9. Chapter 9
Pushing himself up off the counter – where he’d spent the last ten minutes with his head in his hands - Oli scrubbed at his face and stared around the shop.
How had that just gone so spectacularly wrong?
He’d always known that inviting Ruby Hutchinson to do an event at the bookshop was a huge risk – both business and personal. For one thing, she hadn’t set foot in town since he’d moved to America – a fact that Caroline had rather grumpily verified on numerous occasions. For another – he wasn’t entirely sure how she’d feel about the fact that he’d bought the bookshop from Reuben.
He’d turned these things over and over in his mind for days before approaching her publisher – adding in his worries about their history together – but eventually, he’d decided to go ahead and do it anyway. Oli had been more than prepared for Ruby to turn the whole thing down flat, so it had been a wonderful surprise when her publisher had been downright excited about the idea of her finishing off the tour in her hometown.
According to them, the whole team was on board – Crumbleton Bookshop would be the perfect final stop for their new star author. All they had to do was get her to agree. Which she did. Eventually.
Oli had been bouncing between nervous, excited, hopeful and shocked ever since. He couldn’t quite believe Ruby had agreed to it!
‘It all makes sense now, though,’ he sighed.
Ruby hadn’t agreed to come to his shop after all. She’d thought she was teaming up with Reuben. Hell, she hadn’t even expected to find him back in town.
‘Gah!’ he grunted, getting to his feet and pacing to the other side of the shop, where he stopped and eyeballed the dozens of copies of Every Little Dream that were stacked up neatly, ready for her signature.
Picking one up, he flipped it over and stared at the author photograph on the back cover – just as he’d done about a thousand times already.
This picture was what had convinced him that it would be safe for him to see her again. It looked nothing like the Ruby Hutchinson he remembered – the bookworm who’d helped him drag his English grade up far enough for him to win his coveted sports scholarship. That Ruby had turned out to be funny, feisty and so incredibly kind that Oli had fallen head-over-heels for her the first time they’d faced each other over his study notes. A complication his father definitely hadn’t seen coming when he’d suggested private tutoring.
It hadn’t taken long before their study sessions – long evenings and weekends pouring over Jane Austen’s Persuasion and endless pages of Shakespeare - became Oli’s favourite time of the week. He loved spending time with Ruby, but he hadn’t been expecting to fall for the subject too. There was something about the way Ruby approached books - and reading - that made him see it differently. It came to life under her gentle touch… a bit like he did too.
By the time Oli sat his exams, he was cheating on sports with English Lit. In fact, the lure of the track and field scholarship – something he’d been working towards for years – had lost all its charm. When Oli announced that he didn’t want to go to America after all - that he wanted to study English at a British university instead – his dad had taken matters into his own hands.
‘And the rest, as they say, is history,’ muttered Oli.
As usual, his dad had got his own way. Oli won his scholarship and went to America. He’d “run track” as they’d called it over there. He’d even had a shot at competing in the Olympics. He’d done it all with a broken heart – because the minute he boarded that plane, Ruby had disappeared from his life.
Oli let out a long sigh. Rehashing the past was pointless. His dad was gone now – but at least he’d tried to put things right first – and at least Oli had had the chance to say goodbye.
Now, armed with that truth and a reason to finally draw Ruby back to Crumbleton, maybe there was a chance to… to…
To what? Make her fall back in love with him? Convince a talented, celebrated author that she could love a small-town bookseller who’d once had his own shot at stardom and walked away from it?
‘You’re an idiot!’ said Oli.
It had all backfired so spectacularly. She’d looked so horrified to see him. He’d never wanted her to feel like she’d been tricked into coming back. He’d wanted it to be her choice!
Oli stared at the author photograph again, searching Ruby’s eyes as though he might find an answer there. It didn’t help. It really didn’t look like her. The woman he’d come face-to-face just now hadn’t changed a jot, though. Other than looking a bit tired and freaked out, she was as gorgeous as she’d always been.
‘And then you made her run away!’ he muttered.
Oli could kick himself for joking around with her like that in the café. He’d thought it would be funny – but in his defence, he’d thought she was in on the joke! How come Caroline hadn’t told her that he’d bought the bookshop?! The pair of them had been friends forever.
It wasn’t his cousin’s fault, though. She’d warned him years ago that Ruby had flat-out banned her from even mentioning his name. She’d put up so many barriers that she basically lived in a Crumbleton-free fortress. A fortress Oli had been well and truly locked out of.
Oli sighed and carefully placed the book back down onto the top of the pile, wondering if they’d ever see her signature now. In fact… that was something he really needed to find out! Maybe he should call her publicity team. Maybe he should-
Oli’s eyes landed on the patchwork armchair… and the large rucksack leaning against it.
Ruby’s bag! She must have forgotten it in her hurry to get away from him.
Dashing to the door, he wrenched it open and stepped out onto the high street, staring first up the hill and then down. He spotted Stuart from Bendall’s nipping into the café, and further down the hill, he could just see Iris Tait tugging her wheeled trolly over the cobbles. But there was no sign of Ruby.
Heading back inside the shop, Oli shut the door behind him and flipped the sign to “Closed” – popping the little “back in 10 minutes” card he kept handy just below it.
Then he headed over to the counter, grabbed a sheet of paper from the printer tray, and picked up a pen.
Dear Ruby…