Chapter 18 #2
‘Miriam worked with Howard in the civil service. When he retired she knew that he and I planned to travel one day when I stopped working, so she bought him that for inspiration.’ Bonnie rolled her eyes.
‘I’m not quite sure what she thought we would be doing – I haven’t read it but by the sounds of it, I’m lucky he wasn’t so inspired that I ended up long-distance hiking and sleeping under canvas. ’
Faye’s laughter filled the walls of the cottage and it was so delightful Bonnie found herself feeling happier than she had in a long while.
Faye told her, ‘I’ll take care of the book and put it back in the telephone box when I’ve finished. Someone else can enjoy it then.’
‘Howard would’ve liked that. He was of the view that libraries of any kind lead you to find some of the most interesting titles around, books you’d never think to read.’
‘I’m inclined to agree with him,’ said Faye.
A warmth settled inside her. ‘Howard told me that reading what you and some of the other members recommended made him feel younger.’
‘He said that?’
‘I believe he even used the word “hip”.’ She chuckled.
‘He was very hip in his pyjamas each week.’
That had Bonnie laughing even more until a knock at the door interrupted them. ‘You finish your tea; I’ll get that.’
She stood back to let Margot, who was holding what had to be Faye’s bike helmet, in, out of the cold.
‘I’ll let Faye explain,’ she said as Margot wiped her feet on the mat.
And feeling lost as to what else to do she offered Margot a cup of tea after she pointed her in the direction of the back room.
She’d trapped herself now. They’d at least be here until Margot finished her drink. But was she a tiny bit glad about that?
When she took the tea through Faye was assuring Margot that she was all right, that the man had called her names but nothing else.
‘You need to call the police.’ Margot looked at Bonnie as if to suggest she should’ve thought of that.
Bonnie held up her hands in defence. ‘She didn’t want to. I did say that she should.’
Margot pulled over the stool to sit next to the chair where Faye was resting comfortably and Bonnie sat on the desk chair. ‘Why wouldn’t you want to, Faye? That man could’ve hurt you.’
‘He just wanted to say his piece,’ said Faye.
‘Which was what exactly?’ said Margot. ‘It makes no sense.’
‘Something happened in Australia.’ She looked down into her lap.
‘Something other than the break-up?’ Margot prompted.
‘Break-up?’ Bonnie enquired, suddenly wanting to know more.
Margot briefly recapped on the fiancé, Brad, and the broken engagement.
Faye found her voice. ‘What happened was the main driver to me coming here. My sister, Steph, was involved in a scandal involving a married politician. It was all over the news, on social media. People talked about it in the street. I’ve been shouted at and called names ever since, asked questions, expected to answer to everyone, it seems.’
‘But why?’ said Margot. ‘Why are people hounding you?’
‘Because they want a story. And because I’m her twin sister. And that complicates things.’
‘You have a twin?’ Bonnie asked.
‘An identical twin,’ said Faye. She harrumphed. ‘I left Australia and came here to get away. I thought I had. That man took me totally by surprise.’
‘He thought you were her,’ said Margot.
‘Yes.’
‘It sounds like a nightmare for you.’ Bonnie wondered whether Faye realised she was shaking, and she pulled a blanket from the sideboard to put over her lap.
‘It’s been really horrible.’ And then Faye’s shaking turned to sobs, uncontrollable crying that close to broke Bonnie’s heart. It must be the shock as well as everything else.
Bonnie found the box of tissues; Margot wrapped Faye in a hug.
‘I didn’t do anything and yet I’m being punished.’ Faye dabbed at the tears beneath her eyes. ‘It’s the reason the Australians left the book club.’
Margot put her hand over Faye’s. ‘Is that really why?’
‘Most of them I knew personally. Two emailed me and said they didn’t want their names to appear anywhere online alongside mine.
I mean, that wouldn’t even happen. I had another email with an excuse not to attend for the first couple of sessions, then she just fell away. Even those I thought were friends.’
‘I’m confused,’ said Bonnie. ‘What does any of this have to do with your broken engagement?’
Faye explained that Brad, her ex-fiancé, was the son of the politician involved.
‘Well, that makes more sense,’ said Bonnie. ‘But he must have faced the same flak as you did.’
Faye looked up at her wide-eyed. ‘He buggered off to Tassie – Tasmania – as soon as the scandal broke. He said it was to be with family.’
‘He left you to deal with it alone?’ Bonnie exchanged a look with Margot. ‘Well, it sounds like it was better to break the engagement before you got married.’
Faye still looked shaken. ‘That man who chased after me… I can’t bear the thought that he’s hanging around the bay and might confront me again.’
‘Hopefully my threat of the police has scared him off,’ said Bonnie. ‘We can still call them. It might be wise.’
‘Not yet.’ But she added, ‘If he ever shows his face again then I promise I will.’
‘Fair enough.’ In Bonnie’s days as a district nurse she had seen her fair share of women like Faye who were innocent victims but didn’t want to cause trouble by reporting anything to the authorities. It was wrong to be afraid to do so but she understood why it was so hard.
