Page 68 of Christmas at the Little Bookshop by the Sea

‘TMI, Mags,’ said Stella, feigning an expression of disapproval. ‘Anyway,’ she said, addressing Florrie and Ed, ‘Alex is chief cocktail maker, so if you let him know what you fancy, he’ll impress you with some fancy drink-mixing moves.’

Alex obliged by pulling a mock-cool pose and throwing a cocktail shaker up into the air. Everyone burst out laughing when he reached to catch it but missed and the metal container hit the kitchen floor with an almighty clatter.

‘I should point out, when I saidimpressive, that’s not what I had in mind,’ Stella deadpanned as Alex chuckled.

‘And how was your first Christmas as parents?’ Florrie asked, looking between Maggie and Bear.

‘The best ever,’ said Bear, beaming broadly. ‘Little Lucy’s an angel – the most perfect baby.’

‘I’ll second that but add exhausting,’ said Maggie, picking up her glass of virgin mojito. ‘But I wouldn’t change it for the world.’

‘We’ve been dying to know how the Boxing Day Dip went,’ said Jasmine, sipping a long vivid blue drink through a straw once greetings had been exchanged.

‘Ooh, yes, Nate and I saw the pictures on the town’s social media pages. You both looked fab in your pantomime dame costumes.’ Lark chuckled.

‘Aye, you did that,’ agreed Nate. ‘We’ll show you later on.’

‘Ugh!’ Ed gave an exaggerated shiver. ‘I’ve never been so cold in my life! I swear I still haven’t fully defrosted.’

‘I take it your name’s top of the list for next year’s dip.’ Jack gave a throaty chuckle.

Ed looked horrified. ‘No way! Never again!’ He gave Florrie such a pointed look he had everyone laughing.

She returned it with a wide grin, ‘You know you don’t mean tha?—’

‘Hang on just a minute,’ said Stella, eyeballing Florrie and slicing off her words. ‘What’s that I see, madam?’

All eyes turned to Florrie as Stella reached for her left hand. Florrie’s heart leapt, her face growing warm with the joy of being able to share her news. She caught Ed’s eye, his happy smile setting her insides alight. ‘It’s an engagement ring. Ed proposed.’

‘Oh, wow! And it’s absolutely gorgeous,’ said Stella.

‘And I can’t tell you how relieved I was when Florrie said yes,’ Ed said, struggling to make himself heard through the resultant cheers and whoops that were bouncing around the room. The women rushed over to Florrie, taking it in turns to deliver heartfelt hugs and kisses, while words of congratulations rang out. Florrie had no idea it was possible to feel this much happiness.

‘Huge congrats, lovey, Bernard would be over the moon to know his greatest wish had come true.’ Jean Davenport pressed a kiss to Florrie’s cheek, her face damp with tears of joy.

‘Thank you, Jean.’ Florrie smiled, emotion making her throat tight.

On top of this joyful news, Florrie and Ed had finally managed to get the message across to Dodgy Dick that they wouldn’t be selling the bookshop to him, or anyone else for that matter.

They’d been walking Gerty along the top prom earlier that day when his four-wheel drive slowed down, creeping along and keeping pace beside them. The blacked-out window slowly inched down, sending a shiver of goosebumps over Florrie’s skin.

‘I hope you two have been giving my offer plenty of thought. I’m a patient man, but I don’t need to remind you that this year’s drawing to a close and time’s running out.’ Dodgy Dick’s smirk that followed made Florrie’s blood boil.

Ed turned to him. ‘Actually, Dick, we don’t need to wait until the New Year to tell you our decision, we can do it right now.’

Dodgy Dick puffed himself up. ‘I’m pleased to hear it. I’ll see to it that the documents are drawn up quick sharp.’

‘That won’t be necessary,’ Florrie said, a strange mix of pleasure at delivering the news and fear at how it would be received making her heart pump fast.

‘What d’you mean?’ The businessman’s smile momentarily faltered.

‘We’re not selling. In fact, we’ve only recently gone into partnership with some well-heeled investors. And I can tell you for a fact, selling their shares, or agreeing to us selling the business is the last thing they’re interested in. Like Florrie told you on your recent visit, we’ve got big plans for the bookshop’s future, and our new investors are keen to support it in any way they can.’

Dodgy Dick’s face fell. He brought the car to a halt. ‘What?’

‘We never wanted it anyway.’ Wendy’s voice spilled out of the window. She pushed her husband back, glaring out at them. ‘We’ve found somewhere far superior to your shabby little building. So you can stick it where the sun don’t shine as far as we’re concerned.’

‘Why, thank you,’ said Ed.

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