Chapter 27
Alicia
Afew evenings later, Jamie held Alicia’s hand as they strolled to the bookshop. Above them, the town’s Christmas lights twinkled merrily while their breath billowed out in puffs in the cold air. Jamie felt like he was in a Christmas movie.
‘How are you feeling?’ Alicia asked.
‘I’m great.’ He squeezed her hand reassuringly.
‘I’m looking forward to showing you some of the village nightlife and having a glass of mulled wine.
’ He truly was, not to mention surprised that his enthusiasm for taking Alicia on a night out had surpassed his concern that part of it would be spent in the vicinity of his ex.
‘There’s still time to back out,’ she reminded him.
‘Aye, I know. You’ll love the bookshop.’
Jamie was right. As they entered the premises and a little bell chimed, he could tell Alicia was enchanted.
The Christmas decorations in the bookshop never failed to charm.
There were fairy lights strung across shelves and the ceilings and up the staircase to the mezzanine.
Sprigs of holly and mistletoe garnished tables where colourful books were piled, and the smell of freshly printed paperbacks mingled with the cinnamon and clove spice of mulled wine.
Alicia gazed around in awe. ‘This is magical! And they have big, plush armchairs to sit in and read. It’s book lovers’ heaven!’
‘There are booths upstairs,’ Jamie nodded to the mezzanine.
‘When we were kids, my siblings and I used to sit in them and read. Well, I looked at the pictures and wondered why the words were jumping all over the page. It’s a special place alright.
’ He was imbued with an inner peace whenever he was in this bookshop and being here now at this special time of year with Alicia only intensified that calm.
Thank goodness this place wasn’t owned by Frank or anyone linked to him.
He didn’t fancy being turfed out for not being the ‘right vibe of customer’.
Unfortunately, though, Frank was in attendance.
As was Katie, along with some of their cronies from the spiritual book club.
Thankfully new non-spiritual book club attendees were also filtering through the door.
Jamie couldn’t help but think, cynically, that a lot of folk were here only for the free mulled wine.
Speaking of which, he grabbed two glasses and took Alicia to a spot near the door.
If they could stand at the back and mind their own business, this could be an enjoyable evening.
But no such luck. Katie had spied them and was slinking through the small crowd.
As if in slow motion, Jamie watched her face computing everything.
The customer she’d served in the shop – a Hollywood star – and her own ex-partner.
She might claim to be spiritually balanced but Katie had a small-village hunger for gossip hardwired from birth.
He had to force himself not to hold Alicia’s waist any tighter. It would only alarm her.
To give Katie her dues, she pretended not to be flabbergasted, but Jamie could read most of her facial expressions – except, of course, the one that said I’m having an affair and about to leave you for another man.
‘Hi, Jamie. How’s it going? And hello again.’ Katie nodded at Alicia and failed to peel her eyes away.
Jamie responded in a way that would get her attention. ‘Good, thanks. How’s the pregnancy coming along?’
Katie’s gaze shot to Jamie, her jaw slack. She wasn’t showing yet.
‘Frank told me,’ he informed her.
‘He did? I’m…um… It’s going well. Sorry, I did want to tell you myself.’
‘No big deal,’ Jamie spoke a half-truth. It had been a quite a big deal at the time, but now he had better things to think about. He moved his palm to the small of Alicia’s back.
‘Katie, this is Alicia. Alicia, this is Katie. Although I believe you’ve already met.’
Katie gaped again, clearly struggling to act like Alicia was just another person, which tickled Jamie.
‘Lovely to meet you, officially.’ Alicia reached out to shake Katie’s hand.
‘Yes, lovely to meet you, too.’ Katie found her voice and hand at last. ‘Are you enjoying the book?’
‘To be honest, I haven’t had a chance to start it yet,’ Alicia said. ‘I’ve been preoccupied with painting and with the five-star hospitality.’ She flashed a warm smile at Katie and turned an even brighter one Jamie’s way.
Jamie had to restrain the wattage of his own expression.
Katie’s face twisted in disbelief, struggling to mask her astonishment.
She clearly couldn't fathom that her ‘bad karma’ ex was now offering ‘five-star hospitality’ to a Hollywood model and movie star. He didn’t need others to be impressed by Alicia’s status; he simply enjoyed witnessing Katie grapple with the reality of it all.
‘Alicia is such a talented artist that she’s going to do some artwork for the distillery,’ Jamie said. ‘We’ve some great ideas in the pipeline.’
