Page 17 of The Vanishing Bookstore
‘I realise this is all a shock for you, honey, so we’re going to take it slow. I haven’t seen you since you were a baby. You were a feisty little thing then, born with a head full of black curls and skin the colour of beetroot. You practically came into this world shaking your tiny fist in the air.’
Dora closed her eyes; she didn’t understand. How had Sephy been there when she was born? Why had Lenny kept everything such a huge secret? When she opened her eyes, Lenny was looking at her with what she thought was trepidation. Was her aunt worried about how she was going to respond to all these secrets and lies?
‘Can we maybe talk about this at some point? Why I had no idea about you, Sephy, why it’s all been some big secret?’
‘Of course, my darling, we will talk about it until you know everything and feel as if you have the answers you seek. First, let’s go home and relieve Mrs Pitcher who is watching…’ She paused, glancing at Lenny, who gave a slight shake of her head.
‘She’s watching the house for me. Hades will be so happy to see you, he’s missed you so much.’
‘Hades, is he your son?’
Sephy giggled. ‘He is most certainly not my son; he feels like an errant child at times but he’s far wiser.’
Lenny was still watching Dora’s face and she didn’t know if her aunt was expecting her to have some kind of medical episode. Sephy composed herself.
‘Sorry, that really made me giggle. I’m so childish at times. I was hoping you might have remembered him, it would have at least been something. Hades is our pet crow; his wings are the colour of your hair and you two were inseparable when you were a baby. He is just the best watcher that we could have ever asked for.’
‘We have a pet crow, one that used to watch me? How did he watch me? Didn’t he want to peck my eyes out? I thought they were vicious things.’
‘Good Lord not at all, Hollywood has given birds such a bad name, that film especially. I mean, some birds are not very nice, but it depends how you treat them. Not Hades, he’d sit on the end of your crib, or your stroller when I walked you, he’d fly above us, sometimes he’d sit in the stroller with you. He would chatter away to you, and you would babble back to him. He always brought you little gifts too, a sprig of lavender if you weren’t sleeping too good, rosemary to make you smile if you were upset. He’s such a sweetheart, we are lucky to have him as our watcher.’
Dora didn’t speak. She couldn’t have even if she’d wanted to because she was too busy trying to recall if she remembereda pet crow that would sit on the end of her crib and bring her gifts when she was sad. She should remember that, surely, she should. Why would she want to block it out and repress those memories? None of this made any sense to her. An overwhelming urge to close her eyes made Dora feel exhausted. She felt so drained she could have curled up in a ball and gone to sleep. The confusion was weighing heavy on her too, and her stomach was in knots, making her feel queasy.
Sephy glanced at her. ‘It’s okay, we’re almost home. The tiredness will wear off once you’ve been here a couple of days. It’s always this way when we’ve been somewhere and return. People talk about being homesick and missing the place where they live, but this is what real homesickness is. I’m afraid the longer you’re away the worse it is, but I have some tea that will help soothe the sickness and exhaustion.’
Dora smiled at her aunt. She was so like Lenny, it seemed they both had the ability to know everything she was thinking or feeling, and it was beyond weird. Her brain felt as if it had been overloaded and she decided to keep quiet until they reached home, wherever that was.
11
LONDON, PRESENT DAY
Katie had thoroughly enjoyed her first day being the sole employee at Vintage Rose. She had sold far more bunches of flowers than she’d imagined possible, and it looked as if Dora might not come home to a locked shop with a sign that read, ‘Out of Business’. She smiled as she sipped at the lukewarm mug of tea. Maybe this had been exactly what she’d needed, a complete break from the world of being a personal assistant. Something had sparked deep inside her when she’d made her first bouquet for a customer who wanted a gift for her wife; no wonder Dora loved being a florist so much and it smelled divine in here. Taking out her phone, she wondered if the plane had landed yet and whether she should let her friend know that today’s takings had been far more than she’d expected. Mid-text the small bell above the shop door jangled and Katie looked up to see the vision of male godliness called George standing there, smiling at her. She managed to slosh tea all down her front and was relieved she was wearing Dora’s black apron to hide the stain.
‘Hi.’
He nodded. ‘Hello again, how are you, Katie?’
‘I’m good, yourself?’
She thought to herself that now was the time he was going to say he was distraught over the death of his girlfriend. Especially because he had never once mentioned her when he took her to Marco’s on Sunday evening. He must have been in denial maybe.
‘Never better, thank you.’
She was wrong. What was the matter with him? Surely he should be in the throes of grief by now. She understood that everyone reacted differently to death, but to not acknowledge it was weird.
‘Have you come about the funeral flowers? I’m afraid Dora isn’t here to make them for you. I’m not able to help you either, sorry, I can barely tie a bouquet.’
‘I don’t need flowers.’
‘You don’t? Oh, that’s okay. Then what do you need?’
He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply; Katie felt a chill run down her spine. He reminded her of someone, but she didn’t remember who. When he opened them, his gaze met hers and he stared deep into her eyes. Those brown eyes were much darker today, they were almost black.
‘Are you wearing lenses?’
‘Am I wearing what?’
‘Contact lenses. Or maybe you were wearing them the other day?’
