Page 33 of Coming Home to Hope Street

‘I agree, but it was organised chaos,’ Hannah admitted. ‘It’s changed drastically since last week. Come and look.’

Livvy took her dirty dishes through to the kitchen and placed them in the dishwasher. Then she removed her apron and hung it on the back of the kitchen door. Squeezing past Chloe, who was making three chocolate milkshakes, she stopped when a hand was put on her arm.

‘Skiving off already?’ Chloe shook her head in dismay. ‘We’re not that scary, are we?’

‘No!’ Livvy cried, mortified she should think that.

‘Go on, off with you.’ Chloe laughed. ‘See you later.’

Livvy grinned and moved past her sharpish. She did like it in the coffee shop. It had a real ambience, but truth be known, she was dying to get inside the book shop to see how it was looking.

Now it had been decorated, it was certainly inviting. The walls had been covered in a delicate striped wallpaper. The counter that Doug had fitted was white and modern, with plenty of nooks and crannies, and space for a till atop of it. Livvy could imagine standing behind it already.

‘Wow, it’s looking amazing,’ she cried, taking in the shelves behind her ready to stock. ‘I hope you’ve ordered enough books. There’s so much space.’

‘Talking of books, do you fancy checking out the stuff in the loft this evening?’ Hannah asked.

Livvy nodded. ‘Is there much up there?’

Hannah sighed. ‘I fear so. But you never know, we might find some hidden treasure. As long as it isn’t another box of letters from Mum to worry about!’

Chapter Twenty-One

Hannah had joined her sister across at number thirty-four. She and Livvy were standing in the back bedroom. Hannah opened the loft hatch and reached up for the extendable ladders. She pulled them down and spread them out.

‘I warn you,’ she said to Livvy. ‘I can’t remember the last time I went up here so I’m not sure how much junk there’ll be.’

‘Do you think there’ll be a dead body hidden in the eaves?’ Pip asked, coming in to join them.

They both turned to look at her.

‘From the previous tenants, not you!’ she added.

‘The Lockleys have lived here since the year dot,’ Hannah told her. ‘So I doubt there’ll be anything like that. Although there may be a few family secrets hidden away.’

Hannah disappeared up the ladder first, switching the light on as she stepped inside the loft. ‘It’s tall enough to stand up in, which is always a bonus.’ She looked down at Livvy. ‘Come on up. There’s no one here but us.’

Livvy frowned.

‘These lofts are all joined.’

‘What do you mean?’ Livvy climbed the ladder, closely followed by Pip.

Hannah pointed to the walls either end of the loft. ‘If you take a few bricks down, you’d be able to climb down into Thelma’s house.’

‘I don’t remember that.’ Livvy shuddered. ‘It gives me the creeps now.’

‘Don’t worry, I’m only winding you up. Most of them are covered, so you’re safe.’

‘There are so many boxes.’ Pip trod carefully away from them across boarded panels, clearly uninterested in what they were saying. ‘You have a lot of stuff.’

‘It’s my fault,’ Hannah admitted. ‘I never wanted to come up here because of that. I knew it would take an age to sort out, and perhaps be too painful, so I put it off.’

They spent a few frivolous moments laughing at what they uncovered, shuddering at the number of cobwebs that crept over their faces and opening and closing boxes. Finally, after Pip had unearthed another box of nothing, she stood up.

‘I’m going downstairs. It’s boring looking at old stuff.’ With that, she disappeared down the ladder.

‘Kids these days have no staying power,’ Livvy said.

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