Page 11 of Winter Nights at the Bay Bookshop
‘And it’s priced to reflect that.’
I clicked into the floorplans. There were six bedrooms but two of them were tiny and would be better knocked into one to make a large en suite for the master bedroom or perhaps repurposed as a smaller en suite and a dressing room.
‘You’re very quiet,’ Nanna observed.
‘Just taking it all in,’ I said, clicking back into the photos. ‘I always wondered what it looked like inside.’
‘You can see the castle from it.’
I paused on images of the views from the front of the house and they really were spectacular. Seeing the castle every day would be exceptionally special.
‘I wonder if they still have the ducks on the gates,’ I said.
‘I wondered that too. You can’t tell from the photos. What do you think? Could you see yourself living there?’
The work didn’t scare me. I actually liked the idea of gutting the place and starting with a blank canvas, but the family home tag did scare me. What did a single man in his mid-thirties need with such a big house and garden?
‘I’m not sure. It’s a family home and I don’t have a family.’
‘Semantics,’ Nanna said. ‘You’ve heard that phrasedress for the job you want? Well, this could bebuy the home for the family you want.’
It wasn’t quite the same thing but I could see her logic.
‘And youcouldhave a family if you wanted.’
‘If you weren’t so fussy about your girlfriends,’ we both said together, my tone sarcastic.
‘Very funny,’ Nanna said. ‘But you know it’s the truth.’
It was, but I couldn’t help it. The problem was that I’d already met the perfect woman for me a very long time ago and I’d stupidly pushed her away. Nobody I’d met since had compared to her and I wasn’t sure they ever would.
7
LILY
I spent my day off on Thursday exactly how I liked it – relaxing at Green Gables with a book – and returned to work on Friday feeling refreshed and positive.
‘You look brighter,’ Cassie said when she arrived.
‘I feel it. Monday was tough but what Dad said about Wes not being my Gilbert Blythe – Ewan too – was a light bulb moment. The rejection still hurts but I’ve accepted that the end was for the best.’
‘Glad to hear it. Does that mean you’re open to dating again? Jared’s got a couple of single mates who?—’
‘Won’t be dating me,’ I finished for her. ‘I wouldn’t have time to think about it this side of Christmas with the hours I’ll be working and, even if Dad wasn’t having his op, I’m not ready. I need to think hard about what I want before rushing into another relationship and getting hurt again.’
‘Fair enough, but you just have to say the word and I’ll have you fixed up in a whizz.’
* * *
All week, I’d been meaning to visit Bear With Me, the specialist teddy bear shop on the other side of the street. The owner, Jemma, was a good friend who’d returned to work this week after becoming a mum for the third time and I was keen to find out how she was settling back in. We’d caught up for a coffee on my day off a few weeks ago and I’d enjoyed cuddles with baby Jasmine and her three-year-old brother, Kieran, but had missed seeing their big brother, Freddie, who, now five, was at school. Not wanting to bother Jemma across the busier lunchtime period, I took my break early at half eleven and headed across the cobbles.
Jemma was by the till, pricing up a box of soft toys, and she smiled widely when she saw me.
‘Welcome back!’ I said. ‘How’s it going?’
‘Like I’ve never been away. Annie’s such a pro at keeping things running without me. I don’t think she really needs me here.’
‘I’ll always need you,’ called a voice and I laughed as Jemma’s colleague Annie appeared from behind a giant teddy bear. ‘Hi, Lily. Jem, I’m going upstairs to see if we’ve got any more of those owls in the storeroom, but shout if you need me.’
