Chapter 10
Kazz woke with a start as the Land Rover rattled over a pothole, and her head bumped against the window.
Glancing guiltily at Saul, she hoped she hadn’t been snoring. Or drooling. She felt bad for falling asleep and not keeping him company while he drove back from London, but she simply hadn’t been able to keep her eyes open. Karma was having the last laugh, though, because Kazz now had a stiff neck and she felt worse than if she had stayed awake.
‘Where are we?’ she croaked. It was difficult to tell in the dark.
‘About ten minutes from Tanglewood.’
‘You shouldn’t have let me sleep for so long.’
‘You needed it,’ he replied.
‘And you didn’t?’
He sent her a quick smile, swiftly turning his attention back to the road. ‘I’m kind of used to it,’ he said. ‘I can deal with the odd night without sleep.’ Kazz’s imagination began to run away with her as she remembered his reputation, but when he added, ‘Lack of sleep is quite common during lambing,’ she felt guilty for jumping to conclusions, and once again she wished that Leanne hadn’t said anything about his playboy ways.
Contrarily, though, she did feel vaguely aggrieved she had spent almost twenty-four hours in Saul’s company and he hadn’t shown the least bit of interest in her. She might say that she felt slighted, if it wasn’t so ridiculous.
She could see what attracted women to him, though. He was a seriously good-looking fella. Not too handsome that it was off-putting, but handsome enough to make her drool a little. His most attractive feature, aside from his face, was his self-assurance. He was quietly confident, with only a hint of cockiness. And he had also shown her a caring side to his nature. It was a combination guaranteed to have women fawning all over him.
‘What’s the plan?’ he asked, breaking into her thoughts, and she saw they had reached the outskirts of Tanglewood.
To her dismay, Kazz realised she hadn’t thought this far. Her focus had been solely on packing everything up and getting back, but she had no idea what to do now. She really should have had everything worked out before they’d set off yesterday. If Freddie could see how woefully disorganised she was, he would ban her from his kitchen. Oh yeah, she was already banned – although it had nothing to do with her – and she wondered where her former boss was now. Was he behind bars, or was he out on bail, having found a hotshot lawyer who was at this very moment busily putting together a case to get his client off the hook? Or had she read too many crime and thriller novels?
Kazz realised she hadn’t responded to Saul’s question, when he asked, ‘You do have keys to the shop, don’t you?’
‘I do.’
‘Phew! For a second, I wondered where I was going to put this lot.’ He jerked his head towards the trailer behind them.
She stared at him in dismay. Oh, flip. He wanted to unload everything into the shop now ? It was a reasonable assumption, but the place was nowhere near ready. It needed a good clean (although it wasn’t really dirty, just a surface layer of dust) and a coat of paint wouldn’t go amiss. A nice pale shade of dove grey, with white highlights and navy accents would look—
Kazz caught herself before her thoughts totally ran away with her. Decorating wasn’t an option for several reasons, the foremost being that she couldn’t afford to splash out on paint. And neither could she afford the time. The sooner the shop was open, the sooner she would start selling books (fingers crossed). She only had a two-month lease, so she had to make the most of it. She would have to settle for a good clean and be done with it.
Tanglewood’s main street was empty except for the milkman, and Saul brought the vehicle to a halt directly outside the shop and switched the engine off.
‘At least getting here before the birds are up has guaranteed us a parking space,’ he said.
Kazz’s lips twitched. This guy was obsessed with parking.
She got out, a blast of chill wind making her shiver. Hastening to unlock the shop, she flinched at the alarm’s loud beeping. It took her two attempts to deactivate it, and when she did, she sagged in relief. The last thing she needed was a police officer turning up to see what all the noise was about.
She flipped on the bank of switches next to the alarm, and the shop was flooded with soft yellow light. Blinking owlishly, she headed for the room beyond, aware that Saul was behind her.
Kazz remembered seeing an immersion heater on the wall next to the sink in the loo, and she switched that on too.
‘Not a bad set-up,’ Saul said, glancing around.
‘It’ll do,’ Kazz agreed, walking back into the main part of the shop.
‘Where do you want what?’ he asked, and her brain suddenly began to function again, her tiredness falling away as she examined the interior and tried to work out where the big bookcases could go, and where was the best place to site the counter.
