Chapter Forty-Three
Erin and Jack were the first to arrive at The Bookmark on the day that everything was due to change.
She could hardly believe how quickly things had moved over the last three months.
Fengrove was keen on a quick sale and the builders who’d done a brilliant job on Bella and Sophia’s house renovation had a free slot, so Erin decided to take the plunge before she had a chance to change her mind.
Joe’s house had sold quickly, and his offer had been accepted on the flat in Dartmouth Grove, so everything was falling into place.
Now, though, feelings of nostalgia made Erin’s certainty waver.
She put her hand on the lid of the old Panasonic record player.
‘What do you think Grandma would make of all this?’
‘I think she’d be excited for you.’ Jack joined her and put an arm around her shoulder.
‘You don’t think she’d say I was taking too big a risk?’
‘Grandma?’
Erin laughed ‘Good point. She didn’t mind a bit of risk, did she?’
‘Nope. And I think she’d be so proud of how hard you’ve worked.
You didn’t give up when things got tough, did you?
’ He squeezed her to him. ‘You stuck it to the man, and came out on top. I’m proud of you.
’ A buzz came from his pocket and he let her go, pulled out his phone and tapped on the screen. His eyes widened.
‘What is it?’ said Erin. Jack glanced up, red dots appearing on his cheeks. He was either frightened or excited, and Erin urgently needed to know which. ‘Is something wrong?’
‘No.’ He turned the screen to face her. ‘I’ve been asked to go up to Salford for an interview at Media City.’
‘No way?’ Erin took the phone from him and read it for herself. ‘Oh, Jack. This is the dream!’ When she looked up, he was biting his bottom lip. ‘It is the dream, isn’t it?’
He nodded slowly. ‘It is … but …’ He looked around the room, then back at her. ‘If I get it, will you be okay? You’ve got a lot going on here.’
‘Oh, love.’ She took his hand. ‘I know I said before that I don’t want you to factor me in when you’re making decisions about your future, but now I really, really mean it.’
‘Yeah, I got the impression you might have been putting on a brave face when you said it before.’
‘I should never have made you feel like that. I’m so sorry.
I did mean it, in my mind at least. It just took my heart a while to catch up.
But everything that’s happened in the last few months has shown me that I’m stronger than I thought.
And even if I have a wobble, there’s other people around to shore me up.
That’s not your job. Your job is to spread your wings and fly. ’
Jack paused, then nodded again. ‘You are strong enough, Mum. I’m in awe of you.’ He glanced around the room. ‘If I get the job, I’ll miss out on all the cool stuff happening here.’
Erin shrugged. ‘Your choice. Take your first step on the ladder to becoming a TV producer, or wipe up mashed banana in Kiddies Corner for the rest of your life.’
‘When you put it like that.’ Jack laughed. ‘I know you’re just trying to make me feel better, but this place is going to be incredible.’
She smiled. ‘It is, isn’t it? And it will be a lovely place for you to hang out when you’re visiting home.’
She felt at peace when she imagined Jack, home for the weekend, sipping a coffee in the new space. At last, she was ready to accept her son needed to make a life for himself away from her nest. They were in each other’s hearts, and that was the thing that mattered.
She lifted the lid of the turntable. Her mother was in her heart too, not in a building, or an old record player.
She did want to hear something that reminded her of the times they’d spent together in The Bookmark, though, so she left Jack’s arms and bent down to open the cupboard.
She found Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue and showed the cover to Jack, who stuck out his bottom lip and nodded.
He knew what it meant. Of course he did.
Soon the strains of ‘So What’ filled the air.
Susan was the first of the helpers to arrive. She wore a green and white handkerchief tied around her hair like a fifties housewife about to tackle the dusting. ‘Très chic,’ said Erin. ‘I’ve never seen you with anything other than a neat bob. I like this look.’
Susan patted the handkerchief in the same way she often patted her hair. ‘I wear this when I’m working on my perfumes. You don’t want hair getting in the potions.’
‘How’s all that coming along?’ asked Jack.
Lifting her sleeve, Susan approached. ‘I’m devising a more masculine scent. What do you think of this?’
