Page 19 of Coming Home to Hope Street

‘Oh, don’t listen to him.’ Hannah passed drinks around. ‘Dylan thinks my idea to have seating in the windows will encourage customers to read the books and not buy any.’

‘Madness.’ Livvy laughed, pleased to get the joke at last. ‘Don’t you know anyone who loves books can’t resist buying two at the same time, never mind leaving empty-handed?’

‘I rest my case.’ Hannah grinned at her. ‘Me and Livvy never had our noses out of books when we were young.’

‘Until you found boys,’ Doug teased.

His remark brought down an awkward wall between the two sisters. Livvy hadn’t been around much once she’d found her freedom, and Hannah had been unable to have any herself.

‘I think there’s a box of books in the loft in Hope Street,’ Hannah said eventually. ‘Perhaps you and I can see if there’s anything salvageable we could use?’

‘You’re going to sell your childhood books?’ Dylan frowned.

‘Of course not.’ Hannah frowned. ‘They’ll be used as a display somewhere, perhaps in The Coffee Stop to entice people to come in here and have a browse.’

‘Your order is ready, Hannah!’ A voice shouted through from next door.

‘Let’s leave the men to their work, or else it’ll never be finished.’ Hannah stole another quick kiss from Doug. ‘I’ll be seeing you later.’

‘I’llbe looking forward to it.’

Hannah giggled as she walked away. ‘Right, Livvy, sorry about that. Where were we?’

Chapter Thirteen

Livvy found out that Hannah had reserved them a table and ordered a plate of mixed sandwiches and a large bowl of thick-cut chips.

‘Ta da.’ Hannah held out her arms before pulling out a chair and sitting down. ‘I didn’t know what you liked, so I chose a bit of everything. And then I thought you could pick your own cake. They have so many to choose from. This place is a bit of heaven in the middle of Somerley. I wish it had been here when we were young.’ She pointed to the window. ‘I can just see you and me sitting over there.’

Livvy turned to see two leather settees set in an L-shape in a large bay window. For a moment, she conjured up the image of the two of them, her legs swinging as she was unable to reach the floor, while Hannah read a book to her.

‘Do you remember what you used to read to me when I was a child?’ She turned back to Hannah. ‘I recall something about a little sister.’

‘My Naughty Little Sister!’ Hannah exclaimed. ‘Oh, I loved those books. That andPippi Longstocking. Dad brought them for us, said someone had suggested them to him, but they were a lot older age range than the books we were into at the time.’ She took a sip from her coffee before continuing. ‘Do you still read, Liv?’

‘Not as much as I’d like to, but yes.’

‘And still in the horror and dark crime genres?’

‘No, I’m more of a romcom fan now. Pure escapism, I guess.’

Hannah gasped. ‘I never would have thought that.’

‘We all grow up and change.’ Livvy cursed inwardly as her brusque tone made her blush. ‘Sorry.’

Hannah laughed to lighten the mood. ‘We’re going to slip up lots of times as we get used to each other again. Don’t worry about it.’ She picked up a chip. ‘Come on, tuck in.’

‘Only if you’ll tell me about next door.’

‘I’ve always wanted to own a book shop, with a coffee shop attached to it. As you know, Kate is a joint owner of The Coffee Stop – that’s Kate, popping money into the till.’

Livvy turned to see a woman in her mid-thirties with long dark hair, flashing a radiant smile to a customer as she filled the drawers with bags of change.

‘Doug and I went to dinner with Kate and her husband, Will,’ Hannah went on. ‘They’ve been married just under a year now. Will is a property developer too. He owns this whole block of shops.’

‘What, all of them?’ Livvy sat wide-eyed.

Hannah nodded. ‘I was talking about my dream. Will said the shop next door would be ready to lease in a few months. Kate joked about knocking through and combining both and the idea was born. Kate’s going to help me run it at first until I get the hang of things. The men have taken on the project for now. But I can’t wait to get in there and start filling those shelves. It also means it doesn’t have to be manned all the time, so I can fit my volunteering work in.’

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