Page 70 of The Cornish Cream Tea Bookshop
Max put his hands on Ollie’s waist and kissed her. ‘Hey.’
‘Hello. That was very nice of you.’
‘I’m always happy to help out, and Dylan’s a good kid. I’m surprised he’s here, though.’
‘Becky said he could come as long as he’s on his best behaviour. We should be wrapped up by eight, and I’ve told Finn and Maisie that they’re not allowed to swear while they’re pitching their books.’
‘Which ones are they doing, do you know?’
Ollie grinned. ‘Because it’s nearly Christmas, they’re both doing books calledThe Snowman.Maisie is advocating for the book by Joe Nesbo, and Finn’s trying to sell us on Raymond Briggs.’
Max blinked a couple of times, and she watched, gleeful, as her words sunk in. ‘Fuck off,’ he said, quietly. ‘A twisted crime thriller against a much-loved children’s book?’
‘I saidnoswearing, Max,’ she chided. ‘Isn’t it great, though? I can’t wait! Do you want wine? We’ve got tiny little glasses of wine.’
‘I would love a tiny little glass of wine. This is really what you expected for Book Wars?’
‘It’s better than I’d hoped,’ Ollie said, taking his hand and pulling him through the crowd, smiling and saying hello to people as they passed. The bookshop was getting fuller, customers browsing the shelves, slow to make their way upstairs. Exactly as it should be, she thought, as she heard the beep of someone tapping their credit card against the reader to make a purchase. She took two glasses of wine from Andrea, and handed one to Max.
‘The point of Book Wars is that anything goes,’ she explained. ‘It makes sense to have a link between the titles, but that link can be anything – film adaptations with the same actor, same publication day, whatever – and if the books themselves are completely different, then even better. The challenger has to say why their book is best, why it deserves to win the face-off, and having a murder book against a children’s book is perfect.’
‘Finn’s doing the Raymond Briggs?’ Max raised his eyebrows.
Ollie nodded.
‘Then it’s going to be hilarious.’ He sipped his wine, and looked at her over the rim of the glass.
‘What?’ Ollie asked, laughing. Whenever she was around Max, she felt as if her cells were shifting. It was as if, being in his presence, every part of her was happy, but also reaching: she wanted to be better when she was with him; she wanted to be the best person she could be, for him. She wanted to keep him forever.
‘Did I ever tell you that you’re a genius?’ he said.
‘Um, definitely not. And I would have called you out on it, too, because it’ssofar from the truth.’
He sighed. ‘Do you really want me to go through all the reasons I think the label of genius applies to you?’
Ollie leaned closer. ‘Are some of them things you shouldn’t be mentioning in a packed bookshop?’ They had stayed with each other every night since that first Friday, and Ollie was already dangerously close to never wanting to wake up alone again.
‘Possibly,’ he murmured. ‘Maybe we should talk about it later.’
‘As long as I’m not tiring you out too much.’ She fluttered her eyelashes at him.
‘Never,’ he said adamantly.
She’d meant it as a joke, but she realised he did look tired. His skin, which she automatically thought of as quite tanned even though it was winter, seemed paler, and he had dark smudges under his eyes. But the café was busy: it was a frantic time of year for everyone. Perhaps she should get another Yule log, and that weekend they should do nothing but loaf and watch Christmas films.
‘Look at this,’ Max said, gesturing around him. ‘Look how packed A New Chapter is at six o’clock on a cold Wednesday in December. It’s like a party.’
Ollie accepted his change of subject, deciding that she would ask him later how he was really feeling. ‘Book events should always be a party. Books should be celebrated every chance we get.’
‘I hope Thea realises how lucky she is to have you,’ Max said quietly. ‘I do.’
‘I was just thinking the same about you,’ Ollie whispered, her heart squeezing. But she couldn’t help worrying that Thea might not think she was particularly lucky if her new employee couldn’t follow through with the grand launch event she had promised to arrange.
Twenty minutes later, the events space was full. The spotlights were turned down low, only the ones above the stage at full power. The room was adorned with mini wreaths and paper chains, and Becky had put sprigs of holly on the shelves, nestled between the display books. Tonight, those display books were copies ofThe Snowman,both the heart-warming, emotional children’s tale and the terrifying thriller. Ollie hoped they would shift a lot of both.
The space smelled of coffee, as it always did up here now, and beyond the tall windows, Port Karadow glittered in the darkness. Ollie took a moment to absorb it: this event, that she’d been imagining even before she’d moved to Cornwall, finally happening here, in A New Chapter. A small part of her wondered what would go wrong thistime, but she realised that if she started to think like that, then she was lost. She had to hold on to her confidence: she couldn’t let this job go the way of her last one.
Finn and Maisie stood on the modest stage, facing the crowd. Finn was wearing a Santa hat with a bell on the end, and a Christmas jumper depicting a snowy scene with skiing penguins, and Maisie was wearing a long, flowing dress with a peony pattern.
