Page 86 of Bea's Book Wagon
‘We’ll try and get everyone through the door, but I was hoping that you might come back tomorrow? If you’re free, that is?’ Mrs Connolly added quickly, ‘just in case.’
‘Wow, yes, of course. I’d love to!’ said Bea, her face splitting into a grin. She hadn’t expected to be asked back so soon.
‘Excellent! Rose, if you can feed that information down the line, for anyone who can’t wait this afternoon?’ Mrs Connolly instructed.
‘On it,’ said Rose, making her way across the playground to the back of the queue.
‘And I think we could make this a regular visit, Bea, given the level of interest, don’t you agree?’
Did she agree? Erm… yes!
‘That would be amazing, Mrs Connolly, thank you!’
‘I’ll talk to some of the other local headteachers, I’m sure they’d want you to visit their schools too. Cherrydown and Appleton, for example. They only have tiny school libraries as well.’
‘I’d really appreciate that, Mrs Connolly,’ said Bea, her voice full of gratitude.
‘Excellent! Right then,’ Mrs Connolly said, smoothing down her dress. ‘Let’s get the first customers in, shall we?’
CHAPTER 24
‘Hello!’ said Nathan, as Bea pulled into the yard at Three Acre Farm later that evening. ‘I wasn’t expecting to see you today,’ he said, walking towards her car.
‘I thought I’d surprise you,’ said Bea, switching off the engine. ‘I’m not in the way here, am I?’ she asked, jerking her thumb back towards the wagon.
‘No, you’re fine. Cuppa?’
‘God, yes, please. You read my mind,’ said Bea, climbing out of the car. ‘It’s been a hectic day.’
‘Oh, yeah?’
‘I’ve been at the school all afternoon, I’m shattered,’ she said, following him through to the farmhouse kitchen. ‘Oooh, that smells good,’ she said, as the aroma of something sweet and spicy filled her nostrils.
‘Cinnamon buns,’ said Sue, appearing from the larder. ‘Get them while they’re hot,’ she laughed, pulling off her apron. ‘I’m heading down to the cowshed now to give your father a hand,’ she explained to Nathan, ‘but lovely to see you, Bea.’
‘You too,’ said Bea. ‘Say hello to Martin for me, and thanks for the buns, they look amazing,’ she said, glancing at the batch sat cooling on the counter. She could feel her mouth starting to water.
‘So, to what do I owe the pleasure?’ said Nathan, setting two steaming mugs of tea on the table and grabbing a bun from the cooling rack. ‘Ouch, that’s hot,’ he said, blowing on his fingers.
‘You were warned,’ Bea laughed.
‘I know, but they look too good to wait,’ said Nathan. ‘Want one?’ he asked.
‘I’ll wait until they’ve cooled down a bit, I think,’ said Bea.
‘Okay,’ Nathan shrugged, pulling up a chair. ‘By the way, how did last night go? The book-dating thing? Archie said Josh bagged an actual date out of it, with Claire from the hairdressers.’
‘Yeah, they seemed quite cosy at the pub when I left,’ said Bea.
‘Clearly.’
‘It was a good crowd, lots of people I didn’t know. Beth and Pete have said I can make it a monthly thing too, which is good.’
‘Great! I’ll try to make the next one, if I can. So, how was the school thing today?’
‘Really good,’ Bea nodded, ‘amazing actually,’ she said. ‘I can’t believe how many books I sold. I reckon most of the parents bought at least one, and I’m going back tomorrow to open for a bunch of people who couldn’t wait around today.’
‘Bloody hell, Bea, that’s fantastic,’ said Nathan.
