Chapter 15
Bea was wide awake well before her alarm went off the next morning, after a night spent tossing and turning, sleep evading her. But, no matter how tired she was, she couldn’t contain her excitement at the thought of opening the doors of Bea’s Book Wagon to customers for the first time.
‘Archie? What are you doing up so early?’ she said, as she padded downstairs to the kitchen.
‘It’s a big day, Sis. I thought you could do with a proper breakfast,’ he replied, sliding some perfectly crispy bacon from the frying pan onto a stack of homemade pancakes.
‘This looks delicious,’ said Bea, her mouth watering.
‘Turns out I’m actually quite good at this cooking lark, who knew?’
‘Not me,’ Bea laughed, taking a swig of orange juice and stuffing a rasher of bacon in her mouth. ‘Mmmmmm, this is so good!’
‘Well, don’t go get getting any ideas, this is a one off, to celebrate your big day.’
‘Thanks, Arch, I really appreciate it.’
‘How are you feeling?’
‘Like there’s a bag of snakes wriggling around in my stomach,’ said Bea. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever felt this nervous before.’
‘Well, it’s certainly not affecting your appetite,’ said Archie, pointing towards her now half-empty plate.
‘I’m stress-eating.’
‘Today’s going to be great. It’s going to be sunny all day, so it should be really busy, and I’ll be there to help out, so will Jess.’
‘Thanks, Arch. Mum and Dad are bringing Wordsworth, and Matt said he’ll be there too. He’s been great, actually, telling everyone who comes into the library about it. He even put some flyers up for me.’
‘Great. And Nate? He’s coming, right?’
‘Yep, he’s got to work first, but he’ll be there at some point. Lochlan’s coming as well.’
‘Cool, he seems like a nice guy.’
‘Yeah, he is,’ Bea said with a nod. ‘Right, I’d better get ready, thanks for breakfast.’
‘No problem. Do you need a hand getting the wagon hitched?’
‘Nope, I’m good, I did it last night. Thanks for letting me leave it on the driveway, Arch. It’s so much easier than going back and forth to the farm all the time. Now all the work’s been done, there’s no reason to keep it there, really.’
‘I guess not.’
‘Are you okay to tidy up?’ asked Bea, turning to leave. ‘I’ve got a grand opening to get ready for.’
Bea made the short drive to the village green alone.
Archie had offered to ride along with her, but she wanted some time by herself to get her head straight.
It was her opening day, and she was determined to make the business a success.
When she arrived at the village green, she could see that lots of stallholders were already setting up.
She glanced at her watch. She was right on time – why were so many people early? She’d hoped to have plenty of room to reverse the wagon into place, but she could see that, wherever she was told to park, it was going to be a tight squeeze.
She followed the signs marked ‘Exhibitors’ and was met by a stern-looking woman in a tweed suit, wearing a fluorescent tabard.
‘Name?’ the woman barked.
‘Oh, hi, I’m Bea Miller. Bea’s Book Wagon,’ said Bea, lowering the car window.
‘Let me see,’ said the woman, scanning the clipboard in her hands. ‘Ah, yes. You’re next to Tony’s Tex Mex, over there on the right,’ she said, pointing in the distance towards where a scruffy silver trailer was parked.
‘Ah, yes. Got it,’ said Bea.
‘You need to turn left and follow the arrows,’ said the woman, jerking her thumb furiously.
‘Left? But I’ll never be able to reverse in from that angle,’ said Bea, panic rising in her chest. ‘If I go right I can just back straight in.’
‘That’s impossible,’ said the woman, haughtily. ‘Health and safety – vehicles can only flow from one direction.’
‘But I can’t make that turn,’ said Bea, ‘look at what I’m towing!’
‘Like I said, traffic must flow from one direction only, there’s nothing I can do about it, it’s all in the risk assessment,’ the woman said, puffing out her chest.
‘For God’s sake,’ Bea huffed, closing her window. If there was one thing she hated more than petty rules, it was the petty bureaucrats who enforced them.
As Bea circled around the green, which was far bumpier than she’d anticipated, she took some deep, calming breaths. It was going to be fine. Okay, it might be harder to reverse into her pitch from this angle, but she could totally deal with it, and she needed all the practice she could get.
At least that’s what she thought. But after several attempts, Bea’s arms were aching from heaving the steering wheel round, and sweat was starting to pour down her forehead.
‘You want to get more swing on it, love,’ the man at the next pitch – who she assumed was Tex Mex Tony – yelled.
‘You don’t say,’ Bea muttered under her breath, while throwing him a half-hearted wave of thanks. If he thought it was so easy, he was welcome to give it a try himself.
‘Turn your wheel hard-right,’ another vendor piped up.
‘You’re never going to make it from that angle,’ someone else shouted, helpfully.
Bea wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. Having an audience was doing nothing for her confidence.
‘Watch out, watch out!’ yelled a woman, as a stocky yellow Labrador ran behind the trailer.
‘Sorry,’ Bea shouted. ‘Maybe keep your dog on a lead when you see someone reversing,’ she cursed under her breath.
‘Bea?’ said a strikingly good-looking man with dark, curly hair who was striding towards her. ‘Tori sent me, she thought you could do with a hand.’
‘No, I’ve got this, but thanks,’ said Bea, determined not to give up. If she was going to be taking the wagon all over Sussex, she absolutely had to master parking it.
‘Let me help?’ he repeated.
‘Okay, that would be great, thank you,’ said Bea, gratefully. ‘You must be Leo? Tori’s boyfriend?’
