3 #3
‘I’m sorry, Orla,’ I tell her as she sits back down in her seat beside Harriet. ‘I will let you read my cards one day.’ Orla nods serenely. ‘When the time is right.’
‘So, Adam, what are you going to do with your grandfather’s house when it’s been cleared by our Eve?’ Ben asks.
‘Nothing exciting – just sell it, I hope,’ Adam says. ‘Maybe I’ll be able to put a deposit down on somewhere in London then. Currently I rent.’
‘George wouldn’t have wanted you to keep that big old house, I’m sure,’ Ben says. ‘He wasn’t the biggest fan of it.’
‘You knew my grandfather?’ Adam asks, looking surprised.
‘Oh, yes, George used to come to Clockmaker Court quite a lot when the old bookstore was there. He loved to read. We had many chats over the years attempting to put the world to rights.’
‘Did he go in Rainy Day Antiques too?’ I ask, wondering if this is the answer to our mystery.
‘Yes, I believe so. George had a great fondness for both shops. He used to spend a lot of his time in Clockmaker Court when he was a child.’
‘Why when he was a child?’
‘The bookshop sold comic books before comic books were as popular as they are today. George loved to come and browse through them.’
‘So you knew George when he was young?’ I ask, surprised to hear this.
‘I did. We were friends a long time.’
‘You were at his funeral, weren’t you?’ Adam asks Ben.
‘I thought I recognised you.’
‘I was.’
‘I’m sorry I didn’t remember you before.’
‘There were a lot of people there that day,’ Ben says, picking up his drink again. ‘George was well known and well respected in the area.’
Adam smiles. ‘That’s good to know. It’s funny you mentioned comics, because we found a whole cabinet full of comic-book stuff in the house, didn’t we, Eve?’
I nod. ‘Yes, we did. That explains why now; it seemed a bit at odds to everything else he had in the house. It also might explain why your grandfather wanted me to do his house clearance if he knew this court well.’
‘Yes, I suppose that could be it,’ Adam says thoughtfully. ‘You know, Eve, I’m more than happy for you to clear the house, if you want to take the job?’
‘Yes, I’d like that. I’d like it very much.’
‘Great, when can you start?’
‘Next week, perhaps? It would be better for me if I could come for a few evenings and sort through everything first, then I don’t have to close the shop.’
‘I don’t suppose you could possibly do it this weekend?’ Adam says, looking apologetic. ‘I know it’s short notice, but I have to head back to London by Monday evening at the latest. If you could manage to do it over this weekend, then I could help you.’
‘I do have extra help in the shop over the weekends. But it’s our busiest time – it wouldn’t be fair to leave him on his own both days.’
‘Barney is perfectly capable,’ Orla says. ‘We can all keep an eye out for him and help him if he gets too busy, can’t we?’ She looks to the others for support.
‘Yes, of course we can,’ Luca says encouragingly. ‘If it means you get help in what sounds like a quite big job from what you’ve told me. Two pairs of hands are always going to be better than one. And Adam looks like he could bring the muscle…’ He winks at Adam.
Adam takes it all in his stride, and just flexes one of his biceps at Luca.
‘Barney is like your Saturday staff, is he?’ Adam asks me.
‘He’s a bit more than that. He also helps me out when I’m busy or if I can’t be in the shop myself.
He works part-time as an assistant in the Cavendish Laboratory – that’s a science laboratory at the university – and part-time with me.
’ I look at the others. ‘If you’re all sure? I mean, I don’t want to put you out.’
‘Eve, you’d do the same for us, wouldn’t you?’ Rocky asks.
‘Of course.’
‘Then it’s all sorted,’ Harriet says briskly. ‘You will clear the house with Adam helping you both Saturday and Sunday, and we’ll assist Barney, should he need our help.’
I smile gratefully at them all. ‘Thank you.’ Then I turn to Adam. ‘Looks like it’s this weekend then. My little van isn’t big enough to carry everything from the house, that’s for sure. I’ll hire a larger van for a couple of days.’
‘You have your own transport then?’ Adam asks. ‘Only when you came on the bus today, I assumed you hadn’t.’
‘That’s because I much prefer to use public transport or to walk. Plus, there’s nowhere to park in central Cambridge, not that won’t cost me an arm and a leg anyway. So I keep my van in a locked garage I rent near my home. I store some of my stock there too.’
‘Nice. Where do you live, over the shop?’
I’m not used to someone asking me so many questions – not personal ones anyway. People usually aren’t that interested in me – present company excepted.
‘No, I have a little house not far from the shop.’
‘Eve’s house is gorgeous,’ Orla says keenly. ‘I adore it so much. Some of us live over our shops. But Eve owns her little home.’
‘I’m just lucky my grandparents left me the house,’ I say for Adam’s benefit.
‘Grandparents come in handy, eh?’ Adam says. ‘Well, I definitely won’t be living in my grandparents’ home. Nope, as soon as it’s sold, it’s straight back to London for me.’
‘The sooner we get it cleared, the better, then!’ I say.
‘Then you can go back to your life in London and I can get on with selling all your grandfather’s treasures.’
But as I’m about to find out, the best-laid plans have a habit of not turning out quite how you expected …