Chapter 23
All Signs Lead to Yes
Later that night, across the road, in The Book Nook, Rose watched the pub from her bedroom window.
She didn’t know for certain what was happening behind those old doors now, but earlier, as she’d left she’d felt such a deep contentment in seeing Holly finally in Seb’s arms. She’d known all along there had been something special between them.
It had frustrated her that they weren’t together.
When Natalie had found Holly’s letter, lost for all those years, Rose had known it had to make its way into Seb’s hands.
When he’d read it, he’d sunk down into the armchair in The Book Nook and smiled with such relief Rose had found herself tearing up.
‘What’s that?’ Luke asked as he slipped his arms around her waist from behind, pulling her in and nestling his face in the crook of her neck.
Before closing time, Holly had slowly made her way over to Rose and presented her with Seb’s redundant replacement birthday present. She’d been so sceptical of how Holly had been using it for all these years, but she had to admit there was something intriguing about this portable fortune teller.
‘Holly gave it to me - it tells you the future.’
Luke’s gentle laughter tickled her neck causing her to giggle.
‘Holly was obsessed with those growing up. Would play with them whenever she saw one in a shop.’
‘Why didn’t she just buy one?’
Luke’s brow furrowed as he thought about Rose’s question. ‘Do you know, I don’t know. Mum and Dad were always careful with money growing up, so I guess it felt too frivolous to buy herself something like that.’
The slamming of the coffee shop’s door drew their attention to the street below, and Rose was surprised to see Tony fumbling with his car keys before getting into his Daewoo and speeding away. Seconds later, the door clattered open again and Lucy stepped outside, tears streaming down her face.
‘That doesn’t look good.’ Luke said.
‘Holly told me Lucy moved back in to help him with the cafe. I was hoping they’d found their way to a new understanding.’
‘Lucy has always tried to keep everyone happy. We weren’t close at school, but we had some shared friends. When she moved away to Bristol, for her job, I think that was the first time I can remember her putting herself first.’
‘Sad that the one time she did it, it didn’t work out.’
Luke nodded, his gaze following the route Lucy had now taken towards the beach.
‘Do you think we should go and check on her?’ Rose asked.
‘No, I think we should go to bed.’ Luke peppered teasing kisses down her neck.
‘Should I listen to Luke?’ Rose asked the little plastic cube, to a groan from him.
As she made out the words All Signs Lead to Yes, the cube was flicked out of her hand and tumbled to the floor.
‘Hey–’ Rose was interrupted by Luke’s lips on hers, and she forgot all about the question she’d asked.