‘That’s right,’ he said, beaming at her. Bea had heard all about him from Jess, but this was the first time they’d met.
‘Okay, straighten up and when I give you the signal, turn the steering wheel to the right as hard as you can,’ he said.
‘Got it,’ she said, lining the wagon up for another attempt. As she kicked into reverse, Leo waved, and she turned the wheel full-lock to the right.
‘That’s it,’ he shouted. ‘Now just keep coming back,’ he said, arms aloft. ‘A little bit more, you’ve got loads of room. That’s it, you’re in!’
‘Thank God!’ said Bea, feeling triumphant, as she checked her mirrors and hopped out of the car. ‘Thanks, Leo. I was getting in a right mess.’
‘No worries. Are you okay unhitching?’
‘Absolutely. It would have been easier coming in the other way, but the woman with the clipboard wouldn’t let me. Apparently I’d be “breaking health and safety rules”,’ she scowled, putting air quotes around the words.
‘Ah, that’ll be Violet Davenport. She’s a bit of a busybody.’
‘You don’t say?’ Bea laughed. ‘Thanks for the help, though.’
‘Anytime. Tori said she’ll be over soon. She’s dying to see your book wagon. It looks ace by the way.’
‘Thanks, Leo.’
Bea unhitched the wagon from the car and, when she went inside, she was pleased to see that all the books had remained on their shelves.
She unpacked the crate with the lamps, plants and other knick-knacks she’d accumulated, and added the finishing touches, ready to open.
As she switched on the fairy lights, she heard footsteps coming up the ramp behind her.
‘Wow, Bea, this is awesome!’ said Tori, looking around. ‘I never expected it to be so…’
‘Jaw-droppingly gorgeous?’
‘Well, exactly,’ Tori laughed. ‘I can’t believe it used to be a horsebox. Honestly, you’d never know, it feels like a real bookshop.’
‘Really? You think so?’
‘Yes! Smaller, obviously, but it’s a bit of a Tardis, isn’t it? There’s way more space than you’d think. Oh, is that a reading nook? Cute!’ said Tori, pointing towards the beanbag.
‘Yes, there’s only enough room for a few kids really, but I’ve got some deckchairs to put outside for grown-ups.’
‘What a great idea! Ooooh, I love these bookmarks,’ said Tori, picking up one decorated with cats. ‘Obviously, I’m buying this immediately.’
‘Thanks! That makes you my first customer!’
‘I’m honoured!’
‘It’ll give me a chance to try out the card machine, too,’ said Bea, grabbing it from the box. ‘Okay, so that’s ￡2.99,’ she said, inputting the amount. Tori tapped her card and the transaction was complete.
‘Listen, I’m going to have to run, I’ve left Mum and Leo to set up our stall, but I’ll be back later for a proper browse. If you run into any bother, just give me a shout. We’re at the other end of the field, next to the WI stall.’
‘Great, thanks. Jess and Archie should be here in a bit, but I’m sure I’ll be fine.’
‘Good luck!’
‘See you.’
As Bea headed outside with a deckchair under each arm, it looked as though all the other stallholders were in position. There wasn’t a vacant pitch to be seen anywhere on the green.
‘Bea!’ cried Jess, jogging towards her.
‘Ah, I’m so glad to see you,’ said Bea, pulling her friend into a tight hug.
‘The wagon looks great! You’ve got a fab spot here, too. Tony’s always has a massive queue, so that’ll draw people in. What can I help with?’
‘I think I’m all set,’ said Bea, pushing her sunglasses up her nose.
‘I’ll grab us a coffee from Tori then. Flat white?’
‘Amazing, thank you!’
‘What time’s Lochlan getting here?’
‘Erm… I’m not actually sure. He didn’t say.’
‘But he’s definitely coming?’
‘Yeah, I mean, he said he is.’
‘Cool. Hang on, here’s Archie. Coffee?’ Jess shouted as Archie strolled towards them.
‘Please. Cappuccino,’ he replied. ‘All right, Sis. Any customers yet?’
‘Yeah, Tori bought a bookmark,’ said Bea.
‘Bless her. And the fête’s not even open yet,’ said Archie. ‘What can I do?’
‘Well, nothing actually, everything’s ready. We might as well sit down,’ said Bea, lowering herself into one of the deckchairs.
‘How are the nerves?’
‘Better now I’m here,’ said Bea.
‘Listen, before it gets busy, I just wanted to say…’
‘Yes?’
‘Well, I’m proud of you, Bea,’ he blurted out. ‘What you’ve done takes guts; quitting your job like that, taking a risk. Not everyone has it in them.’
‘Wow, thanks,’ Bea gulped. It wasn’t like Archie to be so sentimental, and it meant a lot. ‘You’ve been great, too, letting me move in, lowering the rent for me a bit, not freaking out—’
‘In fairness, I did freak out a bit,’ he cut in.
‘A bit is totally allowed,’ Bea laughed. ‘What I mean is, you’ve really helped me out, Arch, and that means a lot. I might not always say it, but I’m lucky to have such a great brother.’
‘Steady on, Bea. You’ll have me reaching for the tissues in a minute.’
‘If anyone’s going to be crying today, it’ll be me,’ said Bea.
‘Honestly, I leave you two alone for five minutes and you get all emosh! Here, get these down you,’ said Jess, handing them both a cup. ‘To Bea’s Book Wagon!’ she announced, raising her coffee aloft.
‘Oh my god!’ said Bea. ‘Look! They’re letting people in, this is it!’