Chapter 24
BONNIE
Faye and Margot were impressed with her painting when Bonnie showed them both.
They’d been late to come over today, having taken advantage of the dry weather by doing a circular walk along Lulworth Cove beach and then up and around West Lulworth village.
They’d stopped at an inn for lunch too, before heading back to their accommodations to read.
Bonnie had almost wished she’d said yes to the invitation to join them on the walk or for lunch, but she’d made her excuses.
She’d do it soon though, wouldn’t she? Howard would be so disappointed if she didn’t.
And yet, her feet kept her inside her cottage, within the walls that held so much comfort.
She might not have lived here all that long but it already felt like home and Howard’s presence was still around her with his books and his coats and shoes, and a couple of his flat caps.
‘It looks so real.’ Faye marvelled at the painting. ‘The hill looks as steep as it really is, the red telephone box library is there, and you’ve captured the bookshop perfectly. You’re a real artist, Bonnie.’
‘And you sound like you’re writing a review for the newspaper,’ said Bonnie.
‘She’s right,’ Margot said. ‘It’s brilliant. I wish I was so talented.’
Maybe it was better than she thought. And the bookshop really did look exactly like it was in real life. Which made her feel even worse for what she’d done a couple of hours ago.
That morning she’d finally made a call to the developer.
She’d just taken another call from Iris who was still fretting over the smallest of decisions and Bonnie felt terrible at leaving her to manage it all on her own.
And given she wasn’t going to work there herself to help Iris out, it seemed like the only option she had was to get going with a sale.
What she’d wanted, however, when she made the call was to merely check that the price the developer had offered Howard last time still stood.
Then she was going to think about it some more.
But they were persuasive; they’d steered the conversation so that before she knew it they were coming to the bookshop in the morning and would meet her or her assistant there and would certainly provide an up-to-date valuation.
That hadn’t been what Bonnie wanted at all.
But she’d made the call. So this was all her fault.
Had she made a terrible, terrible mistake?
‘Tell me how it went with the solicitor,’ said Bonnie to Margot, eager to put the bookshop out of her mind for now. She still hadn’t told Iris to expect a visitor tomorrow.
Margot let out a breath. ‘The wheels are in motion. It’s really happening.’
‘Good.’ Bonnie nodded firmly before she tidied away some of the paints she’d left on the table and a dry brush on the shelf of the easel.
She picked up the jar of water she’d rinsed off her brushes in and forgotten to empty earlier and when she looked up both women were huddled near the back door, their gazes fixed outside. ‘Whatever are you two whispering about?’
Faye’s head whipped round. ‘Nothing. We’re trying to see any of the same view from the photograph.’
Bonnie laughed as she waltzed away with the jar of water and called over her shoulder, ‘Best of luck with that when it’s dark.’
When she emerged, Faye and Margot were sitting at the table and, as previously agreed, they were looking over the menu for a Chinese takeaway a few miles away.
‘Have you checked they deliver?’ Bonnie used kitchen towel to dry the outside of the jar she’d had paint water in.
‘They deliver.’ Faye and Margot were running through suggestions and they all sounded delicious. Bonnie never minded cooking, in fact she liked hosting, but a takeaway this evening would be a real treat.
Once they’d placed the order, Bonnie got some plates ready, the cutlery, and some napkins. ‘I don’t think I’ve had Chinese food in months, possibly years.’
‘Hmm… spring rolls are my favourite,’ said Margot.
‘Crispy duck with plum sauce,’ said Faye.
‘Stop it, both of you, my mouth is watering.’ And she was laughing. It was a sound she’d forgotten all about, and yet it was beginning to come more naturally in recent days.
When there was a knock at the door some ten minutes later Bonnie got up. ‘Well, that was quick.’ And the girls must be hungry because they were lingering behind her as if ready to snatch the bags inside quickly to devour the food.
But it wasn’t the takeaway at all.
‘Iris… everything all right?’ It didn’t look like it. The woman seemed frazzled. Was this another worry about the bookshop? Or had the developer shown up already and dropped her in it for making the call?
‘I’m in a bind,’ said Iris, stood on the step with Midas at her side.
‘Come inside,’ Bonnie urged.
‘I won’t, but thank you. I just really need to get a move on.’
Bonnie reached a hand out to fuss Midas on the head. ‘Iris, tell me what’s happened.’ Sometimes the woman really could take her time to get to the point. But Bonnie felt relief that if this was about the developer she probably would’ve called rather than visited.
