56
Aurelia didn’t spend time with the characters that night.
Instead, she and Oliver had a leisurely night at home, enjoying having the place to themselves once more.
He asked if she wanted to see the characters that night, but she insisted—truthfully—that she’d be happy for a break.
They went into the shop just before midnight and waited on the mezzanine until after the clock struck the hour, then filed back up the stairs to bed.
Although she missed Julia’s presence in the shop the next day, Aurelia did appreciate having the time—and quiet—to focus on finishing the last revisions to her book.
She saw a few of her regular customers, including Mark, whose visits seemed to coincide with moments in the day when she was ready to take a break from writing.
She was starting to feel as though she were under some sort of spell—a perfect evening with Oliver the night before and now a perfect day of writing and running the shop.
Oliver wasn’t due home until just after seven, so after closing the shop for the day at five o’clock, she decided she might as well reach out to Jack to return the camera they’d borrowed and say hello.
Jack suggested they meet for a drink near his flat, which led to a plan to have Oliver meet them at the same spot for dinner once he’d finished his day.
Walking to the pub to meet Jack, Aurelia felt a lightness she hadn’t experienced in some time: she was back in a rhythm with her writing, and her book was nearly finished; she and Oliver were back in sync; and their wedding was just days away.
Once she and Jack had their drinks and found a table outside, his face took on a very serious look.
“I’m so happy you and Oliver are on the same page again. I know things were… rough for a day or two.”
“I’m sorry we pulled you into it for a bit,” Aurelia said, frowning a little at the memory of dripping on his doorstep when she’d come to collect Oliver. “But I’m happy we’re on the same page again, too.”
She asked Jack for an update on the play his theater would be putting on the following month and sat back as he regaled her with stories about costumes, sets, and the backstage drama of the production.
Oliver arrived just as Aurelia and Jack had finished their drinks, so Jack got up to fetch them all a new round. Oliver sat next to Aurelia, kissed her, and gave a sigh of relief that she knew signaled his pleasure at wrapping up a day of work.
“Hey,” he said, taking her hand in his. “I’ve had an idea.”
“Elopement? Too late now,” she said with a sly smile.
He snapped his fingers and shook his head as though disappointed at the news, then laughed before leaning in and lowering his voice.
“I think I want to tell Jack about the shop—about the characters. Somehow, I think he might actually handle the news pretty well.”
Aurelia bit her lip, trying to hold back a gleeful smile. Oliver and Jack hadn’t been close for years, not until they’d found some common ground the year before. She loved that Oliver could have chosen to share the shop’s secret with anyone, and he’d chosen his brother.
“I think so, too,” she said, letting that smile loose. “You should tell him.”
Jack arrived back at their table with three pints clutched in his hands.
“Me? Tell me what?” he asked as he carefully set the glasses on the table.
Aurelia looked at Oliver and lifted a shoulder, as though to open the floor to him if he wanted it.
“Now?” Oliver asked quietly.
“If you’d like.”
Aurelia and Oliver exchanged a long glance as Jack sat down and looked expectantly between them.
“Where should I start?” Oliver wondered.
It was a good thing they’d planned to have dinner since Jack, understandably, had dozens of questions about Aurelia’s unique ability to see and talk to characters in the shop.
Aurelia let Oliver take the lead, jumping in as needed but wanting him to share with Jack whichever details he chose.
Since Oliver wasn’t one for practical jokes, it didn’t take Jack long to believe him.
He asked if he could, as Oliver and Antonia had done, listen in at the door from the flat to the shop one evening, and Aurelia promised he could give it a try just as soon as they returned from their honeymoon.
As she and Oliver walked back to the shop, Aurelia noted with satisfaction that the lightness she’d been feeling of late was just as noticeable in her soon-to-be-husband.