The Little Book Café: Amy’s Story

‘I did. For a bit. Ah look, here’s the food.’ He nodded. ‘Just in time, darlin,’’ he said to the barmaid. ‘We’re starving here.’

She put the food down carefully. ‘Here you go then, one steak, rare, and fish and chips.’ Her face dimpled, prettily. ‘Just give me a shout if you need anything and I’ll be right over.’

‘I bet you will,’ Amy thought, mutinously and speared a chip with unnecessary force.

Chapter Five (#u9a01921f-b69f-536e-9399-554783c1efc9)

Amy proudly surveyed her book group. They had gathered, as usual, on the mezzanine level of the bookshop and were sitting against the huge double-height windows. It was dark outside and rain spattered intermittently against the glass. The sumptuous sunsets of August and September had long gone; autumn was rushing into winter with unnecessary haste. It was cosy up here though. Amy had made sure the leather sofas were sprinkled with generous amounts of soft cushions, and she had – now the weather had turned damp and chilly – put some colourful throws out. Her mother, never one to hold back an opinion, had scoffed and claimed the soft furnishings would be ruined within the month. They hadn’t been. As Amy had hoped, customers appreciated the welcoming reading area and had taken care of it. She was holding onto this small triumph in the face of her mother’s derision. It was a tiny piece of armour in the defence of what was left of her self-esteem.

The book group, taking advantage of the time before the meeting started properly, were catching up with one another and sipping the excellent wine that Millie provided. Amy watched Tash and Emma giggle over something with Tash’s boyfriend, Kit. Marti was holding court in a corner, her friends gazing at her open-mouthed in admiration. Amy smiled. She knew Marti was Tash’s arch-enemy and it was patently obvious the woman didn’t always read the group’s book choice but she never missed a meeting and had always been supportive – in her own way.

The book group was the first thing Amy had started up when she began managing the shop and it was the thing she was most proud of. Her heart leapt as Patrick appeared at the top of the spiral stairs which led up from the main shop floor. He put up a hand in greeting before sliding in next to Kit. Patrick had been the first person to enquire about the group and one of the first to arrive at the inaugural meeting back in August. She’d never forgotten the effect he’d had when he’d shaken her hand and introduced himself. She’d been mesmerized by eyes the colour of the sea on a summer’s day, and by his wide smile. Her attraction to him had grown, almost without her noticing, over the past weeks. As well as the simple physical attraction, his innate kindness and wicked sense of humour soon added to his irresistible appeal. When he’d let slip he was a writer, she’d ordered his entire backlist and had only just finished his last novel. His work was dizzyingly good; she could see why he frequently topped the Sunday Times bestseller list. It was a canny mix of the readable and the literary and she’d stayed up late into the night to read the latest instalment of the history of an Irish family through the decades. She would probably have been safe, had her attraction to him been just physical and that he displayed such kindness, but she was a goner when a man had intelligence too. Covertly watching him now, as he chatted to Kit, she felt a blush steal over her cheeks. She loved him so much. And was one hundred per cent sure she was in the friend zone.

After telling her only scant details of his life in Ireland – she was sure there was more to it – during their pub meal, Patrick, while devouring his steak, had deftly turned the questioning back on her. Amy had found herself telling him all about her parents’ divorce and how it had led to her mother’s return to Berecombe.

‘I was headed for Berecombe Comp but then Dad got this amazing job in Singapore so we all decamped. Big company house, swimming pool. I went to a private girls’ school. Mum was in heaven. Then Dad met Jasmine and it all went pear-shaped. Mum was in a bit of a state after the divorce so I ended coming back here too.’

‘I suppose your mother wanted folk around who she knew.’

‘Something like that.’ Having blurted it all out, Amy felt she’d said enough. She looked longingly at the desserts chalked up on the blackboard. ‘Do you think we’ve got time for a pudding?’ Patrick had agreed and, from then on, any conversation had centred on food.

Amy gave herself a little shake back to the here and now. If she didn’t get the meeting started, they’d never have time to discuss last month’s book and choose a new one for October. ‘Shall we get started?’ she said, clapping her hands to get their attention. ‘What did everyone think of our last book, Demelza?’

Chapter Six (#ulink_412c6ad3-09da-5d45-a388-6da0ae3e3b0c)

The meeting slipped along effortlessly. Maybe it was because the book group – after several gatherings – had settled into a routine, or maybe it was the absence of its most troublesome member, the pensioner with a past, Biddy Roulestone.

‘So, you were right about Biddy not being here.’ Tash said to Amy, as they gathered around the coffee and snacks Millie was putting out. ‘It’s not like her to miss out on anything going on in town, though.’

Amy grinned into her coffee. ‘Must still be in London.’

‘It’s been a pain in the proverbial, to be honest. We’re trying to finalise things on her purchase of the Morrisons’ bungalow and now she’s gone AWOL. Not even answering her phone and Arthur won’t commit himself to anything without his wife’s approval.’

‘Well, she never makes life easy for anyone,’ Amy replied, enjoying this new relaxed friendship with Tash. ‘Wonder if she’s really talking to publishers?’

Emma bounced up to them and caught the tail end of their conversation. ‘You talking about my esteemed client? She’s in meetings with a publisher. One of the big five, allegedly.’

‘Oh no.’ Amy paled. ‘So she’s serious about getting her erotica published?’

‘Deffo. I can’t wait to read it, personally. Reckon it’ll be the new Fifty Shades. Maybe we can read it at book group?’ Emma added, mischievously.

