Chapter 17
FAYE
‘Good afternoon!’ Iris trilled the second they went inside the bookshop. She swiftly passed them, a cloth and a bottle of spray cleaner in her hand. She went outside, sprayed the glass, gave it a good old wipe and came back inside very quickly. For some reason she’d only cleaned the lowest panels.
Faye assumed she’d been staring because Iris confided, ‘I like to be discreet. Kids press their noses against the glass so I nip out and give it a good clean at least twice a day. Howard was a stickler for keeping this place shipshape.’
Margot looked around. ‘The window and the lighting make it magical in here. I get why kids are drawn to it. And all the big picture books over there in the story corner look wonderful.’
‘Well, thank you for saying something so kind,’ said Iris. ‘I only hope I’m doing it justice, you know, since Howard…’
‘Of course you are,’ said Faye.
‘Well don’t either of you go pressing your noses against the glass.’ Iris wagged her finger in warning but added a big laugh for good measure. She had a friendly warmth and patted the super high bun on top of her head to ensure it was still in place.
Faye introduced Margot to Iris. ‘She’s a member of the Midnight Book Club. She knew Howard too.’
‘Oh, then it’s even lovelier to meet you,’ said Iris. ‘And welcome to Driftwick Bay.’ She excused herself to go over and help a man who was in the section dedicated to thrillers. Faye had noticed him when she came in because he kept looking over as if he wasn’t sure what he was doing.
When the door to the bookshop opened a couple of minutes after their arrival Faye wasn’t sorry to see Theo coming inside. And when he smiled her way she felt the same flutter she’d had when they bumped into each other on the beach.
She focused on Midas instead, who must have been in his basket behind the counter but emerged at the sight of his owner. It was easier to focus on the dog than look at Theo although he was busy anyway ushering a group of children inside.
There had to be at least ten kids here and they obviously all knew Midas because after Theo greeted his loyal pet, little hands reached out to the dog, who let them stroke his coat, around his ears, give him cuddles.
‘You’re a teacher,’ she said to Theo after Iris had said hello to her son and he’d instructed the kids that they must be quiet and well behaved and they were to go over to the story corner.
‘I sure am. I work at the local primary school.’
‘How old are this lot?’
‘Mostly six-year-olds; some of them have turned seven.’
Faye could imagine him in front of a class, especially a class in this age group.
He had a way about him, a patience and a kindness.
It felt, even though she didn’t know him, that he might want to make a difference for people who needed it.
It wasn’t something Faye had known before, certainly not with Brad.
A cute little girl with red hair in plaits came to Theo’s side and tugged on his arm, but when Midas trotted back to the story corner with her it was clear it was the dog she really wanted.
Theo explained, ‘That was Amelia. She won’t read out loud to anyone but Midas.’ He gently reprimanded two overexcited little boys running circles around a book stand.
‘She reads to a dog?’ Faye asked quietly.
‘Give them a minute to settle, but you’ll see.’ And then he was back to his job.
Faye looked around for Margot and spotted her standing in the self-help section. Faye wouldn’t mind betting she was looking forward to reinventing herself after being trapped in a marriage for so long, playing the role of wife and mother with little else in the way of friends or closeness.
She turned back to watch Theo with the kids and indeed, there was Midas lying next to Amelia who had opened up a book on her lap and was reading.
Iris leaned in and confided, ‘Amelia is one of many children who don’t like to read out loud to a class or to their peers. It sounds strange but dogs don’t judge, they sit and listen, they won’t make fun.’
‘How long has Midas been a therapy dog?’
‘For a few years now. My daughter has special needs and her therapy dog, Roxie, was a godsend for her. Theo already had Midas and when he saw how Beth was helped with Roxie by her side, he decided that Midas might be a good candidate to go through the training. He passed with flying colours of course, then started working at the school some days and here on others.’
‘He seems really content,’ said Faye, her focus at the back of the shop.
‘Midas or Theo?’ Iris asked.
Faye turned to see the light layer of amusement on Theo’s mum’s face. She only hoped she wasn’t blushing. ‘Midas, of course.’
‘Well, I wasn’t sure.’
Iris went off to sweep the floor by the entrance and Faye watched Amelia close her book and join the group of children on the rug. She realised she might be staring a little bit too much, so gave Theo a nod and went over to Margot who was engrossed in a book about changing your career.
‘Find anything you like?’ Faye asked her.
