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‘When are we going for lunch?’ Toby asked. ‘I’m hungry.’
Thea looked at her watch. ‘Not long now. I just want to finish cleaning the window.’ She walked over to the sink and poured some fresh water into a bowl with a squirt of detergent.
Callum insisted on carrying the bowl of water. He followed Thea out into the shop, still worried about her visit to the charity shop. He set the bowl of water down on the floor by the window. ‘I didn’t expect to see you in the charity shop.’
Thea rolled up her shirt sleeves and pulled on her Marigolds. She turned to Callum. ‘You were gone so long that I started to think they’d stolen my handsome helper for themselves.’ Thea looked away embarrassed. ‘I can’t believe I said that out loud!’
Callum laughed. ‘Well, you were gone so long I began to think they’d stolen my beautiful girl—’ He looked at her, aghast. In the moment, with the light-hearted banter, Callum had forgotten himself. ‘God, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.’
‘Oh, but you should. You can call me that any time.’
‘Ahem, well, er … I’ll get back to …’ he pointed to the back of the shop.
Thea slipped off her gloves. It had taken the rest of the morning, but with a good amount of elbow grease, the window was clean, inside and out, and so was the shelving in the window. The shop had lost its musty odour, which had been replaced with a strong, zingy lemon smell, thanks to the floor and wall cleaner Thea was using, and helped in no small part by having the latch windows wide open, letting in the strong autumn breeze.
The cold air coming through the open window hadn’t bothered Thea. She’d slipped on an old jumper of Mark’s she’d brought with her – stolen from the clean laundry – deciding she wasn’t going to use her nice clothes to clean in. She would put it straight in the wash when she’d finished.
She walked over to the back room to find that Callum had joined Toby on the sofa. Dickens had got his spot back, curled up contently on Toby’s lap. Winston was now sitting by Callum’s feet, his muzzle resting on Callum’s knee.
They were sitting together, examining a book. Which reminded Thea that she still hadn’t made time to hunt through the bookshelves in search of that rare book she imagined her sister had left in the bookshop – the one that she had agreed to sell to the stranger on the phone.
‘What have you got there?’ she asked, shifting her gaze to the book.
Callum covered the book with his hands. ‘Ah, we’re not quite done. Still some finishing touches to go.’
‘Oh.’ Thea couldn’t hide her disappointment. She rather fancied seeing how the bookbinding was coming along.
Toby said, ‘When it’s completely finished, then we’ll show you.’
‘All right.’
Toby added, ‘Are we going to lunch now?’
She smiled at her nephew. ‘Of course. Let’s go.’
Toby got up and took the book over to the desk. Thea made her way to the front door, taking her coat off the old-fashioned coat stand by the door. She stopped to put it on. Callum joined her by the door, and they both stood waiting for Toby.
‘Can you do me a favour after lunch?’ Thea asked. She heard Toby shut the desk drawer in the back room.
‘Yes, sure.’
‘I want to visit my sister in hospital this afternoon. Toby can’t come. She doesn’t know yet that Toby has been suspended from school. I know it’s a lot to ask, but would you mind hanging on here until I get back?’
‘Not at all. I’m not going anywhere.’ He smiled at her as he took Winston’s dog lead from the coat rack and clipped it onto his collar. Toby joined them by the front door, slipping on his jacket. They all stepped outside the shop, and Thea locked up. As Toby and Callum fell in step, Callum holding on to Winston’s lead as they crossed Cobblers Yard, Thea paused before she followed, glancing over at the charity shop.
Something the sisters had said when she was talking to them, or rather something they hadn’t said, kept playing on her mind.
When she’d walked in on them dancing around the shop together, the sisters had clearly been happy to see Callum – and the DVDs. However when she’d joined them for a cuppa after Callum had left, and had commented, ‘Isn’t Callum just amazing?’, she’d expected them to agree, or at least say something, but she’d caught the sisters exchange a glance before changing the subject. Her mind kept wandering back to that moment.What were they not telling her?
Chapter 48
Callum walked into the library, straight up to the librarian, who was sitting behind a desk. The young lady looked up and smiled. ‘Can I help you?’
He glanced at her name badge –Lexi. He noticed she had an American accent. ‘I want to find out some information about the local shops.’
‘Local shops in Aldeburgh?’
‘Yes. Do you have any old newspapers on file from, say, twenty-five years ago?’
