Chapter 25
‘I’m looking for the latest Mary Berry cookbook if you have it, please?’ A woman in her forties approached Isla at the counter.
‘Yes, of course. It’s over here.’ Isla walked across to the main display at the front of the shop and picked up a copy of the popular book. They had sold dozens of them already. ‘We also have some pre-wrapped copies too, if that might make your life easier.’
‘Perfect,’ said the woman with a smile. She picked up one of the display books and smoothed a hand over the cover.
‘I love Mary Berry, don’t you? Every year, my sister and I buy a copy of her latest book as part of our Christmas present to each other.
We always know what’s inside the parcel, but that only adds to the pleasure when we open them together. ’
‘That sounds like such a lovely thing to do. The only thing better than reading a book is reading it alongside someone else, so that you can share notes and appreciate it together.’
‘It really is. My sister loves to cook so she often tries out the recipes. I’m more of a baker, although I don’t actually do a lot of baking because I live on my own, and I would only end up eating all the cakes, but I still love to read the recipes anyway.’
Isla felt privileged that her customers felt comfortable enough to confide in her, to share some of their private and special moments so that she got a glimpse into other people’s worlds.
It gave her a sense of connection, the feeling that she was far more involved in the community than she had ever been in London.
She enjoyed the easy conversation, the way some customers would ask her name, consigning it to their memory with a smile and a nod, and then greeting her fondly by name the next time they came into the shop.
‘Hello, Isla! How are you today?’ they would say, as if they were old friends.
She glanced at her watch. It was drawing closer to the big day with a constant flow of customers through the doors and a slight sense of panic in the air as people came in search of last-minute presents and stocking fillers.
As well as books, Finch’s stocked a lovely range of quality notebooks and pens, novelty bookmarks and jigsaw puzzles, so there really was something for everyone.
Penny was coming in later to cover the lunchtime shift as Miriam had been in touch with Isla yesterday to invite her to lunch with her and Jonathan, apparently as a thank you for all her hard work.
They were going to Trattoria Amalfi which had been standing on the high street for almost as long as Finch’s had been in business.
Isla had visited several times over the years and it had always been reliably good so she was looking forward to visiting again for a delicious lunch and a proper catch-up with Jonathan and Miriam.
The front doorbell tinkled and Isla looked up from where she’d been scanning the blurb of an historical thriller to see a couple of familiar faces.
‘Hi, Isla, how are you doing?’ Charlie Brace and his daughter, Amelia, approached the counter.
‘Very well, thank you! It’s great to see you both,’ she said, only momentarily taken aback by his presence, before realising that although it was indeed lovely seeing her ex-boyfriend and his daughter again, thankfully, her body wasn’t reacting in the same way as it had done on the last occasion he visited the shop.
Then, all her senses had gone into overdrive, bringing all those old hopes and dreams to the surface, as well as the hurt, but something must have happened in the intervening weeks.
Now, it was simply like running into an old friend again.
‘Is Heathcliff here today?’ Amelia asked, looking all around her.
‘Yes, I think he must be in one of the back rooms, either curled up next to the fire or against one of the radiators. That’s where we usually find him.’
‘I’m going to look for him,’ she said, running off in search of the cat.
‘So, how’s things?’ Isla asked Charlie when Amelia had left.
‘Good… hectic. Amelia has been staying with her grandparents for a few days because Sophia was at home laid up with a bug. You catch everything going when you’ve got small kids.
Absolute nightmare. I’m heading back to London this afternoon to collect her, she seems to be over the worst of it now, so I thought I’d pick up some puzzle and sticker books for Amelia to keep her busy while we’re away. ’
‘Well, there are plenty in the children’s section. I’m sure Amelia will love having a browse.’
‘Great!’ He made to go after his daughter, but stopped, paused and turned awkwardly to address Isla. ‘Hey listen, Isla. This is a bit awkward, but I’ve been wanting to say something since we first ran into each other again.’
‘Oh…’
‘Yeah, I wanted to say sorry, actually.’
‘Really? What for?’ she asked disingenuously, knowing there was only one thing he could possibly want to apologise for.
‘For the way I treated you back in the day.’ He appeared uncomfortable.
‘You were my first love and that’s pretty special, isn’t it?
I have nothing but fond memories of our time together.
But when I got the opportunity to go away to university, I was just overwhelmed by the sense that I should make the most of every moment and—’
She butted in, more to save his embarrassment and awkwardness than anything else.
‘And a girlfriend would have cramped your style!’
‘No! Yes…’ he added, looking sheepish. ‘I probably handled it in the worst possible way.’
She nodded her agreement. She wasn’t about to pretend that it had been any different, before softening her response with a smile.
‘It was a long time ago, and we were both very young.’
‘It doesn’t excuse the way I treated you. I was telling Sophia about it, how I broke up with you so abruptly, without any real explanation and without giving you the opportunity to talk about it. She couldn’t believe it, said I acted like a complete idiot. I realised she wasn’t wrong.’
The more Isla heard about Sophia, the more she grew to like her. In other circumstances, they might have been friends.
‘I was pretty devastated at the time, I must admit, but it was good character-building stuff,’ she added with a wry smile.
She could have told him how she’d cried herself to sleep at night for months afterwards, how she’d held out a hope for years that they would get back together again, but none of that mattered any more.
They’d both moved on in their different ways. ‘Thanks for the apology, though.’
‘Thanks for being so magnanimous, Isla. I appreciate it. I wanted to clear the air because it looks like we might be running into each other a bit more these days and I didn’t want there to be any bad feeling between us.’