Margot took out her phone. ‘I’ll call a taxi. Let’s get you back to the caravan.’
‘Actually, I’ll need to go to my dad’s,’ said Faye.
‘I’ll stay with him tonight. Bonnie says it’s wise in case I have a concussion.
I’ll pay for the taxi fares. The driver can drop me and then take you back to your accommodation.
I just didn’t want to be in a taxi alone or have my dad panic and worry.
This way I get to tell Dad about what happened face to face and he’ll see that I’m okay. ’
‘Sounds like a good plan,’ said Margot before making the call.
Bonnie thought she might have asked why Bonnie herself couldn’t have gone in the taxi with Faye, but thankfully she didn’t.
With the taxi ten minutes away Margot got up and finished her tea while she perused the bookshelves at Bonnie’s suggestion. These women knew her husband; they shared his love of books.
‘I wish we could’ve met Howard in person,’ said Margot. ‘I’m so sorry for your loss, Bonnie.’
‘Thank you.’
‘He was so kind and always had time for everyone.’ Margot’s fondness was evident. ‘And his bookshop is beautiful. We’ve both spent time in there; it’s lovely.’
Bonnie stiffened at the mention of Driftwick Bay Books. ‘Howard loved that place.’
‘He did,’ said Faye. ‘I still remember when he was toying with the idea of buying it.’ She beamed a smile Bonnie’s way. ‘He was like a big kid discovering treasure when he picked up the keys.’
‘I remember,’ said Bonnie, basking in this particular memory rather than trying to push it away. ‘We thought he was done with work, and then he just got this new lease of life when he took on the shop.’
‘He never looked back, did he?’ said Margot.
‘No,’ said Bonnie almost to herself. ‘He never did.’ And now here she was with the developer’s contact details still in the letter rack.
She’d picked up the phone that morning to call them, to get the ball rolling, but before she dialled the entire number she put the phone down again.
Something stopped her; she just didn’t know what.
‘My Howard loved the Midnight Book Club. You both brought him a lot of happiness with that,’ she told the women who up until now she hadn’t had time for.
She felt ashamed for ignoring the door, being so rude.
She could see why Howard had gelled with them both.
They seemed genuine, they weren’t over the top, there was a friendliness without being too intrusive.
‘He brought us plenty of happiness too,’ said Margot. ‘You know at one book club session Howard got into a real heated discussion about banned books.’
Faye’s eyes widened. ‘I remember that.’
‘My Howard had some very clear views on banned books.’ Bonnie could well imagine him participating in a fiery conversation on the topic. ‘He said that as soon as he heard a book was banned from libraries it sparked his curiosity and he had to get his hands on it.’
Faye recalled the argument with another member. ‘This other lady thought that books should be policed. She was adamant that parents should accompany their children to a library and heavily monitor what they chose.’
‘Well, where’s the fun in that?’ Bonnie asked, getting into the conversation. This was the most alive she’d felt in weeks.
‘Exactly!’ Faye laughed. ‘Howard said she had a funny idea about reading. The whole point, he said, was for your imagination to run wild, for you to experience a book your way, and part of that was choosing a book in the first place.’
It sounded so much like Howard that Bonnie felt a tug at her emotions all over again. Sitting here with these women as they talked about her husband was hard in some ways and in others she needed it.
And there was more. Margot asked, ‘Do you remember when someone chose Fifty Shades of Grey as the read of the week?’
Faye looked at Bonnie. ‘Your Howard read it.’
‘I remember!’ Bonnie said. Howard had been shocked at a lot of it, but read it just the same.
He’d told her he wouldn’t be trying to persuade her to read it either because it might give her very weird ideas.
‘He told me that Christian Grey should be locked up. He did!’ Bonnie could still remember his vehemence.
‘Oh, he was so entertaining, Bonnie.’ Faye’s cheeks were red from the laughter.
Margot noticed the time and picked up the two empty mugs. ‘The taxi will be here any minute. I’ll pop these in the kitchen.’
Faye put her hoodie back on and picked up her backpack and bicycle helmet as they made their way to the door.
Before they could even step over the threshold, Bonnie found herself asking, ‘Will you two come back?’
‘I’ll need to come back and get my bike,’ said Faye.
She would, and rather than be annoyed by the intrusion, Bonnie was rather looking forward to it. ‘Would you come too, Margot?’
Margot gave her a winning smile. ‘I would really like that.’
‘Does tomorrow afternoon suit you both?’ Bonnie said it so quickly she hoped it sounded less desperate to their ears than her own.
‘That sounds perfect,’ said Margot with Faye readily agreeing.
The taxi came, the girls left, and when Bonnie closed the front door and locked up, she felt as though she might just have taken a very big leap back into the world.
And she went into her bedroom, picked up the framed photograph of her and Howard taken in the sunshine on their travels, and told him, ‘If I believed it was possible, I’d say you sent me these women for a reason, Howard.’
Maybe in a way that was exactly what he’d managed to do.