Page 29 of The Cornish Cream Tea Bookshop
Ollie rolled her eyes. ‘Nothing I said is untrue. There’s no point in me trying to backtrack.’
‘Fair enough.’ Thea bit her lip. ‘So you’re off to Sea Brew, are you?’
‘If that’s OK,’ Ollie said. ‘I don’thaveto go, though.’
‘No, I’d love something.’ Thea’s smile was uncharacteristically mischievous. ‘I got up late and didn’t have time for breakfast this morning.’
‘Yes, boss,’ Ollie said, grabbing a tote bag from behind the counter. She could definitely do with some fresh air right now. She tried to ignore the fact that her pulse was already starting to thrum at the thought of seeing Max.
The window of Sea Brew was a mass of cotton-wool webs, oversized plastic spiders, and skeletons, with a few cute-looking ghosts thrown in to soften the horrifying effect. Ollie stepped inside and Max, who’d had his back to her, turned around.
She gasped, and he grinned.
‘What do you think?’ he asked.
‘Terrifying,’ she said, although that wasn’t the first word that came to mind.
His skeleton outfit was made up of a tight-fitting onesie that showed off all his muscles, despite the black-and-white design. He’d painted his face white with deep, dark eye-sockets, and he hadn’t bothered to restrict his curls. Even as a Halloween character, he was disarmingly sexy, and the chequerboard apron remained firmly in place. He was a House of Horrors monochrome delight.
‘I hope you’re wearing that tonight,’ she said.
He laughed and shook his head. ‘No way. It’s surprisingly thin, and I don’t want to take attention away from the tour guide.’ He gestured to her. ‘This is just for today.’
‘Because you wanted a day of not being harassed by small children?’
His eyes flashed. ‘I’m only borderline scary.’
‘If you say so.’
‘I can’t afford to put off my younger customers, because I’ve got a whole load of homemade sweets to give away. Anyway, all the kids I’ve seen so far have been a hundred times more terrifying than I am.’ He reached under the counter and held out a large tin full of beautifully crafted pumpkins, skulls and ghosts, all made out of marzipan.
‘Did Beryan make these?’ she asked, taking a ghost.
‘Of course. How’s the ghost-walk prep?’
‘So far we’ve all cracked a glow stick, but there’s nothing left to do, really. My walk is sorted, and I’ve got a table of haunting reads to lure customers in afterwards. If anyone tries to walk out without buying something, I’ll threaten to lock them inside A New Chapter with the ghost.’
Max shook his head. ‘You’re shameless, you know that?’
‘I’m a bookseller. My job is to sell books.’
‘Also, I didn’t know the Old Post House had a ghost.’
‘Your supernatural knowledge of your home town is severely lacking, Max.’
‘That’s why I’m coming tonight. You’ll tell me all about it?’
‘Of course. Right now, though, I need to buy pastries.’
Max gestured to the croissants, pains au chocolate and Danishes laid out in the glass case. ‘Pick your poison.’
‘I hope that’s not a special ingredient in recognition of what day it is.’ She leaned over, taking her time choosing. ‘I need to get this right. The way to a woman’s heart is through her stomach.’
‘Whose heart do you need to reach?’
She sighed. ‘I’m trying to convince Thea and Becky that we can be as ambitious as we want with the bookshop. They’re fine with the book club and ghost walk, but anything more … elaborate, and they don’t seem keen.’
‘That’s surprising,’ Max said. ‘I thought Thea was pretty open-minded.’
