Page 53 of Winter Nights at the Bay Bookshop
‘Aw, bless you for picking them up for me,’ I said, smiling at her.
‘I don’t like bullies,’ she said. ‘I’m sorry they were mean.’
‘Thank you. Me too.’
She returned to her family and I took a deep breath before going through to the front section to tell Alec and Flo about the discount and to check whether any of the precious books in my arms had survived the pen attack, fighting hard to keep the tears at bay when it became obvious that they hadn’t. I couldn’t contemplate selling any of them, even at a heavy discount. The mindless destruction and the waste turned my stomach.
Alec and Flo were amazingly supportive. They must have messaged Tara because an emergency hot chocolate and a salted caramel brownie arrived with one of the staff from The Chocolate Pot. The kind gesture from my team had me all choked up.
‘We thought you might need it,’ Alec said.
‘I do. I’m going to savour this.’
‘Why don’t you take it downstairs?’ Flo suggested.
If I had some alone time in the staff room, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from repeatedly reliving that ugly scene. It would make me cry and I wouldn’t be able to hide my upset because my eyes frustratingly remained bloodshot for a couple of hours after crying. I’d need that release at some point but I’d save it for the privacy of Green Gables.
‘I’m fine here, thanks. Plus, it’s time you took your break.’
It took some persuasion but Flo went down to the staff room while Alec took a customer to the poetry section, leaving me alone at the till. All but one of the customers who’d been in the children’s section during the incident had now left and all but one had bought books. They all shared how shocked and disgusted they were about the behaviour and how sorry they felt for me, although only one refused the discount. I felt sorry for me too, but I also felt sorry for Red Jacket’s children. While what they’d done was very wrong, had anyone actually taught them that? From their mother’s behaviour, I suspected not, which didn’t bode well for their future.
The final customer made her way downstairs and placed a pile of books on the counter.
‘Everyone’s getting a book for Christmas this year,’ she declared, as if she felt she needed to explain the random selection of titles.
I smiled at her. ‘Best Christmas present ever. Although I will admit to being slightly biased.’
‘Don’t give me a discount on the children’s books, though. I was buying all of these anyway and it’s not fair you should lose out because of someone else. Are you okay?’
‘Not really, but I’ve got to get on with it.’
‘Have you let the police know?’
‘They were just kids.’
‘I’m thinking more about the mother. She’s responsible for the damage they caused because she left them unsupervised, she refused to pay and she ripped up a book herself. There’s no excuse for that. She shouldn’t be allowed to get away with it.’
She’d become more passionate and steadily louder as she spoke, which she evidently realised as she lowered her voice. ‘Sorry. I used to work in retail too and some of the damage customers caused and the abuse they gave staff broke my heart. It’s why I left.’
‘It can be tough at times. I’m sorry it got that bad for you. What do you do now?’
‘I work behind the bar at the theatre so still with customers but a different type. The occasional glass gets broken but it’s never deliberate.’
When I told her I hadn’t been to the theatre in years, she whipped out a programme of upcoming events from her bag and suggested I treat myself.
‘You’re going to tell the police, then?’ Alec asked after the woman left.
‘I might as well. I’ll check the CCTV first and, if we’ve caught her clearly, I’ll give Sergeant Haines a shout. I don’t know if they’ll be able to identify her and, if they do, I don’t know that they’ll be able to do anything but it’s worth a try. That customer was right. There should be consequences for that sort of behaviour.’
Flo returned from her break and, feeling lifted by all the customer support, I decided to take ten minutes to myself after all and enjoy the rest of my hot chocolate and my brownie in peace and quiet. To make sure I didn’t focus on the incident, I’d scroll through the socials and see whether the Paperback Pixie had gifted any books today. They’d been quiet recently.
29
LILY
Settled in the staff room with my first bite of brownie melting in my mouth, I took out my phone and clicked into the Paperback Pixie’s Instagram feed. They’d been active this morning and I smiled as I scrolled through the photos showing five novels from different genres left in front of the beach huts in North Bay. The huts were painted in bright colours – red, orange, yellow, sky blue and lime green – and the books propped up against them had covers matching those paint colours. Three finders had tagged the Pixie into their finds and I messaged Cassie alerting her to the post. She replied immediately.
From Cassie
