Page 95 of Bea's Book Wagon
‘Amazing! I’m glad it’s been worthwhile, Phoebe, that’s great,’ said Bea. ‘Right,’ she said, glancing at her watch, ‘I’d better crack on if we’re going to try and be done by ten.’
‘I’ll go around and give everyone a top-up,’ said Phoebe, bottle in hand.
With their stomachs now full of cheese, and with the wine flowing freely, Bea noticed that everyone seemed a bit more relaxed and more willing to share their opinions than they had been initially.
‘Now, before we finish, I’ve got a favour to ask,’ said Bea, resting a pile of cards she’d grabbed from inside the wagon in her lap. ‘I’ve put these together for you,’ she said. ‘They’re “Bea’s Book Club Recommends”, and I’d love for you to have a think about a book you’d like to recommend for the shop, and I’ll order a copy from my wholesaler to display alongside a review from you, if that’s okay?’
‘What a lovely idea,’ said Jean, stashing a card in her handbag.
‘Can it be any book, or does it have to be a new release?’ Joyce asked.
‘Anything you like, as long as it’s still in print,’ said Bea.
‘I’ll put my thinking cap on,’ said Arthur.
‘There’s no rush, take your time, and if you can drop them back to the Cosy Cat, I can collect them from there. If that’s okay, Tori?’ said Bea.
‘Fine by me,’ said Tori.
‘Great! And we also need to pick our book for next month. Any suggestions?’ Bea asked, looking around the circle.
‘I’ve got one,’ said Matt, quickly. ‘How about Frankenstein by Mary Shelley?’
‘Oooh, yes, I’ve not read that in years!’ said Violet.
‘I don’t think I ever have,’ said Jake, ‘but it sounds good to me.’
‘Okay, great! Looks like we’ve got our next title sorted then!’ said Bea. ‘We should get some great debates out of that one.’
‘I’ll put my order in now, please, Bea. Two copies for Jake and me,’ said Rose.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll do tickets the same as tonight, so a copy of the book is included in the price, unless people would prefer just cheese and wine tickets?’ Bea asked. ‘And then you could borrow a copy of the book from the library?’
‘Oh no, I want a brand new copy, if that’s okay, so I can start a collection at home. “Bea’s Book Club picks”. It’s got a certain ring to it, don’t you think?’ declared Violet.
‘Excellent, thanks, Violet!’ said Bea, brightly. ‘But I think I’ll do two tiers of tickets anyway. One with the book and one without, so people can choose. Thanks so much for coming along this evening, everyone, I really hope you’ve enjoyed it, and I hope to see you all back here in July on the last Thursday of the month.’
‘It’s been a brilliant night,’ said Jess, ‘thanks for organizing it, Bea. I’ve really enjoyed it,’ she continued.
‘Well done, Bea,’ said Tori, standing up and giving her a hug. ‘See you at work tomorrow.’
‘I’ll see you tomorrow too,’ said Jess, ‘Gotta run, I’m meeting Archie at the pub and I’m already late.’
‘Are you?’ said Bea, taken aback. ‘He didn’t mention it.’
‘See you,’ said Jess, hurrying off across the green before Bea could say another word.
‘I’d best be off too,’ said Violet, turning to go.
‘Bye! And thanks again for letting me use the green, I really appreciate it,’ said Bea, folding up her deckchairs and stowing them in the boot of her car.
‘Night, everyone,’ she called to the rest of the group, as they began packing up their belongings before making their way home.
‘Before I go,’ said Rose, placing a hand on Bea’s arm and making her jump. ‘I just wanted to thank you for whatever you said to Billy the other day at school. He won’t stop talking about that book you gave him.’
‘War Horse?’ said Bea, beaming.
‘Yes, that’s the one. He absolutely loved it. His mum bought him the follow up, Farm Boy, and he’s been bringing it in for guided reading. His teacher’s thrilled.’
