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‘No – absolutely not. You’re not cancelling a guest.’ They were not going to get a bad review for cancelling a guest at the last minute, and ruin their business, all because of him.
‘Then just stay here, parked up for as long as you like.’
Callum looked at the farmhouse and caught Beth starting out of the window at them. He didn’t think that was a good idea either. ‘What? And have little Fergus pestering you to let me take him out on a road trip,’ Callum joked. ‘Seriously, I’m fine. I’m going to drive into Aldeburgh and find a place to park up for the night.I want to check out the bookshop first thing in the morning.’
‘Are you sure?’
Callum flashed him a reassuring smile. ‘Absolutely.’ He turned to the van.
‘Wait. Let me go and tell Beth you’re leaving.’
Callum caught his arm. ‘No, it’s fine. Look, I’m sure I’ll see her. She takes her flowers to The Potting Shed in Cobblers Yard, right? She can pop into the bookshop and say hi.’ Callum doubted she would, but he didn’t tell Jack that.
‘Oh, yeah – good idea.’
‘Well, I’m off now.’ Callum was just turning to his van when Jack grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him a hug, patting him on the back. When he drew back, he said, ‘You’re going to be okay, aren’t you? I know what that show meant to you. On top of your dad, it must be like another loss.’
‘Actually, it’s not. I think I was kind of ready to move on. I just didn’t realise it at the time.’
‘You know, you could stay here on the Suffolk Coast. It’s a great place to live, and you’ve got a bookshop, although you haven’t exactly spelled out how you came to be in the possession of said bookshop …’ He trailed off, the look on his face hopeful that Callum would enlighten him.
Callum looked at his watch. ‘Another time.’
When Callum wasn’t forthcoming, Jack said, ‘I remember you used to do bookbinding with your dad. Whoever left you the place, I think it’s kind of serendipity that you inherited it, isn’t it?’
Not really, thought Callum.
Beth came running out of the farmhouse, surprising Callum. ‘You didn’t think you were leaving without saying goodbye!’
Jack said, ‘He might not be leaving for good. I’m trying to persuade him to keep his bookshop. Wouldn’t that be great if he was just down the road?’
Beth shook her head. ‘No.’
Jack looked at her in surprise. ‘But you always say how lucky we are to live in this part of the world.’
Callum gave her a sideways glance.
‘What I meant,’ said Beth, ‘was that it’s going to be quite a change from Hollywood. It might not suit him.’
‘But it would suit us. It would be good for little Fergus. You saw how he took to Callum. He’s not normally like that. It’s great. My brother and sister are all the way up in Scotland, and you haven’t got siblings, so it would be wonderful to have more family around.’
‘But he’s not family.’
Jack stared at her. ‘That’s a funny thing to say – he’s our best friend. He’s as good as family.’
Callum butted in, remembering he was on a mission to sell the bookshop. All this talk of him staying in Suffolk permanently to run a bookshop was not his agenda. ‘Beth is right: it’s quite a change from LA.’ He ignored her comment about not being family – it was true, he wasn’t.
Jack turned to him. ‘But you said yourself you’re ready to move on. I think the bookshop would be the perfect opportunity to do just that.’
Callum didn’t comment. He could tell Jack wanted him to stay. Beth didn’t feel the same way – that much was obvious.
‘Well, I’d better head off before your guests arrive.’
As if on cue, Callum heard a car coming up the drive. He checked the coast was clear, glancing in the driver’s side window for the cat. Callum didn’t fancy being attacked again by Dickens. The cat was nowhere to be seen. Callum didn’t feel particularly reassured by the fact that he couldn’t see the cat. What if Dickens jumped out at him while he was driving?
I really need a cat carrier, thought Callum as he opened the door and climbed into the van. He was just switching on the engine and waving goodbye when Beth shouted out, ‘Stop!’
Callum wound his window down. ‘What is it?’
