Page 57 of Winter Nights at the Bay Bookshop
You drive a hard bargain but I accept. See you soon
* * *
Lars arrived half an hour later, stirring the butterflies inside me once more.
‘I wasn’t doing anything so I thought I’d come down early and see if I could be of any help. Cuppa, perhaps?’
‘I’d love one. Thanks, Lars.’
Cyndi joined us from the children’s section. Lars offered her a drink but, as she only had thirty minutes left of her shift, she passed.
‘He’s so fit,’ she said when Lars was out of earshot. ‘Don’t suppose he has a younger brother.’
‘No, and I thought you had a boyfriend anyway.’
‘I did, but we broke up. He thinks I read too much and I think he watches too much telly.’
‘Aw, I’m sorry, Cyndi.’
‘Don’t be cos I’m not, especially as I can spend the money I’d saved for his Christmas pressies on myself instead. Bonus.’
I liked her thinking. And she was right about Lars beingfit. But, for me, the attraction to him was about so much more than looks. It was about his eagerness to apologise for his behaviour at school, his passion for books, his love for his sister, his gift for engaging with customers, and the way he made me feel every time I was around him. The thought of being alone with him tonight had every fibre of my being tingling and I found myself willing the working day to be over so I could lock the world away and have Lars all to myself.
31
LARS
‘We’ll do the tree first and then the window,’ Lily told me. ‘If it’s getting too late by then, we can always do the rest of the lights and garlands in the morning but I’d rather get the big things done tonight.’
‘Tree?’ I asked, frowning at the boxes piled up in the stationery section. None of them were big enough to hold a Christmas tree.
‘It’s in the car. It lives in the garage at home as keeping it here’s a waste of valuable space. I’ve got some of the things I need for the window display in the car too but we’ll get those after we’ve done the tree.’
I’d messaged Danika after Lily asked me to help out tonight and she’d replied confirming what I’d been thinking – that this was the perfect opportunity for me to confess everything about school without fear of customers interrupting us. It was probably best not to lead with that conversation, though. I’d build up to it. The pizza break could be the best time.
We carried the box through to the front of the shop and I paused, looking around me, wondering where Lily was going to put it without blocking any shelves.
‘It’ll go under the stairs,’ she said, as though reading my mind.
There was a highbacked brown leather armchair and a standard lamp in the recess beneath the stairs which I’d always thought were a nice feature, but I could see how that was the most logical space for the tree. I carried the chair and Lily carried the lamp to the back door to put in her car later for temporary storage in her parents’ garage.
When we returned to the front, Lily put some Christmas music on. ‘I refuse to play Christmas music in the shop until December arrives,’ she said, smiling at me, ‘but tonight’s the exception. I’ve put it on random play so there might be some odd mood leaps between tracks and a couple of dubious choices thanks to Cassie.’
She switched the main lights off, leaving just the warm white fairy lights draped around the shelves and a couple of lamps which gave a cosy feel to the shop. We removed the three sections of the artificial tree from the box and, while Lily added the stand to the largest section, I took the box through to the back. When I returned, she’d already connected the other pieces and was arranging the branches.
‘Do you know what this is called?’ she asked me.
‘It has a name?’
‘It’s called fluffing the branches. Isn’t that cute?’
‘I’veneverheard that term before, but it makes sense.’
I went to the opposite side to Lily and fluffed my branches. At one point, we both reached for the same one.
‘You’ve got cold hands again,’ I said.
She rubbed them together. ‘I’vealwaysgot cold hands.’
