did she know? Something told him she did. Or at least suspected.
Callum brushed that thought aside for now, knowing that he would be heading back to Scotland soon enough. In the meantime, he wanted to find out more about his sister – if the two old ladies didn’t give the game away and mention that photo.
Callum glanced at them, and held his breath, wondering what they were going to say next.
‘You must come and have a cup of tea, and a chocolate biscuit,’ said Marjorie.
‘Oh, I wasn’t disturbing anything, was I?’
‘Not at all,’ said Mabel. ‘We’ve got plenty of tea in the pot.’
They led her to the back of the shop. ‘Now, we want to know all about you.’
So did Callum. He thought he’d join them.
Marjorie said, ‘Callum – haven’t you got something to do?’
Callum frowned. ‘What do you mean?’ He knew what they meant. They were chucking him out of their shop, so they had Thea all to themselves.
Thea turned in her seat. ‘Oh, yes – Callum is showing Toby, that’s my nephew, how to bind books.’
‘That’s good. Off you trot, Callum.’ Marjorie flicked her finger at Callum to get a move on.
‘You have a nephew?’ said Mabel.
‘Oh, yes, and a niece, Katie. They’re my sister’s children.’
‘That’s lovely,’ said Mabel. ‘I’d love to meet them.’
‘You can meet Toby if you want to pop in and see the bookshop. I’d wait, though. It’s a bit of a mess in there right now. We’re trying to get it sorted out. Toby’s there helping. I’m afraid he got suspended from school, so I’ve put him to work in the bookshop. He’s being productive – well, most of the time.’
‘We remember you from when you were little and your dad owned the bookshop.’