‘I can’t seem to narrow down a choice.’ She put the title she had hold of back and looked over at the group of children. ‘Aren’t they cute?’
‘Very.’ Faye picked up a book near the window and noticed the same man who had been in the thriller section earlier peering in through the window. He didn’t seem to be looking at the books, but at her.
She turned away, uneasy.
‘Watching these children reminds me of when the boys were really little,’ Margot shared. ‘When Sebastian was at school, I’d go in to hear him and other kids read. I did the same with Alistair too. I really enjoyed it.’
‘Why don’t you try teaching?’ Faye suggested.
‘I don’t really think it’s me.’
‘You never know.’
Margot’s lips twisted in thought. ‘I suppose I should keep an open mind.’
Faye looked across at the window again but the man who had been staring must have moved on elsewhere.
Iris interrupted them briefly. ‘Have you two been to see Bonnie again?’
‘We have,’ said Faye. ‘But no luck getting her to talk, I’m afraid. She came to the door, but she quickly made her excuses to get rid of us.’
Iris frowned. ‘She was always so jolly and friendly. I know she’s not going to just spring back to normal, but I worry she’s closing herself off.’ She paused, lowered her voice. ‘And I think she’s going to sell the shop.’
Margot shook her head. ‘Not to the developer.’
‘You know about that?’
Faye explained how close they were in the Midnight Book Club and that chat often centred around a lot more than books. ‘He kept batting them away,’ she said, ‘but they just wouldn’t give up.’
‘They’re not hassling Bonnie at home, are they?’ Margot wondered.
‘I wouldn’t think so. I expect she has the correspondence they’ve previously left for Howard. As far as I know they never turned up at the cottage.’
‘Let’s hope they don’t do that,’ said Margot. ‘I mean, that’s the last thing she needs.’
Iris confided, ‘I really think she’ll sell. She’s not thinking clearly at the moment. She knows what the bookshop means to this town.’
‘She’s in survival mode,’ said Margot.
Iris sighed. ‘I know, and it makes me feel really bad for thinking about myself.’
Faye sympathised. ‘Howard always said you loved working here and he enjoyed your company. Try not to panic, perhaps Bonnie will change her mind.’ Although books had never been Bonnie’s thing so maybe this town really was about to lose their beloved bookshop after all.
‘She might feel differently when she comes in here,’ Margot suggested.
‘Oh no,’ said Iris. ‘Bonnie told me when she closed the bookshop after Howard died that she didn’t ever want to set foot in here again or even think about it.
I don’t think there’s any chance of getting her to come down here before she makes the decision to sell.
’ She shook her head. ‘I sound like I only care about the bookshop but I’m concerned about her too.
She needs people around her but nobody has bumped into her in the street, a few people have seen her but she scurries away from the bakery or wherever she’s nipped out to.
She seems to go right back and hide at the cottage without seeing or speaking to a soul. ’
‘Why don’t we try visiting Bonnie again tomorrow,’ Margot suggested to Iris. ‘I’m not sure there’s anything we can do if she’s made her mind up to sell the bookshop, but at least we might be able to check whether she’s all right.’
‘Oh, would you? I don’t want to be too much of a nuisance.’ Iris explained, ‘I’ve called her enough times already to ask her questions about this place.’
Margot and Faye left the bookshop but not before Faye turned again to wave over at Theo who seemed very aware that she was leaving and gave her a nod and a smile.
‘Bit of interest there,’ said Margot as the door closed behind them.
‘Sorry?’
‘Theo. He was undressing you with his eyes.’
The comment sounded so out of character for her new friend that it made Faye laugh. ‘He’s with a bunch of kids, teaching them. I’m sure that me and my state of dress were the last things on his mind.’
‘I don’t know,’ said Margot, enjoying this. But then her teasing faded. ‘Do you really think Bonnie will sell to the developer?’
‘It sounds like she wants nothing to do with the bookshop,’ said Faye. ‘We have to respect that, but Howard would hate it, wouldn’t he?’
‘He never wanted them to get their hands on it.’
‘Perhaps she could wait, find a buyer who’ll take it on and keep it the way it is,’ said Faye.
‘Sometimes you just want things to end. And it seems like there’s an easy way out for her with the developer. It’ll be a done deal, over with quickly, and she can move on.’
‘But she belongs here. Howard said they both did, that since they came to Driftwick Bay it felt hard to imagine either of them ever being anywhere else.’