Page 38 of The Mended Hearts Bookshop

“I mean, if you think she’s nice you shouldn’t just give up. But also, maybe, you could be… I don’t know, a bit more respectful of the fact that she finds it hard to get close to people, that’s all. We’re all different, we can’t all be paragons of virtue like you are.”

“I’m no paragon of virtue,” Pen said.

“Are you not?” asked Lucy.

“Definitely not. I shoplifted once when I was a child and I’ve smoked my share of the green stuff and…” Pen trailed off trying to think of other bad things she’d done.

“See?” Lucy laughed. “You’re a lovely person, Pen. But I can see how somebody who’s a bit cooler, a bit more reserved, might find you a bit much, a bit far outside of their experience. Do you see what I’m saying?”

“You’re saying that I need to back off a bit,” Pen said.

“Exactly.”

“Alright,” said Pen. After all, it couldn’t hurt. “I’ll steer clear of the bookshop today and I won’t take her any biscuits until tomorrow afternoon.”

“Very stand-offish,” agreed Lucy. “Is she really your soul-mate?”

Pen laughed again. “That was just George being over the top. He spends all day around romance novels, he can’t help it.”

“If you buy the shop then you’ll be around romance novels all day,” Lucy said. “And, presumably, Ash will move away.”

“Mmm, that is the downside,” agreed Pen, who actually really hadn’t thought this through.

“Which seems like a shame,” said Lucy, neatly slicing some bread for sandwiches. “I mean, I think she’s alright.”

“Alright? High praise.”

Lucy shrugged. “She could have been nastier to me in the shop, plenty of others were. She could have called the police to have me thrown out. She could have told me how bad I smelled. She didn’t do any of those things. She politely told me I had to go and then handed me some money that she could see I badly needed. So maybe she’s not as cold and unfeeling as she comes across.”

“Post,” Billy said, pushing open the door.

Lucy got to it before Pen.

“What’s all this?” said Billy. “A new employee?”

“One who makes excellent coffee,” Lucy said with a grin, still looking at the letters Billy had handed her.

“I’ll take those,” Pen said, sliding the post out of her hand. “And if you’re so cocky about those coffee skills, you’d best get to making Billy one or he’ll think you’re full of hot air.” She tucked the letters safely into her skirt pocket and hoped that Lucy hadn’t seen too much.

“Happy to,” chirped Lucy.

“So, the whole town’s talking about this bookshop business,” Billy said, leaning on the counter as Lucy worked. “Sounds like you’re going to save us all from… well, I’m not sure? Save us all from big book franchises maybe?”

“I’m not saving anything,” Pen said, thinking about the presentation she was going to have to make, about how persuasive she was going to have to be. “But the shop is a part of town and I don’t see why it shouldn’t stay. We get enough tourist business during the summer.”

“Yeah, but the government owning private businesses and shops, isn’t that just communism?” Billy asked, taking a coffee from Lucy.

Pen frowned. “Is it?” she asked unsurely.

“Dunno,” Billy said. “Maybe. Sounds a bit fishy to me at any rate. Mind you, I’d definitely prefer the shop to go to someone we know rather than a stranger.”

“It’s currently in the hands of a stranger,” Lucy pointed out.

Billy scratched his head. “True, true. But then… she did give me a two pound tip yesterday.”

“Why?” asked Pen.

“Dunno,” said Billy again. “Something about delivering mail to her hand and not just leaving it with her neighbors?”

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