Before Katie had a chance to draw air, Frank sidled up, devilishly bland in beige chinos and a brown shirt.
‘What’s all this then?’ He poked his pointy nose into the conversation, both physically and figuratively. ‘Didn’t expect you to be here tonight, Jamie. Decided to do some psychological spring cleaning? Oh, hello!’ His eyes bore into Alicia. ‘I know you.’
‘I don’t think so.’ Alicia was as blunt as a sledgehammer and Jamie again had to suppress mirth. ‘We’ve definitely never met.’
But Frank’s tactlessness had no limits.
‘No, but you’re that movie star, aren’t you? Donoghue family. Have to say the last place you expect to see celebs is Kinshore, and on the arm of Jamie Butler. No offence, eh, Jamie.’
Jamie’s blood pressure skyrocketed. Frank most certainly meant offence.
Who barged into a conversation with a stranger and said such rude things?
And what had happened to Katie to make her fall for this person?
Jamie was thrown back to wondering what he might have done, or not done, to instigate it.
‘I’m having a vacation and I was lucky enough to meet Jamie at my hotel,’ Alicia explained. ‘And now I’m lucky enough for him to have invited me back to your lovely village.’ She was being as polite as pie, which was more than Frank deserved, but it didn’t deter him.
‘Aye, I suppose you’d be wanting away from all the Hollywood scandal.’
Alicia visibly recoiled and Jamie tensed, his jaw clamping down like steel. What the hell is this guy’s problem?
Katie, to her credit, tried to change the conversation.
‘Alicia’s doing some artwork for BDL,’ she told Frank. ‘What is it exactly, Jamie?’
From somewhere far away Jamie’s voice echoed in his own ears, as he explained that it was artwork for the whisky bottles, but his mind was consumed by Frank’s audacity in embarrassing Alicia. She didn't deserve his toxic remarks. Oh, why had he not put his foot down about coming here?
‘It sounds fabulous,’ he heard Katie reply. ‘I’d love to see some of your art. What are the paintings of?’ But he drifted out of the conversation because his brain was fizzing with what he could say to Frank that wouldn’t embarrass Alicia but would convey how bang out of order the man was.
‘Oh, local scenes. The beach, the lighthouse…’ Alicia’s voice trailed off as she and Katie moved aside and embarked on a conversation about art.
‘What’s the matter, Jamie? You seem a wee bit peaky.’ Frank’s voice filtered into Jamie’s consciousness.
He gaped at Frank. It was taking all his willpower not to let rip at the guy.
‘Don’t bottle it up,’ Frank chided. ‘Negative emotions are better out than in. You should try reading this book.’ He thrust a copy of Clearing out Your Negativity Attic into Jamie’s palm with his trademark simpering smirk on his face.
That did it. Jamie pressed the copy of the book back towards Frank, into his chest, assertively but without force. ‘Stick your book, Frank,’ Jamie barked. ‘You can stick it right up your––’
‘Woah! Jamie!’ Frank stumbled backwards as if Jamie’s controlled touch of the book had knocked him off balance, which Jamie knew fine well it had not.
This man had no limits. ‘Woah ho hoah!’ said Frank again, but louder this time as he let himself fall into a display of Clearing out Your Negativity Attic from which the books went tumbling.
‘What. The. Hell. Jamie?’ He massaged his breastplate as he hoisted himself upright again.
‘You feel that’s the only way to communicate? ’
‘Frank!’ Katie rushed to him and helped him off the floor. ‘Are you okay?’ Her eyes widened in shock. ‘Jamie, what did you do?’
‘I didn’t bloody do anything,’ Jamie retorted. ‘Tipsy toes here decided to take a tumble of his own accord. Must’ve had too much mulled Ribena.’
Katie eyes narrowed with scepticism, but Jamie stood his ground.
‘The guy’s an arsehole, Katie. I’m surprised you can’t see that.
When are any of you sheeple going to take your blinkers off?
’ He gestured across a group of Katie’s friends that had also been drawn into the spiritual book club.
They shook their heads, their faces etched with disapproval at what they thought they had seen.
But Jamie was done trying to be the good guy in the people’s eyes.
They interpreted things through the prism of their own expectations.
He turned to Alicia to check if she was okay, only to see her devastated expression which told him she had also been fooled.
Her palm covered her mouth and tears spilled in her eyes.
‘Leesh? Hey—’ It tore his heart to see her like this.
‘Jamie,’ Alicia whispered as he approached her. ‘I’d like to go home now. Please.’