Chapter 27
T he next day Daisy had had a long conversation with Miles about his mum and how it was all going to pan out.
He’d sounded much better but overall nothing much had changed apart from the stitches on his mum’s head had got infected and his brother was being a pain.
The front doorbell gave a little bit of a jingle and a half-clunk as someone came into the bookshop.
Daisy looked up from behind the counter to see Lotta breezing in, her hair up in a slightly chaotic bun, an oversized scarf looped three times around her neck, huge sunglasses and a canvas bookbag with “ALWAYS READING” across the front.
Lotta smiled and walked straight up to the counter.
‘Oh, my word, it smells amazing in here, Daise. I love that smell. If only we could bottle it, we’d be billionaires, eh?
Can I smell nutmeg or patchouli or something as well as lovely old books and the scent of aged paper?
You see, this is why the likes of GayesBooks don’t have a chance!
You cannot buy that smell and pump it out through an air conditioning system. ’
Daisy smiled. She hated even the mention of GayesBooks. ‘It’s another castoff candle from my sister. Goodness knows where she got it from, but apparently it didn’t fit her aesthetic.’
‘Are you ready for the meeting?’
‘As I’ll ever be. What can we really do about it?’ Daisy was resigned to the fact that her fate had been sealed.
Lotta sighed. ‘Fight them with all we’ve got.’
‘Hmm. I don’t feel as if I have a lot of fight in me.’
Lotta tutted, glanced to her left, stopped just shy of the new corner, dropped her bag to the floor and put both hands to her mouth. ‘Oh, my actual God. What is that? Since when did that happen?’
‘That, my friend, is my new pride and joy. I did it yesterday. It’s an anti-GayesBooks movement in front of your eyes. What do you think?’
Lotta took a few steps forward and then bobbed down and crouched in front of the trolley. ‘What do I think? This is inspiring. The trolley thing! Where did you find that? Not another castoff from one of your sisters? Surely not?’
‘Facebook Marketplace find. Sue, over in the Old Town. Apparently, it came from the school library.’
‘I’m so in. I am sold.’ Lotta chuckled. ‘It’s made for the place.
It looks like it’s always been here. Honestly, this corner is magical.
’ Lotta took in the moss-green chair, the crate stacked with the seasonal reads, the jam jar of dried flowers, and the way the fairy lights looped around the window frame.
‘This corner is a marketing campaign all by itself. You are very, very good at this. I know what I am talking about.’
Daisy chuckled. ‘Am I? I just needed a project to take my mind off the stuff with Miles and the GayesBooks thing and that area there has been niggling at me. I wanted something to fuss over that didn’t involve talking about hospital visits or unanswered messages.’
Lotta reached down and ran her hand over the edge of the trolley. ‘You’ve nailed it. People are going to be obsessed with this. It’s got that “oh I’ll just sit here for five minutes” energy and then three hours later they’re still there and three books down.’
‘That’s sort of the idea.’
‘And the rug? Where’s that from?’
‘Another one from Annabelle. It’s been sitting rolled up at the back of the lean-to waiting for its moment.’
‘Well, it’s having it now.’ Lotta dropped into the armchair and let out a sigh. ‘I’m not joking, Daise. This corner could win awards for comfiness. Stuff GayesBooks with their retro blond wood styling where the sun doesn’t shine.’
‘I hope so…’
‘Give me five minutes, I’ll have a full experience reel up by lunchtime.’ Lotta chuckled.
Daisy perched on the arm of the chair, smiling. ‘It’s funny, isn’t it? It’s all just stuff, really; an old chair, a few crates, a bit of bunting, but when you put it together right, it suddenly becomes something. I’m so pleased I’ve done it now. There was one thing missing and the trolley was it.’
Lotta leant her head back and closed her eyes. ‘It becomes magic, that’s what. This is what I call bookshop therapy and I know my bookshop corners. So, what’s happened about Miles? I mean, how are you really?’
Daisy shrugged. ‘I am somewhere between managing and rearranging furniture until things feel better.’
‘That counts. That totally counts. How’s Miles’ mum? Any more news?’
‘Still in hospital, she’s stable, but not great and there’s a problem with her stitches. It’s truly awful what’s happened to her.’
‘Poor woman. That’s so rough.’
Daisy nodded. ‘Yeah. She’s been through the wringer.’