‘Over my dead body,’ Amy said, with feeling. They all laughed.

‘It’s amazing, isn’t it,’ Tash put in. ‘How some people can dominate any situation even in their absence? Here we are, without a Biddy in sight and we still end up discussing her. One of life’s one-offs.’

‘Poor Arthur,’ they chorused and laughed again.

‘So, Emma,’ Amy asked, as Tash went off to refill her coffee cup. ‘I hear you’re all set to move into Millie’s flat over the café once she and Jed have bought their cottage.’ Millie and Jed Henville were buying an idyllic thatched cottage in a valley just out of town.

Emma deflated. ‘That was the plan.’

‘What’s happened?’

‘Mum is really unhappy working for Suki at Klassy Kutz.’

Amy shuddered. ‘I know I sound a grammar snob but I’ve always hated that name, the spelling especially.’

Emma sighed. ‘The spelling of the salon name is the last of Mum’s problems. Suki keeps making Mum do longer and longer hours and with my darling little bro always in trouble at school, it’s wearing her out.’

‘It’s where my mother gets her hair cut.’ Amy thought back to her mother’s early morning visit on the way to the hairdresser’s. ‘In fact, she popped into the shop on the way to a hair appointment this morning at some unearthly hour. I did wonder why she had one so early.’

‘Suki claims it’s what her clients want. She’s got Mum starting at seven now and she does two late nights on top.’

Amy sipped her wine thoughtfully. ‘I suppose people want appointments to fit around their busy lives,’ she said, diplomatically, wondering just what her mother had to fill her life so much that she needed a hair appointment at eight in the morning. ‘Why does that affect you moving out? I thought you and Ollie were desperate to get a place of your own?’

Emma nodded. ‘We are. And I mean desperate. You should see the state Stevie leaves the bathroom in. And the stink!’ She rolled her eyes.

‘I’m an only child and went to a girls’ school so wouldn’t know.’ Amy hazarded a guess; ‘I suppose boys of thirteen smell a bit sweaty?’

‘Oh, it’s not the body odour,’ Emma said robustly. ‘It’s the deodorant. Stevie has the hots for a girl in his French class. Every morning he sprays himself from top to toe and probably in other unmentionable places with this lethal-smelling stuff and doesn’t bother to even think about opening a window. I go in and nearly pass out from the noxious fumes. Dad used to have an old gas mask from world war two knocking about. I’m seriously thinking of putting it to use.’

‘Oh Emma,’ Amy said, trying not to laugh. ‘Sounds like grounds to leave to me. So why are you hesitating?’

‘As well as Mum having a lot on her plate and threatening to leave the salon, Dad’s job isn’t looking good. There are rumours of redundancies at the vacuum cleaner factory. If that happens, they’ll need my wage to help out. And, if Mum leaves Suki’s, I’ll be the only wage-earner. Plus I’m really trying to do more of the housework to give Mum a break. Trouble is,’ Emma added, gloomily, ‘my ironing isn’t up to Mum’s standards and she just tuts and does it all again.’

Amy wanted to put an arm around Emma. She looked so forlorn. Struggling to find something comforting to say, she settled with the inadequate, ‘I’m sorry to hear that. I hope something works out.’

‘Me too, Amy. Me too.’ Emma brightened a little. ‘Sorry for going on. Thanks for listening though, you’re a really good listener.’

It had been said before. Amy sometimes wondered if the reason she listened rather than revealed something of herself was because she felt she hadn’t anything of interest to say. ‘Shall we get another drink? Then I suppose we ought to get down to the next bit of the meeting. We’ve got to decide on the next book.’

‘In that case, I’ll need fuel. Did I spot cupcakes?’

‘Yes.’ Amy laughed. ‘Millie has been practising for our Hallowe’en party. She’s done some iced with a spider web pattern. They’re really sweet. In both senses of the word.’

‘Lush,’ Emma said. ‘Gotta get me some of those bad boys.’ She went off to find a sugar fix, her troubles temporarily forgotten.

Chapter Seven (#ulink_7fc5f09a-fed4-577b-a9d4-0aae8decc297)

‘Can I make a suggestion, Amy?’ Millie said. ‘People are so busy during December, do you think we could miss that meeting out?’

‘Actually,’ Marti raised a bejewelled hand. ‘Could I add to that suggestion and say November’s not good for me, either. I’m off to Mauritius for quite some time over November and December.’ She waggled her head in mock humility and Amy heard Tash, in the seat next to her, grind her teeth. ‘I simply must have some sunshine in November or I wither away.’

Millie looked stricken. ‘I’m so sorry Amy, I didn’t mean to cause a problem.’ She gave a Marti a piercing look. ‘I only suggested missing out December.’

‘Yes and we can’t cancel a whole meeting just because one member can’t make it,’ Tash put in. ‘Or we’d never meet up at all.’

Amy could feel the familiar feeling of panic take over her. She was in danger of losing control of the group. Again. She thought rapidly. She really wanted to keep the group going. It was about her only social life, for one thing. But, if Marti didn’t come, neither would her group of friends. They followed the woman devotedly although she’d never fathomed out why. She’d never heard them utter a word in opposition to Marti and they all nodded vehemently whenever she uttered anything vaguely interesting. But they did constitute a large section of the group. And besides, they’d had two meetings a month since August. She really couldn’t see the group being in danger of losing momentum if they had a break.