Page 46 of Christmas at the Little Bookshop by the Sea

‘What?’

‘We’re the only building affected by the power cut. Bear and I have been out to take a look – it’s just the bookshop.’

‘But—’ Her mind started racing as she absorbed the implication.

‘We found these torches in a drawer in the kitchen, so we’re just going to set them up in the reading room, lovey.’ Her mum shot her a smile as she bustled by, Leah in tow.

‘Okay, thanks.’ Florrie gave a grateful smile, glad of their quick thinking.

‘I’ve had a look at the consumer unit but it’s difficult to isolate what’s caused the loss of power without running round turning everything off and taking all the plugs out of the sockets. I’m not so sure it’s the time to be doing that.’ Charlie looked troubled. If that’s what her dad thought, Florrie was happy to take his advice.

Ed blew out his cheeks, jabbing his fingers into his hair. ‘Of all the times this had to happen. It’s as if—’ His gaze met Florrie’s.

‘Dodgy Dick,’ they said together. Florrie felt her stomach twist.

‘What?’ Charlie asked, his brows knitting together. ‘Are you saying you think that plonker’s got summat to do with it?’

Florrie lowered her voice. ‘I don’t know for certain but…’ Ed picked up the story, telling Charlie and Bear how they’d seenDodgy Dick as they’d left the bookshop earlier that evening, the menacing air his presence had exuded, and the odd things that had been happening at the bookshop.

‘I’m not sure that means he could have anything to do with this, though, do you, Dad? Surely it’s just down to a fault here in the shop.’ Florrie was willing him to agree with her. If Dodgy Dick did have something to do with it, then his campaign of intimidation had been cranked up considerably. She didn’t want to think what he’d go on to do next. She caught Ed’s eye, and the knots in her stomach tightened.

‘Look, I don’t think you should go upsetting yourself, speculating about that fella, love.’ Her Dad mustered up a smile. ‘Whatever the cause, we need to get the evening back on track as soon as possible. I’ll pop over to my workshop and grab a generator, then we can rig up some temporary lights here. How does that sound? Won’t take long.’

‘Sounds brilliant, thanks, Charlie,’ said Ed, brightening.

‘Oh, thanks, Dad.’ Relief lifted like a weight from Florrie’s shoulders. She’d forgotten her dad had a generator. At least the book reading could continue.

Her dad and Bear had just headed off to gather the generator and necessary cables when Stella and Lark arrived by her side. ‘Is there anything we can do to help, flower?’ asked Stella, squeezing Florrie’s shoulder. ‘Would you like me to go and fetch a torch from my apartment? I daresay Alex has got one we could use, too. The more the better, I guess.’

‘And Nate’s got a big one,’ Lark said.

‘Has he now?’ Stella jumped in, quick as a flash. ‘And here’s us thinking you’d got him strictly wedged in the friend zone,’ she said dryly, her comment raising a small smile from Florrie who appreciated Stella’s attempts at lightening the mood.

‘That’s not what I meant, Stells, and you know it.’ In the half-light Florrie could see a smile twitching over Lark’s mouth.

‘And not for the first time I reckon the lad deserves a medal for the length of time you’ve kept him dangling.’ Stella chuckled. ‘Anyway, back to the matter in hand. Shall I go and grab those torches?’

‘And I was going to ask if you’d like me to grab Nate’s, before I was rudely interrupted.’

‘I think we know Nate’s answer to that.’ Stella gave a dirty giggle, earning herself a nudge in the ribs from Lark. Florrie couldn’t help but laugh.

‘That’s really kind, lasses, but I don’t think it’ll be necessary.’ Florrie quickly explained about the generator. ‘Hopefully, my dad won’t be long.’

The three women headed back into the reading room where Paula, Jean and Leah had done a sterling job of setting up torches about the place. Florrie was pleasantly surprised at how cosy it looked. The audience helped, too, using their phone torches. It made for an atmospheric scene. Florrie stopped beside Jenna, turning to face the sea of faces. ‘Thanks for your patience, folks. Again, I’d just like to apologise for the unforeseen situation, but I’m very pleased to say we should have some temporary lighting rigged up shortly.’

A small cheer rang out, followed by the odd, ‘Woohoo!’

‘Tell you what, why don’t I try reading by torchlight until then?’ said Jenna. ‘It’ll be just like when I was a little lass, reading under the covers when I was supposed to be asleep. I daresay I’m not the only one who’s guilty of that, am I? It’ll be all nostalgic and cosy, like.’

The suggestion was met with a noisy cheer and enthusiastic round of applause. Jenna turned to Florrie, catching her eye, the pair exchanging happy smiles.

TWENTY-FIVE

After everyone had left, and only Ed, Florrie and her parents remained, Charlie broke it to them that he and Bear had traced the source of the power failure back to the till in the main room of the bookshop.

‘There was someone else here in the bookshop,’ Charlie explained. ‘I heard them hurry by the kitchen. I followed whoever it was up here but before I caught a proper look at them, the lights went out and I heard them scarper off down to the back of the shop. Sounds like they sent a display flying while they were at it.’

They’d given chase as best they were able given the icy conditions, but the hoody-wearing youth had been too quick for them and had made his escape, melting into the wintry evening. Charlie had been tidying the display of books when Bear noticed the counter was swimming in water, as was the till and the attached card reader. It appeared that the unwelcome guest had given it a thorough dousing, which would account for the power outage.

---