And suddenly she couldn’t wait to get started! She could see it now: the bookcases on that wall, the counter (aka the sideboard) over there. She could put a chair there, and another there, with a little side table next to it with a lamp on it, and it was then she realised that even if she did have time for a lick of paint, she wouldn’t bother. Modern, fresh and new wouldn’t be the right setting for her lovely old books. What was needed was a nineteenth-century country-house library vibe, and her grandfather’s old-fashioned furniture was going to provide exactly that.
Betty was right – she could open a bookshop. And for the rest of the day, Kazz set about turning the dream into a reality.
‘Bloody hell, it looks great!’ Stevie exclaimed, later that afternoon.
It did, Kazz thought, despite very few books being on the shelves. Some were, though (although the categories were a bit haphazard), and the furniture was in the right place. The bookshop reminded Kazz of an olde worlde library.
Stevie handed her a wicker basket. ‘I’ve brought food.’
Kazz’s stomach rumbled at the word, and she realised she had eaten nothing all day apart from a bag of crisps and a chocolate bar. She had been living off adrenalin and copious cups of tea.
‘You wouldn’t happen to have a vacuum cleaner I could borrow?’ she asked, taking the basket from her friend and peering into it.
‘There’s one in the flat,’ Stevie said.
Ah, yes, the flat. Kazz hadn’t managed to take any of her personal possessions there yet. She would do that later.
She sank into the gold wingback chair and unwrapped the parcels, her eyes widening as she saw lamb sausage rolls with a pot of harissa yoghurt, a slice of Gorgonzola, pear and walnut pie, a sliver of goat’s cheese and spring onion galette, and several slices of cake.
‘While you eat,’ Stevie said, ‘tell me what needs doing, and I’ll carry on.’
Kazz took a huge bite of the pie, and crumbs tumbled into her lap. With her mouth full, she said, ‘You can’t help with the books, but can you try to find the name of an insurance company? And I need an internet connection, and one of those card payment things. And a sign. I need a sign.’
‘On it,’ Stevie declared, peering at her phone. ‘I’ll send you the details of my insurance company – they’re pretty good – and a number to call for a card machine. I’m not sure I can help you with the sign, though. The chap who painted mine retired, and even if he hadn’t, he wasn’t the best. Do you remember me telling you that he got the name wrong? He painted Poggy’s Tea Shoppe, not Peggy’s .’
Kazz did. It had made her chuckle.
‘I’ll ask on the group chat,’ Stevie said. ‘Someone will know someone who’ll know someone. Tanglewood is like that.’
Kazz scoffed the rest of her impromptu picnic while Stevie jabbed and swiped at her phone, and when she was done, she gathered up the remains of her feast. ‘Thank you, I needed that.’ She gave Stevie the basket back.
‘Don’t forget to make yourself proper meals,’ Stevie said. ‘I remember when I first opened the tea shop, I was too tired to do much more than warm up some soup out of a tin. I would invite you to ours for supper tonight, but we’re going out. Nick’s got a new owner to impress; she has six horses and she’s not happy with the yard they’re in at present. They’re not coming along as one would like,’ Stevie added, putting on a posh voice.
‘Aw, that’s OK. I wouldn’t have accepted anyway. I’ve still got loads to do here, and I haven’t even started on the flat yet.’
‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ Stevie said, giving her a hug.
After the door closed behind her, Kazz plopped back into the chair. Weariness had crept up, ambushing her as she ate, and now she was so tired that she couldn’t move. The thought of having to haul her suitcase and numerous bags across the street to the flat made her want to cry.
Limbs aching, eyes heavy, Kazz was pooped. She’d have a little rest for a minute…
‘You want to be careful, leaving your door unlocked like that. Anyone might walk in.’
The voice was far too loud and far too close, and Kazz’s eyes flew open. ‘What?’
Betty was standing in front of her, her hands on her hips, a stern expression on her face. ‘I said…’ She raised her voice further. ‘You don’t want to leave—’
‘Sorry,’ Kazz interrupted, sitting up. She wasn’t sure why she was apologising. ‘What time is it?’
‘Time you were in bed, by the look of you,’ Betty retorted. ‘It’s seven o’clock.’
