Page 44 of Right Place, Right Time
I take a few deep breaths as I sit at the kitchen counter finishing my coffee.
There’s far too much going on right now to be thinking the kind of thoughts you are, Eve, I try to tell myself sternly.The last thing you need right now is to stumble into anotherrelationship.But as hard as I try to shake Adam out of my mind, he just keeps popping right back again – with that same silly grin he’s had on his face since he was a child, and those same deep blue eyes that twinkle in such a way that my heart beats that little bit faster whenever he’s near …
13
‘Quantum physics,’ Barney says as he flicks through the pages of one of the books.
Adam and I have carried the books from next door for Barney to have a look at in the antiques shop.
He looks up at us when we don’t immediately answer.
‘From my limited knowledge, these look like quantum physics equations, and the notes and diagrams would suggest that too.’
I glance at Adam, but he looks no wiser than I do.
‘What’squantumphysics?’ I ask.
‘Now there’s a question!’ Barney says, smiling. ‘One that would take me alongtime to answer properly. To keep it as simple as I can, it’s the study of matter. Usually, but not always, tiny matter, like atoms and molecules, and how they behave.’
‘Right … and you think that’s what all these books contain. Just stuff about atoms and molecules?’
‘I’d have to have a good look through them all, but, yeah, I’d say so. Remember I’m not a scientist, though. I just work at the lab helping the real scientists out.’
‘But you must have picked up some knowledge working there,’ Adam says. ‘I’m sure you do all the hard graft while the students and professors take all the credit.’
Barney smiles. ‘Something like that. They’d have to do their own donkey work if it wasn’t for us. We set everything up for them so they can do all their experiments and teach and stuff, then we clear everything up afterwards.’
‘Why would someone hide twelve books of notes away, and so cleverly too, if they don’t mean anything?’ I ask. ‘They must mean something or why hide them?’
‘Hi!’ A female voice calls from the doorway. It’s Orla. ‘I don’t suppose you have any change, do you, Eve? I’ve had nothing but notes this morning, and I’m desperate for some pound coins.’
‘Sure,’ I say. ‘Come in – we’ve some out back.’
I go into the back room where I keep a small safe.
‘Oh, hello, Adam,’ I hear Orla say as she enters the shop. ‘I didn’t expect to see you here. How’s the shop going?’
‘Yeah, all right, thanks. Getting there, you know?’
‘Grand. And how are you today, Barney?’
‘Good. Yeah, really good, thanks,’ Barney says quickly, in a slightly high-pitched voice, not sounding at all like his usual laid-back self.
‘I’m pleased to hear it. So, what are you all up to? You look like you were in deep discussion when I entered.’
‘Nothing,’ Barney says guiltily.
‘Just having a chat, really,’ I hear Adam say.
‘Right …’ Orla doesn’t sound too convinced. ‘Oh, Barney, I’ve got that crystal in the shop you were asking me about the other day. Why don’t you pop in later when you can.’
‘Sure, thanks, I will,’ Barney says in the same strange voice. I hear him clear his throat, then say in a deeper tone, ‘Much appreciated, Orla.’
I come back into the shop with a bag of pound coins. As I hand Orla the bag, I notice how red the back of Barney’s neck has gone.
‘Ah, Eve, you’re a star,’ Orla says, handing me a twenty-pound note. ‘Right, then, I’ll leave you all to your gossiping!’ She raises her blonde eyebrows, gives Barney a quick smile, then walks towards the door just as Ben is about to enter the shop. ‘Ben! Grand to see you back in Clockmaker Court at last.’
‘If it hadn’t been for your healing ways, Orla, I’m sure it would have taken a lot longer for me to get back here.’
