AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She glanced around the bookshop. They’d made good headway today. She’d never seen Toby work so hard. The shop was now spotless. It helped massively that Callum had come in on Sunday on his own to work in the bookshop, taking more books off the shelves in readiness for today, when they’d finished cleaning and dusting before putting them back.
Thea could have sworn she’d locked up the shop. She had told Callum as much when she’d found out he’d been working in the shop over the weekend when she wasn’t there. He’d said he had just turned up on the off-chance she was there, and had found the bookshop open. She liked that he obviously wanted to see her, but it was still bothering her, the thought that she hadn’t locked the shop. Although being around Callum, her gorgeous helper, perhaps she wasn’t surprised if her mind had been elsewhere, and she wasn’t quite with it.
Thea leaned against a bookshelf watching Toby and Callum, who were still hard at work putting the books back on the shelves. ‘I think we deserve a break, and a nice cup of tea before Toby and I leave to collect Katie.’ It meant they’d all have to call it a day. Thea was going to make sure she locked up this time.
Callum said, ‘Great, I’m parched.’
Toby joined in. ‘Me too. Can I have a juice, please?’
Thea smiled at her nephew. ‘Of course.’ Her gaze shifted to the shelves they were restocking with the piles of books on the floor.
There was still no order to the shelving system; it was a mess, and try as she might, Thea just couldn’t get a handle on it.
She turned around and glanced at the non-existent window display. Thea had removed all the old bestsellers from yesteryear to clean the window, and saw no point putting them back. She still hadn’t figured out what would go in their place. What she needed was to find out where she could buy the latest bestsellers to display in the window.
Thea sighed. There was one thing cleaning the bookshop, but she had no idea what else to stock, and how to get the place up and running. She stared out of the window. She had a feeling that Cobblers Yard was a lovely, friendly place, but it was hidden down an alley off the main high street. In terms of running a business, and passing trade, how would that really work?
It made her wonder how her dad had earned his money, and supported a family, from this shop. She remembered that he used to travel a lot in his campervan. She recalled he visited book fairs. She was sure that was how he’d connected with publishers and probably bought the latest bestsellers to display in the window.
However, looking around the bookshop, that was not the main thrust of the business. He dealt in old and rare books. She was sure he sold them to collectors. Her mum had mentioned that once, when she’d asked why he had been away so much, on the road in his van. Despite going through piles of books, Thea was no closer to finding the book her sister was selling. She still hadn’t got around to asking her about it.
When she had visited Jenna on Friday, the last thing on her sister’s mind had been work. Her sister was still all over the place about the baby. Mark being away wasn’t helping. Thea had asked her whether he knew about the baby. Jenna had looked at her, stunned, saying, ‘Of course he knows – why wouldn’t he?’
Because you were having late-night, clandestine meetings with a man at the bookshop before you fell over the dog and broke your leg. Of course, Thea didn’t say that. How could she? But she did ask when her sister would be discharged from the hospital. She was looking forward to showing her what they’d done with the bookshop. Unfortunately, there was still no definitive date when she would be going home.
Thea walked into the back room to put the kettle on. While she was waiting, she poured Toby a glass of orange juice.
During the course of the past week, Toby had started to ask questions about his grandpa – things he couldn’t ask his mum because she didn’t want to talk about it.
Thea didn’t particularly want to talk about him either. There wasn’t really much to tell – or so she’d thought, until she’d stepped inside the bookshop and the memories of her childhood there had come flooding back. Perhaps it was the same for Jenna; maybe once she’d found the key, she hadn’t been able to resist revisiting the place.
She didn’t know what had happened to her father. Her older sister told her the most logical explanation – he left us for someone else. That was what she had chosen to believe.
Their mum believed he’d been involved in some sort of accident. She never said the d-word – that he must be dead – she had obviously never believed that it was true, saying she’d have felt it in her heart if he was gone. That was the power of love, she believed; it would be like a stab to the heart. That was why she’d never declared him legally dead, even after all these years, and had obviously kept the bookshop, like a time warp, in readiness for his return.
But what did Thea believe?If he had been in an accident, and wasn’t dead, why hadn’t he come back? She’d never said that to her mum. She didn’t want to destroy the hope her mum had, even though, as the years sped by, and their past life as a family with their dad became but a distant memory, it became clear that they’d never see him again.
Thea turned her thoughts to the shop. She walked over to the doorway and leaned against the doorframe. She was imagining a grand opening, with bunting hanging from the window and a large gathering of excited people outside, eagerly awaiting the reopening – a real buzz.
She looked through the shop, out of the window to the empty yard outside, and sighed. So much for her grand opening. She could see that what she imagined just wasn’t going to materialise.
Mabel said, ‘Do you want me to make the tea?’
Thea shook her head. I’m just waiting for the kettle to boil.’ She smiled at Mabel, who had shifted from a chair to the sofa. Mabel had put the lamp on and brought some cushions from the charity shop, and there was even a coffee table that Callum had carried over from the charity shop, along with a rug. Thea had insisted on paying for the items even though Mabel said she was gifting them to the bookshop.
At least the place was a lot more presentable, and you could actually see through the shop window to the beautiful flowers on display in a large vase.
Thea smiled. She’d met another neighbour in Cobblers Yard today. The young lady in The Potting Shed had popped her head in and had said she’d seen people in and out of the bookshop, and couldn’t resist calling in and introducing herself. She apologised for being awfully nosy, finding out what was going on.
Thea noticed that Callum had disappeared into the back room. She guessed why; her famous helper didn’t want to be recognised.
The lady’s name was Lili, and she’d brought the beautiful flowers with her as a gift for the new owner. Lili had been intrigued to discover people in the bookshop. She’d told Thea that it had always been an added mystery for her and her friend, Abigail, who had invited everyone in Cobblers Yard to her wedding. Abigail had popped an invitation through the letterbox of the bookshop not expecting a reply. To everyone’s surprise, she had received a RSVP. It was just signed, ‘A.’
Thea had smiled. Her mum’s name was Annie, and she must have checked on the bookshop when she brought the boxes to Jenna’s before she moved abroad. She’d sent the RSVP back because that’s just the sort of thing her mum would do. It explained why the bookshop wasn’t full of circulars and old letters when Thea had walked through the door. Her mum must have checked in on the bookshop, over the years, to see if there was any evidence that he’d returned.
Thea heard the kettle boil and went to make Mabel another cup of tea in her china mug. Dickens jumped on the table and meowed at her. ‘What? Do you want a drink too? I don’t think you deserve one. I haven’t seen you hard at work – unless you call testing out the sofa all day work?’
She, Toby and Callum had had a bit of a job shifting the heavy old sofa into the front of the shop. Dickens had stayed put while they shifted it, which had amused everybody – apart from Callum, who’d tried to shift him and had got another battle wound, as he called them.
