Page 106 of Bea's Book Wagon
‘It looks stunning, Bea,’ said Jess, leaning in to hold the pendant. ‘It really suits you.’
‘Thanks,’ said Bea.
‘That’s totally beaten my spa voucher,’ Jess grumbled.
‘And my bookmark,’ said Tori, sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms.
‘How do you think I feel?’ Archie complained.
‘Why, what did you get?’ Leo asked, taking a sip of his pint.
‘He offered to unload the dishwasher for the rest of the month!’ Bea laughed, giving her brother a playful nudge in the chest.
‘Oh, Arch,’ said Jess, wincing, ‘that’s pretty shabby.’
‘Oh, come on! I’ve been too busy at Nate’s—’ he started to explain.
‘I didn’t know you were doing work for Nate,’ Bea said, eyes narrowed.
‘Oh, it’s nothing really,’ said Archie awkwardly. ‘I’ve been helping him out with some, erm… calving,’ he mumbled.
‘Isn’t it a bit late in the year for that?’ Bea asked, confusion etched on her face.
‘Oh no,’ Leo piped up, ‘Jake’s been the same too, absolutely chocka.’
‘Oh, okay,’ said Bea, unconvinced. ‘Where is Nate, anyway? I thought he was coming tonight?’
‘Speak of the devil,’ said Archie, jerking his head towards the door as Nathan walked in.
As Bea turned to look, she realized the pub was completely empty, even Beth and Pete seemed to have vanished from behind the bar.
‘Where’s everyone gone?’ asked Bea, even more confused now.
‘There’s one more present outside for you,’ said Nathan, grinning so widely that he reminded Bea of the Cheshire Cat.
‘But you’ve already given me a present; that gorgeous book—’ said Bea.
‘Ah, but this isn’t just from me…’ said Nathan.
‘No, we all helped,’ said Archie, standing up.
‘What?’ asked Bea, shaking her head in puzzlement. ‘Helped with what? I don’t understand…’
‘Come outside and see for yourself?’ said Jess.
‘Do you know anything about this?’ Bea asked, turning to Lochlan.
‘Nope,’ Lochlan replied. ‘I’m as much in the dark as you are. Let’s go see what the mystery is, shall we?’ he suggested, taking her by the hand and leading her outside.
There, on the green, everyone who had been in the pub, together with her mum and dad, Arthur, and what looked like the whole WI, were gathered.
‘We’ve got a surprise for you, love,’ said Carol, beaming at her daughter as everyone stood aside to reveal the wagon, standing proudly in the middle of the green looking as good as new.
‘What on earth?’ said Bea, stunned, rushing towards it. ‘But I don’t understand,’ she said, shaking her head. ‘How?’ she stammered, resting her hand on the pastel blue paintwork.
‘It was Nathan’s idea,’ said Gordon, clapping him on the back. ‘He knew you’d need a helping hand getting the book wagon back on track.’
‘I didn’t want all your hard work to go to waste, Bea. I didn’t want you to lose it,’ said Nathan. ‘Not because of some stupid accident…’
