Page 37 of Coming Home to Hope Street

Livvy was forty herself in eighteen months. A huge milestone coming up and she didn’t want her life to be like this. She didn’t want to be lonely, nor fearful that Kieran would find her . She wanted to have fun with Pip and be able to buy her daughter nice things.

Yet it had surprised her that Pip hadn’t mentioned her dad much since they’d arrived in Hope Street. Perhaps she didn’t want to upset her. Maybe she might be forgiven now for bringing them here.

And, even though Livvy wished she could trust Hannah enough to tell her more about why she and Kieran weren’t together, she wasn’t quite ready to share yet. She’d been in Somerley for nearly three weeks and although it had been much better than she’d expected, it was a small town and things had a habit of coming back to haunt her. So she would keep it to herself for now.

One step at a time, Livvy, that’s all you need to take.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Livvy was alone in the book shop. She was trying to get rid of the many boxes of books that were coming in daily at the moment. She lifted one from the floor to the counter and looked around. The till had been put in now, the wall behind it was completely full of books and Hannah had ordered no end of goods that kept arriving daily. Like the huge ornate mirror that hung on the back wall which Livvy had pooh-poohed about when she’d first seen it, but now had to admit how perfect it was.

There were two purple leather tub chairs and a coffee table either side of the front door, one set in each bay window overlooking the square. The other wall was taken up by the entrance to the coffee shop, shelving fitted either side, now full of books of every genre.

It was perfect. Each room looked inviting when peeping through from either side.

Doug had made a great job of the renovation to join the two businesses, complementing each other rather than overwhelming. There were only so many books that could be stocked too, so Hannah was hoping to get online orders from regulars who’d be happy to collect their orders on their next stop for coffee.

‘Delivery for Lockley,’ a voice said behind her.

Livvy turned to see a tall, thin man wearing Harry Potter style glasses. His arms were full of boxes.

‘Can you pop them on the counter, please?’ she told him.

He took out a form for her to sign. ‘It’s looking good in here. When’s the grand opening?’

‘Next weekend. We’re almost there with everything so it’s all systems go.’

Livvy heard a tremor of excitement in her voice. She couldn’t wait for it to open now. It was a real tribute to Hannah’s hard work and foresight that it was looking so amazing already.

‘Oh, this is marvellous!’

Livvy turned to see Kate coming through from the coffee shop as she said goodbye to the delivery man. She had Reuben in her arms.

‘Hi. And hi, little man.’ Livvy cooed at the baby who waved his arms and legs about enthusiastically.

‘I just thought I’d pop in and have a look. Chloe is determined to keep me from full-time work until I’m due back from my maternity leave.’ Kate’s eyes lit up when she saw the mirror. ‘That’s so unusual,’ she said, ‘and the shop almost doubles in size because of it. And the lighting.’

‘I was just thinking the same thing, but don’t tell Hannah,’ Livvy replied. ‘You know how much I pulled my face when I first saw the mirror. I thought it was far too old-fashioned, but it really does fit well.’

‘What’s she been ordering now?’ Kate pointed to the boxes that had just been delivered.

‘It’s all the promo stuff. Mugs, flyers, bookmarks, pens, that kind of thing.’

‘Let me see. I love free things.’

Livvy dived into the first box and they were oohing and ahhing when Hannah arrived.

‘What are you two so excited about?’ she asked, hanging her coat up in the tiny room out the back. ‘You look like two kids on Christmas morning.’

‘Promo goodies,’ Livvy told her. She held up a mug. ‘These are great.’

‘So is he.’ Hannah held out her arms. ‘Can I take him from you for a moment?’

‘Sure!’ Kate passed Reuben over to her. ‘Talking of mugs, Hannah. I’ve got you a slot on the local radio tomorrow.’

‘Eek! I’ve never done anything like that before.’ She sat down in the window, placing Reuben on her knee as she pulled funny faces at him to make him giggle. ‘Have you?’

‘Yes, just the once when we were drumming up trade for The Coffee Stop. It was… fun.’

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