Page 55 of The Battle of the Bookshops
“Oh, I can,” she said coolly, and it took more effort than any other words she had ever spoken. “It’s been fun,” she said, a note of steel in her voice now, despite the tiny wobble in her voice. “But this is goodbye. Please don’t try to contact me. I’ll see things through to the end, for Aunt Flo’s sake. Help her clear the stock, pack up the flat... she’s too old and frail to manage all that on her own. I’d be grateful if you left us to it.”
Roman reached out toward her again, almost as if his mind didn’t know what his body was doing, but he caught himself and bowed his head, arms hanging heavy at his side. “If that would help?” he said dully.
“It would.”
With that, Jules turned around slowly and walked away, managing to get around the corner before the next sob broke through her self-control.
This was all his fault, Roman told himself as he wandered around the apartment, unable to settle to anything, his concentration so shot he couldn’t do even the most mindless chores. He had caused inestimable pain to the very person he loved the most in the world. He should never have given in to his own selfish desires, never allowed her to get close to him, knowing how it would inevitably end. Their tragic destiny was written in the stars.Star-crossed lovers, in fact,he thought.Ha!He should have known. At least in real life, Jules would survive. That was something. Whetherhewould was another matter...
And now he had to be strong, for her sake. That meant staying away from her.
He owed her that, at least.
Chapter 24
Charlie regarded Jules anxiously. He had never seen his new friend so down. And watching Flo, usually so upbeat, was worrying him too. Both women were drifting around the shop like ghosts, settling to nothing and unable to concentrate on the simplest tasks. Charlie even had to take over the tea making that morning as Jules, staring into space, was just about to pour hot water into mugs that contained a tea baganda spoonful of instant coffee. Also, Jules was usually fussing over Merlin and his coquettish attempts to gain her attention, but today she seemed oblivious, despite his squirming engagingly on the patch of sunlight in his favorite spot.
“So, who’s coming with me to see Brynlee and her mate later?” said Charlie briskly, handing out the mugs. “She’s got news, remember? About the grimoire?” He rubbed his hands together. “Plus, I think I’ve got a buyer in town for that Thackeray second edition, another antiquarian bookseller from Exeter who’s scouting on behalf of a client. Might as well save the courier charges and meet face-to-face. It’s all contacts, right?”
“Darling, you are so kind to do all this,” said Flo, gathering herself together with visible effort. “We must pay your expenses and give you something for your time.”
“Are you kidding?” Charlie replied. “I’m loving this stuff. Our Bridget Capelthorne was a seventeenth-century arse-kicking feminist, and I can’t wait to hear more.”
“Yes, she’s certainly a woman after my own heart,” said Jules, trying as hard as Flo was to overcome the despair that was making her feel as if her heart weighed a ton.
“So... you in?” prompted Charlie.
“Yeah, sure,” said Jules, without energy. “I might as well come. Aunt Flo, are you okay opening the shop?”
“I think I’ll just keep the ‘Closed’ sign up today,” said Flo with a sigh, managing to raise a thin smile. “I’m feeling rather weary.”
On the train, Jules filled Charlie in on the reason for her and Flo’s despair. Just the lease catastrophe—she wasn’t strong enough to share the post-nuclear mess that was her love life quite yet.
“Wow, man, that isbad,” Charlie observed when Jules finished. “And you and Roman?” he added perceptively.
Jules just shook her head, lips pressed together. She wouldnotcry, she told herself. “It is what it is,” she said repressively. “It was doomed from the outset, really. We should have known. Anyhow, going back to the business, we just need to decide when to close the shop. The lease ends on New Year’s Eve, but we’ll need to close before then. It would make sense to flog as much stock as possible in the lead-up to Christmas, to see if we can scrape togethersomesort of nest egg for Aunt Flo. I don’t think she’s got a lot in the way of savings.”
“I’ll really push on, selling off the antiquarian stuff,” said Charlie. “I’m uploading it all with a minimum acceptable price so far, like we agreed, but I can put them on with no reserve at all? To clear the stock quicker?”
“That would be helpful,” Jules told him, nodding.
“And hey, who knows?” said Charlie. “The grimoire might be worth something?”
“Is there any chance?” asked Jules, refusing to allow herself an atom of hope. Thwarted expectations were just too painful. “You know more about this stuff than anyone else I know.”
“Which isn’t saying much,” joked Charlie. “But, yeah, it’s an interesting piece. Value-wise, probably not too much,” he admitted. “It would be different if the provenance was distinguished in some way, like—oh, I don’t know—like if it had been autographed by Matthew Hopkins or someone.”
“The witchfinder general?” asked Jules.
Charlie nodded. “I mean, it definitely wasn’t. He never even came to Devon, so...”
“You said Brynlee sounded excited, though, so who knows?” said Jules dully as the train pulled into Exeter station.
It was raining relentlessly by the time Charlie and Jules got to Exeter, and the weather perfectly echoed Jules’s mood. The wind whistled down the narrow street and whipped them across the face with leaves fallen from the beech trees in the square. A bus trundled along the rain-slicked road, spraying muddy water across their legs as it passed. It was hard to believe autumn was here already. Could it really have been seven months since she left London? It felt like a fortnight, although life had changed so dramatically—the future had promised so much—and now here she was, in the rain.
On the other hand, she told herself bracingly, she was here with lovely Charlie—a new and unexpected friendship—on an exciting quest together. She needed to expect less from life, that was the key—as Aunt Flo so often said, she needed to “make do.” Slipping her arm through Charlie’s, she gave him a warm smile as he turned in surprise. “Thanks for this,” she told him. “You’re a star.”
“Mate, you aresowelcome,” Charlie replied amiably. “Now, don’t forget, the cake’s on me today, so don’t hold back.”
