Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
Penn and I stayed at Mam and Dad’s on Boxing Day and went back to Palmer’s Arcade the day after. It seemed that all of the other shops were opening between Christmas and New Year, so we did the rounds, wishing everyone belated season’s greetings.
I barrelled into Christa’s shop, where she was setting up for the day.
‘I’ve got news. I’m going to try and give the shop another go. So you’re stuck with me for the foreseeable future,’ I said with a grin.
After my parents and Penn had pressed me to carry on, I’d decided to try. Even though the house sale was going ahead, and it broke my heart that I’d have to give up on my dream to intervene, it now meant I had no time pressure. It would be a struggle, but I was willing to give it another go.
A look of surprise flashed over her face. ‘Amazing! That’s really great.’ She squeezed my arm.
‘Thanks. If I can sell the stuff left behind, I might be able to slowly build back up again. Plus my mam found some more boxes of the sustainable beauty products in the garage, so that’s a bonus.’
Her smile faltered. With a sinking feeling, I realised my mistake.
‘I promise I’m not trying to step on your patch. I’ll be back to salad spinners and shoe polish in no time.’
‘I know you aren’t. It’s fine – really. But what about the Liaison stuff?’
Mam had been pained to tell me that her supplier had nothing else to give her. ‘I don’t think there’s going to be any more,’ I said morosely.
She frowned and was just about to reply when Jake popped his head round the door. When he saw me, he did a brief double take.
‘Had a good Christmas, Annie? I wasn’t expecting to see you here.’
‘Let’s just say I don’t give up easily. And yes, it was good, thanks. You?’
‘Aye, it was canny. I was out on the lash for most of it.’
‘Well, I haven’t got any homeopathy stuff for liver failure,’ said Christa.
‘Ha ha,’ he replied. It was then that I noticed a very prominent love bite on his neck.
‘Ooh, you really did have a good time,’ I said, laughing.
He touched his neck as if he’d forgotten it was there then grinned. ‘Aye… a very good time was had by all.’
Christa stared at him then turned to me – her expression still seemed a bit guarded. ‘Anyway, Annie, I’ll catch you later, okay?’
I nodded, and she looked away, busying herself with some pieces of rose quartz. As I left the shop, Jake took my place and closed the door. I stood there for a moment, stung. I wished I hadn’t mentioned the beauty products. A horrible feeling that I’d upset my friend prickled my skin – the fact that Jake, who Christa normally couldn’t bear the company of, was still welcome made it feel even worse.
‘Hey,’ Penn said, seeing my face as I went back into the shop. He pulled me in for a hug and kissed the top of my head. ‘We’re here to start again, remember. You’re amazing at this – you’ve overcome other stuff with the shop, and you can do this too.’
‘I know. It’s just…’
‘It’s just nothing. We can do it together. Now, come into the back room, we’ll make some coffee and figure out what we need to do next.’
I sighed but then remembered some of our encounters in the back room and smiled wickedly.
‘You can’t be serious. Just a second ago, you looked like you were ready to cry, and now you look like you want to…’ His expression was wry and then playful.
I raised an eyebrow. ‘What can I say? You have that effect on me.’
He pulled me towards him, his hand cupping my bum, his eyes narrowed with lust. But before I could drag him off to the stock cupboard, something through the window caught my eye. I flinched and pulled away, my gaze drawn to the street outside like it was magnetised.
‘Is that…?’ I breathed, my heart skipping a beat.
Penn turned his head to look and abruptly let go of me. ‘What…?’
‘What is she doing here?’
Outside, in roughly the same place across the road that we’d seen Neil before, Sophia stood, arms crossed, studying the shop intensely. From the lack of self-consciousness on her face, I assumed she couldn’t make us out clearly through the signs on the window.
‘I have no idea,’ Penn murmured, scratching his head.
‘Should we go out and see her?’ I asked, although I didn’t really want to.
Just then, Arthur bustled in with an armful of paperbacks.
‘Annie, dear. These were donated to us this morning. Christmas regifting, I’d imagine. I wondered if you’d like them for the shop?’
I blinked at him distractedly. ‘Um, that’s so kind, thank you,’ I mustered. Then I couldn’t overcome the urge to look back out the window. Penn was still staring too. Arthur put down the books and trotted over, curious.
‘Back again?’ he said. ‘I think she’s rather a fan of your shop.’
‘Huh?’ Penn and I exchanged a glance and looked at Arthur.
‘I said she must be keen on the shop. I’ve seen her round and about a few times lately. The day before the burglary, in fact.’
‘What do you mean?’ Penn asked.
‘I mean exactly that. She was standing outside the shop, just like she is now. Didn’t she come in to buy anything?’
I shook my head. ‘No. She didn’t,’ I said softly. ‘And I’m about to ask her why.’ I made for the door, my back ramrod straight, and Penn called after me.
‘What are you doing?’
‘I’ll be back in a minute,’ I said over my shoulder. ‘I just want to know what Sophia’s doing, lurking around like a certain other person who meant us harm.’
