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‘Yes. Um, have a seat, then.’
Only when I sit down do I realise why Cole is so flustered. He doesn’t like anything unexpected. Someone turning up on his doorstep without an invitation will have pushed him out of his comfort zone. Even if it’s me.
‘Sorry to turn up like this,’ I say. ‘I just wanted to share some news with you.’
He frowns. ‘Oh? That sounds intriguing. Nothing to worry about, I hope?’
‘You know the last few months have been a difficult time for me. With Max and I separating. And his attack. All of that. Well, I’ve done a lot of thinking and I’ve made some huge, life-changing decisions.’
He leans forward. ‘Okay. I’m listening.’
‘I love Whispering Pages. You know I do. It’s been in my life for years.’
‘I know. That place has a lot of history.’ He frowns. ‘But where are you going with this?’
It takes me a moment to say the words. Until now, they’ve only been thoughts in my head. Something close by, but not quite here yet. ‘I’m selling up.’
Cole’s jaw drops, and he leans back, letting out a huge sigh.
‘But I want to offer you first refusal. You’re as much a part of that place as Mum and I are. It feels right that it should be yours.’
Cole stares at me for a moment. ‘This is a bit of a shock,’ he says. ‘I…I don’t know what to say.’
‘I know you’re working on your novel, and you didn’t want to take on the responsibility when Mum was selling, but that was a few years ago now. I thought maybe you might feel differently now?’
He leans forward, smoothing his trousers. ‘That’s nice of you to think of me. I…um…It’s a huge decision to make. You don’t need an answer right now, do you?’
‘No, of course not. I just wanted to let you know the decision I’ve made.’And to cement it in my mind before I can talk myself out of it.‘Take some time to think about it all.’
Cole huffs. ‘Are you sure about this? You love that place. Won’t it feel weird giving it up?’
‘It hasn’t been an easy decision, but I’ve thought about it for a couple of months now. And it’s the right thing to do. For both me and Poppy.’
He nods. ‘I understand. Your separation from Max must be hard. But what will you do?’
‘Move away from London. I don’t know where yet. Brighton appeals to me. And Poppy likes it there too. It will be her choice as well.’
Cole frowns. ‘But your whole life is here. Everything. People who care about you. What about Sarah?’
‘Let’s just say I don’t think our friendship will ever be the same. Sometimes there are things we can’t forgive.’
He searches my face. ‘You probably don’t want to talk about it. But whatever’s happened, I did always think to myself that she’s not a good person.’ He holds up his hands. ‘Sorry.’
‘Sometimes good people make mistakes.’ I turn away, otherwise I won’t be able to stop a flood of tears erupting.
Thankfully, Cole changes the subject. ‘I suppose Brighton is close enough that Max can still see Poppy regularly. Well, it looks like I’ve got some thinking to do, haven’t I?’
‘Yep.’
‘What if…?Oh, never mind.’
‘No, go on. What were you about to ask?’
He takes a moment to answer. ‘Okay. What if we ran the bookshop together? Partners. You’d get more time to do other things. It would be perfect. We already know we can work together, don’t we?’
‘That’s true, but the whole point is I need to get away. There are too many memories here. Too much has happened.’More than Cole knows.‘I just can’t stay here.’
‘You’re right. Then how about I come with you? We can set up Whispering Pages somewhere else. I can help look after Poppy too. It’s not easy being a single mum.’ He smiles. ‘Let me help you, Hannah.’
