6
An hour later and Aurelia was wandering the sizzling station, waiting for Julia’s train from Paris to arrive while passing slowly in front of every fan she could find.
When the train’s arrival was finally announced, Aurelia stood on the other side of the barrier, her eyes scanning the crowd of passengers who spilled out.
She spotted a girl who looked like Julia, but who was wearing makeup, a cropped t-shirt, and tight jeans.
That wasn’t her little niece, was it? Aurelia’s eyes widened as the girl waved at her—apparently it was.
“Julia! You made it!”
“I did. Hi, Aunt Aurelia!”
Julia’s big, exuberant hug settled Aurelia’s nerves since it showed that she wasn’t too grown up to hug her favorite (only) aunt.
“How was the train?”
“Fine. I slept for most of it.”
Aurelia looked around and asked, “Is this everything—all your traveling articles?”
“My what?”
Julia scrunched up her face in utter confusion, as though Aurelia had said something deeply strange. Which, she quickly realized, she had. Aurelia said odd things in public all too often thanks to spending time with nineteenth-century characters.
“Oh… Well, it’s an old-fashioned term for bags and suitcases and things.”
“Then yes, these are all my traveling articles.”
Julia gave extra emphasis to Aurelia’s out-of-date phrase, then waved at the bags at her feet. Aurelia shook her head at herself. Using antiquated terms, being shocked by Julia’s makeup—she wasn’t sure she’d ever reach ‘cool aunt’ status.
“Let’s get you home, shall we?”
After a Tube ride, during which Julia kept up a steady narrative with hardly any breaks for oxygen, they arrived at the shop. Inside, Julia abandoned her things to greet Biscuit, who had run to the door at their arrival.
“Do you think he remembers me from Christmas?” Julia asked.
They’d all spent the holiday at her father’s house in Yorkshire. It was the first time Oliver had spent Christmas with them, which had put Johanna in a minor strop until they’d promised to spend several days with her and Oliver’s stepfather over New Year’s.
“Maybe? He’s not the brightest dog, but he’s awfully sweet.”
Julia stood, calling to Biscuit as she walked around the shop, running her hand along the bookcases and getting her bearings.
“Everything looks just the same as the last time I was here.”
“Not much changes here. That’s part of why I like it.”
“Me too,” Julia said with a grin. “It’s really hot, though. Don’t you want to open a window?”
“Well, the windows don’t open. But when I’m working in the shop, I usually prop the door open to let some air in.”
Making their way upstairs and dodging Biscuit as they went, Julia began dramatically fanning herself with her free hand.
“Are you serious, Aunt Aurelia? It’s even hotter up here!”
“I know, I’m sorry… We did put a fan in your room, though. See?”
Aurelia opened the door to the guest room and pointed inside.
“It’s so cozy in here!” Julia declared happily as she dropped onto the bed.
She looked around the room, taking in the old concert posters that Marigold had left behind, the fan that was working as hard as it could, and the bureau with an antique mirror above it.
“What’s this?” she asked, plucking at the old tapestry Aurelia had thrown over the bed.
“That was Aunt Marigold’s. I found it the other day and thought you might want to take it home with you? It’s from the seventies, like the posters,” she said, pointing at the walls. “Very rock and roll.”
Julia snorted out a laugh.
“What?”
“Nothing… It’s just funny to hear you say ‘rock and roll.’”
“Why?”
“Never mind,” Julia said, laughing again.
Aurelia frowned. She’d clearly failed another ‘cool aunt’ moment.
“I can really have it?” Julia asked, stroking the fabric.
“You can. You could put it on your bed at home, or hang it on your wall. It seemed like every dorm room had a tapestry hanging on the wall when I was at university, so you can bring it back into style.”
Julia smiled to herself as she gave the tapestry another long look, then stood up.
“Should we go downstairs and open the shop?”
“Now? I thought we’d take the day and go out exploring. We could visit a museum, see a movie—find some air conditioning.”
“Maybe this weekend,” Julia said matter-of-factly. “But today I want to start learning the business.”
Aurelia couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her.
“Already? You’ve got plenty of time.”
“Yeah, but I like being in the shop. Can I do the cash register?”
“Can you operate it?” Aurelia couldn’t help correcting her. “Sure, why not.”
Julia started for the doorway but stopped as Aurelia pointed toward the bedside table.
“I left something there for you.”
“Flowers!” Julia said, just noticing the small vase with a handful of daisies Aurelia had picked up at the local florist. “Mum always puts some out for guests.”
“Your gran always did too. That’s where we got it from,” Aurelia explained. “But I meant the books!”
Julia eyed the stack of books and ran her finger down their spines.
“I’ve heard of this one,” she said, pointing to Pride and Prejudice.
“That’s the reading list I promised.”
“You were serious?” Julia asked, her eyes wide.
“Of course I was! You can’t own a bookshop without knowing the books you’re selling. One day a customer is going to ask you, ‘What about that Cranford book? Will I like it?’ Now you’ll be able to tell them all about it.”
“Own it… Is the shop really going to be mine?” Julia asked, her voice a little hushed.
“Well, the shop has always been passed down from aunt to niece, and you’re my only niece.”
“What about Mum? Why wasn’t it passed down to her?”
“She was living in Paris, with you lot. And she knew I loved the shop—I’d been working here for years before… before I took over from Aunt Marigold. But you’ll have to wait a few years to run it since I’m not planning on retiring any time soon.”
“Then that means I’ve got plenty of time to read these,” Julia said mischievously.
“You’re going to like them, I promise!” Aurelia vowed, even as she worried that her grand plan of sharing the books with Julia might not come off as well as she’d hoped. “Here, pick one to start with and you can bring it down to the shop to read.”
“Um…” Julia looked at the books halfheartedly. “I don’t know… This one?”
She picked up Jane Eyre.
“Ooohh, good choice,” Aurelia said excitedly. “A creaky old estate, a young woman alone in the world, strange noises coming from a mysterious room…” she intoned as though she were narrating a movie trailer.
“It’s a ghost story?”
“Not really. You’ll see. Come down and I’ll get you a bookmark so you can get started. Then we’ll call your mum and tell her you’ve arrived.”
Raising her eyebrows in begrudging curiosity, Julia followed Aurelia back downstairs.