Chapter 22
Bea arrived at the Apple Tree on Monday evening, ready for the book speed-dating night. She’d posted it on her socials and was relieved to have eighteen tickets sold at five pounds each, which included a drink and a free bookmark.
‘Bea!’ said Beth, greeting her from behind the bar. ‘I’ve reserved the back bar for you, so feel free to arrange the tables however you’d like.’
‘Great, thank you,’ said Bea, ‘I’ll go and set up now, if that’s okay?’
‘Of course,’ Beth replied. ‘Do you know how many are coming?’
‘Eighteen, I hope. At least, that’s how many tickets I’ve sold,’ Bea explained. ‘Archie’s bringing a few mates along, Jess and Maggie are coming, but I’m not sure who else,’ she continued.
‘Brilliant! Do you fancy a drink?’ Beth asked.
‘Oooh, yes, please.’
Bea made her way to the back of the pub, rum and coke in hand, and began shifting the furniture around so her guests would be sat in pairs.
She laid out some flyers for the book wagon, listing her upcoming events, and just as she was putting a couple of cute bookmarks on each table, her first guests arrived.
Archie had been true to his word and brought Seb, Josh and Freddie along. Jess was there with Maggie, Tori and Joyce. Bea didn’t know the other ten ticket holders, but they seemed lovely, so she really hoped everyone would get on and have a good time.
As everyone took a seat, Bea took a deep breath.
‘Hello, all!’ she said, brightly. ‘Thanks for coming to Bea’s Book Wagon’s first book speed-dating night!’
‘Hang on?’ called Freddie. ‘Book speed-dating?’
‘That’s right,’ Bea nodded.
‘Archie said it was speed-dating! He never mentioned anything about the book part,’ Josh agreed.
‘Didn’t he? Oh dear, sorry about that,’ said Bea, throwing Archie a thunderous glare.
‘You don’t think I would have got them here if they thought they were only coming to meet their perfect book, do you?’ Archie chuckled, jerking a thumb towards his mates.
‘Well, whatever brought you here, thank you for coming!’ Bea continued.
‘Let me explain how this works. I’ll be pairing you up and you’ll have three minutes to persuade your partner to read your favourite book.
Explain to them what you loved about it, why it captured your heart and how it made you feel.
I’m sure we’ll all be adding some exciting new reads to our Tbr lists by the end of the evening. ’
‘Our TB-what?’ said Josh, looking confused.
‘It stands for To Be Read,’ whispered the gorgeous woman next to him. ‘It’s book code, don’t worry, I’ll help you,’ she said, flashing him a smile.
Bea noticed Josh shift a little closer to the woman, grinning, all previous doubts about book speed-dating clearly forgotten.
‘I’ll go first, to help everyone get the idea,’ suggested Bea.
‘Yes, please,’ said Tori.
‘So, the book I’m recommending is Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights.
As love stories go, it’s definitely not your standard romance,’ Bea paused.
‘It’s wild and dark, brooding and cruel, but unbelievably poetic and romantic at the same time.
The characters are complex and the author draws you in from the very first page.
There’s love, passion, betrayal and revenge, as well as supernatural elements.
And, if that isn’t enough, it’s set on the Yorkshire Moors.
If you love your romance on the darker side, with a fiery, brooding hero, who has some despicable qualities, then this is for you!
So, the question is, will you swipe left or right? ’
‘Right, definitely right’ called Joyce.
‘Me too!’ said Maggie. ‘I love an antihero.’
‘Heathcliff’s definitely that,’ agreed Bea.
‘How do you even know about swiping right, Mum?’ asked Jess, suspiciously.
‘You’re not both secretly on Tinder, are you?’ added Tori.
‘We’re just up to speed on modern dating, aren’t we, Mags?’ said Joyce, with a cheeky wink.
‘Well, I have Wuthering Heights in stock in the wagon, so if anyone fancies a trip to the wild Yorkshire Moors to meet Cathy and Heathcliff, let me know,’ said Bea. Several hands shot into the air. ‘Great, I’ll put them aside for you.’
‘Thanks, love,’ said Joyce.
‘So, now you know how it’s done, I’ll let you all figure out your starting pairs,’ said Bea.
She saw Josh suggest to the woman next to him that they should pair up first.
‘When your three minutes are up, I’ll ring the bell,’ she explained, playing the app on her phone, which was surprisingly realistic, ‘and then you’ll all move around clockwise. Any questions?’ There was a collective shaking of heads. ‘Right then. Three, two, one… go!’
The room was immediately buzzing with conversation, and Bea caught snippets as she wandered round.
Archie was explaining the merits of Stephen King to Jess, who was having none of it.
She was a laugh-out-loud romcom kind of girl, but she’d have an equally tough job trying to convince Archie to try a Marian Keyes.
Bea took the time to make sure everyone was having fun, popping to the bar to fetch drinks and helping out when people forgot author names or titles.
When she finally called time on the last three-minute session, everyone started to clap saying how much fun they’d had and asking if they could sign up for the next one.
‘I’ll check with Beth, but I’m hoping it can be a regular thing. Maybe on the first Monday of every month?’ said Bea.
‘Great, thanks. I’m Claire, by the way,’ the brunette Josh had been talking to said. ‘I run Snippers, the salon on the green.’
‘Oh, I thought I’d seen you before, I just wasn’t quite sure where,’ said Bea. ‘Lovely to meet you, and thanks again for coming.’
‘I’ve really enjoyed it,’ said Claire, ‘I’ll definitely be back for the next one.’
‘That’s great!’ said Bea, beaming at her. ‘I’ll see you soon, then, and don’t forget, if you want to buy any of the books you’ve been recommended, just let me know. If I don’t have them in stock, I can order them for you.’
‘Actually, Josh and I are going to stick around for a drink,’ said Claire, sheepishly. ‘It turns out we’re both big sci-fi geeks!’
‘Ah, amazing! Josh is lovely,’ said Bea, marvelling at the power of books bringing people together.
‘I’m off now,’ said Archie, ‘I’m just going to walk Jess and Mags home first.’
‘Okay,’ Bea nodded, ‘I want to talk to Beth first, see you later,’ said Bea.
‘All done, love?’ Beth asked as Bea approached the bar.
‘Yep, I’m just going to put the tables back—’
‘Oh, don’t worry about that, I’ll get Pete to do it in the morning,’ said Beth. ‘How did it go?’
‘Really well,’ said Bea, smiling. ‘I was hoping I could make it a regular event, if you’re happy to let me host it here?’
‘More than happy,’ said Pete, appearing from the kitchen. ‘We’ve doubled our takings for a normal Monday night, thanks to you.’
‘Oh, that’s great! Would the first Monday of every month be okay?’ Bea suggested.
‘Absolutely! I’ll put it on our events page on the website, with a link to your Instagram account so people can contact you to book tickets,’ said Beth.
‘Brilliant, thanks, Beth,’ said Bea, saying her goodbyes.
As she pulled on her jacket and started the short walk home, adrenaline was pumping through her veins.
The event had been a success, with orders for all of the books recommended.
It wouldn’t earn her a fortune, but it was another income for the business and would definitely help keep her finances afloat.