Page 63 of Winter Nights at the Bay Bookshop
Lars hung his head, his cheeks flushing. ‘No! I was hoping that had been a bad dream or you’d have forgotten it.’
‘Oh! I missed a bit.’
‘Don’t salute me!’ He looked up, grimacing. ‘You have. You’ve saluted me. Do you know how much willpower it took not to break into a sprint after I did that?’
‘I can guess.’
‘Please forgive me. That was… No, I can’t even begin to describe what that was. Let’s put it down to a moment of temporary insanity and never speak of it again.’
I loved that he could laugh about it. I’d never have pushed it as far as I did if it had touched a nerve. I asked him if he’d ever seenDirty Dancingand shared my thoughts about the scene it conjured up for me, although I didn’t admit that I’d been discussing that with Cassie. I’d confess that one later.
‘Yeah. Definitely my watermelon moment. But it worked for them. Baby and Johnny got together…’
‘And it worked for me,’ I said smiling before kissing him again.
* * *
When we’d finished decorating the tree, Lars placed a takeaway pizza order at Mario’s and made the five-minute walk to collect it while I added metal hooks to the slatted wall under the stairs. The wall was one of several changes I’d made to the shop, specifically to hang up the Christmas decorations. I’d chosen wood rather than metal so it would blend in and not stand out as an empty shop fitting when it wasn’t in use. We sometimes used it for extra back-to-school stationery, special offers or new ranges but most of the time it was partially covered by a gorgeous canvas Jed Ferguson had painted of the bookshop.
I was about a third of the way through hanging the Christmas decorations on the slats when Lars returned with pizza, some serviettes and cans of soft drinks. The delicious cheesy smell made my stomach rumble. We ate at the counter and Lars told me that I shouldn’t feel too sorry for him for being a Billy-No-Mates as he did have one friend. Danika sounded lovely and it seemed she’d already made a big difference to him by insisting he apply for the job here and encouraging him to open up to me about his past. I very much looked forward to meeting her at some point soon.
As we neared the end of the pizza, a loud bang on the door made us both jump. I could see the shape of someone standing outside and it looked like a man, although I couldn’t make out who due to the limited lighting.
‘Lily,’ the man shouted, banging on the door again, and my heart sank.
‘It’s Justin.’ I dropped my part-eaten slice of pizza into the box and wiped my hands on a serviette. I’d had the most amazing evening and I had a feeling the mood was about to take an enormous nosedive.
33
LILY
‘You took your time!’ Justin practically spat the words the moment I opened the door and I reeled at the smell of alcohol on his breath.
‘What do you want?’ I asked, ignoring his comment.
‘To see my only daughter, of course. Is that a crime?’
‘No, but I said I was doing something important tonight and it’d have to be tomorrow.’
I’d made the mistake of moving aside, which gave him enough room to squeeze past me. I closed the door behind him with a sigh.
‘You ditched me for pizza with your boyfriend?’ He curled his lip in Lars’s direction. ‘That’s more important than seeing me?’
Actually, yes! And how self-centred was he if he thought he was more important than any of my plans? But I swallowed down a retort to that effect and gave the briefest of introductions – names only – before repeating my earlier question in a tone much more calm than I felt. ‘What do you want, Justin?’
He glanced at Lars then back at me, frowning as he muttered, ‘It’s private.’
‘I’ll give you some space,’ Lars said, picking up his drink.
‘You don’t have to go.’ I felt terrible that Justin had made him feel uncomfortable.
Lars took my hand as he passed and his expression clearly asked if I was okay being left on my own.
‘You could check out those poetry books we were discussing,’ I said.
He squeezed my hand to convey his understanding – that I only wanted him to go up to the first level so he’d be able to hear the conversation and come down if things got heated. I hadn’t seen Justin this agitated before or under the influence of alcohol and I didn’t like it.
As Lars ascended the stairs, I went round to the other side of the till, closed the pizza box and stopped the music.