‘None whatsoever,’ she said, surprised that she found herself really meaning it too. Perhaps all this time, Isla had simply needed some closure.
‘Isla! Would you come and help me choose some sticker books, please?’ asked Amelia, who’d returned to the counter with something special in her arms.
‘Oh, Amelia, would you put the cat down,’ said Charlie in an exasperated tone. ‘He doesn’t want to be manhandled by you.’
‘Of course I can help,’ said Isla, thinking that Heathcliff looked more than happy to be carried around, as she escorted them both back to the children’s section.
Amelia and Heathcliff settled on the cushions while Isla brought some books to the table for the little girl to look through.
Isla dropped down on her haunches to leaf through the pages with Amelia.
It was something of a revelation to discover that children weren’t completely scary if you could find some common ground with them.
Seeing the joy and wonder in Amelia’s eyes as her gaze scanned the pages of the books, appreciating the illustrations and reading the words aloud, resonated deeply with Isla.
She had once been that little girl who had been so easily transported to other worlds through the magical properties of books and it filled her with excitement to think that Amelia might nurture that same love of reading as she grew up.
For Isla, books had provided a huge sense of comfort over the years.
They represented an escape from her own everyday existence into other worlds entirely.
She had travelled the globe through her reading matter, met characters who would remain lifetime friends and had made sense of her own life through the events unfolding within the pages.
On reflection, it had probably given her an unrealistic expectation of love and the man she hoped to meet and spend her life with, but was that really a bad thing?
Admittedly, she was unlikely to meet a Canadian NHL player on the Tube to work, or a billionaire boss, but it had taught her that she didn’t have to put up with any questionable behaviour and probably explained why most of her first dates in London hadn’t progressed any further.
She kept in mind though that there were some good guys out there. Like Charlie. And Guy.
‘Come on, Amelia,’ Charlie said after a good fifteen minutes had passed.
He was growing impatient, but Isla sensed that the little girl might have been happy to stay there all morning browsing the books.
In the end, Amelia followed her instincts in making her selections.
She quickly discarded the ballet bumper book of stickers, but chose the marine life sticker book instead, plus a fashion design sketchpad and a book about woodland animals, which she clutched to her side so tightly that Isla couldn’t imagine anyone being brave enough to try and prise it out of her hands.
‘Can I take these ones please, Daddy?’ she said, looking up at him imploringly.
He gave Isla a look of defeat, and she could only shrug her shoulders in return. She was definitely Team Amelia.
‘Come on then, shall we get these paid for and you can take them home to Grandma,’ encouraged Isla.
‘This is the best kind of shop,’ said Amelia in a heartfelt exclamation, when Isla handed over the bag of goodies. ‘It has books. And puzzles. And a cat. When I grow up, I want to be just like you, and work in this bookshop.’
‘I’m extremely lucky,’ said Isla, feeling the hairs on her arms stand to attention as she said the words aloud.
On their way out, Charlie and Amelia almost bumped straight into Guy, who came rushing through the door, clearly in a hurry.
‘Oh sorry,’ he said, standing back to open the door wide to let Charlie and Amelia through.
It occurred to her as Charlie gave a cheery wave over his shoulder and Guy greeted her with a wide smile, that the snapshot of that moment in time represented her past and her present.
Whether or not it might represent her future too, she had no idea.
‘Hi, good to see you,’ he breezed, and Isla couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across her face.
Those feelings, the ones she’d once had for Charlie, were there too, but this time they weren’t tinged with disappointment and regret; they were only filled with a mix of excitement and anticipation, causing flutters in the top of her chest.
‘A couple of things,’ he said. ‘Tomorrow night, round at mine, seven o’clock for dinner? How does that sound?’
‘Sounds great,’ she said, swayed by his warm self-assurance, as though there could only be one possible answer to that question.
‘Good, I’m looking forward to it already. Secondly, Jon has asked me to drop this off today.’ Guy handed over a sealed brown envelope. ‘Apparently, he’ll be in later to collect it.’
‘Yes, he should be in soon,’ Isla said, weighing up the envelope in her hands.
What was inside? she wondered. There was only a couple of things it could possibly be.
A contract? An invoice? Whatever it was, she was certain it contained the important details on the future of the bookshop.
She looked at Guy’s grinning face, wondering if his obvious good mood was because he was on the brink of securing a big deal.
Did she actually know the first thing about this man?
Was he really as decent and likeable as he made himself out to be, or was he a ruthless, single-minded entrepreneur, out to make the most possible money and profit from one of his business dealings?
And could those two things ever be compatible?
‘What is it?’ she asked, unable to help herself, but also knowing that it had absolutely nothing to do with her. She held the envelope aloft by way of demonstration.
If Guy was taken aback by her question, then he didn’t show it. He paused for only the briefest moment.
‘I’m sure Jon will tell you all about it in the fullness of time.
’ He glanced at his watch. ‘Look, I’m sorry I can’t stay and chat for longer, but I do have another meeting to get to.
I’ll see you tomorrow. We can catch up then,’ he said, swooping out of the shop in the same way that he had swooped in, having ruffled all her feathers in every conceivable way.
Was Guy being deliberately evasive or did he really have to rush off to another appointment?
She ran her fingers around the edges of the envelope, trying to ascertain what was inside.
It was obviously the reason Jonathan and Miriam were taking her out for lunch today.
Not only as a thank you for her hard work over the last few weeks, but to break the news that they would be selling the bookshop that she, and so many others, loved so much.