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After Joy had signed them both up for loyalty cards, they went to the door and Erin paused to admire the tree. The bookshop was a warm, cosy haven and she could easily have taken a seat on one of the leather sofas in the shop and spent the morning reading.
‘It’s lovely in here,’ Zara said.
‘Perfect.’ Erin nodded. ‘Lucky Mum and Dad living so close to such a lovely independent bookshop.’
‘You could too if you moved here.’
‘Move here?’ Erin frowned. ‘I have a home in Bath.’
‘Not a real home though, is it? A house share with some people you don’t even really like that much is not a home.’
‘You make my life sound so depressing.’ Erin sighed as she opened the door and let Zara go out before her.
‘Not depressing,’ Zara said. ‘Just perhaps not what you wanted.’ Zara rubbed Erin’s arm and offered a smile. ‘Come on let’s see what else this village has to offer.’
They wandered along the street, looking in shop windows and Erin tried to push Zara’s comment away. It was true, she knew, that she lived with people she didn’t really get on with. They weren’t bad people just not friends and not even people she had anything in common with. She’d thought that by the time she reached her late twenties she’d have her life organised, that she’d at least have a place of her own and possibly a partner. Well, she’d had a partner but that all went wrong. She’d been saving her salary in Dubai to put down a deposit on a house when she returned to the UK, thinking that it would be with Billy. She still had that money saved, put away for a rainy day, but hadn’t felt like buying a place because she didn’t really know where she wanted to settle or if she actually wanted to settle anywhere. Adulting was hard and it seemed to happen so quickly. There wasn’t much of a bridge between being a teenager and being almost thirty. Her twenties had flown past in a blur of finishing university, studying for a teaching certificate and then jetting off to Dubai for what was meant to be an amazing few years of living the dream. It had seemed that way for while, but then Billy had gone and ruined it all and her dreams had been destroyed, her sense of self-worth too. Surely if she’d been worth something then her partner would not have cheated and treated her like dirt in the process. Bloody Billy and his wandering eye.
‘Hey!’ Zara clicked her fingers in front of Erin’s face. ‘Snap out of it.’
‘What?’
‘Oh come on, Erin, I can see you drifting off and letting that jerk into your thoughts. He doesn’t deserve to have any of your time or head space at all. Come on, now, forget about him. Look at this beautiful little boutique.’
In front of them was a small shop with a sign hanging to one side featuring a bright blue dragonfly. ‘Dragonfly Dreams,’ Erin read. ‘How pretty.’
‘Exactly. Now come and have some more retail therapy.’
Erin let her sister lead her inside the shop. The first thing to greet them was Christmas music, an old favourite from Wham and goosebumps rose on Erin’s arms. She loved this song so much because it brought back lovely childhood memories of Christmas with her family and of school discos where she’d danced all night and even had her first kiss.
The walls of the shop were dark blue contrasting with the gold of the cornicing and woodwork. There were lanterns hanging from hooks on the walls and fairy lights strung around the shop twinkling like tiny gold stars. The lights brightened the shop against the December day outside. There was a pleasant aroma in the shop too, like spice and some sort of lemony polish. And in the far corner stood a real Christmas tree decked with colourful lights and silver and gold baubles, as well as a few small glittery snowmen and women. At the top of the tree was a vintage angel wearing a white satin gown and with a golden halo above her head.
‘Wow!’ Zara said. ‘It’s all vintage.’
Erin bobbed her head in agreement and they wandered around, admiring the clothes. There were dresses hanging on the circular rails at the centre of the shop floor and the dresses were all one of a kind by the look of it. There were sequinned evening dresses, jumper dresses made of the softest cashmere wool and then tunic dresses made from leather and suede. Then there were rows of trousers, some were flares and some were embroidered with flowers and birds, some had sequins along the hems. ‘It looks like Abba probably shop here,’ Erin said, winking at her sister.
‘I should say so.’ Zara picked up a brown leather mini skirt and held it against herself. ‘What do you think?’
‘That’s lovely.’ Erin touched the skirt and it felt warm and smooth. ‘Not much give in it though if you eat a big meal.’
Zara sniggered. ‘It has a stretchy panel at the back, look.’
‘Oh yeah.’ Erin nodded. ‘Get it.’
Zara looked at the skirt for a while. ‘I’ll try it on and see how it fits first.’
‘Good morning.’ They both turned at the sound of a voice. Behind the counter was a woman holding a mug. ‘Apologies for being out the back then but I needed a coffee.’ The woman stifled a yawn.
‘Morning,’ Erin and Zara said.
‘Do you need any help with anything?’ the woman asked. ‘I’m Darcie, by the way. This is my shop so if you have any questions, I should be able to answer them. Also, if there’s anything you wanted in particular, and I don’t have it in, I might be able to source it for you.’
‘Brilliant, thank you.’ Erin smiled at the woman.
‘I’ll be right here drinking my coffee and going through some new stock if you need me,’ Darcie said. ‘Oh… where are my manners? Would either of you like a drink? It’s cold out today, right? Looks like we could have some snow later.’
‘I’m fine, thanks,’ Erin said, and Zara shook her head.
‘No problem at all.’ Darcie sipped her coffee then lifted a box onto the counter and started looking through it.