‘Hopefully, she’s still got some fight in her like us here fighting for small business in Pretty Beach.’
‘She has, but it’s taken a toll. Miles is trying to hold it all together, but it’s a lot.’
‘And you?’
Daisy wiggled her hands in front of her. ‘I’m just doing this, keeping things ticking over, hoping it all settles, and I have to be honest, I’m missing him like crazy, which has thrown me.’
‘How has it been between you two?’
Daisy shook her head. ‘Oh, yeah, fine. We’ve messaged and spoken, but it’s all still very… contained. He’s at the hospital all hours and he’s trying to work in between all that. Then he goes home, does more work and then he goes back to the hospital again. It’s like he’s on a loop.’
Lotta nodded. ‘Hmm.’
‘He said he doesn’t want to leave her when she’s discharged. He thinks she’ll need more support than she’ll admit to and he doesn’t want her rattling around her flat on her own.’
‘He’s probably right.’
‘I know. I do. It’s just that it all feels very far away now. I didn’t really realise until he wasn’t here, how, well, yeah, you know… strange, really. I’m just trying to support from this end. There’s not a whole lot more anyone can do. They thought she would heal more quickly…’
‘Has he said what he’s going to do?’
Daisy nodded. ‘He said he’s thinking of bringing her down here.
I mean, he just mentioned it in passing that he might bring her to Pretty Beach to recuperate, which would mean we can see each other.
I don’t know. He said she might do better by the sea for a bit.
She would be able to get some sea air and rest properly. ’
‘Really?’
Daisy nodded. ‘Apparently, she used to love the south coast years ago. They had a few holidays when he was little, they stayed in a fisherman’s cottage somewhere in Devon, I think he said. He said it was the only place his parents didn’t argue.’
‘That’s bleak, but also sort of lovely.’
‘He said if she comes, it’d only be for a few weeks or a month or so. While she gets her strength back and while they figure out what comes next. He was down here, well, I guess because of me and now that’s all up in the air.’
‘And how do you feel about that?’
‘I’m not sure. Part of me thinks it’s a good thing to bring her down here.
I’d get to see him. Maybe not in the way we had before, but still and then another part of me feels completely untethered about it all.
Like I’m on the edge of something and I don’t know if I’m meant to step back or forward or what.
I have the girls to think about, too. When you throw in the GayesBooks thing, it’s all a bit of a muddle. ’
‘You don’t have to decide anything yet. You’re allowed to sit in it for a bit.’
‘I know. I just don’t want to feel like a side character in all this with him. Gosh, I sound so selfish...’
Lotta joked. ‘Nah, you're the main character.’
Daisy raised an eyebrow. ‘I don’t feel very main character-y.’
‘You’re sitting in a bookshop corner you designed, in a town you’ve rebuilt your life in, with a man who told you he loves you even when everything was going sideways.’
Daisy picked up a paperback and turned it over in her hands.
‘He said he doesn’t know how it’ll work if she comes here and that he doesn’t want to presume or put anything on me.
But then he asked about the flats over at the hotel and if I knew if there was anywhere free.
That temporary place he rented is lovely, but very small. Too small for two.’
Lotta shook her head. ‘So, there’s no money concern here then? He’s already rented that flat…’
‘Oh, God no! Nope, no money worries, that isn’t even a consideration.’
‘Do you want her to come?’
‘I don’t know. I think I want whatever brings him some peace. If that means she’s here and he’s around more, then maybe it’s not the worst idea. I don’t know, it’s starting to all feel very serious. My whole life is, ha ha.’
Lotta reached for her bag and rummaged until she found her lip balm. ‘Look, Daise, none of this is my business, but it doesn’t sound as if it’s going to be simple, but you’ll make it work.’
‘I hope so.’
‘Time will tell. Right. I’ll get out of your hair and let you bask in your achievement. But seriously, that trolley? Genius. Absolute bookshop catnip. It’s going on my reels. Prepare to be ambushed by bookworms all over the world.’
‘Ha, you’re too good to me.’
‘See you at the meeting.’
‘Will do.’
Daisy walked Lotta to the door and held it open as Lotta stepped out into the street. As she watched her head off down the laneway, Daisy leaned against the doorframe and took a breath. She had no idea what to do about Miles, the GayesBooks problem or anything. Time, she supposed, would tell.