Page 31 of Winter Nights at the Bay Bookshop
17
LILY
‘Oh, wow, Lily! It looks amazing in here,’ Dad said as we entered Bay Books through the back door on Saturday morning and he paused to look around at the Halloween decorations Cassie and I had put up the night before. ‘How long did it take you?’
‘A few hours. We made it to The Bombay Palace for just after eight, so not too bad.’
‘I’m impressed, as always.’
It would normally have been Dad’s day off today but it was the start of the half-term holiday and the extra pair of hands were usually needed. It wasn’t just locals coming in but holidaymakers too. I admired their hardiness, determined to enjoy a holiday by the seaside despite the often cold and wet weather. Several of the local caravan parks, eager to prolong the holiday season, offered good deals in October which attracted families to the Yorkshire Coast.
‘I need to check the window before we open,’ I told Dad, heading outside. It had been dark when Cassie and I finished decorating last night and I wanted to ensure everything looked okay in the daylight.
Most of the window display carried a witchy theme aimed at children. Held open on a cookbook holder, a book I’d made from stained parchment showed a spell containing well-known characters from children’s books. The relevant books and the soft toy characters were piled up ready to go into a large cauldron in which there were already a few items. Fake glittery cobwebs covered colourful bottles of potions, and there were spiders and bats of varying sizes dotted around.
On the far side of the window was a smaller adult section. We’d created a display stand from old fruit boxes on their sides, each carrying a range of titles with loose links to Halloween – the latest horror and crime fiction releases, a selection of romantic fiction titles featuring witches and ghosts, and various non-fiction titles about Victorian grave robbers, serial killers and witch trials. Dispersed among the piles of books were soft orange, purple and black pumpkins and black, white and orange flameless candles. Satisfied with the display, I went back inside.
If I hadn’t been aware it was half-term, the increased footfall across the day would have told me. Dad, Alec, Flo and I barely paused for breath all day. I loved days like that. Financially we needed them as they compensated for the quiet ones where we sold very few books – the worst being mid-week, mid-term days with torrential rain which kept the shoppers away. But it wasn’t the excitement of running off the end of the day sales report and seeing a healthy figure that did it for me. When the shop was busy, there was a buzz of excitement and it was caused by a united love for the written word. I’d never tire of customers telling me why they’d chosen a particular book.My friend recommended it. My mum loves this author. I can’t resist pink covers. My dad’s having an operation and I thought this would take his mind off it. I love the cute panda/tractor/cottage on the cover. I loved this book when I was a kid. I’ve just watched the film and now I want to read the book. My sister’s having a tough time right now so I thought I’d help her with some escapism.
Escapism. Most days I was reminded of how valuable books, especially fiction ones, were for escapism. The opportunity for a reader to switch off from the challenges in their life and immerse themselves in a new world was so powerful. How many times had I heard a customer say,I need this right now, or return to the shop later and tell me,this book came along at the perfect time? I’d experienced it myself so many times, escaping to Green Gables when Jordan no longer wanted to be my friend, and returning to that world again and again when life tripped me up.
New friends could be found between the pages of a book – new romances even – and readers could learn so much. Sometimes I’d stand in the shop gazing at the bookshelves, feeling blown away by the multitude of lessons that could be learned from just the books in one section, let alone the whole shop. The learning didn’t just come from the non-fiction books. Commercial fiction could be just as valuable for educating readers or making them think.
By half four, trade had eased off a little. I was tidying and restocking the children’s section when Cassie arrived with Hallie and Rocco.
‘I wasn’t expecting to see you two today,’ I said as they charged at me for cuddles.
‘We’ve been to a party,’ Rocco declared.
‘Don’t tell me. Think it and see if I can guess.’ I pressed my fingers to my temples, scrunched up my forehead and stared at them both intently. ‘I’m getting something. Plastic balls? Some tunnels? I know! You’ve been to the soft play.’
Hallie looked stunned for a moment, then started giggling. ‘Mummy told you!’
‘Busted!’
‘You two go and choose a book each,’ Cassie said. ‘But what do we do with books?’
‘We treat them with love,’ Hallie and Rocco chorused together.
‘And we put them back on the shelf in the right place carefully,’ Hallie added. ‘No ramming cos it hurts the corners.’
Cassie clapped her hand to her heart. ‘My babies! You make me so proud. Off you go!’ She turned to me with a grin. ‘Just call me Mother of Books.’
‘Okay, Mother of Books, how was soft play?’
‘Like Satan’s playpen. Although that’s surprisingly not the strapline the owners of Squishy Joe’s went with. Urgh, Ihatethose places but I love my kids so I begrudgingly accept the intermittent torture of a couple of hours of screeching children and competitive mums.My daughter’s a genius. My son’s going to the Olympics. My daughter’s found a cure for Alzheimer’s. My son’s solved world poverty.’
The smarmy show-off voices Cassie adopted had me laughing. She rolled her eyes at me. ‘Knowing I was going to hate it but be far too polite to say anything, I went for a silent protest.’
‘No! You didn’t…’
She unzipped her coat, revealing herI’d rather be reading booksT-shirt.
‘…wear your T-shirt?’ I finished. ‘You did. I can’t believe you did that!’
‘It had to be done. I’d never have forgiven myself if I hadn’t.’
‘Cassie! And you wonder why nobody speaks to you at the school gates.’
