Chapter 19
‘Well, this is it,’ said Gayle. ‘Wilbur’s Bookstore.’
Robyn frowned. ‘It’s closed.’
‘Yes, that’s what the sign on the door says.’ Gayle peered through the window. ‘There are no lights on.’
Robyn tried the door anyway. She wasn’t surprised that it didn’t open.
Gayle stepped back from the window and looked at Robyn. ‘So, there’s a sketch of this bookshop in your diary?’
Robyn nodded. ‘Yes.’
‘Does the shop—?’
‘No!’ Robyn interrupted. ‘It has not jogged my memory.’
‘So, you obviously have no idea why you sketched this shop.’
Robyn turned her gaze on Gayle, throwing her an exasperated look.
‘Ah, of course not.’
‘Although the sketch did have two women sitting in the window.’
Gayle said, ‘When I looked in the window, I saw a small table and two chairs.’ She beckoned Robyn over. ‘Look.’
Robyn cupped two hands above her forehead and peered inside. ‘Oh, yes. So there is.’
Perhaps it was you and a friend in the sketch?’
‘So, why didn’t they visit me in hospital? The accident, along with my name and David’s, were in the local paper.’
Gayle shrugged.
‘They couldn’t have been a very good friend.’
‘Or perhaps it wasn’t you at all. Perhaps it was just two people you saw sitting in the window.’
‘Yeah, I thought of that too.’ She turned around and looked across the road at the train station. ‘I always wanted to go on the steam train that leaves from Platform 3. Do you know they do afternoon tea, and at Christmas there’s mulled wine and mince pies?’
Robyn turned around to find Gayle staring at her. ‘What?’
‘How do you know that?’
‘Know what?’
‘That there’s a ‘steam train that leaves from Platform 3, and that you’ve always wanted to take a journey on one?’
Robyn stared at Gayle, open-mouthed. ‘Oh, my god! I think I’ve just had a memory. How else would I know it’s something I’ve always wanted to do?’
‘Exactly!’ Gayle smiled. ‘I think we should make a point of returning to the bookshop when it reopens to see if anything else comes back to you, or if the bookshop owner recognises you.’
‘I think that’s a brilliant idea.’ Robyn turned to the door, wondering when it would reopen.
‘In the meantime,’ continued Gayle, ‘I think this calls for a double celebration. Let’s go to the supermarket and buy some wine, and whatever else takes your fancy tonight.’
Arriving for the second time at the big old house, Robyn suddenly had the urge to see the house as it had been years earlier.
‘Gayle?’
Gayle had one foot on the gravel and a hand on the steering wheel and was just about to lift herself out of the car. She turned awkwardly to look at Robyn. ‘I was wondering if you had any photos of the house I could see. The way it was before …’
‘We let it fall into disrepair like this?’ Gayle nodded her head.
‘Oh no, I didn’t mean—’
‘I know you didn’t.’ She smiled. ‘You’re a strange one. In town, I believe you had it in mind to leave here if you couldn’t pay me some money for your stay, and now you want to see old family photos.’
Robyn shrugged.
Gayle winked at her. ‘Sure, you can.’ She got out of the car.
Robyn smiled to herself. She had the most bizarre idea. She opened the car door.
‘Although you’ll have to find them first,’ commented Gayle.
‘Huh?’ Robyn looked at Gayle. She was getting the shopping bags from the back seat.
‘The photos,’ Gayle continued as she kneed the car door shut.
‘What about them?’ Robyn took one of the shopping bags.
They walked up the front steps.
Gayle said, ‘I imagine the photos are gathering dust somewhere, perhaps the basement or attic. I haven’t had a chance to sort through my parents’ things.’ Gayle closed the door behind them. ‘If you can find them, you’re more than welcome to have a look at our family albums.’
‘You don’t mind me exploring the house while I look for them?’
‘Not at all. Go right ahead. I’ll put the kettle on, and we can have some lunch. I’ll see if Mother is up.’ She picked up a note on the sideboard. ‘Ah, from my neighbour. She checked on Mother, and left just before we arrived.’
Robyn heard the clink of wine bottles as Gayle took the shopping bags into the kitchen. ‘Perhaps I’ll have a glass of wine now,’ she heard Gayle say.
‘Thank you, Gayle,’ Robyn called after her. She looked around the hallway, trying to envisage how it would have appeared when it was first built. She was keen to explore the rest of the house. She knew exactly how she was going to repay Gayle’s kindness, but first she had to find those photo albums.