Page 125 of Bea's Book Wagon
‘It’s got to be worth a try?’ said Phoebe. ‘And Nathan and I can help with the deposit, seeing as we’ll be selling our stock too, that way you can make Pritchard an even more compelling offer.’
‘Definitely!’ Bea agreed. ‘Are you both sure you want to do this, though? It’s a big step.’
‘Yes!’ they chorused.
‘And remember, Pritchard isn’t flavour of the month, thanks to Violet, so that might help,’ said Phoebe.
‘Speak of the devil,’ said Bea, showing them a message from Violet which read: Beatrice, can you meet me at Primrose Cottage urgently? I’ve got news I think you’ll want to hear.
‘I wonder what that’s about?’ asked Phoebe.
‘I guess there’s only one way to find out. Nate, can you drop me back there?’ Bea asked.
* * *
Bea tapped the heavy, brass door-knocker twice and Violet opened the door almost immediately, as though she had been stood behind it waiting for Bea to arrive.
‘Bea,’ said Violet with a nod, ‘thanks for getting here so quickly. Come through.’
‘Thank you,’ said Bea, bending down to pat the little pug excitedly bouncing around at her heels.
‘Rolo, do calm down,’ said Violet, grabbing his collar and shoving him out of the way.
‘Oh, it’s fine, he’s a sweetheart,’ said Bea, taking a seat in an armchair in the lounge. ‘You said you had some news?’
‘Yes, well,’ Violet started, clapping her hands together. ‘As you know, all of us at the parish council were horrified by Malcolm’s plans to sell the Pink Ribbon building to a developer. It’s made him very unpopular. Flats on the green! Can you imagine? His wife is mortified; she’s a member of the WI and she’s disgusted by the whole thing.’
‘That’s kind of her,’ said Bea. It wouldn’t make any difference, but she was grateful to hear that the little community supported her.
‘EliteHaven Homes has made an approach to the council and they have been told, unofficially, of course, that gaining planning permission to develop the site would be difficult, very difficult indeed,’ Violet explained.
‘So, have they withdrawn their offer?’ Bea asked, hopefully.
‘I’m afraid not,’ said Violet. ‘However…’
However sounded promising.
‘I wouldn’t be surprised if Mr Pritchard was having a change of heart,’ Violet continued. ‘I think if you made another approach and upped the rent, what with the money from that Agatha Christie book you found—’
‘You know about that?’ Bea blinked
‘Of course I know about that,’ said Violet, rolling her eyes. ‘I know everything that goes on here.’
‘So, you think if I increase my offer, I might get the shop after all?’
‘I do. If I were you, I’d send Malcolm another email now; strike while the iron’s hot,’ Violet said, banging her hand down on the coffee table, making Bea jump.
‘Okay, on it,’ said Bea, pulling out her phone and typing furiously.
‘Now, can I interest you in a slice of lemon drizzle cake?’ asked Violet. ‘Homemade, of course,’ she added quickly. ‘It won ‘Best Sponge’ at the village fête. All this scheming gives me quite the appetite.’
‘Oh, yes, please,’ said Bea, hitting send and looking up from her phone. There, done. ‘And, me too!’
CHAPTER 38
As it turned out, Arthur’s dealer contact found two potential buyers for the first edition of The Mysterious Affair at Styles, resulting in an exciting auction, much to Bea’s surprise. In the end, a buyer actually from Canada had sealed the deal, with a bid of £2,100, and the money was immediately wired through to her bank account.
Mr Pritchard got back to her and they arranged a meeting at the shop for Thursday, which Bea took as a good sign. Phoebe, Nathan and Bea met up again to discuss the logistics of how running a shop together might work, just in case Mr Pritchard had changed his mind, and they agreed it made sense for Bea to take care of the day-to-day running of the business, with half the space dedicated to book stock, while Nathan and Phoebe would share the other half for wine and cheese. Phoebe and Nathan would each pay a quarter of the monthly rent and Bea would pay the remaining fifty per cent. One thing Phoebe and Nathan wouldn’t negotiate on was the shop’s name.