‘Morning or evening?’
The old lady tutted. ‘Evening. Stevie told me you pulled an all-nighter. That’s not wise at your age.’
At her age? She was barely thirty! But she was forced to admit that Betty had a point. There was a time when Kazz could party all night and stay awake all the following day. It seemed she had lost the ability somewhere along the line.
Betty was tapping her foot impatiently as she held her hand out, but Kazz was reluctant to take it, fearing she might pull the old lady over. However, Betty’s grip was surprisingly strong for a woman of her age and physique, and before Kazz could protest, she had been hauled unceremoniously to her feet.
She stood there, swaying slightly.
Betty gripped her elbow. ‘Come on. Where are your keys? And what’s the code for the alarm?’
‘I can’t, I’ve got to—’
‘You’ve got to get some sleep, that’s what you’ve got to do,’ Betty insisted.
‘But all my stuff is here.’ Kazz gazed forlornly at the bulging suitcase and the waist-high tower of black plastic bags. It was going to take her ages to ferry this lot to the flat above the tea shop. And she would have to go round the back of the building and into the little courtyard where the spiral staircase leading to the flat was located. There was an entrance via the shop, but Kazz only had a key to the external door.
‘You need a toothbrush and a nightie,’ Betty declared. ‘Everything else can wait.’ She eyed the pile. ‘Which bag is your toothbrush in?’
‘I don’t know,’ Kazz wailed. She wanted to tell the old lady to go away, but she didn’t have the heart. She was only trying to help. But Kazz had been perfectly happy in her chair, if somewhat chilly and stiff.
‘Leave it to me,’ Betty said. She took an ancient mobile phone out of her bag and flipped the lid. Her tongue poking out, she pressed several buttons, slowly and deliberately. ‘Hello? Yes, it’s me… At the bookshop… The bookshop! ’ She put a hand over the screen and hissed to Kazz, ‘She says she doesn’t know anything about a bookshop.’ She tilted her head and removed her hand. ‘Keep up, Agnes. I’m at the bookshop with Kazz, Stevie’s friend… Well, it does now, so there.’ A hand over the screen again. ‘She says Tanglewood doesn’t have a bookshop.’
Directing her next comments to the person on the other end of the phone, Betty carried on. ‘Where the stationery shop used to be… That’s right, the empty one, only it’s not empty now, it’s got books in it.’ She heaved a sigh. It was so loud that Agnes wouldn’t have needed a phone to hear it. Everyone in Tanglewood must have. ‘No, it won’t affect the library… Be quiet, Agnes, and listen. I need you to round everyone up—’ Betty rolled her eyes. She didn’t bother putting her hand over the phone this time as she said, ‘Agnes says they’ve just got a round in.’ She made a face and spoke into the phone again. All Kazz could do was listen and wonder what the hell was going on. ‘Your sweet sherry can wait. I need you here… at the bookshop! Sheesh! It’ll only take a couple of minutes. I need some bags shifting… to the flat above the tea shop…’ Another loud sigh. ‘Mrs George can sit this one out.’ Betty said to Kazz, ‘What that woman hasn’t got wrong with her can be written on the back of a stamp.’ She turned her attention back to her phone call. ‘No, I didn’t mean you, I was talking about Mrs George… I don’t care if she heard me, I’ll say it to her face… Look, are you coming or not? Good. Two minutes.’ She snapped the phone shut. ‘Sorted.’
Kazz barely had time to process what had just happened, before the shop door banged open and five people poured in. Betty immediately took charge, issuing instructions with the vigour of a sergeant major facing a bunch of new recruits. Within fifteen minutes, the pile of bags had been relocated to the flat, and Kazz was sitting on the bed in the main bedroom while Betty rummaged through her suitcase, looking for a nightie Kazz didn’t possess. Five minutes after that, she was tucked up in bed, teeth brushed, face washed and wearing an oversized T-shirt she had bought to cover a bikini when she holidayed in Greece several years ago.
Betty nodded at her once, a single decisive inclination of her head. Then she was gone, the door slamming shut behind her, and Kazz was left alone to finally drift into a deep, restful sleep, where she dreamt of handsome sexy farmers and bossy old ladies.