Page 7 of The Bookshop Ladies

‘I’m afraid no one’s going to believe that you’re going gaga, Albie. Tea?’

‘Lovely,’ he said, following her to the back of the shop. He headed straight for the travel section, as always. Albie loved reading about foreign places. He had a huge collection of books at home. He had been working his way around Africa for decades. And it seemed he had little interest in any other continent.Always wanted to be a sailor, but around here, well, if you so much as looked at a boat, they had you roped into a trawler and that’s no life, even as a youngster, I could see that, he’d told her once. But then he’d met Peggy and that put an end to any notions of wandering. Her great-aunt Peggy had been his anchor. In many ways, she had been everyone’s anchor and, for a long time after she died, it felt as if they were completely at sea without a compass.

Once a lettuce leaf had been produced from Albie’s pocket for Dolly and the tea made in a small tea pot that had belonged to her grandmother, Robyn emptied some biscuits onto a plate and placed two mugs, spoons, sugar and milk on a tray. Then, she drew the rocking chair across and settled on the stool behind the counter while Albie picked out two books, one a new arrival –Cry of the Kalahari– and a copy ofConversational Flemish. Apparently it was still spoken in pockets of South Africa. Robyn doubted it, but managed not to check on her mobile while he was watching.

‘I can’t believe there isn’t a copy ofConversational French, if I’m being honest,’ he said as he dunked a biscuit thoughtfully.

‘Anything you want to share with me?’ she raised her eyebrows. Then she reached beneath the desk. A copy ofParlez Françaishad arrived in only a few days earlier. She handed it to her great-uncle and smiled. He’d never been one for the northern hemispheres, although Robyn could imagine him having an Arctic phase at some point.

‘Yes. Two sugars today, I think, thank you,’ he said pointing at his cup, then he placed the exact change on the counter, as he did every time. Perhaps he figured it was the only way to make sure she accepted payment. If he only knew, he was her best customer, her only real customer so far today.

‘Merci beaucoup,’ she said with a little shrug she hoped was rather French.

‘Don’t be so cheeky.’ He picked up a second biscuit, examined it and dunked it in his tea. ‘All right, so I’ve let the flat above mine to a woman called Joy from France.’

‘Albie, that’s wonderful news.’ Unexpected, because it was too early for holiday-makers. They’d only put it up on some of the rental sites a week ago. Who knew it would go so quickly? Still good news, so long as the tenant didn’t cause him any problems. ‘And doesn’t she have any English at all?’ She was kidding. She knew exactly what it was, he wanted to make an effort, to make this stranger to the village feel welcome. That was Uncle Albie all over.

‘I just thought…’ he cleared his throat, suddenly embarrassed, ‘well, at my age, they say it’s good to stretch the brain, learn a new skill, do something different. And she’s on her own, she won’t know a soul, you know. Whatever possessed her to come over here, the man above only knows, but there you have it, she’s on her way and we’ll have to look out for her, I suppose.’

‘You sound as if you’re already smitten with her.’ Robyn laughed again, she so enjoyed Albie, he really did brighten her day every time. Once more, she promised herself she’d put aside time to go and visit him in the evenings, although she’d probably need to call first, because, what with bingo and his bowling club, he had a very busy social calendar. Far, far busier than her own and it wasn’t lost, on her at least, exactly how tragic that sounded.

‘That’s right, I’m staring my ninetieth birthday between the two eyes and I’m looking for romance, will you have a bit of sense!’ He was laughing now too, his face creasing in a million lines, his whole body shaking at the ridiculousness of the suggestion. They both knew there had been only one woman for Albie. He could never replace Peggy, nor had he tried. ‘Anyway, less of this nonsense about my romantic shenanigans or the lack of them, I need to be hearing more about yours?’

‘You are funny,’ she said drily.

‘Well it shouldn’t be funny. It should be bloody interesting. There’s ceilidhs on every night of the week in the pubs around the village this time of year and plenty of good-looking young fellas doing the rounds. I’m sure if you got yourself out from behind that computer thing you’re always staring at…’

‘I’m far too tired at the end of the day to go off husband hunting.’ It was ridiculous, she felt as if she was being hounded by Mrs Bennet, except she was hardly an Elizabeth and she was quite certain there was no Mr Darcy on her horizon.

‘I never mentioned a husband.’ He put his hands up. If her great-uncle was anything, he was a modern man and she knew he must wonder if she even liked men. There had never been anyone serious enough to bring home and now it wasn’t so much the time as the energy and maybe, if she was honest, the lack of confidence. And then of course, there was Kian.

‘I mean, how can I? When I have this place to think of and…’ Oh, God, she stopped abruptly,had she let it slip?Albie studied her for a moment, tilted his head to the side. ‘Don’t look at me like that, I mean, I open up early to take in the papers, I’m here all day long meeting customers,’hah, if only, ‘the last thing I want to do is go off talking to strangers when I’m finished up for the day.’

‘Right.’ He picked up his mug and sipped from it thoughtfully. ‘Are you sure that’s the only thing stopping you?’

‘Of course, what else would it be?’ She stuck her chin out slightly, knowing he wouldn’t push her too much, just in case he stood on sensitive toes.

‘No, I’m sure it’s nothing, I mean, the thing is, Ballycove, well, it’s far more enlightened and with the times than you might think. I know some of the boats down at the pier look as if they are pre-war, but the reality is we read the papers, we’ve all voted FOR in every referendum. People are very easy-going, if you just go out and meet them.’

‘It’s not that at all, Albie, I’m just tired and I…’ she sighed, ‘I need time to think.’

‘Think about what for goodness’ sake, about going out and having fun, is it?’ he shook his head.

‘No. This place, if you want to know the truth of it.’ Not that she was going to give him the unvarnished version if she didn’t have to. ‘I want to do so much more with it. I had all these plans and it feels as if I’m just treading water because there are only so many hours in the day and I can’t put an extra day into the week.’

‘Ah, I see the problem.’ He smiled and, this time, his whole expression relaxed and Robyn thought it was amazing, because suddenly, he looked twenty years younger. ‘Well, surely that’s easy enough to solve.’

‘Is it?’ Because making the shop a success or just breaking even was all she thought about all the time now.

‘Of course, it’s simple, take on help. Get someone in, just part time, give yourself a chance to set some things up. I’m sure that there are plenty around the village who’d love to volunteer here for an hour or two every week. Do you think the bakery just took off from the first day?’ He shook his head.

‘But?’

‘Oh, I’m not saying it wasn’t doing well enough, but there were three other bakers in the village back then and they were long established. I had worked for one of them for a year, when he decided he was closing the business down.’ He smiled sadly, shook his head. ‘No sons, you see. Back then, all the bakers were men. Of course, he wouldn’t think of letting me take it over, not a bit of it, just thought I was getting above myself. You were a somebody back then if you had a business in Ballycove, you know.’ He smiled now. ‘But my Peggy said, if old Richie Haynes could manage to keep a business going for over thirty years with as much personality as an iron rake, there was every chance I’d make a brilliant go of it, so we put everything we had behind it. And let me tell you, I’d have done cartwheels across the square in my underpants if it made the difference between holding onto the business and losing it.’

‘I don’t think it would have helped somehow.’ Robyn found herself laughing once more at the very thought of her great-uncle cartwheeling in his Y-fronts around the village square.

‘Thankfully itdidn’tcome to that, but I suppose, I did a lot of what nowadays they’d callthinking out of the box.’ He tapped the side of his head. ‘Not just good for holding a hat up over my ears, you know.’

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