Chapter Six
A S PROMISED , C HLOE sent Hannah a message, saying how glad she was that they had run into each other and that they should spend some time together soon. That was how she found herself in Wellbridge’s town centre on a breezy Tuesday morning, waiting in front of the post office.
Hannah bounded over not long after, her hair in a high ponytail. How was it that she could look the same even though seven years had passed? When they were teenagers, twenty-six-year-olds had seemed so mature and put-together. But nothing had really changed.
Chloe smiled as she returned her hug. ‘Right, now I don’t have to make coffee all day, I can actually catch up with you properly,’ said Hannah. ‘Shall we go do some shopping?’
‘Sure.’
There were a few high street shops in the little town centre, and Chloe and Hannah browsed clothes as they caught up with each other and the seven years they had missed. Chloe told her about moving to Sheffield and working in marketing after she had finished university.
‘Do you miss it?’ Hannah asked, moving along shirts on racks.
‘The city, yes. Marketing, not so much.’ The job had had little to do with her degree in linguistics and more with the rising rent prices. ‘I moved here after . . .’ She trailed off, realising with dismay that she hadn’t told Hannah about her parents.
Hannah must have noticed the look on her face because she abandoned the rack of clothes, giving her a look of sympathy. ‘I heard about what happened,’ she said softly.
‘You did?’ Tears burned in Chloe’s eyes and she quickly blinked them away. ‘How?’
Hannah hesitated. ‘Well, Gwen posted about it. On Facebook.’
Right. Chloe turned away, pretending to be interested in some skirts.
She didn’t know why it bothered her so much that Gwen posted about Mum and Dad on her Facebook page.
She had every right to do so. Maybe it was because on her Instagram, she was painting herself as a fabulously wealthy and happy sugar baby, with no mention of them at all.
She hadn’t even made it to the funeral. She had asked Chloe to move the event a few days later to give her time to come back from Fiji, but Chloe had reminded her that the world didn’t revolve around her. They hadn’t spoken since then.
‘Should I have unfriended her?’ asked Hannah, sounding alarmed.
‘No, no.’ Chloe wiped her eyes, glad she wasn’t wearing mascara. ‘It’s nothing like that. I’m glad you know, actually.’ It would skip the painful process of telling Hannah herself, anyway.
Hannah hugged her. ‘I’m so sorry about what happened. It’s awful. I can’t imagine.’
Chloe held her until Hannah pulled away. She forced a smile, not wanting to get lost in memories of Mum and Dad in this bright clothing store. ‘Thanks. Tell me about you. What have you been up to?’
Hannah hesitated. ‘Well, I have a daughter now. She’s almost four.’
Chloe tried not to show her surprise, though she supposed they were at the age now when they were starting to have kids. Even if it did still feel like a far-off possibility for Chloe.
‘Wow, that’s great,’ she said. Hannah had always been the one who said she didn’t want kids and would never have kids, though she supposed people changed their minds. ‘What’s her name?’
Hannah gave a fond smile. ‘Lily.’
She glanced at Hannah’s left hand. ‘I didn’t know you were . . .’ She trailed off as Hannah shook her head, looking like she had just swallowed something sour. There was no ring on her finger, and Chloe cringed at herself inwardly.
‘He’s an idiot. Sees her on weekends, but . . . it just didn’t work out.’ She scoffed. ‘I wouldn’t trade her for the world, though. I can’t wait for you to meet her.’
‘That’ll be nice,’ said Chloe. ‘Though, um, you should know I’m not really planning to stay long.’ She told her about moving into her parents’ house after the funeral.
‘Oh, Chloe. It must be so tough living in your house where they . . . That’s . . . I’m so sorry.’
She let Hannah hug her again, her empathy bringing fresh tears to her eyes. ‘It’s all right,’ she reassured her. ‘I mean, it’s not, but it is what it is. I came here temporarily, but I’ll move on as soon as I’ve saved up some money. There are too many bad memories here, you know.’
‘Not all bad, I hope.’ Hannah sniffled.
Chloe nudged her. ‘You were my best friend in school. I promise we’ll stay in touch more.’
‘Well, come and meet Lily before you leave. We could even visit this library of yours. Where are you going to go after this? Back to Sheffield?’
Chloe thought about it, barely seeing the clothes she was half-heartedly rifling through.
‘Maybe back there again, yeah. It’s a nice city, and I could probably get my old job back.
’ She didn’t add that nothing would ever beat working in the library.
Especially now. Standing here in the store, pop music playing in the background, her encounters with book characters seemed far-off, almost fictional.
‘I don’t think I could ever leave Wellbridge,’ Hannah remarked. She had picked up a T-shirt for her daughter, and Chloe joined her at the till. ‘Visiting other places is nice, but this will always be home.’
‘Really?’ said Chloe, amused. She herself hadn’t lived in that many places – Manchester for university, then Sheffield afterwards.
She always chose big cities with lots of people, opportunities for anonymity.
If things went south with someone, you could move on without risking bumping into them at every turn.
‘What about gossip? In small towns like these, everyone seems to be in each other’s business all the time. ’
Hannah shrugged. ‘All my neighbours helped out when I had Lily. You don’t get that in a city.’
‘No,’ said Chloe as Hannah paid for her daughter’s shirt. ‘I suppose you don’t.’
