Page 81 of Bea's Book Wagon
Bea sniffed the contents suspiciously.
‘It smells better than it looks,’ she laughed, taking the tiniest of sips. ‘Ooooh, I love it!’ she said, surprised that something that looked so repugnant could taste so delicious.
‘Told you!’ Lochlan grinned. ‘There’s this amazing bar we take clients to in London, they’ve got a great mixologist. We’ll go when you come up. We can work our way through the menu. You’ll love the hotel. Here, let me show you,’ he said, pulling up their Instagram account on his phone and handing it to her.
‘Wow! This looks gorgeous,’ she said, scrolling through the photos on their grid. There was a swimming pool, a spa, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and it even had a ‘secret’ garden that reminded her of Notting Hill. She could just imagine sneaking in after hours, just like Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts had in the film.
‘There are some great bookshops in London I’d love to check out while I’m there… Daunts in Marylebone High Street is a must, and Hatchards of course!’
‘Of course,’ Lochlan chuckled.
‘Ooooh, and I’ve read about a canal barge bookshop too, Word on the Water. It looks amazing, it reminds me a bit of the wagon actually…’
‘Okay, sure,’ said Lochlan. ‘But you have to promise me one thing, Bea?
‘What?’ she asked.
‘That we won’t spend the entire weekend looking at books. The hotel room’s got a hot tub and an Emperor mattress,’ he whispered, leaning in towards her.
‘I think I can promise that,’ Bea murmured, closing the distance between them and placing a soft, lingering kiss on his lips.
CHAPTER 22
Bea arrived at the Apple Tree on Monday evening, ready for the book speed-dating night. She’d posted it on her socials and was relieved to have eighteen tickets sold at five pounds each, which included a drink and a free bookmark.
‘Bea!’ said Beth, greeting her from behind the bar. ‘I’ve reserved the back bar for you, so feel free to arrange the tables however you’d like.’
‘Great, thank you,’ said Bea, ‘I’ll go and set up now, if that’s okay?’
‘Of course,’ Beth replied. ‘Do you know how many are coming?’
‘Eighteen, I hope. At least, that’s how many tickets I’ve sold,’ Bea explained. ‘Archie’s bringing a few mates along, Jess and Maggie are coming, but I’m not sure who else,’ she continued.
‘Brilliant! Do you fancy a drink?’ Beth asked.
‘Oooh, yes, please.’
Bea made her way to the back of the pub, rum and coke in hand, and began shifting the furniture around so her guests would be sat in pairs. She laid out some flyers for the book wagon, listing her upcoming events, and just as she was putting a couple of cute bookmarks on each table, her first guests arrived.
Archie had been true to his word and brought Seb, Josh and Freddie along. Jess was there with Maggie, Tori and Joyce. Bea didn’t know the other ten ticket holders, but they seemed lovely, so she really hoped everyone would get on and have a good time.
As everyone took a seat, Bea took a deep breath.
‘Hello, all!’ she said, brightly. ‘Thanks for coming to Bea’s Book Wagon’s first book speed-dating night!’
‘Hang on?’ called Freddie. ‘Book speed-dating?’
‘That’s right,’ Bea nodded.
‘Archie said it was speed-dating! He never mentioned anything about the book part,’ Josh agreed.
‘Didn’t he? Oh dear, sorry about that,’ said Bea, throwing Archie a thunderous glare.
‘You don’t think I would have got them here if they thought they were only coming to meet their perfect book, do you?’ Archie chuckled, jerking a thumb towards his mates.
‘Well, whatever brought you here, thank you for coming!’ Bea continued. ‘Let me explain how this works. I’ll be pairing you up and you’ll have three minutes to persuade your partner to read your favourite book. Explain to them what you loved about it, why it captured your heart and how it made you feel. I’m sure we’ll all be adding some exciting new reads to our TBR lists by the end of the evening.’
‘Our TB-what?’ said Josh, looking confused.
