Page 13 of The Vanishing Bookstore
‘Not a lot. I told him you were single, but I never gave him your address or anything really personal. I told him you liked a hazelnut latte, were partial to a chicken pad thai and would happily munch on a bag of prawn crackers all night rather than eat at a posh restaurant. I’m not stupid Dora, I thought that maybe he might be a bit of fun. But it turns out if he wasn’t talking about you, he was staring into space.’
‘Blimey, he sounds odd. Did he talk about his girlfriend?’
‘Not a peep. You’d think someone who’s grieving would do nothing but want to talk about their dead girlfriend. You know,for a guy who looks as good as Luke Evans did inDracula Untoldhe’s pretty crap at the whole romance thing. Even I would tell you to stay clear of him and I’m not that fussy.’
‘What about you, are you going to? I’m worried he might keep coming into the shop when I’m not there and bothering you.’
‘Honey, if he buys me expensive meals, plies me with wine then eventually screws me, I’m never going to turn him away. I’ll take it for what it is.’
‘Katie, that’s awful, please don’t. And what do you think it is?’
‘I’d say it’s working his way in to getting to know Dora English without having the balls to ask her out directly. Look, I have nothing else better to do, I can scope him out for you, and if he starts getting all crazy then I’ll phone the cops and tell them he’s a nutjob. It’s what friends do.’
‘No, it’s not, I don’t want you to have anything to do with him, Katie. I mean it, he gives me this weird vibe that he’s up to something. He could be like one of those guys off the documentaries on Amazon,The Serial Killer Next Door.’
Katie’s laughter filled her ear. ‘Night, Dora, I love you. You’re funny, you know that, don’t you.’
The line went dead, and Dora stared down at her phone. She wasn’t being funny, she was being serious. She wanted to escape London more than ever now, get away from George with his strange personality and forget that he’d ever come into her shop.
Lenny paced up and down her bedroom. Those flowers were not the usual choice for a man trying to impress a woman… unless you were a hunter. And High Sheriff George Corwin was certainly that. She clenched her fists. Those flowers were amessage to her. And this time, Dora knew nothing about what was happening.
How had he found them again? This time they had been so cautious, she had left Salem when Dora had been a few weeks old. They had to go home quickly. They had never been able to find the journal that was the key to Dora’s powers. There was a time when they’d thought Dora wasn’t ready; they’d made her swear never to touch the journal. It had been their biggest mistake.
Lenny had no idea how they’d beat Corwin. But one thing was for certain, they were stronger together. At home.
8
Dora had never been to the airport before. She had an irrational fear of flying and she had no idea where it stemmed from. When she was younger and Lenny had tried to get her to go on a holiday she’d scream and cry, begging her not to make her fly. As much as Lenny must have been frustrated about missing out on a trip abroad, she had never pushed her. They’d had some lovely holidays in the UK. Dora loved Edinburgh, had been fascinated with the castle and the gothic monuments, so Edinburgh was where they went when it all got too much for Lenny.
Now, as they were lining up to go through security, Dora was beginning to get all clammy. Her stomach was in knots, and she wanted to throw up the bagel she’d eaten for breakfast. Lenny, who was staring into the distance, turned to look at her.
‘Dora, you look as if you’re about to commit some terrible crime. Why are you acting so shifty? I thought we were over this fear of flying, you had enough hypnotherapy to cure a whole busload of fearful flyers.’
‘I’m fine, it’s just a little bit of nerves.’
‘A little, my dear? If they pay any attention to you, they’ll cart you off to get strip searched to make sure you’re not concealing a kilo of heroin.’
Dora smiled.
‘Look at me. This, all of this, is the reason why it’s safe to fly. We are going on a seven-hour direct flight to Boston, it will pass quicker than you could imagine. By the time they’ve brought the drinks cart around, then the food, then the coffee, then more drinks, you’ll be nicely chilled, and we’ll be landing at Logan before you know it.’
‘I know.’
Lenny grabbed a plastic tray off the conveyor belt, took off her shoes and placed her hand luggage inside it. Dora copied her, kicking off her trainers and dropping her backpack in her own tray. They passed through security without a glitch.
‘Come on. I think a stiff drink might help you calm down a little and then a spot of duty-free shopping.’
Dora didn’t disagree although she had no money to waste on duty-free. Lenny had given her a credit card and told her to buy what she wanted. Dora thought that she was the sweetest woman on earth underneath her rather grouchy exterior, but she wouldn’t take advantage of her aunt’s kindness, she would only use it when she needed it. She followed Lenny into the huge waiting area and found herself staring at the multitude of designer shops. Lenny was striding ahead to the rotunda bar and Dora followed, feeling more like a small child than a thirty-three-year-old woman. She tried to avoid looking at all the people and kept her head down, her gaze directed at her feet.
Although her feet seemed to have other ideas. They felt as if they didn’t belong to her and at one point when she was trying to keep up with her aunt she thought for just a moment that they were no longer touching the floor, but that was wild, she wasn’t levitating in the middle of Terminal 3, it was impossible. Lenny found two seats at the bar facing away from the gates and Dora wanted to kiss her. She didn’t though, knowing her aunt wasn’t fond of public shows of affection. She sat on the high stool nextto her and before she could open her mouth Lenny had ordered a bottle of rosé champagne and a Welsh rarebit toastie.
‘What do you want darling, you need to eat something in case the food on the plane is terrible.’
Dora shook her head. ‘I’m good.’
Lenny shrugged. ‘Make that two toasties, thanks.’
The waiter smiled and went to get their champagne.