‘It’s my mother-in-law; she isn’t well and I really need to go to her. I think I’ll have to stay the night to make sure she’s okay, but I have Midas, and she’s in a flat. She isn’t allowed a dog.’
‘Okay, take a breath,’ said Bonnie. She’d have to get her a paper bag to breathe into in a minute if she didn’t calm down. ‘Where’s Theo?’
‘He’s away. And I’m looking after Midas.
’ She smiled at the girls who had stepped closer to hear what was going on.
‘There’s more… The bookshop is locked up at the front, but there’s a problem with the rear door.
It won’t lock. I’ve called a twenty-four-hour locksmith and he’ll come out as soon as he can, but I can’t leave it like that. ’
Faye picked up her coat and pushed one arm through a sleeve, then the other. ‘Leave it with us, Iris. We can migrate down to the bookshop. We’ll help you.’
‘We have takeaway coming,’ said Bonnie desperately. She didn’t want to walk down the hill. She didn’t want to be stopped and asked questions, looked at like she was a widow, the word that fitted but a word she couldn’t bear to say. And she definitely didn’t want to go anywhere near the bookshop.
‘Would you consider bringing the takeaway to the bookshop?’ Iris pleaded. She really did look stressed and Bonnie didn’t know what to do.
Except deep down she did. She couldn’t leave the bookshop unlocked.
She was the owner after all, now that Howard had gone.
And what if vandals broke in? What if they made a mess of it?
Destroyed the books and everything in their wake?
Oh, she couldn’t bear the thought of that.
Right now the developers were the least of her worries because Howard would’ve been so upset if something like that had ever happened.
‘The bookshop is my responsibility,’ said Bonnie, surprising herself as the words left her mouth. ‘It’s not for you to worry about, Iris. You go to your mother-in-law and we will deal with the shop and the locksmith.’
Margot took Midas’s lead. ‘And you can leave Midas with us. What are friends for?’
Iris thanked them all, handed the keys to the shop over to Bonnie, and reminded them that there were some treats for Midas in a bag back at the shop as well as a couple of his favourite chew toys.
Iris left and Faye offered to wait for the takeaway while the others went ahead, but the takeaway arrived as they were pulling on their coats.
‘We’ll need plates,’ said Faye and Bonnie found a few plus cutlery to put into a bag.
Bonnie was going through the motions, trying not to think about the enormity of setting foot inside the bookshop. Howard would want her to do this; he wouldn’t want his bookshop put at unnecessary risk with a door that wouldn’t lock. But that didn’t mean it was going to be easy.
‘Bonnie,’ Faye urged. ‘Come on, let’s go.’
But she couldn’t move. ‘I can’t.’
‘You can,’ said Margot. ‘We’re both with you.’
‘No, you don’t understand.’ She looked at them, these kind women, these friends Howard had brought into her life. ‘I called them.’
‘The locksmith?’ asked Faye, confused.
‘No… the developer.’
Margot’s face fell. ‘What did you tell them?’
‘They’re coming to do a valuation. In the morning. It was arranged before I could say what I really wanted.’
‘And what’s that?’ Faye asked.
‘I… I don’t know. I thought I’d find out if the valuation is the same.
Then take it from there.’ She didn’t miss the look of disappointment on Margot’s face, on Faye’s.
In the short time they’d been here they’d fallen in love with the bookshop as much as the locals had.
They had, after all, known just what it meant to Howard.
‘I’ve messed up.’ She slumped down on the stool by the phone. ‘What have I done?’
Margot crouched down and put her hands over Bonnie’s. ‘You haven’t done anything wrong. We all understand how hard this is for you. Now, one step at a time, eh?’
‘One step at a time,’ she repeated.
Margot got back up again and picked up the bag filled with eating paraphernalia. ‘Step one is to help Iris.’
‘Help Iris,’ Bonnie repeated. It felt like the only thing she could do.
Faye took the keys to the shop, Bonnie took Midas’s lead, and they all filed out of the cottage.
Midas nudged Bonnie’s hand with his head as she waited for Faye to close the gate behind them and, by her side, he escorted her down the hill into Driftwick Bay and towards the shop she hadn’t set foot in since her husband died.
When they arrived at the bookshop the lighting was down low and Bonnie stayed on the pavement with Midas while Faye opened up.
She could do this. She could step over the threshold.
And now she was no longer thinking about it or worrying because Midas had taken the decision out of her hands and was leading the way.