Jack sniffed her wrist. ‘Nice.’ He breathed in again. ‘Very nice. I wouldn’t mind a splash of that myself.’
She offered her wrist to Erin, who breathed in with her eyes closed. ‘That’s gorgeous. I’m getting …’ She waved her hands, trying to find the right words. ‘Woody and spicy things.’
‘Very good.’ Susan grinned. ‘It’s pepper, cedarwood, and a touch of patchouli.’ She rolled her sleeve back down and turned to view the room. ‘You sure we need to dismantle everything?’
‘That’s what the builder said. It’s going to get messy when they knock through, and since the bookshelves are going to be a massive feature, spanning the whole back wall, not just this room, we need to box them all up.
’ However sentimental she felt about the café as it stood, she was more excited about what was on its way.
There were plans for a raised area for live music and spoken word performances, and a long table along the furthest wall for art and other workshops.
She’d already ordered more highchairs for mother and baby groups to congregate and been in touch with the silent book group Gavin had told her about.
Instead of feeling terrified by the changes, she tingled with the thrill of all the possibilities.
Adam arrived, his face beaming when he came through the door.
They’d both agreed to take their relationship slowly and he’d stayed at her flat for the first time last night.
They hadn’t planned it, but after they had dinner at C?te, he’d walked her home, and she found herself inviting him in.
Waking beside him this morning felt like the most natural thing in the world.
He’d popped home for a shower before coming here to help, and her heart still gave a little bounce in her chest at the sight of him.
‘Where do you want us to start?’ he said, when the others had all arrived and caught up over coffee and tea.
‘The books, I think,’ said Erin. They all turned to face the wall of shelves.
‘We’ll have to do the high shelves as a tag team.
Adam, you go up the ladder and pass them down.
Joe, you stack them in the boxes at the bottom.
Susan, Mercy, and Hafsa, you do the middle, Riley and I will do the lower ones.
’ She picked Tybalt up from the floor. ‘Sorry pal, you’ll have to sit this one out.
We don’t want to drop anything on you, and I know you’d make it your mission to trip us up.
’ When she shut the door with him on the other side, he looked up at her with disdain before flicking his tail and stalking away.
It took longer to pack the books than it should because they couldn’t stop themselves from exclaiming when they found a novel they’d once loved and sharing it with the group.
‘Take it,’ said Erin, when Mercy found a dusty copy of Thomas Mann’s novella, Death in Venice. ‘It probably came from the library anyway.’
Mercy opened the cover and pointed to the label covered with stamps. ‘Ha. You’re right, it did.’ She held it to her heart. ‘Little did I know, when I brought this here, that the next time I would see it I would soon be on my way to see Venice for myself.’
‘I love Venice,’ said Adam. ‘Of all the countries I’ve been to, Italy is my favourite.’ He viewed Erin from where he was perched on the ladder. ‘We should go.’
Erin grinned, hardly able to contain her delight.
She didn’t have the same trepidation she usually felt when someone suggested something daring or spontaneous.
And, anyway, a trip to Venice with a man she cared for and trusted was neither of those things.
‘We should. Maybe in the spring when things are settled here?’
‘Cool. It’s a plan.’ Adam passed down books to Joe and Jack, as if what he’d said wasn’t even a big deal.
It was a big deal to Erin. It was all a very big deal and, despite a natural undercurrent of nerves, she couldn’t be happier.
She never went abroad. It wasn’t only that she didn’t have the money, or that her overthinking stopped her.
In all the time she’d run The Bookmark, she’d needed to pay for cover for even a day off, so she rarely took one.
Now, if the business plans she’d devised worked out, and with the cushion of the money from Joe, she’d be able to give Riley as many hours as she wanted, and maybe even employ another member of staff.
She might even work five days a week herself instead of seven, and the thought of spending her time off with Adam in Italy made her dizzy with excitement.
She tried to keep all the positive emotions front and centre, but when the last of the boxes was stacked against the wall and covered in dust sheets, her heart contracted. They all stood, dusty and tired, gazing around the cleared room.
‘I suppose that’s it, then,’ said Susan. ‘The end of The Bookmark as we know it. Time for bigger and better things.’