Page 54 of Bea's Book Wagon
‘I just can’t believe it’s really happening.’
‘I’ll be honest, I wasn’t sure how it was going to look when I first saw the state of the horsebox, but I didn’t want to put a downer on the idea…’
‘Jess! It was you who persuaded me to go for it!’
‘The point is it’s all finished, tomorrow’s going to be brilliant, you’re brilliant and I’m proud of you,’ said Jess, with a decisive nod. ‘Is Lochlan coming by the way?’
‘Yes! He said he wouldn’t miss it.’
‘Dinner at the vineyard sounded amazing. As did the hot sex afterwards.’
‘God, it was! He’s really spoiling me and I’m loving every second of it!’
‘Are you talking about the date or the sex?’ Jess asked, waggling her eyebrows suggestively.
‘Well, both, but the sex is…’ Bea trailed off, biting her lower lip.
‘Hot?’
‘Well, yeah!’ Bea laughed.
‘But you’re taking it slowly, yes?’
‘Erm… kind of,’ Bea stammered.
‘Listen, I just want you to be careful, Bea. Don’t rush in too hard too fast. You know what you’re like. Just take it slow this time, okay?’ Jess paused.
‘But—’ said Bea, keen to explain that, while things were moving quickly, it was Lochlan who was driving it.
‘Seriously, Bea. I just don’t want you to get hurt again. Take some time to get to know one another properly. You’ve only seen him, what, three times?’
‘Well, four actually, if you include the day we met, but I get your point. I promise I will. I know you only want me to be happy.’
CHAPTER 15
Bea was wide awake well before her alarm went off the next morning, after a night spent tossing and turning, sleep evading her. But, no matter how tired she was, she couldn’t contain her excitement at the thought of opening the doors of Bea’s Book Wagon to customers for the first time.
‘Archie? What are you doing up so early?’ she said, as she padded downstairs to the kitchen.
‘It’s a big day, Sis. I thought you could do with a proper breakfast,’ he replied, sliding some perfectly crispy bacon from the frying pan onto a stack of homemade pancakes.
‘This looks delicious,’ said Bea, her mouth watering.
‘Turns out I’m actually quite good at this cooking lark, who knew?’
‘Not me,’ Bea laughed, taking a swig of orange juice and stuffing a rasher of bacon in her mouth. ‘Mmmmmm, this is so good!’
‘Well, don’t go get getting any ideas, this is a one off, to celebrate your big day.’
‘Thanks, Arch, I really appreciate it.’
‘How are you feeling?’
‘Like there’s a bag of snakes wriggling around in my stomach,’ said Bea. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever felt this nervous before.’
‘Well, it’s certainly not affecting your appetite,’ said Archie, pointing towards her now half-empty plate.
‘I’m stress-eating.’