It was a week later when the man who had insulted one of her favourite books and dog-eared the page turned up at the library again.
When Chloe heard the door open, she straightened, glad for a chance to be away from the computer.
The stool always made her back ache after a while.
The smile slipped off her face, however, when she saw who it was.
His sarcastic ‘ I didn’t realise we weren’t allowed to open them ’ still hadn’t left her mind.
Still, she was a professional. ‘Hello.’
‘Hi.’ He shrugged off his jacket. ‘It’s cold out there today.’
Chloe turned to the shelf behind her so he wouldn’t see her rolling her eyes. She was well aware that October in Derbyshire could be frigid. She had walked here from her house this morning.
‘I finished that book.’ The man brought out the paperback from his satchel, holding it up. ‘It was good, actually. I was wondering if you have the second one.’
Don’t sound so surprised , she thought. Aloud, she said, ‘Let me check for you.’
She ascended the spiral staircase to the fantasy section. None of the books had glowed for the past several days, and today was the same. Her eyes scanned the shelves, searching for the series she was sure she had re-organised here just a week or two ago.
‘The second one is here somewhere,’ she said. She hadn’t read them herself, but her mother had had the first few on her bookshelves.
The man had followed her, and he placed the book he was returning on a random shelf beside him. It made her jaw clench. Didn’t he know there was a return bin? Was he an idiot, or being annoying on purpose?
‘Can you hurry up?’ he called after her. ‘I’ve got work to do.’
She turned from him back to the shelf, wondering whether it would be worth getting sacked to just throw the nearest book at his head. But as she glanced up, the book she was looking for – the second in the series he was reading – was right in front of her, several inches from her hand.
Strange. She could have sworn she’d just looked in that spot. Perhaps she simply hadn’t looked properly before.
She took it off its shelf and passed it to the visitor. She couldn’t keep the sarcasm from her tone when she snapped, ‘There. So sorry to keep you waiting.’
At her tone, his lips moved as though he wanted to smirk, but he didn’t. ‘Cheers.’ When he made for the spiral staircase, Chloe discreetly took the book he had set down and tucked it under her arm. She would have to smooth out the dog-ear creases once he was gone.
‘Do you have the whole series?’ he turned around and asked when he was at the top of the stairs, glancing back at her.
‘I thought you were in a hurry?’ she said, folding her arms.
He arched an eyebrow. ‘Well, do you?’
‘I can check,’ she said. ‘If not, we can always order them in. Can’t tell you when they’ll arrive, though.’ She bit back a remark about checking at a bookshop or online. The library needed all the visitors it could get, even the rude ones.
‘Okay.’ He looked down at the book. ‘Sometimes it feels like books are the only escape, you know?’
His words took her aback. Chloe did know. More than he could ever understand. ‘Yeah, I know what you mean.’
It didn’t seem like he had even heard her. He grunted and trudged down the spiral staircase, his heavy boot steps echoing around the floor.
‘I’ll sign it out.’ With his broad back to her, Chloe glared at the back of his head. Who knew a book lover could be so . . . ugh?
Down at reception, Chloe scanned his library card.
She wondered if he had moved from Newcastle as a child or as an adult, whether they went to the same school when they were teenagers, but she didn’t ask.
She probably would have remembered such a grump, and besides, why did it matter?
Hopefully he’d find the series in a book sale or something and this was the last they’d see of each other.
While she was stamping the book, the man’s phone rang. ‘Harry here.’
When Chloe held the book to him, he took it and left without another word. ‘Yeah. I’m on my way. Aye, that’s canny. Tell them . . .’
The large doors closed behind him and his voice faded. ‘See you, then,’ Chloe muttered beneath her breath. She hoped someone else would be manning the desk next time this Harry walked in.
She supposed she would have to check if they had the rest of the books in stock, but right now she couldn’t be bothered.
Later, when she was coming back from using the bathroom, a piece of paper caught Chloe’s eye. Frowning, she opened it to see a heart drawn in black ink. Beside it was a smiley face.
Who left this here? she thought, a bit annoyed, and threw it in the bin.
It was nearing noon when she was doing some paperwork and felt something tickle her nose. Dust, maybe. The familiar sensation rose, and as she was about to sneeze, she spotted something on the desk right by her hand. A box of tissues, one peeking out and ready to grab.
Chloe ripped it from the box and sneezed into it.
‘Bless you,’ said Eric, a new pile of books in his arms as he approached. ‘I just came in for my shift, if you’d like to take your lunch break.’
He must have grabbed the tissues while she was upstairs. She could have sworn they weren’t there a moment ago, though.
Shaking herself, Chloe thanked Eric and went out for her lunch, wondering whether Hannah was working today at the café.
She wasn’t, but as Chloe waited in line, she looked at all the cakes and pastries they had available.
They all looked delicious, and she loved the cosy warmth of this little place.
Acoustic music filled the space and customers sat in couples or alone at tables, talking and sipping coffee.
One man frowned at his laptop, a steaming black coffee beside him.
A woman and her small son ate French toast together.
Outside, a man was parked, leaning out of his window to banter with a man he’d been driving past. A small smile reached Chloe’s face as she passed them, catching snippets of what must have been private jokes. They laughed like old friends, then waved cheerfully to each other as they parted ways.
You don’t get that in a city.