I went out onto the street, but Sophia had already left her post. She was now walking quickly down Pilgrim Street, her stylish trench coat swishing behind her. I strode after, and a moment later, Penn caught up with me.
‘Annie, what’s wrong?’
‘Why is she here?’ I asked, shriller than I would have liked. ‘She was here before the break-in; now she’s sniffing around again. What if she had something to do with it? What if she’s the saboteur come back to make sure her work is done?’
‘That’s crazy,’ said Penn, with a tinge of unease.
‘Is it? She hates me, she wants to be with you, and if the shop was to fail, you’d have to go back to Ashcliffe. Which is exactly what she and your mam want.’
Penn shook his head. ‘That’s a real stretch. A really big one.’ He made an exasperated sound. ‘You don’t mean to tell me you think she organised a burglary ?’
‘I don’t know, but I’m going to ask her some very probing questions.’
Sophia rounded the corner, and I picked up my pace.
‘Annie, please. Just stop. Sophia’s not like that. She would never…’
‘How do you know for sure? Look, I’m just going to talk to her, and see what she says.’
We turned the corner just in time to see Sophia cross the road and enter a smart bistro. Penn tried again to discourage me, but I continued towards the zebra crossing that Sophia had just used. Then, as I stood waiting to cross, I saw Sophia sit down at a table in the window. Across from her was Bunny, teacup in hand.
I felt Penn tense beside me, and in my surprise, I allowed him to pull me gently by the arm, out of sight of the bistro. Once we were round the corner again, he stood back against a wall and closed his eyes.
‘Penn, I…’
He shook his head. ‘Just give me a minute. I need to think.’
I stood beside him, unsure what to do. My sudden and, admittedly, crackpot suspicions of Sophia now felt like they had actual substance and, as a result, a genuine impact on Penn. I waited for him to speak, and eventually he looked at me.
‘I don’t know what’s going on. But she couldn’t have. She wouldn’t have. And my mother…’
I swallowed dryly. Bunny had every reason to want Penn’s shop to fold. And seeing her and Sophia in Newcastle, surveying the aftermath of the burglary, was compelling food for thought, even if it was circumstantial. But now that Penn was trying to process it, I almost wished we hadn’t noticed Sophia at all.
‘You’re right,’ I said. ‘We can’t jump to conclusions. I was being dramatic – just ignore me. Maybe they’re here to visit you. Do you want to go in and see them?’
He looked at the crossroads for a long moment. ‘No. Let’s just go back to the shop.’
We spent the next half hour in the shop, Penn sorting through his remaining stock while I rearranged mine to make it look more abundant than it actually was. Olivia sent me a selfie from her holiday in Dubai, standing in what looked like the lobby of a beautiful hotel.
I hadn’t actually seen her since the burglary, when she’d arrived in amongst all the chaos and I’d sent her away. Over Christmas, when I’d been sure I was going to give up the shop, I’d held off on telling her so, wanting to break the news face to face. But when I changed my mind and messaged to say I was looking forward to seeing her when we reopened, she eventually replied to say she wouldn’t be coming back.
The holiday had been a surprise Christmas gift from her parents, and although she was apologetic about it, she would be going back to university straight after they returned. I was sad to see her go, but she looked like she was having the time of her life.
She was doing the hallmark pose of the younger end of the Gen-Z spectrum – a peace sign and her tongue sticking out. It made me smile, and I texted her back with a selfie of my own – a sad face with thumbs down. This resulted in a reply with a heart and a cry-laughing face, and she disappeared to resume her holiday. It made me feel like I could do with one too.
Every now and then, Penn flicked a glance at the door, but neither Sophia nor his mother made an appearance. Despite that, I decided against making another case for their involvement.
And besides, what could I say? There was no CCTV footage, no clear prints that the police could discern, and just because Sophia was seen in the area didn’t mean anything really. And why would she come back to the scene of the crime? The more I thought about it, the more I talked myself out of that particular theory.
‘Here,’ I said, handing Penn one of my specialty instant coffees. ‘Listen, I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions about Sophia and your mam. The more I’ve thought about it, the more I think I’ve got it all out of proportion.’
‘It’s okay. I can see why you thought what you did. But I know them.’
‘I know you do. And I’m sorry. Are we okay?’
‘Of course we are. Don’t be silly.’ He bent his head to kiss me, and I forgot all about his family for a moment. I also forgot about the cup in my hand and let it tip to the side, spilling hot coffee over his trainers.
‘Oops,’ I said, pulling back reluctantly. ‘We can’t have you looking as dishevelled as this place. I’ll get a paper towel – hopefully the burglars didn’t steal those too.’
I went to the stock room and checked the remaining crumpled cardboard in the corner, imagining that a burglar wouldn’t bother to weigh themselves down with paper products. I was right – one of the boxes still housed a few reams of recycled paper towels. As I put the box back, another tumbled over away from the wall. Something was glinting on the floor behind it.
I fished the object out of the dusty corner and looked at it. An earring. White pearly stones hanging from a silver setting. Moonstone , I remembered.
I remembered because Christa had told me so, when I’d last seen this earring dangling from her ear.